Bronte sisters

By Illa Vij

MARIA BRANWELL and Reverend Patrick Bronte had six children, all born within the span of eight years. The children were named Maria, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Patrick Branwell, Emily and Anne. Reverend Patrick Bronte was appointed rector of the remote Yorkshire Parish of Haworth in 1820. Maria Branwell died early, leaving behind her six children, the eldest of them was only eight years old.

Maria and Elizabeth were sent to a school about 35 miles away. Soon Charlotte and Emily also joined the school. Unfortunately, the condition of the school was not good, and the diet provided was insufficient. As a result, the two elder children returned home sick and died of consumption. Charlotte and Emily too came back home.

Since they were residing in a remote district where education made little progress, they couldn’t go much beyond the domestic circle for studies, enjoyment or occupation.

The three sisters always cherished a dream of becoming writers. They derived a lot of pleasure from their attempts at literary compositions. Their brother Branwell too received his education within the grey walls of the parsonage.

The girls produced three novels from its dining room, in spite of the disturbance and frequent interruptions. The moor around the house was their playground. As little children, they scribbled constantly. Later, as they grew up, their creations took the shape of poems and prose. Charlotte’s miniature note-books filled with creative stories, plays and poems in microscopic handwriting are a valuable treasure for bibliophiles.

Apart from writing fluently, they also painted well. Branwell was the best artist amongst them and he made portraits of his sisters which are now exhibited in the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Together, the three sisters wrote out pieces of poetry and prose.

They arranged a small section of their poems and hoped to get them printed. Averse to personal publicity, they published their poems under pseudonyms. Charlotte used the name Currer, Emily used Ellis and Anne used the name Acton Bell. In 1845, a set of poems was published with a great difficulty.

After that each of them worked on a novel. Charlotte wrote The Professor and Jane Eyre, Anne wrote Agnes Grey and Emily Wuthering Heights. The first of these to be printed but the last to be published was Jane Eyre. By the end of 1847, Wuthering Heights was published, and it received scathing criticism. Gradually, it attained a position equal to if not superior to Jane Eyre.

As their literary works were beginning to reach heights of success, and recognition, tragedy struck the family of geniuses. Branwell became a drunkard and a drug addict. In September 1848, he died of consumption. In the same year, in the month of December, the family lost Emily. She had been ill for quite some time but had bravely fought her illness and equally bravely succumbed to it. She too died of consumption. After her death, Charlotte and Anne were left alone.

Unfortunately, five months later, Anne died too. Her last words: "Take courage, Charlotte. Take courage" helped Charlotte brave out her loneliness.

A very brief period of happiness entered her life. She married Arthur Bell Nicholis, her father’s curate. But tragedy struck the family again. Charlotte became ill during her pregnancy, and nine months after her marriage, died on March 31, 1855. Reverend Patrick Bronte outlived every member of his family and died in 1861.

The parsonage, a two-storeyed house has now been turned into the Bronte Museum. Around the house, is a graveyard where the members of the family have been buried. The church stands a little away from the house.

In spite of having limited resources, the girls’ dedication and determination to educate themselves and develop their literary tastes, speaks volumes of their ambitious nature.

Under the simple tastes of life, lay a fiery imagination that could kindle a powerful literary creation. Their works were created from intuition and intelligence.