153-570: Patrick Branwell Brontë ( / ˈ b r ɒ n t i / , commonly /- t eɪ / ; 26 June 1817 – 24 September 1848) was an English painter and writer. He was the only son of the Brontë family , and brother of the writers Charlotte , Emily , and Anne . Brontë was rigorously tutored at home by his father, and earned praise for his poetry and translations from the classics. However, he drifted between jobs, supporting himself by portrait-painting, and gave way to drug and alcohol addiction, apparently worsened by
306-440: A best-seller , despite some commentators denouncing it as an affront to good morals. The pseudonymous (Currer Bell) publication in 1847 of Jane Eyre, An Autobiography established a dazzling reputation for Charlotte. In July 1848, Charlotte and Anne (Emily had refused to go along with them) travelled by train to London to prove to Smith, Elder & Co. that each sister was indeed an independent author, for Thomas Cautley Newby,
459-554: A pastiche on general or philosophical themes. The lessons, especially those of Constantin Héger, were very much appreciated by Charlotte, and the two sisters showed exceptional intelligence, although Emily hardly liked her teacher and was somewhat rebellious. Emily learned German and to play the piano with natural brilliance and very quickly the two sisters were writing literary and philosophical essays in an advanced level of French. After six months of study, Mme Héger suggested they stay at
612-459: A brief agony during which she was comforted by her beloved nephew Branwell. In her last will, Aunt Branwell left to her three nieces the considerable sum of £900 (about £95,700 in 2017 currency), which allowed them to resign from their low-paid jobs as governesses and teachers. In 1824, the four eldest girls (excluding Anne) entered the Clergy Daughters' School at Cowan Bridge , which educated
765-416: A challenge in arranging for the education of the girls of his family, which was barely middle class. They lacked significant connections and he could not afford the fees for them to attend an established school for young ladies. One solution was the schools where the fees were reduced to a minimum—so called "charity schools"—with a mission to assist families like those of the lower clergy. (Barker had read in
918-612: A charming and sophisticated woman, almost fifteen years senior to him. He wrote, perhaps unreliably, to one of his friends that "my mistress is DAMNABLY TOO FOND OF ME" and sent him a "lock of her hair, wch has lain at night on his breast – wd to God it could do so legally !" In July 1845, he was dismissed from his position. According to Gaskell, he received a letter "sternly dismissing him, intimating that his proceedings were discovered, characterising them as bad beyond expression and charging him, on pain of exposure, to break off immediately, and for ever, all communication with every member of
1071-427: A choice between the professions of school mistress or governess . The Brontë sisters found positions in families wherein they educated often rebellious young children, or found employment as school teachers. The possibility of becoming a paid companion to a rich and solitary woman might have been a fall-back role but one that would have probably bored any of the sisters intolerably . Janet Todd 's Mary Wollstonecraft,
1224-452: A collection of poems by Walter Scott . The children became interested in writing from an early age, initially as a game. They all displayed a talent for narrative, but for the younger ones it became a pastime to develop them. At the centre of the children's creativity were twelve wooden soldiers which Patrick Brontë gave to Branwell at the beginning of June 1826. These toy soldiers instantly fired their imaginations and they spoke of them as
1377-449: A dozen times during the year. The first one was finally published by Smith, Elder & Co in London. The 23-year-old owner, George Smith, had specialised in publishing scientific revues, aided by his perspicacious reader William Smith Williams. Emily and Anne's manuscripts were confided to Thomas Cautley Newby , who intended to compile a three-decker ; more economical for sale and for loan in
1530-529: A failed relationship with a married woman. Brontë died at the age of 31. Branwell Brontë was the fourth of six children and the only son of Patrick Brontë (1777–1861) and his wife, Maria Branwell Brontë (1783–1821). He was born in a house (now known as the Brontë Birthplace ) in Market Street, Thornton , near Bradford , West Riding of Yorkshire , and moved with his family to Haworth when his father
1683-539: A fiddle with money that he had saved, and taught himself how to play it. In 1785 he served a year working for a tenant farmer at Singlee. In 1786 he went to work for Mr. Laidlaw of Ellibank, staying with him for eighteen months. In 1788 he was given his first job as a shepherd by Laidlaw's father, a farmer at Willenslee. He stayed here for two years, learning to read while tending sheep, and being given newspapers and theological works by his employer's wife. In 1790 he began ten years of service to James Laidlaw of Blackhouse in
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#17328689712231836-505: A futile attempt to stabilise him. The family's finances did not flourish, and Aunt Branwell spent the money with caution. Emily had a visceral need of her home and the countryside that surrounded it, and to leave it would cause her to languish and wither. Charlotte and Anne, being more realistic, did not hesitate in finding work and from April 1839 to December 1841 the two sisters had several posts as governesses. Not staying long with each family, their employment would last for some months or
1989-467: A good education and good care for his daughters. The school was not expensive and its patrons (supporters who allowed the school to use their names) were all respected people. Among these was the daughter of Hannah More , a religious author and philanthropist who took a particular interest in education. More was a close friend of the poet William Cowper , who, like her, advocated extensive, proper and well-rounded education for young girls. The pupils included
2142-714: A good reputation and he remembered the building, which he passed when strolling around the parishes of Kirklees , Dewsbury and Hartshead-cum-Clifton where he was vicar. Margaret Wooler showed fondness towards the sisters and she accompanied Charlotte to the altar at her marriage. Patrick's choice of school was excellent—Charlotte was happy there and studied well. She made many lifelong friends, in particular Ellen Nussey and Mary Taylor who later went to New Zealand before returning to England. Charlotte returned from Roe Head in June 1832, missing her friends, but happy to rejoin her family. Three years later, Miss Wooler offered her former pupil
2295-462: A head over the imposition of the Church of England rates, a local tax levied on parishes where the majority of the population were dissenters. In the meantime, Miss Wooler moved to Heald's House, at Dewsbury Moor , where Charlotte complained about the humidity that made her unwell. Upon leaving the establishment in 1838 Miss Wooler presented her with a parting gift of The Vision of Don Roderick and Rokeby ,
2448-417: A joint publication by the three sisters. Anne was easily won over to the project, and the work was shared, compared and edited. Once the poems had been chosen, nineteen for Charlotte and twenty-one each for Anne and Emily, Charlotte went about searching for a publisher. She took advice from William and Robert Chambers of Edinburgh, directors of one of their favourite magazines, Chambers's Edinburgh Journal . It
2601-672: A legacy from her father, that books should provide moral education. This sense of moral duty and the need to record it, are more evident in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall . The influence of the gothic novels of Ann Radcliffe , Horace Walpole , Gregory "Monk" Lewis and Charles Maturin is noticeable, and that of Walter Scott too, if only because the heroine, abandoned and left alone, resists importunities not only through her almost supernatural talents, but by her powerful temperament. Jane Eyre , Agnes Grey , The Tenant of Wildfell Hall , Shirley , Villette and even The Professor present
2754-670: A linear structure concerning characters who advance through life after several trials and tribulations, to find a kind of happiness in love and virtue, recalling works of religious inspiration of the 17th century such as John Bunyan 's The Pilgrim's Progress or his Grace abounding to the Chief of Sinners . In a more profane manner, the hero or heroine follows a picaresque itinerary such as in Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616), Daniel Defoe (1660–1731), Henry Fielding (1707–1764) and Tobias Smollett (1721–1771). This lively tradition continued into
2907-556: A maid, Tabitha Aykroyd (Tabby). Tabby helped relieve their possible boredom and loneliness especially by recounting local legends in her Yorkshire dialect as she tirelessly prepared the family's meals. Eventually, Patrick would survive his entire family. Six years after Charlotte's death, he died in 1861 at the age of 84. His son-in-law, the Rev. Arthur Bell Nicholls , would aid Mr Brontë at the end of his life as well. Patrick's wife Maria Brontë , née Branwell (15 April 1783 – 15 September 1821),
3060-411: A minor writer and later the amanuensis of Walter Scott. It was at this time that Hogg, his eldest brother, and several cousins, formed a debating society of shepherds. Hogg first became familiar with the work of the recently deceased Robert Burns in 1797, after having the poem Tam o' Shanter read to him. During this period Hogg wrote plays and pastorals, and continued producing songs. His work as
3213-434: A novel that defied all conventions. It is a work of black Romanticism, covering three generations isolated in the cold spring of the countryside with two opposing elements: the dignified manor of Thrushcross Grange and the rambling dilapidated pile of Wuthering Heights. The main characters, swept by tumults of the earth, the skies and the hearts, are strange and often possessed of unheard-of violence and deprivations. The story
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#17328689712233366-532: A position as her assistant. The family decided that Emily would accompany her to pursue studies that would otherwise have been unaffordable. Emily's fees were partly covered by Charlotte's salary. Emily was 17 and it was the first time she had left Haworth since leaving Cowan Bridge. On 29 July 1835, the sisters left for Roe Head. The same day, Branwell wrote a letter to the Royal Academy of Art in London, to present several of his drawings as part of his candidature as
3519-611: A probationary student. Charlotte taught, and wrote about her students without much sympathy. Emily did not settle: after three months her health seemed to decline and she had to be taken home to the parsonage. Anne took her place and stayed until Christmas 1837. Charlotte avoided boredom by following the developments of the imaginary Empire of Angria—invented by Charlotte and Branwell—that she received in letters from her brother. During holidays at Haworth, she wrote long narratives while being reproached by her father who wanted her to become more involved in parish affairs. These were coming to
3672-722: A religious family. The Brontë birthplace in Thornton is a place of pilgrimage and their later home, the parsonage at Haworth in Yorkshire, now the Brontë Parsonage Museum , has hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. The Brontë family can be traced to the Irish clan Ó Pronntaigh , which literally means "descendant of Pronntach". They were a family of hereditary scribes and literary men in Fermanagh . The version Ó Proinntigh , which
3825-402: A resident of Cornmarket, Warwick, who in admiration, wrote to the publisher to request an autograph—the only extant single document carrying the three authors' signatures in their pseudonyms, and they continued creating their prose, each one producing a book a year later. Each worked in secret, unceasingly discussing their writing for hours at the dinner table, after which their father would open
3978-563: A revolutionary life mentions the predicament. Only Emily never became a governess. Her sole professional experience would be an experiment in teaching during six months of intolerable exile in Miss Patchett's school at Law Hill (between Haworth and Halifax ). In contrast, Charlotte had teaching positions at Miss Margaret Wooler's school and in Brussels with the Hégers. She became governess to
4131-541: A riotous drinking session in Kendal . During this employment he continued his literary work, including sending poems and translations to Thomas De Quincey and Hartley Coleridge who both lived in the Lake District . At Coleridge's invitation, he visited the poet at his cottage who encouraged him to pursue his translations of Horace 's Odes . In June 1840 he sent the translations to Coleridge, after having been dismissed by
4284-519: A series of fantasy role-playing games which the siblings wrote and performed about the "Young Men", characters based on a set of wooden soldiers. The plays evolved into an intricate saga based in West Africa about the fictitious Glass Town confederacy. From 1834, he both collaborated and competed with his sister Charlotte to describe another imaginary world, Angria . Branwell's particular interest in these paracosms were their politics and wars, including
4437-475: A sheep drover stimulated an interest in the Scottish Highlands . In 1800 he left Blackhouse to help take care of his parents at Ettrickhouse. Early in 1801 he published a booklet Scottish Pastorals . His patriotic song "Donald Macdonald", printed as a broadside probably in 1803, achieved considerable popularity. In 1801 Hogg was recruited to collect ballads for Walter Scott 's collection Minstrelsy of
4590-494: A sheep-grazer for other farmers, but his debts began to grow throughout 1808–1809. At the end of 1809 he began an affair with Margaret Beattie, and soon after absconded from his creditors, returning in disgrace to Ettrick. In 1810 Hogg moved to Edinburgh to start a literary career. In March 1810 his daughter by Margaret Beattie was born, christened Elizabeth Hogg in June. At the end of 1810 he met his future wife Margaret Phillips. His magazine The Spy , begun in 1810, ended after
4743-530: A single season. However, Anne did stay with the Robinsons in Thorp Green where things went well, from May 1840 to June 1845. In the meantime, Charlotte had an idea that would place all the advantages on her side. On advice from her father and friends, she thought that she and her sisters had the intellectual capacity to create a school for young girls in the parsonage where their Sunday School classes took place. It
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4896-446: A size for the soldiers to read. The complexity of the stories matured as the children's imaginations developed, fed by reading the three weekly or monthly magazines to which their father had subscribed, or the newspapers that were bought daily from John Greenwood's local news and stationery store. These fictional worlds were the product of fertile imagination fed by reading, discussion and a passion for literature. Far from suffering from
5049-447: A stock-farmer and sheep-dealer. Robert Hogg was then given the position of shepherd at Ettrickhouse farm by one of his neighbours. James worked as a farm servant throughout his childhood, tending cows, doing general farm work, and acting as a shepherd's assistant. His early experiences of literature and story telling came from the Bible and his mother's and uncle's stories. In 1784 he purchased
5202-457: A thinly disguised satire of Edinburgh society in biblical language which Hogg started and Wilson and Lockhart elaborated, was so controversial that Wilson fled and Blackwood was forced to apologise. Soon Blackwood's Tory views and reviews – often scurrilous attacks on other writers – were notorious, and the magazine, or "Maga" as it came to be known, had become one of the best-selling journals of its day. But Hogg quickly found himself forced out of
5355-569: A year to the day, enamoured for some time for Monsieur Héger, Charlotte resigned and returned to Haworth. Her life at the school had not been without suffering, and on one occasion she ventured into the cathedral and entered a confessional. She may have had intention of converting to Catholicism, but it would only have been for a short time. During her absence, life at Haworth had become more difficult. Mr. Brontë had lost his sight although his cataract had been operated on with success in Manchester, and it
5508-500: A year. At this time he became a founder member of a debating society called The Forum , eventually serving as its secretary. In 1812 he composed a long poetical work. The Queen's Wake (the setting of which was the return to Scotland of Mary, Queen of Scots in 1561 after her exile in France) was published early in 1813 and was a success. It was, in the guise of a competition, a collection of verse tales, of which Kilmeny became and remained
5661-527: Is a major character, along with his sister Emily as the protagonist, as well as, to a lesser extent, the rest of the Brontë family. In the 1946 film Devotion , he was portrayed by Arthur Kennedy . In the film The Brontë Sisters ( Les Sœurs Brontë , 1979) he was portrayed by Pascal Greggory . He was portrayed by Adam Nagaitis in To Walk Invisible (2016), a BBC drama about the Brontë family . In
5814-495: Is inspired by Martin's illustration for John Milton 's Paradise Lost . Together with Byron, John Martin seems to have been one of the artistic influences essential to the Brontës' universe. The influence revealed by Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is much less clear. Anne's works are largely founded on her experience as a governess and on that of her brother's decline. Furthermore, they demonstrate her conviction,
5967-579: Is now one of the best known images of the sisters and hangs in the National Portrait Gallery. In 1835, he wrote a letter to the Royal Academy of Arts seeking to be admitted. Earlier biographers reported a move to London to study painting, which quickly ended following Brontë's dissolute spending on drink. Other biographers speculated that he was too intimidated to present himself at the Academy. More recent scholarship suggests that Brontë did not send
6120-530: Is referenced by the character "Mr Mybug" in Stella Gibbons ' 1932 comic novel Cold Comfort Farm . In a parody of the "Hampstead intellectual" scene of the time of the book's creation, the Mr Mybug character boasts of working on a biography of Branwell Brontë, his thesis being that Branwell was in fact the real author of the books ascribed to his sisters. In Tim Powers ' novel My Brother’s Keeper (2023), Branwell
6273-609: Is that he adapted his name to associate himself with Admiral Horatio Nelson , who was also Duke of Bronte . One might also find evidence for this theory in Patrick Brontë's desire to associate himself with the Duke of Wellington in his form of dress. Patrick Brontë (17 March 1777 – 7 June 1861), the Brontë sisters' father, was born in Loughbrickland , County Down , Ireland, of a family of farm workers of moderate means. His birth name
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6426-455: Is thought, although no documents exist to support the claim, that they advised the sisters to contact Aylott & Jones, a small publishing house at 8, Paternoster Row, London, who accepted, but at the authors' own risk since they felt the commercial risk to the company was too great. The work thus appeared in 1846, published using the male pseudonyms of Currer (Charlotte), Ellis (Emily) and Acton (Anne) Bell. These were very uncommon forenames but
6579-514: Is told in a scholarly fashion, with two narrators, the traveller and tenant Lockwood, and the housekeeper/governess, Nelly Dean, with two sections in the first person, one direct, one cloaked, which overlap each other with digressions and sub-plots that form, from apparently scattered fragments, a coherently locked unit. One year before her death in May 1849, Anne published a second novel. Far more ambitious than her previous novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
6732-580: The British Museum , and they were shortly thereafter printed in The Times newspaper. The writing that had begun so early never left the family. Charlotte had ambition like her brother, and wrote to the poet laureate Robert Southey to submit several poems in his style (though Branwell was kept at a distance from her project). She received a hardly encouraging reply after several months. Southey, still illustrious today although his star has somewhat waned,
6885-509: The Duke of Buccleuch granted him a small farm at Eltrive Moss, where he could live rent-free for his lifetime. He continued to write songs and poems, including "The Field of Waterloo" and "To the Ancient Banner of Buccleuch". His poem Mador of the Moor was published in 1816. Later in the year he published his collection of parodies The Poetic Mirror , achieving a marked success. Hogg first met
7038-497: The Haworth parsonage , where he looked for another job, wrote poetry and attempted to adapt Angrian material into a book called And the Weary are at Rest . During the 1840s, several of his poems were published in local newspapers under the name of Northangerland, making him the first of the Brontës to be a published poet. Soon however, after Mr Robinson's death, Mrs Robinson made clear that she
7191-662: The Leeds Intelligencer of 6 November 1823 reports of cases in the Court of Commons in Bowes: he later read of other cases, of 24 November 1824 near Richmond, in the county of Yorkshire, where pupils had been discovered gnawed by rats and suffering so badly from malnutrition that some of them had lost their sight. ) Yet for Patrick, there was nothing to suggest that the Reverend Carus Wilson's Clergy Daughters' School would not provide
7344-569: The Maga launched the Noctes Ambrosianae or "Nights at Ambrose's", imaginary conversations in a drinking-den between semi-fictional characters such as North, O'Doherty, The Opium Eater and the Ettrick Shepherd. The Shepherd was Hogg. The Noctes continued until 1834, and were written after 1825 mostly by Wilson, although other writers, including Hogg himself, had a hand in them. The Shepherd of
7497-686: The Noctes is a part-animal, part-rural simpleton, and part-savant. He became one of the best-known figures in topical literary affairs, famous throughout Britain and its colonies. Quite what the real James Hogg made of this is mostly unknown, although some of his letters to Blackwood and others express outrage and anguish. Hogg's Poetical Works in four volumes were published in 1822, as was his novel The Three Perils of Man . In 1823, in debt to Blackwood, Hogg began publishing his work The Shepherd's Calendar in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine . Hogg's daughter Jessie
7650-447: The Yarrow valley. Hogg later said that Laidlaw was more like a father to him than an employer. Seeing how hard he was working to improve himself, Laidlaw offered to help by making books available for Hogg from his own library, and through a local lending library. Hogg also began composing songs to be sung by local girls. He became a lifelong friend of his master's son, William Laidlaw, himself
7803-586: The " Ettrick Shepherd ", a nickname under which some of his works were published, and the character name he was given in the widely read series Noctes Ambrosianae , published in Blackwood's Magazine . He is best known today for his novel The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner . His other works include the long poem The Queen's Wake (1813), his collection of songs Jacobite Relics (1819), and his two novels The Three Perils of Man (1822), and The Three Perils of Woman (1823). James Hogg
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#17328689712237956-510: The "circulating libraries". The two first volumes included Wuthering Heights and the third one Agnes Grey . Both novels attracted critical acclaim, occasionally harsh about Wuthering Heights , praised for the originality of the subject and its narrative style, but viewed with suspicion because of its outrageous violence and immorality—surely, the critics wrote, a work of a man with a depraved mind. Critics were fairly neutral about Agnes Grey , but more flattering for Jane Eyre , which soon became
8109-400: The 19th century with the rags to riches genre to which almost all the great Victorian romancers have contributed. The protagonist is thrown by fate into poverty and after many difficulties achieves a golden happiness. Often an artifice is employed to effect the passage from one state to another such as an unexpected inheritance, a miraculous gift, grand reunions, etc, and in a sense it is
8262-561: The Border" series. More recently Ross returned to the villain of that story, Merodach, making him the villain of a Doctor Who audiobook, Night's Black Agents ( Big Finish Productions 2010), in which this demonic figure assumes the pose of a Minister of the Kirk . Thomas Wilson 's Opera, The Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1972–75), commissioned by Scottish Opera , is based on the novel. A bill he issued to purchase £50 worth of lambs in 1824
8415-484: The Brontë sisters, was continued at home.) Nevertheless, Charlotte blamed Cowan Bridge for her sisters' deaths, especially its poor medical care—chiefly, repeated emetics and blood-lettings—and the negligence of the school's doctor, who was the director's brother-in-law. Charlotte's vivid memories of the privations at Cowan Bridge were poured into her depiction of Lowood School in Jane Eyre : the scanty and often spoiled food,
8568-537: The Postlethwaites. According to Juliet Barker 's biography of the Brontës, he may have fathered an illegitimate child during time in the town, but others suspect that it may be more of Brontë's boasting. Coleridge began an encouraging letter about the quality of the translations in November–December 1840 but never finished it. In October 1840, Brontë moved near to Halifax , where he had many good friends including
8721-578: The Scottish Border . He met Scott himself the following year and began working for the Edinburgh Magazine . In the summer of 1802 he embarked on the first of three tours of the Highlands with a view to securing a farm of his own. He eventually found a farm on Harris but due to trouble with his finances and a legal issue he was unable to secure a lease by 1804. He may not have been really committed to
8874-566: The Sidgwicks, the Stonegappes and the Lotherdales where she worked for several months in 1839, then with Mrs White, at Upperhouse House, Rawdon, from March to September 1841. Anne became a governess and worked for Mrs Ingham, at Blake Hall, Mirfield from April to December 1839, then for Mrs Robinson at Thorp Green Hall, Little Ouseburn, near York, where she also obtained employment for her brother in
9027-882: The United States, while a pirated version published in Glasgow led to a break with Lockhart. Hogg mended his relationship with Blackwood in May, but Blackwood died at the end of the year. Hogg published Tales of the Wars of Montrose in March 1835. James Hogg died on 21 November 1835 and was buried in Ettrick Churchyard, close to his childhood home in the Scottish Borders . In 2021, it was reported that his grave had been preemptively toppled by Scottish Borders Council out of safety concerns and that independent restoration efforts were planned by
9180-574: The Young Men , and gave them names. However, it was not until December 1827 that their ideas took written form, and the imaginary African kingdom of Glass Town came into existence, followed by the Empire of Angria. Emily and Anne created Gondal , an island continent in the North Pacific, ruled by a woman, after the departure of Charlotte in 1831. In the beginning, these stories were written in little books ,
9333-415: The accidental recipient of some proofs since their pseudonyms were thought to be male. Barker also states that Branwell's friends said he claimed authorship of Wuthering Heights (though they may have said this out of loyalty). On 24 September 1848, Brontë died at Haworth parsonage, most likely due to tuberculosis aggravated by delirium tremens , alcoholism, and laudanum and opium addiction , despite
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#17328689712239486-481: The best known. At the end of 1813 Hogg began writing a narrative poem Mador of the Moor set in the central Highlands; he completed it the spring of 1814 but it was not published for another two years. In 1814 Hogg completed a visionary poetic narrative The Pilgrims of the Sun in three weeks, and in the same year he met William Wordsworth and made a visit to the Lake District to see Wordsworth and other poets. In 1815
9639-486: The boarding school free of charge, in return for giving some lessons. After much hesitation, the girls accepted. Neither of them felt particularly attached to their students, and only one, Mademoiselle de Bassompierre, then aged 16, later expressed any affection for her teacher Emily, which appeared to be mutual, and made her a gift of a signed, detailed drawing of a storm ravaged pine tree. The death of their aunt in October of
9792-578: The boarding school, English for Charlotte and music for Emily. However, Charlotte returned alone to Belgium in January 1843. Emily remained critical of Monsieur Héger, in spite of the excellent opinion he held of her. He later stated that she 'had the spirit of a man', and would probably become a great traveller due to her being gifted with a superior faculty of reason that allowed her to deduce ancient knowledge from new spheres of knowledge, and her unbending willpower would have triumphed over all obstacles. Almost
9945-562: The books and toys the children desired. He also accorded them great freedom and unconditional love, although he may have alienated them from the world due to his eccentric personal habits and peculiar theories of education. After several failed attempts to remarry, Patrick accepted permanent widowerhood at the age of 47, and spent his time visiting the sick and the poor, giving sermons and administering communion. In so doing, he would often leave his children Maria, Elizabeth, Emily, Charlotte, Branwell and Anne alone with Elizabeth—Aunt Branwell and
10098-692: The characters of Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights , and Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre , who display the traits of a Byronic hero . Numerous other works left their mark on the Brontës—the Thousand and One Nights , for example, which inspired jinn in which they became themselves in the centre of their kingdoms, while adding a touch of exoticism. The children's imagination was also influenced by three prints of engravings in mezzotint by John Martin around 1820. Charlotte and Branwell made copies of
10251-476: The children of less prosperous members of the clergy, and had been recommended to Mr Brontë. The following year, Maria and Elizabeth fell gravely ill and were removed from the school, later dying on 6 May and 15 June 1825, respectively. Charlotte and Emily were also withdrawn from the school and returned to Haworth. Charlotte expressed the traumatic impact that her sisters' deaths had on her in her future works. In Jane Eyre , Cowan Bridge became Lowood, Maria inspired
10404-501: The children, to whom she was known as 'Aunt Branwell.' Elizabeth Branwell was a Methodist, though it seems that her denomination did not exert any influence on the children. It was Aunt Branwell who taught the children arithmetic, the alphabet, and how to sew, embroider and cross-stitch, skills appropriate for ladies. Aunt Branwell also gave them books and subscribed to Fraser's Magazine , less interesting than Blackwood's , but, nevertheless, providing plenty of material for discussion. She
10557-504: The children. Bradley was an artist of some local repute rather than a professional instructor, but he may well have fostered Branwell's enthusiasm for art and architecture. In 1831, fourteen-year-old Charlotte was enrolled at the school of Miss Wooler in Roe Head, Mirfield . Patrick could have sent his daughter to a less costly school in Keighley nearer home but Miss Wooler and her sisters had
10710-444: The children. Bradley was an artist of some local repute, rather than a professional instructor, but he may well have fostered Branwell's enthusiasm for art and architecture. Bradley emigrated to America in 1831, and Branwell Brontë continued his studies under the portrait painter William Robinson. In 1834, he painted a portrait of his three sisters. He included his own image but became dissatisfied with it and painted it out. This portrait
10863-533: The classics with a view to future employment as a tutor. At the beginning of January 1840, he started his employment with the family of Robert Postlethwaite in Broughton-in-Furness . During this time he wrote letters to his pub friends in Haworth which give "a vivid picture of Branwell's scabrous humour, his boastfulness, and his need to be accepted in a man's world". According to Brontë, he started his job off with
11016-486: The coastal resort of Scarborough . Charlotte, the last living sister, married the Reverend Arthur Bell Nichols, curate of Haworth , in 1854 and died in March 1855, due to complications from pregnancy. Polly Teale wrote a 2005 play entitled Brontë about the three sisters, in which Branwell was portrayed as a drunk and jealous brother due to the growing successes of his sisters. Blake Morrison wrote
11169-587: The community. Wordsworth's "Extempore Effusion upon the Death of James Hogg", written on 30 November, nine days after Hogg's death, includes the lines: The mighty Minstrel breathes no longer, 'Mid mouldering ruins low he lies; And death upon the braes of Yarrow, Has closed the Shepherd-poet's eyes. This eulogy notwithstanding, Wordsworth's notes state "He was undoubtedly a man of original genius, but of coarse manners and low and offensive opinions." Among
11322-586: The destructive rivalry between their heroes, Charlotte's Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Zamorna, and his Alexander Percy, Earl of Northangerland. These writings impress by their virtuosity and scope, but are also repetitive when compared to Charlotte's contributions. Christine Alexander, a Brontë juvenilia historian at the University of New South Wales , wrote "Both Charlotte and Branwell ensured the consistency of their imaginary world. When Branwell exuberantly kills off important characters in his manuscripts, Charlotte comes to
11475-544: The dignity their talent merited, and invited them to the opera for a performance of Rossini 's Barber of Seville . Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights was published in 1847 under the masculine pseudonym Ellis Bell, by Thomas Cautley Newby, in two companion volumes to that of Anne's (Acton Bell), Agnes Grey . Controversial from the start of its release, its originality, its subject, narrative style and troubled action raised intrigue. Certain critics condemned it, but sales were nevertheless considerable for an unknown author of
11628-465: The dining room she noticed a small notebook lying open in the drawer of Emily's portable writing desk and "of my sister Emily's handwriting". She read it and was dazzled by the beauty of the poems that she did not know. The discovery of this treasure was what she recalled five years later, and according to Juliet Barker, she erased the excitement that she had felt "more than surprise ..., a deep conviction that these were not common effusions, nor at all like
11781-426: The door at 9 p.m. with "Don't stay up late, girls!", then rewinding the clock and taking the stairs up to his room. Charlotte's Jane Eyre , Emily's Wuthering Heights and Anne's Agnes Grey appeared in 1847 after many tribulations, again for reasons of finding a publisher. The packets containing the manuscripts were often returned to the parsonage and Charlotte simply added a new address; she did this at least
11934-486: The end of the year he published the first volume of Jacobite Relics . He married Margaret Phillips on 28 April 1820. His second tales collection Winter Evening Tales was published a month later. At the end of the year his father died. The second volume of Jacobite Relics was published in February 1821, and his son James Robert Hogg was born in March 1821. Around this time, Hogg began having serious financial problems. It
12087-693: The exploration of central Africa . The map included with the article highlights geographical features the Brontës reference in their tales: the Jibbel Kumera (the Mountains of the Moon ), Ashantee , and the rivers Niger and Calabar . The author also advises the British to expand into Africa from Fernando Po, where, Christine Alexander notes, the Brontë children locate the Great Glass Town. Their knowledge of geography
12240-496: The fact that his death certificate notes "chronic bronchitis - marasmus " as the cause. Elizabeth Gaskell 's biography of Charlotte reports an eye-witness account that Brontë, wanting to show the power of the human will, decided to die standing up, "and when the last agony began, he insisted on assuming the position just mentioned." On 28 September 1848, he was interred in the family vault. Emily Brontë died of tuberculosis on 19 December of that year and Anne Brontë on 29 May 1849 in
12393-481: The family. He managed to set fire to his bed, after which his father had to sleep with him for the safety of the family. Towards the end of his life he was sending notes to a friend asking of "Five pence (5d) worth of Gin". Charlotte Brontë wrote to her publisher that Branwell died without "ever knowing that his sisters had published a line ." However, according to Juliet Barker's biography, Branwell may have known about his sisters' publication of their poetry, having been
12546-578: The family." Multiple explanations have been given for this, including inappropriate relationships with a Robinson daughter or son, or that he had passed forged cheques. The most likely explanation is Brontë's own account that he had an affair with Mrs Robinson which Brontë hoped would lead to marriage after her husband's death. For several months after his dismissal, he regularly received small amounts of money from Thorp Green, sent by Mrs. Robinson herself, probably to dissuade him from blackmailing his former employer and lover. Brontë returned home to his family at
12699-782: The film Emily (2022) he was portrayed by Fionn Whitehead . (written with his sisters) Bront%C3%AB family The Brontës ( / ˈ b r ɒ n t i z / ) were a nineteenth-century literary family, born in the village of Thornton and later associated with the village of Haworth in the West Riding of Yorkshire , England . The sisters, Charlotte (1816–1855), Emily (1818–1848) and Anne (1820–1849), are well-known poets and novelists. Like many contemporary female writers, they published their poems and novels under male pseudonyms: Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. Their stories attracted attention for their passion and originality immediately following their publication. Charlotte's Jane Eyre
12852-473: The first time. Héger had first shown them to Mrs. Gaskell when she visited him in 1856 while researching her biography The Life of Charlotte Brontë , but she concealed their true significance. These letters, referred to as the "Héger Letters", had been ripped up at some stage by Héger, but his wife had retrieved the pieces from the wastepaper bin and meticulously glued or sewn them back together. Paul Héger, Constantin's son, and his sisters gave these letters to
13005-410: The first time; he had died the previous year. From this moment, the name Byron became synonymous with all the prohibitions and audacities as if it had stirred up the very essence of the rise of those forbidden things. Branwell's Charlotte Zamorna, one of the heroes of Verdopolis , tends towards increasingly ambiguous behaviour, and the same influence and evolution recur with the Brontës, especially in
13158-544: The geography, history, government, and social structure of the Glass Town Federation (and later, the new kingdom of Angria)—laying down the parameters of the imaginary world". He often wrote under several pseudonyms, such as Captain John Bud, Sergeant Bud, and Chief Genius Bany, who were also characters in their world. Surrounded by female company and missing that of males, there are signs of pleasure in his early works of
13311-399: The initials of each of the sisters were preserved and the patronym could have been inspired by that of the vicar of the parish, Arthur Bell Nicholls. It was in fact on 18 May 1845 that he took up his duties at Haworth, at the moment when the publication project was well advanced. The book attracted hardly any attention. Only three copies were sold, of which one was purchased by Fredrick Enoch,
13464-551: The inner circle. As other writers such as Walter Maginn and Thomas de Quincey joined, he became not merely excluded from the lion's share of publication in Maga, but a figure of fun in its pages. Wilson and Lockhart were dangerous friends. Hogg's Memoirs of the Author's Life were savagely attacked by an anonymous reviewer, causing Hogg to temporarily break with Blackwood's , and go to work for Constable's smaller Edinburgh Magazine . In 1822
13617-527: The key themes of Scottish culture and identity: Calvinism . In a 2006 interview with Melvyn Bragg for ITV1 , Scottish novelist Irvine Welsh cited Hogg, especially The Confessions as a major influence on his writing. A James Hogg Society was founded in 1981 to encourage the study of his life and writings. Hogg's story "The Brownie of the Black Haggs" was dramatised for BBC Radio 4 in 2003 by Scottish playwright Marty Ross as part of his "Darker Side of
13770-440: The lack of heating and adequate clothing, the periodic epidemics of illness such as "low fever" (probably typhus), the severity and arbitrariness of the punishments, and even the harshness of particular teachers (a Miss Andrews who taught at Cowan Bridge is thought to have been Charlotte's model for Miss Scatcherd in Jane Eyre ). Elizabeth Gaskell , a personal friend and the first biographer of Charlotte, confirmed that Cowan Bridge
13923-527: The last man in the Border country to speak with the fairies . James was the second eldest of four brothers, his siblings being William, David, and Robert (from eldest to youngest). Robert and David later emigrated to the United States, while James and William remained in Scotland for their entire lives. James attended a parish school for a few months before his education was stopped due to his father's bankruptcy as
14076-469: The late 20th and early 21st centuries. Now his novel The Three Perils of Woman is also considered a classic and all his work, including his letters, is undergoing major publication in the Stirling/South Carolina editions. However, Justified Sinner remains his most important work and is now seen as one of the major Scottish novels of its time, and absolutely crucial in terms of exploring one of
14229-563: The letter or even make the trip to London. According to Francis Leyland , Brontë's friend and a future biographer of the family, his first job was as an usher at a Halifax school. More certainly, Brontë worked as a portrait painter in Bradford in 1838 and 1839. Though certain of his paintings, for example that of his landlady Mrs. Kirby and a portrait of Emily show talent for comedic and serious styles, other portraits lack life. He returned to Haworth in debt in 1839. With his father, Brontë reviewed
14382-585: The lover of a young woman named Catherine Henderson, and in the same autumn he attempted unsuccessfully to establish himself as an independent farmer. Hogg's first collection, The Mountain Bard , was published in February 1807 by Constable . At the end of summer 1807 his daughter by Catherine Henderson was born, baptised on 13 December as Catherine Hogg. In 1837 she married David Lauder and they named their son James Hogg Lauder. Catherine Henderson herself went on to marry David Laidlaw in 1812. Hogg continued working as
14535-543: The magazine suggesting himself as a replacement. Between 1835 and 1842, Brontë wrote a total of six times to the magazine, sending poems and arrogantly offering his services. His letters were left unanswered. He began enjoying masculine company in the pubs in Haworth, and in February 1836 joined Haworth's Masonic Lodge of the Three Graces at the youngest possible age. In 1829–30, Patrick Brontë engaged John Bradley , an artist from neighbouring Keighley , as drawing-master for
14688-457: The negative influences that never left them and which were reflected in the works of their later, more mature years, the Brontë children absorbed them eagerly. The periodicals that Patrick Brontë read were a mine of information for his children. The Leeds Intelligencer and Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine , conservative and well written, but better than the Quarterly Review that defended
14841-659: The never removed spectacles." In January 1843, after nine months at Haworth, Brontë took up another tutoring position in Thorp Green, Little Ouseburn , near York, where he was to tutor the Reverend Edmund Robinson's young son. His sister Anne had been the governess there since May 1840. As usual, at first things went well, with Charlotte reporting in January 1843 that her siblings were "both wonderously valued in their situations." During his 30 months service Branwell corresponded with several old friends about his increasing infatuation with Robinson's wife Lydia, née Gisborne,
14994-467: The novel's republication and thus condemned her sister to temporary oblivion. The master theme is the alcoholism of a man who causes the downfall of his family. Helen Graham, the central character, gets married for love to Arthur Huntingdon, whom she soon discovers to be lecherous, violent and alcoholic. She is forced to break with the conventions that would keep her in the family home that has become hell, and to leave with her child to seek secret refuge in
15147-447: The offspring of different prelates and even certain acquaintances of Patrick Brontë including William Wilberforce , young women whose fathers had also been educated at St John's College, Cambridge. Thus Brontë believed Wilson's school to have many of the necessary guarantees needed for his daughters to receive proper schooling. In 1829–30, Patrick Brontë engaged John Bradley , an artist from neighbouring Keighley , as drawing-master for
15300-488: The old house of Wildfell Hall. When the alcohol causes her husband's ultimate decline, she returns to care for him in total abnegation until his death. Today, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is considered by most of the critics to be one of the first sustained feminist novels. In 1850, a little over a year after the deaths of Emily and Anne, Charlotte wrote a preface for the re-print of the combined edition of Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey , in which she publicly revealed
15453-441: The parsonage at Haworth, where he took up the post of perpetual curate . (Haworth was an ancient chapelry in the large parish of Bradford , so he could not be rector or vicar.) They had six children. On the death of his wife in 1821, his sister-in-law, Elizabeth Branwell , came from Penzance , Cornwall , to help him bring up the children. Open, intelligent, generous and dedicated to educating his children personally, he bought all
15606-491: The play We are Three Sisters (2011), a re-working of Chekhov 's Three Sisters based on the lives of the Brontë sisters and featuring Branwell and Mrs Robinson, which premiered in Halifax on 9 September before touring. British novelist Robert Edric wrote Sanctuary (2014), a novel chronicling Branwell's final months, during which family secrets are revealed and he learns about the publication of his sisters' books. Branwell
15759-410: The poetry women generally write. I thought them condensed and terse, vigorous and genuine. To my ear, they had a peculiar music—wild, melancholy, and elevating." In the following paragraph Charlotte describes her sister's indignant reaction at her having ventured into such an intimate realm with impunity. It took Emily hours to calm down and days to be convinced to publish the poems. Charlotte envisaged
15912-541: The prints Belshazzar's Feast , Déluge , and Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still upon Gibeon (1816), which hung on the walls of the parsonage. Martin's fantastic architecture is reflected in the Glass Town and Angrian writings, where he appears himself among Branwell's characters and under the name of Edward de Lisle, the greatest painter and portraitist of Verdopolis, the capital of Glass Town. One of Sir Edward de Lisle's major works, Les Quatre Genii en Conseil ,
16065-564: The project in any case. His experiences on his Highland tours were described in letters to Scott which were published in the Scots Magazine . On his way back to Ettrickhouse in 1803 he dined with the novelist John Galt in Greenock. In 1805–06 he worked as a shepherd in Dumfriesshire , meeting the poet Allan Cunningham and becoming friends with him and his family. In October 1806 he became
16218-464: The publisher William Blackwood in the aftermath of his own publisher John Goldie's 1814 bankruptcy, and in 1817 he helped with the start of Blackwood's Edinburgh Monthly Magazine . He published his two volume collection Dramatic Tales in May. In 1818 his collection The Brownie of Bodsbeck ; and Other Tales was published by Blackwood. At this time Hogg was busy with his work Jacobite Relics . In 1819 he proposed marriage to Margaret Phillips. At
16371-438: The publisher of Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey , had launched a rumour that the three novels were the work of one author, understood to be Ellis Bell (Emily). George Smith was extremely surprised to find two gawky, ill-dressed country girls paralysed with fear, who, to identify themselves, held out the letters addressed to Messrs. Acton, Currer and Ellis Bell . Taken by such surprise, he introduced them to his mother with all
16524-514: The reading public at large Hogg was, during his lifetime, one of the most admired writers of the day, but this admiration was largely for his success in overcoming the disadvantages of his peasant birth and lack of education. He was considered a man of great natural genius whose uncouth style and subject-matter, so natural for the clownish figure depicted in the Noctes Ambrosianae , should not be held against him. A collected edition of his works
16677-478: The real identities of all three sisters. Conditions at the school at Cowan Bridge, where Maria and Elizabeth may have contracted the tuberculosis from which they died, were probably no worse than those at many other schools of the time. (For example, several decades before the Brontë sisters' experience at Cowan Bridge, Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra contracted typhus at a similar boarding school, and Jane nearly died. The Austen sisters' education, like that of
16830-463: The recommendation of a pastor based in Brussels, who wanted to be of help, Belgium was chosen, where they could also study German and music. Aunt Branwell provided the funds for the Brussels project. Emily and Charlotte arrived in Brussels in February 1842 accompanied by their father. Once there, they enrolled at Monsieur and Madame Héger's boarding school in the Rue d'Isabelle, for six months. Claire Héger
16983-562: The rescue and, in effect, resurrects them for the next stories [...]; and when Branwell becomes bored with his inventions, such as the Glass Town magazine he edits, Charlotte takes over his initiative and keeps the publication going for several more years. It was Branwell, however, who took a pride in systematizing their private world and maintaining a consistent political structure, features typical of paracosmic play. He documented in encyclopaedic detail, in neat lists, footnotes, sketches, and maps,
17136-540: The route followed by Charlotte's and Anne's protagonists, even if the riches they win are more those of the heart than of the wallet. Apart from its Gothic elements, Wuthering Heights moves like a Greek tragedy and possesses its music, the cosmic dimensions of the epics of John Milton , and the power of the Shakespearian theatre. One can hear the echoes of King Lear as well as the completely different characters of Romeo and Juliet . The Brontës were also seduced by
17289-414: The same political ideas whilst addressing a less-refined readership (the reason Mr. Brontë did not read it), were exploited in every detail. Blackwood's Magazine , in particular, was not only the source of their knowledge of world affairs, but also provided material for the Brontës' early writing. For instance, an article in the June 1826 number of Blackwood's , provides commentary on new discoveries from
17442-509: The same year forced them to return once more to Haworth. Aunt Branwell had left all her worldly goods in equal shares to her nieces and to Eliza Kingston, a cousin in Penzance, which had the immediate effect of purging all their debts and providing a small reserve of funds. Nevertheless, they were asked to return to the Héger's boarding school in Brussels as they were regarded as being competent and were needed. They were each offered teaching posts in
17595-474: The school, a few weeks before the deaths of Maria and Elizabeth. James Hogg James Hogg (1770 – 21 November 1835) was a Scottish poet, novelist and essayist who wrote in both Scots and English. As a young man he worked as a shepherd and farmhand, and was largely self-educated through reading. He was a friend of many of the great writers of his day, including Sir Walter Scott , of whom he later wrote an unauthorised biography . He became widely known as
17748-521: The sculptor Joseph Bentley Leyland and Francis Grundy. He obtained employment with the Manchester and Leeds Railway , initially as 'assistant clerk in charge' at Sowerby Bridge railway station , where he was paid £75 per annum (paid quarterly). Later, on 1 April 1841, he was promoted to 'clerk in charge' at Luddendenfoot railway station in West Yorkshire, where his salary increased to £130. In 1842 he
17901-546: The sisters' father, decided on the alternative spelling with the diaeresis over the terminal ⟨e⟩ to indicate that the name has two syllables. Multiple theories exist to account for the change, including that he may have wished to hide his humble origins. As a man of letters , he would have been familiar with classical Greek and may have chosen the name after the Greek βροντή ( transl. thunder ). One view, which biographer C. K. Shorter proposed in 1896,
18054-399: The size of a matchbox about 1.5 by 2.5 inches (38 mm × 64 mm) and cursorily bound with thread. The pages were filled with close, minute writing, often in capital letters without punctuation and embellished with illustrations, detailed maps, schemes, landscapes and plans of buildings, created by the children according to their specialisations. The idea was that the books were of
18207-416: The wider options he would have due to his sex. Aged 11 in January 1829 he began producing a magazine, later named Branwell's Blackwood's Magazine which included his poems, plays, criticisms, histories, and dialogues. Unlike his sisters, Brontë was not prepared for a specific career. In his only real attempt to find work, on the death of James Hogg , a Blackwood's writer, the 18-year-old Brontë boldly wrote to
18360-449: The word pronntach or bronntach , which is related to the word bronnadh , meaning "giving" or "bestowal" ( pronn is given as an Ulster version of bronn in O'Reilly's Irish English Dictionary .) Patrick Woulfe suggested that it was derived from proinnteach (the refectory of a monastery ). Ó Pronntaigh was earlier anglicised as Prunty and sometimes Brunty . At some point, Patrick Brontë (born Brunty),
18513-413: The writings of Walter Scott , and in 1834 Charlotte exclaimed, "For fiction, read Walter Scott and only him—all novels after his are without value." Through their father's influence and their own intellectual curiosity, they were able to benefit from an education that placed them among knowledgeable people, but Mr Brontë's emoluments were modest. The only options open to the girls were either marriage or
18666-637: The year he met with Walter Scott for the last time. In early 1831 Hogg's Songs, by The Ettrick Shepherd was published, but the publishing of the companion volume A Queer Book was held up by Blackwood. Hogg's last child, his daughter Mary, was born in August. At the end of the year he quarrelled with Blackwood, and decided to publish his works in London . In 1832 his Altrive Tales was published in London, while Blackwood finally published A Queer Book in April or May. Hogg
18819-502: The young Helen Burns, the cruel mistress Miss Andrews inspired the headmistress Miss Scatcherd, and the tyrannical headmaster Rev. Carus Wilson , Mr Brocklehurst. Tuberculosis, which afflicted Maria and Elizabeth in 1825, also caused the eventual deaths of three of the surviving Brontës: Branwell in September 1848, Emily in December 1848, and, finally, Anne in May 1849. Patrick Brontë faced
18972-506: Was Charlotte's model for Lowood and insisted that conditions there in Charlotte's day were egregious. More recent biographers have argued that the food, clothing, heating, medical care and discipline at Cowan Bridge were not considered sub-standard for religious schools of the time, testaments of the era's complacency about these intolerable conditions. One scholar has commended Patrick Brontë for his perspicacity in removing all his daughters from
19125-491: Was Patrick Prunty or Brunty. His mother, Alice McClory, was of the Roman Catholic faith, whilst his father Hugh was a Protestant, and Patrick was brought up in his father's faith. He was a bright young man and, after studying under the Rev. Thomas Tighe, won a scholarship to St John's College, Cambridge . There, he studied divinity, ancient history and modern history. Attending Cambridge may have made him feel that his name
19278-628: Was a generous person who dedicated her life to her nieces and nephew, neither marrying nor returning to visit her relations in Cornwall. She probably told the children stories of events that had happened in Cornwall, such as raids by pirates in the eighteenth century, who carried off British residents to be enslaved in North Africa and Turkey; enslavement in Turkey is mentioned by Charlotte Brontë in Jane Eyre . She died of bowel obstruction in October 1842, after
19431-409: Was a great success and rapidly outsold Emily's Wuthering Heights . However, the critical reception was mixed—praise for the novel's "power" and "effect" and sharp criticism for being "coarse". Charlotte Brontë herself, Anne's sister, wrote to her publisher that it "hardly seems to me desirable to preserve ... the choice of subject in that work is a mistake." After Anne's death, Charlotte prevented
19584-631: Was agreed to offer the future pupils the opportunity of correctly learning modern languages and that preparation for this should be done abroad, which led to a further decision. Among the possibilities, Paris and Lille were considered, but were rejected due to aversion to the French. Indeed, the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars had not been forgotten by the Tory -spirited and deeply conservative girls. On
19737-478: Was appointed to the perpetual curacy in 1821. While four of his five sisters were sent to Cowan Bridge boarding school, Branwell was educated at home by his father, who gave him a classical education. Elizabeth Gaskell , biographer of his sister, Charlotte Brontë , says of Branwell's schooling "Mr. Brontë's friends advised him to send his son to school; but, remembering both the strength of will of his own youth and his mode of employing it, he believed that Branwell
19890-401: Was better at home, and that he himself could teach him well, as he had told others before." His two eldest sisters died just before his eighth birthday in 1825, and their loss affected him deeply. Even as a young boy Brontë read extensively, and was especially fond of the " Noctes Ambrosianae ", literary dialogues published in Blackwood's Magazine . He took a leadership role with Charlotte in
20043-460: Was born after Charlotte and before Emily, were very close to each other. As children, they developed their imaginations first through oral storytelling and play, set in an intricate imaginary world, and then through the collaborative writing of increasingly complex stories set in their fictional world. The deaths of their mother and two older sisters marked them and influenced their writing profoundly, as did their isolated upbringing. They were raised in
20196-449: Was born at the end of the year. Hogg's collection Select and Rare Scotish Melodies was published in 1829, and he continued to write songs and contribute to annuals throughout 1828–29, while The Shepherd's Calendar was published in book form in Spring, 1829. In 1830 he started publishing in the new Fraser's Magazine , which helped to alleviate a further financial crisis, and at the end of
20349-534: Was born in Penzance , Cornwall, and came from a comfortably well-off, middle-class family. Her father had a flourishing tea and grocery store and had accumulated considerable wealth. Maria died at the age of 38 of uterine cancer . She married the same day as her younger sister Charlotte in the church at Guiseley after her fiancé had celebrated the union of two other couples. She was a literate and pious woman, known for her lively spirit, joyfulness and tenderness, and it
20502-505: Was born in April, and later in the year he published his novel The Three Perils of Woman . In June 1824 he published his best known work, the novel The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner . His epic poem Queen Hynde was published at the end of the year. In 1825 he found a new and lucrative market for his works as he began publishing in a literary annual called the Literary Souvenir . In 1825 Hogg's daughter Maggie
20655-416: Was born on a small farm near Ettrick , Selkirkshire , Scotland in 1770 and was baptised there on 9 December, his actual date of birth having never been recorded. His father, Robert Hogg (1729–1820), was a tenant farmer while his mother, Margaret Hogg (née Laidlaw) (1730–1813), was noted for collecting native Scottish ballads . Margaret Laidlaw's father, known as Will o' Phawhope, was said to have been
20808-521: Was born, and he began writing a new prose work, later titled Tales of the Wars of Montrose . In 1826 Hogg was in serious trouble with his debts, while the firm of Constable collapsed, involving Walter Scott and Hogg's friend John Aiken. In 1827 his debts began to lighten as his Shepherd's Calendar pieces were being published, and he was getting more and more applications to contribute to annuals. The death of his father-in-law, whose family Hogg had been supporting, gave him relief. His third daughter Harriet
20961-408: Was completed by Goldsmith's Grammar of General Geography , which the Brontës owned and annotated heavily. From 1833, Charlotte and Branwell's Angrian tales begin to feature Byronic heroes who have a strong sexual magnetism and passionate spirit, and demonstrate arrogance and even black-heartedness. Again, it is in an article in Blackwood's Magazine from August 1825 that they discover the poet for
21114-465: Was dismissed due to a deficit in the accounts of £11–1s–7d (£11.06) This had probably been stolen by Watson, the porter, who was left in charge when Brontë went drinking. This was attributed to incompetence rather than theft and the missing sum was deducted from his salary. A description by Francis Leyland of Brontë at this time described him as "rather below middle height, but of a refined and gentleman-like appearance, and of graceful manners. His complexion
21267-593: Was fair and his features handsome; his mouth and chin were well-shaped; his nose was prominent and of the Roman type; his eyes sparkled and danced with delight, and his forehead made up of a face of oval form which gave an irresistible charm to its possessor, and attracted the admiration of those who knew him." Another described him less flatteringly as "almost insignificantly small" and with "a mass of red hair which he wore brushed off his forehead – to help his height I fancy... small ferrety eyes, deep sunk and still further hidden by
21420-510: Was first given by Patrick Woulfe in his Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall ( transl. Surnames of the Gael and the Foreigner ) and reproduced without question by Edward MacLysaght , cannot be accepted as correct, as there were a number of well-known scribes with this name writing in Irish in the 17th and 18th centuries and all of them used the spelling Ó Pronntaigh . The name is derived from
21573-491: Was loaned Justified Sinner by Raymond Mortimer . Gide was amazed, writing that "It is long since I can remember being so taken hold of, so voluptuously tormented by any book." Its republication in 1947, with an enthusiastic introduction by Gide, helped bring about the modern critical and academic appreciation of this novel. Growing interest in The Confessions led to the rediscovery and reconsideration of his other work in
21726-459: Was not going to marry Branwell, who then "declined into chronic alcoholism , opiates and debt". Charlotte's letters from this time demonstrate that she was angered by his behaviour. In January 1847, he wrote to his friend Leyland about the easy existence he hoped for: "to try and make myself a name in the world of posterity, without being pestered by the small but countless botherments." His behaviour became increasingly impossible and embarrassing to
21879-404: Was notable mainly as an example of triumph over adverse circumstances. Apart from Justified Sinner , which even his detractors acknowledged as unusually powerful (and often attributed to someone else, usually Lockhart), his novels were regarded as turgid, his verse as light, his short tales and articles as ephemera. This situation only began to change in 1924, when the French writer André Gide
22032-404: Was offered a large sum to edit a collection of the works of Robert Burns, but the bankruptcy of his London publisher stopped the publication of his Altrive Tales after the first of the twelve projected volumes. In 1833 Hogg had an accident while curling , falling through the ice, causing a serious illness. In 1834 his biographical work Familiar Anecdotes of Sir Walter Scott was published in
22185-546: Was one of the great figures of English Romanticism , along with William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge , and he shared the prejudice of the times; literature, or more particularly poetry (for women had been publishing fiction and enjoying critical, popular and economic success for over a century by this time), was considered a man's business, and not an appropriate occupation for ladies. However, Charlotte did not allow herself to be discouraged. Furthermore, coincidence came to her aid. One day in autumn 1845 while alone in
22338-429: Was ordained on 10 August 1806. He is the author of Cottage Poems (1811), The Rural Minstrel (1814), numerous pamphlets, several newspaper articles and various rural poems. In 1811, Patrick was appointed minister at Hartshead-cum-Clifton. In 1812, he met and married 29 year old Maria Branwell at Guiseley. In 1813, they moved to Clough House Hightown, Liversedge, West Riding of Yorkshire and by 1820 they had moved into
22491-429: Was published in the 1830s, after Hogg's death, pruned of some passages which offended the increasing delicacy of the age, and another Works of the Ettrick Shepherd was prepared in the 1860s which took the process even further; some works, for example The Three Perils of Woman , were excluded altogether. Victorian readers of these emasculated texts naturally came to the conclusion that Hogg had been overrated, and that he
22644-535: Was she who designed the samplers that are on display in the museum and had them embroidered by her children. She left memories with her husband and with Charlotte, the oldest surviving sibling, of a very vivacious woman. The younger ones, particularly Emily and Anne, admitted to retaining only vague images of their mother, especially of her suffering on her sickbed. Elizabeth Branwell (2 December 1776 – 29 October 1842) arrived from Penzance in 1821, aged 45, after her younger sister Maria's death, to help Patrick look after
22797-512: Was the first to know success, while Emily's Wuthering Heights , Anne's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and other works were accepted as masterpieces of literature after their deaths. The first Brontë children to be born to rector Patrick Brontë and his wife Maria were Maria (1814–1825) and Elizabeth (1815–1825), who both died at young ages due to disease. Charlotte, Emily and Anne were then born within approximately four years. These three sisters and their brother, Branwell (1817–1848), who
22950-541: Was the second wife of Constantin, and it was she who founded and directed the school while Constantin had the responsibility for the higher French classes. According to Miss Wheelwright, a former pupil, he had the intellect of a genius. He was passionate about his auditorium, demanding many lectures, perspectives, and structured analyses. He was also a good-looking man with regular features, bushy hair, very black whiskers, and wore an excited expression while sounding forth on great authors about whom he invited his students to make
23103-548: Was there in August 1846, when Charlotte arrived at his bedside that she began to write Jane Eyre . Meanwhile, her brother Branwell fell into a rapid decline punctuated by dramas, drunkenness and delirium. Due partly to Branwell's poor reputation, the school project failed and was abandoned. Charlotte wrote four long, very personal, and sometimes vague letters to Monsieur Héger that never received replies. The extent of Charlotte Brontë's feelings for Héger were not fully realised until 1913, when her letters to him were published for
23256-668: Was through the Edinburgh Monthly Magazine , soon renamed Blackwood's Magazine , that Hogg found fame, although it was not the sort that he wanted. Launched as a counter-blast to the Whig Edinburgh Review , Blackwood wanted punchy content in his new publication. He found his ideal contributors in John Wilson (who wrote as Christopher North) and John Gibson Lockhart (later Walter Scott's son-in-law and biographer). Their first published article, "The Chaldee Manuscript",
23409-401: Was too Irish and he changed its spelling to Brontë (and its pronunciation accordingly), perhaps in honour of Horatio Nelson , whom Patrick admired. It is more likely, however, that his brother William was 'on the run' from the authorities for his involvement with the radical United Irishmen , leading Patrick to distance himself from the name Brunty. Having obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree, he
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