The Lives and Works of the Brontë Sisters: A Literary Legacy, Appunti di Inglese

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Only Connect 2: E57- 73 Charlotte, Emily, Anne Brontë Daughters of the Reverend Patrick Bronte, Irishman educated at Cambridge and curate first in Essex then in Yorkshire, and Maria Branwell, who died in1821 — six children, five daughters and a son Mr. Brontë, who was then rector at Haworth, was a man of remarkable intelligence with a rather eccentric personality, who spent most of the day in his study in Yorkshire — he asked his sister-in-law, Elizabeth Branwell to come to Haworth and look after the children but they were left much to themselves 1824 — four of the five girls were sent to a school for clergymen's daughters, where the fees were low, but the food bad and the discipline extremely hard — Maria and Elizabeth (two eldest), died, probably of tuberculosis — Charlotte and Emily were brought back home The children spent their time in unmethodical study, reading, painting, composing youthful novels, poems, stories, and they also liked to live mentally in fantastic lands, in a world created by their dreams Of the three sisters, Charlotte lived longer away from home, first in a boarding school, then, in Brussels to learn French, where Emily also spent six months and where Charlotte returned for a second time Charlotte and Emily tried to open a school of their own in Haworth, but they found no pupils 1846 — Charlotte, Emily and Anne jointly published, at their own expense, a volume of poems, but it attracted no attention — they devoted themselves to novel writing All the Bronte children had a tragic destiny: Anne died in 1849, at the age of 29; Emily died at 30, in 1848; the only brother, Patrick Branwell, a talented painter, in whom his sisters had centred all their hopes, died in 1848 after a dissolute life; Charlotte, who in 1854 had married a curate, died in 1855, at the age of 39, after less than a year of married life WORKS Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell (1846) - Charlotte (1816-1855) — Jane Eyre (1847), Shirley (1849), The Professor (published posthumously in 1857), Villette (1853) - Emily (1818-1848) — Wuthering Heights (1847) - Anne (1820-1849) — Agnes Grey (1847), The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848) Life, CHARLOTTE Brontë Life, believe, is not a dream So dark as sages say; Oft a little morning rain Foretells a pleasant day. Sometimes there are clouds of gloom, But these are transient all; If the shower will make the roses bloom, O why lament its fall? Rapidly, merrily, Life's sunny hours flit by, Gratefully, cheerily Enjoy them as they fly! What though Death at times steps in, And calls our Best away? What though sorrow seems to win, O'er hope, a heavy sway? Yet Hope again elastic springs, Unconquered, though she fell; Still buoyant are her golden wings, Still strong to bear us well. Manfully, fearlessly, The day of trial bear, For gloriously, victoriously, Can courage quell despair! EMILY BRONTË Emily was the author of only one novel, a masterpiece She almost always lived at Haworth, and she loved the wild moorlands She gave romantic voice to the Victorian novel, but the voice of a mystic romanticism, in which the poet is a link between human nature and a transcendental world She firmly believed in the possibility of interpenetration between the world of the living and the world of spiritual beings who have left this world, a belief which she also put into Wuthering Heights. Wuthering Heights PLOT — not simple, as it involves two generations In the late winter months of 1801 Lockwood rents Thrushcross Grange, a manor in the isolated moor country of England. Here, he meets his dour landlord, Heatcliff, a wealthy man who lives in the ancient manor of Wuthering Heights, four miles away from the Grange. In this wild, stormy countryside, Lockwood asks his housekeeper, Nelly Dean, to tell him the story of Heathcliff. Nelly consents, and Lockwood writes down his recollections of her tale in his diary. Nelly remembers her childhood. As a young girl, she works as a servant at Wuthering Heights for the owner of the manor, Mr. Earnshaw, and his family. The hero of the story is Heathcliff, a parentless gipsy waif. Mr Earnshaw, master of Wuthering Heights, pickes him up in the streets of Liverpool, moved by pity, and rears him together with his own children, Catherine and Hindley. Heathcliff and Catherine grow inseparable and spend their days playing on the moors. After his wife’s death, Mr. Earnshaw grows to prefer Heathcliff to his own son, and when Hindley continues his cruelty to Heathcliff, Mr. Earnshaw sends Hindley away to college, keeping Heathcliff nearby. Three years later, Mr. Earnshaw dies, and Hindley inherits Wuthering Heights. He returns with a wife, Frances, and immediately seeks revenge on Heathcliff, treating him as a common laborer, forced to work in the fields. Heathcliff continues his close relationship with Catherine, however. One night they wander to Thrushcross Grange and Catherine is bitten by a dog and is forced to stay at the Grange to heal for five weeks, during which time Mrs. Linton works to make her a proper young lady. By the time Catherine returns, she has become infatuated with Edgar, and her relationship with Heathcliff grows more complicated. Catherine’s desire for social advancement prompts her to become engaged to Edgar Linton, despite her overpowering love for Heathcliff. One day, overhearing that she considers a possible marriage with him degrading for her, Heathcliff runs away from Wuthering Heights, staying away for three years. He returns rich, thirsting for revenge and still in love with Catherine, who is now married to Edgar Linton. When Hindley dies, Heathcliff inherits the manor. He also places himself in line to inherit Thrushcross Grange by marrying Isabella Linton, whom he treats very cruelly. Catherine becomes ill, gives birth to a daughter, and dies. Heathcliff begs her spirit to remain on Earth—she may take whatever form she will, she may haunt him, drive him mad—just as long as she does not leave him alone. Shortly thereafter, Isabella flees to London and gives birth to Heathcliff’s son, named Linton after her family. She keeps the boy with her there. Thirteen years pass, during which Nelly Dean serves as Catherine’s daughter’s nursemaid at Thrushcross Grange. Young Catherine is beautiful and headstrong like her mother, but her temperament is modified by her father’s gentler influence. Young Catherine grows up at the Grange with no knowledge of Wuthering Heights; one day, however, wandering through the moors, she discovers the manor. Soon afterwards, Isabella dies, and Linton comes to live with Heathcliff. Heathcliff treats his sickly, whining son even more cruelly than he treated the boy’s mother. Three years later, Catherine meets Heathcliff on the moors, and makes a visit to Wuthering Heights to meet Linton. She and Linton begin a secret romance conducted entirely through letters. When Nelly destroys Catherine’s collection of letters, the girl begins sneaking out at night to spend time with her frail young lover, who asks her to come back and nurse him back to health. However, it quickly becomes apparent that Linton is pursuing Catherine only because Heathcliff is forcing him to; Heathcliff hopes that if Catherine marries Linton, his legal claim upon Thrushcross Grange—and his revenge upon Edgar Linton—will be complete. One day, as Edgar Linton grows ill and nears death, Heathcliff lures Nelly and Catherine back to Wuthering Heights, and holds them prisoner until Catherine marries Linton. Soon after the marriage, Edgar dies, and his death is quickly followed by the death of the sickly Linton. Heathcliff now controls both Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. He forces Catherine to live at Wuthering Heights and act as a common servant, while he rents Thrushcross Grange to Lockwood. Nelly’s story ends as she reaches the present. Lockwood, appalled, ends his tenancy at Thrushcross Grange and returns to London. However, six months later, he pays a visit to Nelly, and learns of further developments in the story. Although Catherine originally mocked Hareton’s ignorance and illiteracy (in an