Death Emily Bronte Research Paper

If you’ve ever experienced a death of a family member or a friend, it is obvious how harshly that can make a person’s life take a turn for the worse. Emily Bronte lost her mother, two sisters, and aunt during her life and instead of turning her loss into negativity; she used her pain to create something beautiful. While women were not taken seriously during her time, and poems regarding nature were not widely regarded in the Victorian Age; she wrote from the heart when she created her poem “Death”. Therefore, the deaths of Emily Bronte’s family influenced her obsession with death in her poetry and admiration of nature since she lived a more secluded lifestyle after losing her family.

Emily Bronte’s childhood was no normal one. Her mother died of cancer which lead her aunt and father to raise she and her five siblings.

Later, two of her sisters died leaving only Bran, Anne, and Charlotte left. She would often create stories with them and played with her siblings, since they were very close after the death of their mother. It was during her childhood with her sisters that she discovered her, and their, love of writing. (Emily Bronte Biography) Emily was also a very educated girl whose father was a priest. Emily was mostly homeschooled, which is why she has more of a shy demeanor, “The children were educated, during their early life, at home, except for a single year that Charlotte and Emily spent at the Clergy Daughters’ School at Cowan Bridge in Lancashire.” (Emily Bronte, Encyclopaedia Britannica) Only for a year did Emily experience life truly outside of her home at a religious school, but during that time her sisters died of tuberculosis, so she went back home to her family where she would stay for the majority of her life. This lead to a more secluded life that was caused by the pain she felt while losing her family that would affect her later life and her writing.
When Bronte was young she lost her mother, which means she lacked a maternal influence. It is known in the psychology world that a child’s most powerful influence is their same sex parent, so losing her mother means she lacked a role model to guide her through life which is why she was shy and bonded more with her family rather than the outside world. Soon after, the deaths of her sisters Elizabeth and Marie turned her life upside down, drawing her into the reality of death and finding comfort in nature. Because she was so close to her siblings, they did everything together, “In 1845 Charlotte came across some poems by Emily, and this led to the discovery that all three sisters—Charlotte, Emily, and Anne—had written verse. A year later they published jointly a volume of verse, Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell, the initials of these pseudonyms being those of the sisters; it contained 21 of Emily’s poems, and a consensus of later criticism has accepted the fact that Emily’s verse alone reveals true poetic genius.” (Emily Bronte, Encyclopediae Britannica) Through the closeness of her family she was able to discover her true potential in the world of literature, but her literature was much different than that of the society around her.
The society around Bronte made it very hard for women to publish, which is what led her to right under the pseudonym Ellis Bell, but she didn’t seem to mind the challenge, “But in fact, if we turn to her writings, we have no evidence that Emily Brontë ever, consciously or unconsciously, resented the limitations of her sex.” (Emily Bronte The Woman Writer As A Poet) Another social norm she didn’t seem to mind was the fact that she wrote during the Victorian Age, which was an age predominantly focusing on science and realism as a result of an increase in the understanding of science, and exemplified themes of nature and religion. The Victorian Era was influenced by the classics and didn’t include much censorship, which is contrary to what Bronte writes like. (Victorian Era Literature Characteristics) Bronte wrote more as if she were in the Romantic Period, “Other Victorian Era writers were following the popular literary fashion of embracing the logic and linear storytelling that echoed Classical literature while she embraced Romanticism and the Gothic.” (Emily Bronte’s Narrative Technique) Emily Bronte was not highly regarded during her time while she published, which is probably because her writing related to themes that weren’t around during her time.
Emily Bronte’s writing includes heavy idealism and mysticism. She created fantasy worlds and characters that weren’t popular in the Victorian Age. “The poems rely heavily on Romantic imagery and narrative technique. The narrator is focused on herself and expresses how she is more interested in abstract concepts like dreams and idealism rather than more concrete pursuits like education.” (Emily Bronte’s Narrative Technique) Another heavy component of Bronte’s writing is the use of nature, “In 'Death' Emily seems powerless against nature's efforts and emotions which steal her joy: 'Guilt stripped off the foliage in its pride'.” (Emily Bronte, Literature Resource Center) She uses heavy imagery in her poetry as well, painting an image of mountains or forests to help convey meaning. Death is also a large influence on her writing and that death is inevitable, “In Emily Bronte’s viewpoint, Man possesses one feature that undeniably gives him the chance to remain what one was in one’s lifetime: and that is that, at some point, one’s life comes to an end.” (BETA) Other common themes regarding death that are evident in her poetry is that death, while it’s sad, is tragically beautiful and something people shouldn’t be too afraid of since dying is becoming one with nature and the heavens. Because of her views on death, she has heavy religious influence in her writing. “Evangelism stresses the importance of individual spiritual life and fulfillment, and it contrasts this religious idealism against the depravity of humanity as a whole. The religious imagery of Emily Brontë´s narrative style is traced from her father's influence and is the source of the Romantic characteristics so apparent in her literary work,” so it is obvious that her poetry having more Romantic themes is a result of her religious background. (Emily Bronte’s Narrative Technique) In her poem “Death” Bronte includes these themes above, so it is important that those are analyzed and explored within the poem to better understand how her life influences her poetry.
In Bronte’s poem “Death” she includes the themes of nature, death, and religion within the context of mourning the death of a loved one. She relates life to flowers and how sometimes they’re plucked from the earth untimely, “Sorrow passed, and plucked the golden blossom;/Guilt stripped off the foliage in its pride.” (Lines 9-10) She also fuses together the themes of death and nature by comparing mourning death like the seasons change, “Hope was there, and laughed me out of sadness;/Whispering, "Winter will not linger long!"/And, behold! with tenfold increase blessing,/Spring adorned the beauty-burdened spray.” (Lines 16-18) In this line Bronte expresses that while mourning a loved one is necessary to heal, it cannot be done forever just as the seasons have to change a person cannot let themselves wallow in sadness for their whole life. The whole poem seems to convey the theme of death, obviously expressed by the title, but is more about the beauty in death and needing to appreciate life which is an Evangelical ideal. While the poem never explicitly includes God, it references religious themes in the lines, “High it rose--no winged grief could sweep it;/Sin was scared to distance with its shine.” (Lines 21-22) Since it is apparent Bronte uses the themes nature, death, and religion often in her poetry; it is important to know why based off her her experiences she does so.
Because of the various influences in her life, Bronte’s poetry followed the themes of nature, death and religion.

The deaths of her sisters and mother most certainly influenced her outlook on life and how death is inevitable, so it’s only natural she would want to write about the pain and maybe even some comfort in death. She has lost so many people in her life, so it makes sense that she would want to write about death as if it’s somewhat positive. Also, after the deaths she became more secluded and reserved in her home without leaving much. People who are recluses tend to be more connected with nature because they don’t have as much human interaction and trust more in nature and animals than mankind. Nature is something very comforting, so it makes sense that she would find comfort in it. Lastly, because her father was a priest she was influenced by religion her whole life and grew up surrounded by it so those themes are very present in her life. Being the daughter of a priest might also give her more strength to write about death because she believes in the afterlife, so death isn’t as scary to her as it would be for someone who isn’t as

religious.
In conclusion, Emily Bronte who wasn’t widely acclaimed during her time definitely deserves her fame in modern time. She broke the barriers of what was normal during the Victorian Era and was not afraid to write about her true feelings. The fact that she was strong enough to accept death instead of constantly be afraid of it even after her close family members dies around her is truly admirable. During difficult times like a death in the family, it is often hard to keep your head held high and to not be afraid. That is why her poetry is truly amazing, because despite all the awful things that happened to her she never let it deter her from expressing herself and appreciating the family she still had living, the dead, and her own life.