THE BRONTË SISTERS (CHARLOTTE, EMILY AND ANNE)
- their father was a rector on the bleak Yorkshire moors, they had two sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, and one brother Branwell
- when their mother died, their aunt came to take care of them
- attended schools from time to time, however, they were also educated at home and began to write at an early age
- Charlotte and Emily attended Clergy Daughters´ School with low fees and harsh conditions – later described in Jane Eyre (Lowood) but also a school in Brussels
- all worked as teachers and governesses (also in Brussels), often to pay their brother´s debts
- in 1844, Charlotte attempted to start her own school, however, it was in Haworth, which was quite far from potential pupils, and it was a failure
- in 1846, the sisters published their volume of poetry, they used pseudonyms – Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell, which were supposed to hide the fact that they were women, they sold only two copies
- thereafter, they tried to publish their novels, Charlotte´s Jane Eyre was the first one, the novels of her sisters were published later on
- tragic months followed – Branwell, Emily and Anne died very quickly one after another
- Charlotte continued to write – SHIRLEY and VILLETTE, her very first novel, THE PROFESSOR, was rejected and only published posthumously
- before accepting a marriage proposal, she declined three suitors
- she took care of her father during the last years of her life
- when pregnant, she fell ill and died
CHARLOTTE BRONTË (1816 – 1855) – JANE EYRE (1847)
- a novel of growing up and gaining independence: an orphan – a governess – a rich woman married to a person she loves
- a plain, but passionate, strong and intelligent heroine fighting for the equality of men and women
- through Jane´s story, Charlotte describes the plight of women of her class, the expectations and constraints of the society
- Jane is an orphan, who spends her childhood in the care of her aunt, this time is full of abuse, injustice, a lack of freedom and independence
- later she is educated at a charity boarding school, Lowood Institution, where the conditions are very harsh
- then we follow her career as a governess at Thornfield Hall, where she falls in love with the owner, the mysterious Mr Rochester
- Jane cannot marry him because of his insane first wife, Bertha Mason imprisoned in the attic, and leaves Thornfield
- after a series of events, Jane finds out that she has inherited a big amount of money, when she comes back to Thornfield Hall, she encounters Rochester, blind after a big fire started by Bertha – now they are both free and willing to marry each other
EMILY BRONTË (1818 – 1848)
WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1847)
- not appreciated immediately, accused of being too savage and wild in her expression
- a love story of Catherine and Heatcliff but also a tale of violence, haunting, abuse, revenge, dependence, suffering and wild passions corresponding with the moorland of Yorkshire
- a story within a story, a gentleman named Lockwood visits Wuthering Heights, he believes that he encounters Catherine´s ghost and her former servant Nelly Dean tells him about the history of the house
- she begins with relating the story of Heatcliff, an orphan adopted by the Earnshaw family (by Catherine and Hindley´s father), following power struggles between Heatcliff and Catherine and her brother Hindley, Heatcliff is often abused because of his lower class and he desires social power and money
- Heatcliff and Catherine have a very special relationship based on strong passions – love as well as hatred, Heatcliff loses Catherine to Edgar Linton, a wealthy gentleman with a higher social status) and takes revenge, destroying a lot of lives around
ANNE BRONTË (1820 – 1849)
THE TENANT OF WILDFELL HALL (1848)
- about a woman leaving an unhappy marriage, which was really shocking at those times
- explores the psychology of Helen Huntington looking for her freedom
- the degradation of the heroine´s first husband, a heavy drinker
- depicts passion, mystery and violence typical for the Romantic period