Born
21 April 1816
Thornton, Yorkshire, England
Died
31 March 1855 (aged 38)
Haworth, Yorkshire, England
Charlotte Bronté lived from 1816 to 1855. In 1824 she was sent away to school with her four sisters and they were treated so badly that their father brought them home to Haworth in Yorkshire. The elder two sisters died within a few days and Charlotte and her sisters Emily and Anne were brought up in the isolated village. They were often lonely and loved to walk on the moors. They were all great readers and soon began to write small pieces of verse and stories.
Once Charlotte’s informal education was over she began to work as a governess and teacher in Yorkshire and Belgium so that she could add to the low family income and help to pay for her brother Branwell’s art education. Charlotte was a rather nervous young woman and didn’t like to be away from home for too long. The sisters began to write more seriously and published poetry in 1846 under male pen names – there was a lot of prejudice against women writers. The book was not a success and the sisters all moved on to write novels. Charlotte’s best-known book, Jane Eyre, appeared in 1847 and was soon seen as a work of genius.
Charlotte’s life was full of tragedy, never more so than when her brother Branwell and sisters Emily and Anne died within a few months in 1848/49. She married her father’s curate in 1854 but died in 1855, before her fortieth birthday.
Charlotte Bronte Wikipedia Facts
Charlotte Bronte's most famous novel is Jane Eyre first published in 1847 and still remains popular today.
It is one of my favourite classic novels, the story of Jane Eyre's struggle to retain her independence. This was at at a time when women were expected to obey men and the church. Women were considered very much second class citizens by society. Jane is unusual in the way she stands up to her employer Rochester. It is inevitable that he and Jane should fall in love in the story ,but all is not as it seems at Thornfield Hall.
If you have not yet read this book, I recommend it, you may well be surprised at the amount of flirtatious humour you will find.
i love jane eyre and i am fascinated by the life of charlotte bronte. my agent represents syrie james who wrote 'the secret diary of charlotte bronte' and i just read it. it keeps close to the facts biographically and is a wonderful book. have you read jean rhys's 'wide sargasso sea'? it is the story of mrs. rochester and it is brilliant!
ReplyDeleteI will certainly add The Secret Diary of Charlotte Bronte to my wishlist Priya.
ReplyDeleteI am not altogether sure about novels that use characters from the classics to continue the story, So I usually give them a miss.
this one is so meticulously researched that it really feels like a look at her life. i also just found out that jude morgan (an author i love) has a book coming out this month about charlotte and emily bronte. i love the alice and wonderland poster!
ReplyDeleteSorry for delay in replying Priya but was in UK for a few days. Thanks for the additional information, I am now adding the three titles you mention to my wishlist.
ReplyDeleteA lovely post about a much beloved woman. Even more amazing is that her books continue to outsell many of today's books. They still rank high as more and more generations discover her writing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mirella, like you I think it is great that each new generation discovers her writing. It does make you wonder about how many of our current generation authors will still be read and enjoyed as classics of tomorrow.
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