The Brontë Sisters

(Image from Wikipedia)

I find the Brontë sisters to be so fascinating. In one family, there are three literary geniuses. What are the odds? Charlotte, Emily, and Anne are all classic novelists with a tragic family story.

Books written by the Brontë sisters.

Charlotte published 3 novels, more than any of her sisters. Her first was Jane Eyre in 1847, a coming-of-age story. Her second was Shirley in 1849, a story about two women who navigate the challenges of love and independence. Her last novel, Villette, was published in 1853, a story about isolation and unrequited love.

Emily only published one novel, Wuthering Heights, in 1847, a gothic novel about the intense and destructive relationship between the two main characters. I think this novel is the most popular of all the Brontë books. Emily wrote about 200 poems but only published a few.

Anne is known as the “forgotten Brontë sister” because her books often get overshadowed by her sisters’. She published two novels. Her first one, Agnes Gray in 1847, is a story about a young woman struggling with isolation.  Her second novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, published in 1848, is a feminist novel about a woman fleeing an abusive marriage.

The Brontë Family

The Brontë family had a very tragic story, with many deaths in their family. They were a family of 8 living in Yorkshire. The children were Maria, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne. The parents were Patrick and Maria Brontë; the father ended up outliving his wife and all of his children.

Mrs. Brontë was the first to pass due to uterine cancer. Her sister moved in to help raise the children. The children were known to be very close, often being seen holding hands and taking care of each other.

The children were educated at home and were very smart. Maria, Elizabeth, Charlotte, and Emily were all sent to Cowan Ridge boarding school. However, the conditions there were very unhealthy, leading to the deaths of Maria and Elizabeth after being there for a year. Charlotte and Emily were pulled out of that school soon after.

As adults, the Brontë sisters had many jobs, giving them lots of experiences which they used to write their books. Charlotte and Anne both worked as governesses, and Emily had a teaching position. The sisters made plans to open a school for young girls. With this in mind, Charlotte and Emily went to a boarding school in Brussels. The brother, Branwell, struggled to hold a job, even though being known to be a genius.

Later on, their aunt passed, and Charlotte and Emily returned home after being in school for 6 months. The aunt left her money to be divided between the sisters. Charlotte went back to Brussels but soon returned home again due to homesickness and having romantic feelings for her married employer. Their plan to open a school died out because of a lack of students and their brother’s bad reputation.

One day, Charlotte found Emily’s poems, and she thought they were beautiful and wanted her to publish them. First, Charlotte had to convince Emily, and all 3 sisters started working on a book of poetry together. This was published in 1846 under the fake, masculine names Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. They used the money from their aunt to fund the publication. The book only sold 3 copies, but the sisters started working on their novels.

In 1847, they each had a novel published: Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Agnes Grey. There was huge success with Jane Eyre, causing the sisters’ fame to rise. There were many theories that “Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell” were the same man instead of three different ones. The sisters started working on their next novels. Anne published The Tenant of Wildfell Hall in June of 1848. Unfortunately for the family, tragedy struck them again. Branwell died due to tuberculosis, which was made worse by drug and alcohol addiction. Emily ended up catching a cold at his funeral, which later turned into tuberculosis. She passed in December of 1848.

Anne was extremely affected by Emily’s death. She has been struggling with colds and flu, and her grief only made her condition worse. She passed in May of 1849.

Charlotte kept writing, and she ended up revealing the true identities of the Bell brothers. Charlotte was the only one of her sisters to marry. She married Arther Bell Nicholls, whose middle name she used for her fake author's name. Charlotte found herself happy; however, less than a year later, she passed away with her unborn child in 1855. Mr. Brontë was taken care of by his son-in-law, and he passed away at the age of 84 in 1861.

Their lives were tragically short, but the Brontë sisters left behind inspiring books that challenged the social boundaries of their era. Perhaps go to your local bookstore or library and pick up one of their books, then you’ll be able to see just how amazing they were.