The Brontë Sisters: Charlotte Brontë
Eldest of the Brontë sisters, Charlotte Brontë is best known for her novel Jane Eyre. Jane Eyre follows an eponymous heroine grow from adolescence into a grown woman. It is renowned within the gothic fiction genre and is an inspiration for many writers. Charlotte was born in 1816 in Thornton near Bradford; unfortunately, she passed at 38. Her books have become classics within English literature. She passed on her talent for writing to her sisters. However, they all tragically died at a young age.
Charlotte’s mother died in 1821, departing from Charlotte and her five siblings. From the age of five, Charlotte was raised by her aunt. Charlotte began her education at Clergy Daughters’ School in 1824. She claims that the school permanently affected her mental and physical health. The school was later the inspiration for Lowood School in Jane Eyre. Unfortunately, life hits rock bottom for Charlotte as her two older sisters die of tuberculosis. Her father immediately pulled Charlotte and Emily out of school.
In 1829, at the age of thirteen, Charlotte wrote her first of 200 poems. Many of those poems are situated within a made-up world called Glass Town; a fictional world created by Charlotte and her remaining siblings. However, her lively imagination died down as reality hit her. As Charlotte's education progresses she turned towards realism instead of fiction.
She became a motherly figure to her sisters and therefore decided to become a governess. However, she hated the work and described it as humiliating and slave work. Some of her experiences were poured into Jane Eyre. For instance, once a child threw a bible at her similar to when John Reeds threw a book at Jane Eyre.
Emily and Charlotte went to boarding school in Brussels until their aunt died of internal obstruction. Charlotte left Brussels alone in 1842; only after a year of education. Charlotte spent a year mourning with her family. She returned to Brussels and accepted a teaching position, however, quickly got homesick. The Brontë sisters wanted to form a school together. The project was abandoned as no one was interested in attending. Instead the Brontë sisters decided to publish poems together under the pseudonyms: Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell. Business was hard at first but the sisters continued writing.
In 1848, Charlotte suffered the loss of her three remaining siblings within 18 months. Firstly her baby brother, Branwell dies. Directly after the funeral, her beloved sister, Emily falls ill and dies of pulmonary tuberculosis. Her last sibling, Anne dies six months later. She didn’t manage to write for a period but eventually finished her third (second at the time) novel: Villette.
Charlotte married the love of her life, Arthur Bell Nicholls but not without struggle. Her farther initially disapproved of the marriage because of Nicholls’ financial situation. However, a close friend of Charlotte’s convinced her that love was more important than being rich or a slight disagreement. Her father eventually bless the marriage but did not attend the wedding for an unknown reason.
After getting pregnant with their first child, Charlotte health deteriorated rapidly. It is believed that she suffered hyperemesis gravidarum which gave her extreme nausea and morning sickness. She began to loss a lot of weight and became malnourished whilst carrying her baby. This lead to her early death on the 31st of March 1855, her unborn child died aswell. Her unpublished novels, The Professor and Emma, were published after her death.
Charlotte will always be remembered as one of the brave and inspiring young female authors of the 19th century. It brings me great comfort that the Brontë sister got the recognition that they deserve. Their work continue to effect great writers of today, Kazuo Ishiguro has admitted that
“I own my career, and a lot else besides, to Jane Eyre and Villette”
