The Bronte sisters Anne, Emily, and Charlotte painted by their brother Patrick Branwell Bronte circa 1834.
Branwell originally painted himself in the portrait, but eventually painted over his image.
To say the canonical works skew male is an understatement.
The Brontë sisters Anne, Emily, and Charlotte painted by their brother Patrick Branwell Brontë circa 1834. Branwell originally painted himself in the portrait, but eventually painted over his image. (Photo:National Portrait Gallery, London,CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)
However, three sisters in 19th-century England managed to bust their way into the male-dominated world of publishing.
TheBronte sistersCharlotte, Emily, and Anneeach penned classics that are still read today.
Three fascinating lives lie behind their published works.
The Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth, Yorkshire, England. (Photo: DeFacto viaWikimedia Commons,CC BY-SA 4.0)
Discover who these pioneering women were, and you might even want to readWuthering Heights again.
The Brontes, A Family of Writers
The Bronte Parsonage Museum in Haworth, Yorkshire, England.
The father,Patrick Bronte, was a clergyman in the Church of England.
“Charlotte Brontë,” by George Richmond inchalk, 1850, NPG 1452. (Photo:© National Portrait Gallery, London,CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)
Of the six children in the family, only four lived to adulthood.
The children were well educated both at school and at home.
However, the girls had to work to help support the family once they were old enough.
Left: “Wuthering Heights,” by Emily Brontë, title page from 1847 with pen name Ellis Bell. (Photo:Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)Right: Painting by Patrick Branwell Brontë of what may be Emily Brontë. The painting is a subject of dispute over whether Emily or Anne is depicted. (Photo:Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)
All three at some point worked as governesses and teachers, a job that all of them generally disliked.
The sisters would eventually return to the family parsonage in Haworthwhich is now a museum in their honor.
Their brother,Patrick Branwell Bronte, was a painter and poet.
Upper Left: Watercolor of Anne Brontë by her sister Charlotte, 1834. (Photo:Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)Lower Left: Anne Brontë in a pencil sketch by Charlotte, 1845. (Photo:Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)Right: The title page of the first edition of “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall,” by Anne Brontë (aka Acton Bell), 1848. (Photo:Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)
Charlotte and Emily too were both talented artists, as can be seen in their surviving sketches and watercolors.
Unfortunately, Branwellthe second oldest siblingstruggled with drug and alcohol use which hampered his creative pursuits.
All four Bronte siblings would die tragically young.
Left: The pseudonyms of the sisters signed in their own hands. (Photo:Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)Right: Title page from the 1846 first edition of “Poems” by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (the sisters). (Photo:Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)
Charlotte Bronte
Charlotte Bronte, by George Richmond inchalk, 1850, NPG 1452.
Shestarted writingpoetryearly on in life.
Charlotte did not take this advice.
Instead, she began writing novels.
The novel was published in 1847 under the nameCurrer Bell.
The novel was billed as a fictional autobiography.
Jane Eyrewas a radical Bildungsromanfirst-person story following the thoughts and growth of Jane.
A romance with proto-feminist themes,Jane Eyrehas received countless adaptations on stage and screen.
In addition to her poetry, Charlotte wrote two further novels published in 1849 and 1853.
Charlotte married Arthur Bell Nicholls, but in 1855 passed away while pregnant with their first child.
At the time it was thought tuberculosis caused her death, but modern opinions differ.
In 1857, the novelist Elizabeth Gaskell wrote a biography of Charlotte entitledThe Life of Charlotte Bronte.
The biography firmly established Charlotte as an important author to be remembered.
The painting is a subject of dispute over whether Emily or Anne is depicted.
However, she reportedly detested the profession and was reputed to be a rather odd, reclusive character.
The sisters lived much of their life in the parsonage.
We are such odd animals that we prefer this mode of contrivance to having a new face among us.
Charlotte also once described her shy sister’s secret power and fire.
Emily’s writings were initially published under the nameEllis Bell.
She joined her sisters in publishing a collective volume of poetry in 1846.
In 1847, she published her first and only novel,Wuthering Heights.
The moors on which the novel is set are reminiscent of the sisters' home surroundings.
Less is know about Emily than is about her elder sister.
She and her younger sibling Anne created their own world namedGondalabout which Emily wrote poems.
She contracted tuberculosis only a couple months after her brother Branwell in late 1848.
Despite her sadly short life,handwritten poemsby the reclusive author are incredibly coveted by collectors and libraries.
Anne Bronte
Upper Left: Watercolor of Anne Bronte by her sister Charlotte, 1834.
She and Emily were particularly close.
Like her sisters, she served as a governess for a wealthy family.
She had a miserable time with spoiled children and overly indulgent parents.
The main character Agnes is a governess, much like the author Acton Bell (secretly Anne).
About six months afterAgnes Gray, Anne’sThe Tenant of Wildfell Hallwas published.
The book follows a single, artist mother.
It is later revealed that she flees an abusive husband.
One wrote of Anne’s work, There is nothing kindly in [this] author’s powerful mind.
Another commented, [No] woman could have written such a work.
Brutal and coarse were words often used by critics describing the sisters' works.
Some praised the unflinching descriptions of humanity’s worst impulses.
Others found them too unforgiving.
Anne passed away young, much like Emily.
At 29 she contracted tuberculosis and died after a prolonged illness in 1849.
Lasting Legacy
The only surviving sibling, Charlotte, was left alone at only 33 years old.
Charlotte was a guiding hand in shaping the family legacy.
Several years later, Charlotte married Arthur Bell Nicholls, the curate at her father’s parsonage.
Charlotte was 38 years old.
Today, there are many adaptations of their works.
Left: The pseudonyms of the sisters signed in their own hands.
