Posts from the ‘Heart and Soul’ Category

The Brontes

The story of the Brontës is one of tragedy and great literary achievement. Of the six children born to Maria Branwell and Patrick Brontë between 1814 and 1820, two died in childhood and none survived into their 40s (most were taken by the 19th-century tuberculosis epidemic that ravaged Europe). And yet, three of the Brontë sisters managed to write classic literary works that have endured long after their authors’ untimely deaths.

As children in their isolated home on the Yorkshire moors, Charlotte, Emily and Anne — along with their only brother, Branwell — began writing stories and creating fictional worlds. As adults, they were occasionally employed as teachers and governesses, but they never abandoned their love of literature. In 1846, the three sisters published a volume of poetry at their own expense. Due to the widely held prejudice against female writers, they adopted masculine pen names using their own initials: Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell.

Their book of poetry sold only two copies, but the sisters were undeterred. The Brontës shared a steadfast attitude, a trait highlighted by their family friend Ellen Nussey, who described the siblings as  “resolutely single-minded, eminently courageous, eminently simple in their habits, and eminently tender-hearted.” The trio soon began writing their own novels individually, many of which eventually became English literature classics.