The Bronte Sisters

640 Words2 Pages

Furthermore, examining in depth the various aspects of the Bronte sisters’ background and childhood promises a profound understanding of this artistic synergy between them. Anne Bronte was born in 1820 at Thornton; West Riding of Yorkshire, England. She is the youngest member in the family (“Anne Bronte”). As recorded by Juliet Barker in her scholarship work The Brontes, Patrick Branwel-Anne’s father-was installed as a curate in a small town named Haworth. That’s why the Bronte family members found themselves a parsonage in Haworth, a parsonage they took as home. Anne was a baby when her mother (Maria Branwell) suffered a uterine cancer which caused her death in 1821(Barker: 102-104). In another biography entitled The Brontes: charlotte Bronte and her Family, Rebecca Frazer emphasizes that Patrick Branwell’s aspiration to recoup the loss drove him to seek a new marital life. Yet all attempts were a failure (Frazer: 30). Winifred Gérin in her biography entitled Anne Bronte, further records, that in order to rescue the kids and take care of them, Elizabeth Branwell- Maria's sister-came to settle down in the parsonage. While living together, the aunt was a bit closer to Anne than the other children. Actually, Anne was her dearest and took endless pleasure in her company. Their closeness was so fierce that one can tell a lot about the origin of Anne’s moral and Christian temperament. It was in great part due to the aunt’s teachings that Anne’s true personality came to be forged (Gérin: 35). As far as the Bronte children’s education is concerned, Charlotte, Emily, Anne and Branwell, as Frazer further contends, received home schooling, as they were tutored at home by their father and aunt (Frazer: 44-45). More importantly, the childre... ... middle of paper ... ...is their first joint publication of poems which appeared in 1846 under the masculine pseudonyms of Currer (Charlotte), Ellis (Emily), and Acton Bell (“Anne Bronte”). Not only did the sisters’ literary relation is revealed in the many core artistic interests they shared, their literary synergy could be displayed also in their reactions to and critiques of each others’ works. An argument that has been affirmed by Edward Chitham in his book A Life of Anne Bronte, when he writes: “Anne‘s artistic and moral challenge to the content of her sisters’ novels comes in Wildfell Hall. Until this is recognized, readers may see the book as a pale version of Wuthering Heights, when it is in some aspects a critique of it” (Chitham: 134). The Tenant’s response to Wuthering Heights as well as to Jane Eyre is also testified by the following lines taken from Edward Chitham’same book:

Open Document