Charlotte Bronte

One of my favorite authoresses is Charlotte Bronte. There is something a little different about her writing style that sets her apart from Austen, Gaskell, and Elliot. She tended to write her stories in the first person, for one thing. She truly lets you inside the characters mind and describes their every feeling so well that you understand and empathise.

She was born April 21, 1816, the third of Patrick and Maria Branwell's six children, Maria, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Emily, Anne, and Branwell. Her mother died of cancer when she was only five, and her mother's sister Elizabeth came to live with the family to care for the children. I read the first part of the biography Elizabeth Gaskell wrote for her, which described her early years. Her father, a minister, encouraged all his children in reading and studying. He described Charlotte as extremely bright from a very young age. He would ask her philosophical questions to see what she would say and even from five or six years old, she would have an answer an adult today might not be able to come up with. She, Emily, Maria, and Elizabeth were sent the Clergy Daughters' School in 1824. Charlotte never liked to mention those years at school in her later life and, I think, denied that she based Lowood School in Jane Eyre on the place, but the similarities between her life there and Jane Eyre's life at Lowood are to strong for them not to have a connection. They would be given thin soup made of potato peelings and other scraps to eat, the school was cold, and the girls were often sick. Maria and Elizabeth developed tuberculosis while living there and died in 1826.

Charlotte continued her education at Roe Head and worked as governess for several families. Doubtless these experiences gave her inspiration for her novels. She returned home in 1844. The girls had written stories all their lives, but began now to try to get them published. Emily and Anne published a book of poetry that went virtually unnoticed. Still, the sisters determined to take on pen names and keep trying. On taking the name Currer Bell, Charlotte said

"Averse to personal publicity, we veiled our own names under those of Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell; the ambiguous choice being dictated by a sort of conscientious scruple at assuming Christian names positively masculine, while we did not like to declare ourselves women, because -- without at that time suspecting that our mode of writing and thinking was not what is called 'feminine' -- we had a vague impression that authoresses are liable to be looked on with prejudice; we had noticed how critics sometimes use for their chastisement the weapon of personality, and for their reward, a flattery, which is not true praise."

Jane Eyre was published in 1847 with great success, though there was much wonder as to who Currer Bell was. Branwell, her only brother, died in 1848, due to complications from heavy drinking, but Charlotte always believed he died of tuberculosis. Emily died also in 1848 and Anne in 1849, both of pulmonary tuberculosis. In 1849 Shirley was published and Villette in 1853. In 1854, Charlotte married Arthur Bell Nicholls and became pregnant soon after. She was given to severe nausea and frequent faintness during the pregnancy. Charlotte and her unborn child died March 31, 1855. Her death certificate sites tuberculosis as the cause of her death, but biographers now believe it may have malnourishment and dehydration from her severe morning sickness. The Professor, which was written before Jane Eyre but rejected many times by publishers, was at last published posthumously.

Her books:

Jane Eyre -- Undoubtedly one of the best books of all time.
Shirley -- I don't think I've read this one, but the synopsis looks interesting.
Villette -- It's been quite a while since I read this, but I remember that it was good.
The Professor -- I haven't read this one either, but I may check it out some time!