ADSactly Literature - Runs in the Family: The Story of the Bronte Sisters (Part 2)
Runs in the Family: The Story of the Bronte Sisters (Part 2)
Hello again, @adsactly readers. Today, we continue our mini-series on the fascinating, often dark, lives of the Bronte sisters.
Whereas in the first installment, we spoke of Charlotte, the Bronte's childhood and their lesser known brother Branwell (and I do recommend you read that first, in order to better understand the Brontes), today we take a look at Emily and Anne Bronte.
2. Emily Bronte
The second eldest Bronte sister seems to have been the most fascinating, both in her character and in her writing. Emily Bronte, the writer, is a mystery because of her compelling, strong, almost savage characters, particularly Heathcliff.
But Emily, the woman, was a mystery in her own right. Reading through stories about Emily’s temperament and private life, one can’t help but see a striking resemblance between the author of Wuthering Heights and the book’s female protagonist, Catherine Earnshaw. Though by that, one should not assume that Catherine was a direct replica of Emily. Rather that all her tormented, wild characters were aspects of Emily Bronte and are perhaps the best window into an otherwise extremely secluded life.
Little is known about Emily Bronte, mostly because that is how she wished it. Indeed, a lot of what we know now bout her comes from Charlotte’s writings (after Emily’s death). She seems to have been a real loner, not making any friends outside of her family. Indeed, her closest companion seems to have been her younger sister, Anne.
Emily had a wilder spirit than that of her sisters and craved freedom. When, at seventeen, she was enrolled at the school where Charlotte taught, she only lasted a few months, being extremely homesick and finding it all terribly oppressive. She left, giving her place as student to her sister, Anne.
Emily was a very headstrong, independent woman who insisted on having things her way (much like Catherine). When she attended the Héger Pensionnat with her sister, Charlotte, the headmaster Constantin Heger wrote of her:
She should have been a man – a great navigator. Her powerful reason would have deduced new spheres of discovery from the knowledge of the old; and her strong imperious will would never have been daunted by opposition or difficulty, never have given way but with life.
She was a remarkable woman and a remarkable writer, even though she rarely left her home and spent most of her time outside walking by herself. I think she was Heathcliff, sometimes violent, with her own reasoning and her own right and wrong. I think she was also Catherine and most of the strange, tormented characters of Wuthering Heights.
Sadly, she didn’t live to see the acclaim her book would receive, as she died of tuberculosis, aged 31, only a year after the publication of Wuthering Heights.
3. Anne Bronte
Finally, we come to the youngest of the Bronte sisters, and perhaps the least known.
Anne, like her sisters, worked as a governess, but unlike Charlotte and Emily, she’s the only one who persevered until she got a happy outcome. Her first job as a governess was at Blake Hall, where she cared for the children of the Ingham family.
The children were spoilt and disobedient, making Anne’s job hugely difficult. She was not allowed to punish them in any way and whenever she complained to their parents, they blamed her. Eventually, the Inghams grew so displeased with their children’s progress that they fired Anne, calling her incompetent.
The experience was so traumatic for Anne that she later wrote of it in her first novel, Agnes Grey (which was apparently a very accurate depiction of her hard life as a governess).
However, she then found employment with the Robinson family, and although she faced difficulties there as well, she fought hard to become liked by her employers and became excellent friends with the two girls she cared for.
In 1846, the three Bronte sisters put out a package containing three manuscripts: Charlotte’s The Professor, Emily’s Wuthering Heights, and Anne’s Agnes Grey. The latter two were accepted, but Charlotte’s Professor was rejected, which may have prompted some resentment on Charlotte’s part.
It’s interesting, I think, that after Anne died, Charlotte opposed the republication of her second (much more acclaimed novel), The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, which might be the reason for Anne’s lesser fame.
Like her sisters, Anne also shocked critics, with her second novel, The Tenent of Wildfell Hall, not only because of her powerful feminine heroine, but also because of the graphic depictions of alcoholism and debauchery – which was pretty unheard of in 19th century literary circles.
The plot itself was widely controversial. It’s basically the story of a woman, Helen Graham, and her turbulent marriage with an alcoholic and overall unpleasant individual. Helen eventually flees their marital home with their son, afraid that the boy might become corrupted under his influence. She supports herself and her son through painting. Now, think how revolutionary this sort of plot would have been two hundred years ago.
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was hugely successful and actually sold out within six weeks of its first publication. And again, Anne may have seen greater fame if Charlotte hadn’t been so against the reprinting of Wildfell Hall, insisting that the subject was wrong and such a creation should not be preserved. Interesting point of view and more than a bit unfair, surely.
Greatly affected by Emily’s death in 1848, Anne also became weakened and eventually fell ill. At first, she fought influenza, and was then diagnosed with tuberculosis. Despite the impression she was getting better, she died on the 28th May 1849, at the tender age of 29.
Wildly different, but all of them very fascinating, the Bronte sisters fascinate readers even today.
I would like to point out that their portraits are disputed and it is unsure which is which. Just a heads-up.
So, which was the most fascinating aspect of the Brontes' lives, in your opinion?
Authored by @honeydue
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Welcome to your second installment on the Brontë sisters, @honeydue. This time it corresponds to the one I was able to read with some attention: Emily Brontë. Wuthering Heights, already a very significant title in itself (because of what it might be allegorical), is undoubtedly a novel of great importance in English literature, Impregnated still by a marked romanticism, it introduces elements that will have value in the evolution of this genre, such as the descriptive work of the landscape, the emotions of its tormented characters, and the psychological atmospheres. Emily Brontë was a writer of enormous sensitivity, and daring, in her own way and for the time.
Among what I could say as a reader, I would stop to recall the beautiful, lyrical, final part of the book, when the narrator speaks of Heathcliff's tomb:
I admit that I haven't been able to read the third sister, Anne, except for the novel The Tenent of Wildfell Hall, which, from what you report, must be very interesting, as it seems to show a bold social and moral character for the prevailing Victorian morality.
Thank you for your illustrative post, @honeydue. Greetings.
I love Emily Bronte best of all, also. I think her writing is the most complex and interesting between the three sisters. It seems to me that it's the only Bronte book that doesn't stay stuck in its time. I mean, surely, Jane Eyre is a great book, but it's more appropriate to its time, whereas Wuthering Heights is downright fascinating even today.
Yes, that is a great passage, as well as the haunting moment when Heathcliff begs the ghost of Catherine to haunt him forever. It's a phenomenal book, in my opinion.
I read Anne long ago, to be honest, when I was a child and I suppose I didn't detect all the finer comments on society, but I do recall it as a good book...
Thank you for reading!
To imagine three sisters, single, almost thirty years old, confined, almost hidden, in a house to be able to write without being accused or rejected by this hobby, is really worthy of any story. To know the life of these three sisters will always be fascinating and even disturbing. Much has been said about these three writers who were unlucky enough to live at a time when the role of the woman was to be the perfect housewife. As I said before, Emily is my favorite. To know that she was a sullen but sensitive woman, who combined her domestic chores with piano, French and German studies, and writing, makes me admire her. Thank you for this delivery, @honeydue.
Mine as well :) By far my favorite, both because of her character and because of her compelling writing. :) Yes, guess they were unlucky to live in such a time when women were looked down upon, yet they did receive quite a lot of literary recognition in their own time and managed to get out from under that view.
Thanks for reading!
AY LMAO WHO THESE HOTTIES 😍 😍 😍
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Interesting post
A choice of interesting stories. How is the life of the writer full of deep impressions. This life story that is full of twists and turns both joy and sorrow will certainly give us lessons for us as readers. In his life both Emily and Anne had to undergo a different fate. But there is a value of intelligence not only intellectual but also emotional that we can attract. the proof, in the nature and character of two different personalities there are still similarities. They are able to write into a book that we can then read and take lessons from. The moral values they teach are very good. Although, of course in their lives it might be far from what they want to show.
Thank you @honeydue
Thank you @adasctly
thank you Steemit
Warm regard from Indonesia