Birthday Biography: Charlotte Bronte

If you have followed this blog at all, you will know that my favorite author is Jane Austen. My favorite book is Pride and Prejudice. One of my other favorite books, however, is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. That may not seem out of the ordinary to some of you, but ironically, Ms. Bronte and her sisters (Emily and Anne) were not fans of Ms. Austen. Nonetheless, I still am a fan of Charlotte Bronte.

Charlotte was born April 21, 1816 in Thornton, England. She was one of six children, but after her two older sisters died (only a few years after her mother died), Charlotte was suddenly the oldest child. Along with her sisters, Anne and Emily, she lived with her father, her brother Branwell, and an aunt, who helped raise them all.

She lived a relatively quiet life, although all of the Bronte children were very imaginative and filled their days with creating and writing about different and exotic worlds. Many of the characters and images for Jane Eyre can be found in these early childhood writings.

Charlotte and her sisters spent there early school years at the Clergy Daughters' School, which would provide much inspiration for Jane Eyre. After a short time, all of the girls were at home in Yorkshire, where their father educated them. Around the age of 16, Charlotte continued her education with the help of her godparents. She attended a school in East Yorkshire for one year and would eventually return there as an instructor. She taught there for several years before giving up that post. For the next several years, she worked as a governess for a few different families, before departing for Brussels with her sister Emily. There they attended a school, intent on improving their French and German so that they could return to England and open a school of their own. While there, Charlotte fell in love with the married headmaster. While this was an unrequited love, it would eventually provide inspiration for her first novel, The Professor, which was published posthumously in 1857.

Charlotte and Emily returned to England in 1842, due to the deaths of their aunt and several family friends. Charlotte did return to Brussels in 1843 by herself but only stayed for a year. Emily and Charlotte had planned on opening their own school with some of the money their aunt had left them, but no one applied to be a student.

Of all of the Bronte siblings, Charlotte was the most prolific and the most successful in her lifetime. In 1846, all three of the sisters published their poetry using masculine pseudonyms. Unfortunately, only two copies were sold. But this venture into publishing empowered them to continue writing and to eventually publish their novels. Charlotte tried publishing The Professor in 1846, but it was rejected by many publishers. One publisher, however, encouraged her to submit another piece, so she sent him Jane Eyre. In October 1847, Jane Eyre: An Autobiography was published in three volumes, "edited" by Currer Bell (the name she used to publish her earlier poetry). It was an instant success.

Unfortunately, a year later she would lose all three of her siblings, leaving only Charlotte and her father as survivors. As a form of solace, she continued writing. Her next novel, Shirley: A Tale, was published in 1849, and her third novel, Villette, was published in 1853.

In June 1854, Charlotte married Arthur Bell Nichols, one of her father's curates. Within a few months Charlotte realized she was pregnant, but due to severe nausea and vomiting, she died on March 31, 1855.

Before her death, Charlotte had begun to become friends with other literary figures. One of those, Elizabeth Gaskell, would later write a biography, The Life of Charlotte Bronte.

Jane Eyre would become Charlotte's legacy. Strong-willed and independent, Jane was a unique literary character for her time. Many Victorians were appalled by the idea that a woman didn't have to be submissive or passive. Now, Jane Eyre is often seen as a very modern woman. She refused to live with a man that she loves, knowing that he was already married, and then later refused to marry someone she didn't love. Jane defied the customs of the day in just about everything she did. Being a plain young woman, with no family to protect and love her, forced her to take care of herself. And while Charlotte did have a loving and protective family to support her, she, like Jane, still took many risks and lived the way she wanted, as much as she could for the times.


Books:

The Life of Charlotte Bronte by Elizabeth Gaskell

Charlotte Bronte: A Passionate Life by Lyndall Gordon

Unquiet Soul: A Biography of Charlotte Bronte by Margot Peters

The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte: A Novel by Syrie James

Romancing Miss Bronte: A Novel by Juliet Gael

The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Bronte by Laura Joh Rowland



Film Reviews:

There have been over 20 filmed versions of Jane Eyre, for television and theatre, dating back to the early days of film right up to 2011. I haven't seen them all, but I've seen most of the more current versions, which is what this list will show. For an entire list, check out IMDB.

Jane Eyre (1983) This version is my personal favorite. It stars Timothy Dalton and Zelah Clarke. This was a made for TV mini-series from the BBC and is a rather faithful adaptation. It is showing its age a bit, but it is still worth watching.

Jane Eyre (2006) This is another version from the BBC starring Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson. This is a very close second to the 1983 version.

Jane Eyre (1996) Stars William Hurt and Charlotte Gainsbourg. This is my least favorite version. I felt that they changed too many things about the story and I felt that the actors were miscast.

Jane Eyre (2011) The most recent version starring Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska. While still not anywhere near my favorite of versions, this one was still very good. It gave it a bit of a different interpretation with out going too far off track. And the two leads were very well cast.



Other Resources:

The Bronte Parsonage Museum and Bronte Society

Books and Writers

The Victorian Web


   -- Post by Tracy