Charlotte Bronte

Charlotte Bronte
Charlotte Bronte ( English: Charlotte Brontë ; April 21 , 1816 , Thornton , UK - March 31 , 1855 , Howerth , UK ), pseudonym Currer Bell , was an English poetess, one of the most famous representatives of English romanticism and realism . Older sister of Emily Brontë and Anne Brontë . Charlotte Brontë and her Jane Eyre are credited with giving birth to the feminist movement in literature. Charlotte brought out in her novel a strong female heroine who was not afraid to overcome difficulties and withstand the blows of fate. Not a single authentic photograph of Charlotte has survived.

Content
1 Biography

1.1 Education
1.1.1 Cowan Bridge
1.1.2 Row Head
1.2 Literary ambitions
1.2.1 Correspondence with Robert Southey
1.2.2 Letter to Hartley Coleridge
1.2.3 First publications
1.3 Work as a governess. School project
1.4 Brussels
1.5 School project
1.6 Beginning of a literary career
1.7 Deaths of Branwell, Emily and Anne Brontë
1.8 Marriage. Death
2 Creation
2.1 Early creativity
2.1.1 Children's and youth works (Juvenilia)
2.1.1.1 Some popular editions of Charlotte Brontë's juvenilia
2.2 Mature creativity
2.2.1 Novels of 1846-1853
2.2.2 Unfinished fragments
3 The Meaning of Creativity
4 Novels
5 Poems
6 Biographies
7 Notes
8 Literature
9 Links
Biography
Charlotte Bronte was born on April 21, 1816 in West Yorkshire and was the third child (there were six of them - Mary, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Patrick Branwell, Emily and Anne ) in the family of the Anglican clergyman Patrick Bronte (originally from Ireland) and his wife Mary, nee Branwell.

In 1820 the family moved to Howerth , where Patrick was appointed vicar .

Charlotte's mother died of uterine cancer on September 15, 1821, leaving five daughters and a son to be raised by her husband Patrick.

Education

Cowan Bridge
In August 1824, her father sent Charlotte to Cowan Bridge School for the Daughters of the Clergy (her two older sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, were sent there in July 1824, and the youngest, Emily, in November). Upon admission, the following entry was made in the school journal about the knowledge of eight-year-old Charlotte:

Charlotte Bronte. Received August 10, 1824. Writes illegibly. He counts a little and sews carefully. Knows nothing about grammar, geography, history or etiquette. In general, he is smarter than his age, but he does not know anything systematically. Left school June 1, 1825. Governess [2] .

Cowan Bridge School was the inspiration for Lowood Boarding School in Jane Eyre . Poor conditions undermined the already poor health of Mary (b. 1814) and Elizabeth (b. 1815) Brontë. In February 1825, Mr. Brontë took Mary, who was ill with tuberculosis, from school; in May of the same year, the second sister, Elizabeth, was sent home, completely ill from consumption. Shortly after returning to Howhert, Charlotte's sisters died. The two youngest girls were immediately taken home by Mr. Brontë (June 1, 1825).

At home in Haworth Parsonage, Charlotte and the other surviving children, Branwell , Emily and Anne, set to work chronicling the lives and struggles of the inhabitants of their imaginary kingdoms. Charlotte and Branwell wrote Byronic stories about fictional English colonies in Africa, centered on the magnificent capital of the Glass Town (later Verdopolis), while Emily and Anne wrote books and poems about Gondal . Their complex and intricate sagas, rooted in the writers' childhood and early youth, determined their literary vocation.

Row Head

In 1831-1832, Charlotte continued her education at Row Head School (Mirfield), headed by Miss Wooler. Charlotte maintained a good relationship with Margaret Wooler until the end of her life, although there were tensions between them.
Letter from Charlotte to her friend Ellen Nussey, 1844
In Row Head, Charlotte met her peers Ellen Nussey and Mary Taylor, with whom she became friends and subsequently corresponded.

After completing her education, Charlotte worked as a teacher in Row Head from 1835 to 1838. By family decision, Charlotte brought Emily with her to school: she paid for her younger sister’s education from her salary. However, Emily's inability to live in a new place among strangers changed the original plans: Emily had to be sent home, and Anne took her place.

In 1838, Charlotte and Anne left Miss Wooler on the pretext that the school's move to Dewsbury Moor was bad for their health. Dewsbury Moor was indeed a rather unhealthy area, but the main reason for Charlotte’s departure was, obviously, fatigue from an unloved job and the inability to write (the works of 1835-1838 were created in fits and starts during the short weeks of school holidays).

Literary ambitions

Correspondence with Robert Southey
Having started writing early, Charlotte also realized her calling and talent early. The first attempt of the future writer known to us to enter the literary world dates back to 1836. On 29 December, Charlotte sent a letter and poem to the famous poet Robert Southey , asking him for his opinion. This letter has not reached us, and therefore it is not known which poems Southey read [* 1] . It is clear, however, that Charlotte expressed her ardent desire to become a famous poetess to the romantic poet in a very exalted style. In his reply letter, Southey quoted some passages from his correspondent, which give an idea of ​​the rest of the content:

What I am like, you could find out from those of my published works that fell into your hands; but you live in a world of visions and seem to imagine that it is the same with me when you ask me to “descend from the throne of light and glory.” Had you known me, a little personal acquaintance would have tempered your enthusiasm. You, who so ardently desire to “become a famous poetess for centuries,” might be able to cool your ardor to some extent by seeing a poet in the decline of his life and noticing the effect that age has on our hopes and inspiration [3] .

Southey found that Miss Brontë undoubtedly possessed - “and not in an insignificant degree” - a poetic gift, but he considered it necessary to warn his correspondent that the exalted state into which poetry apparently plunges her was harmful to her mental health and could interfere with her further happiness and make her unfit to perform traditional female duties, which, according to the elderly poet, should be more important for a woman than any creativity.

Southey's letter had a beneficial effect on Charlotte. Although her apparent exaltation was associated not with creativity, but with the inability to engage in creativity (at this time she was teaching at Roe Head and was busy teaching and supervising her students full time), nevertheless, she was well aware that the popular wisdom of the era. She accepted the advice to write poetry only for its own sake, although in practice this resulted in her downplaying the importance of her poetry. Her second letter of gratitude made the most favorable impression on Robert Southey.

Charlotte probably never learned that Southey's attitude towards her was partly influenced by one extraneous circumstance. A little later than Charlotte, her brother, Branwell, also sent a letter and poetry to William Wordsworth (it is quite possible that the brother and sister conceived these addresses together). Wordsworth did not like Branwell's letter, and he spoke about it to Southey in the most negative way. Southey wrote about this to Caroline Bowles:

I sent a dose of cooling warning to the poor girl whose flighty letter overtook me at Buckland. The dose was taken well, and she thanked me for it. (...) Almost at the same time as she wrote to me, her brother wrote to Wordsworth, who was disgusted by his letter, since it contained crude flattery towards himself and copious abuse of other poets, including myself [* 2] . I think well of my sister thanks to her second letter, and perhaps she will remember me favorably all her life [4] .

Letter to Hartley Coleridge

From communicating with Robert Southey, Charlotte learned three lessons: firstly, she decides to leave poetry and turn to prose, secondly, she plans to abandon romanticism in favor of realism, and thirdly, she decides from now on to use a pseudonym so as not to be flattered by attitude towards women, nor traditional beliefs prevented the evaluation of her writings.

In 1840, she sent the first chapters of her planned novel Ashworth to Hartley Coleridge (son of the famous poet) [*3] . Coleridge apparently made a number of comments, the essence of which was that the novel would not be accepted by publishers. Charlotte's conversion was apparently prompted by the advice of her brother, Branwell, who was seeing Coleridge about his translations of Horace's Odes.

Hartley Coleridge's letter to Charlotte has not survived. Her response letter exists in two copies: a draft and a sent copy.

First publications

According to Charlotte, it is known that even before the publication of the collection of poems by Carrere, Ellis and Acton Bell, her translation from French poetry was published in some magazine [5] . However, as the writer noted, it was published anonymously. Since Charlotte did not indicate where and when exactly her translation appeared, it has not yet been possible to establish the date of its first publication.

Work as a governess. School project

In June 1839, Charlotte received her first position as governess in the Sidgwick family (from which she quickly left due to ill-treatment) , and in 1841 - a second, in the family of Mr. and Mrs. White.

That same year, Charlotte's aunt, Miss Elizabeth Branwell, agreed to provide her nieces with money so they could start their own school. However, Charlotte suddenly changed plans, deciding to first improve her French. To this end, she intended to go to one of the Belgian boarding schools. Since the money her aunt lent was only enough for one semester, Charlotte planned to find work abroad. In November 1841 she wrote to Emily:

Before our six months in Brussels are over, you and I will have to find work abroad. I do not intend to return home until the twelve months are up [6] .

Brussels

In 1842, Charlotte and Emily traveled to Brussels to attend a boarding school run by Constantin Heger (1809–1896) and his wife Claire-Zoe Heger (1814–1891). After studying for one semester, the girls received an offer to stay and work there, paying for the opportunity to continue their studies with their labor. Charlotte wrote to Ellen Nussey:

I can’t say for sure whether I will return home in September or not. Madame Eger made an offer to Emily and me to stay for another six months, meaning to fire the English teacher and hire me in this capacity, and also to hire Emily to teach music to several students for some part of the day. For this work we were asked to continue our studies in French and German, eat meals, etc., without paying for it; however, we were not offered any salary [7] .

The sisters' time at the boarding school ended in October 1842 when their aunt, Elizabeth Branwell, who had been caring for the girls after their mother's death, died.

In January 1843 Charlotte returned to Brussels to teach English. However, now her time at school was not happy: the girl was lonely, homesick and, obviously, felt that studying literature with Monsieur Eger would not help her start a literary career. The feeling of time passing and the fear of wasting one’s abilities in the near future will become a constant leitmotif of Charlotte’s letters. She was probably frightened by the example of her brother, whose once bright prospects were steadily fading.

Mary Taylor, recalling Brussels meetings with her old school friend and her subsequent letters, repeated words often found in Charlotte's own letters:

She said: “My youth is fading; I will never do anything better than what I have already done, and I haven’t done anything yet.” In such cases, she seemed to believe that human beings are doomed, under the pressure of worldly interests, to lose one faculty after another, one sense after another, “until they are completely dead. I hope that by the time I die, I will already be lying in the grave.” (...) As she became accustomed to the Brussels people and manners, her life became monotonous, and she fell into the same state of hopelessness as Miss Wooler, although to a lesser extent. I wrote to her, urging her to go home or somewhere else [8] [* 5] .

Finally, in December 1843, Charlotte decides to return to Howerth, despite the fact that she does not see any literary opportunities for herself at home.

Charlotte's Brussels experience is reflected in the novels " The Teacher " and "Villette" (" The Town ").

School project

Announcement of the establishment of Miss Brontë's boarding school, 1844.

Returning home on January 1, 1844, Charlotte again decides to take up the project of founding her own school in order to provide herself and her sisters with income. However, the circumstances that developed in 1844 were less favorable to such plans than were the case in 1841.

Charlotte's aunt, Mrs. Branwell, is deceased; Mr. Brontë's health and eyesight weakened. The Brontë sisters were no longer able to leave Hoerth to rent a school building in a more attractive area. Charlotte decides to found a boarding house right in the Hoerth parsonage; but their family home, located in a cemetery in a rather wild area, scared off the parents of potential students, despite the monetary discounts Charlotte made.

The beginning of a literary career

In May 1846, Charlotte, Emily and Anne published a joint collection of poetry at their own expense under the pseudonyms Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell. Despite the fact that only two copies of the collection were sold, the sisters continued to write, with subsequent publication in mind. In the summer of 1846, Charlotte began searching for publishers for Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell's novels: The Master , Wuthering Heights , and Agnes Gray , respectively .

Having published her first book with family funds, Charlotte later wanted not to spend money on publication, but, on the contrary, to have the opportunity to earn money through literary work. However, her younger sisters were ready to take another risk. Therefore, Emily and Anne accepted the offer of the London publisher Thomas Newby, who asked for 50 pounds as a guarantee for the publication of Wuthering Heights and Agnes Gray, promising to return this money if he managed to sell 250 copies out of 350 (book circulation). Newby did not return this money, despite the fact that the entire edition [* 6] was sold out in the wake of the success of Charlotte's novel " Jane Eyre " at the end of 1847 [* 7] .

Charlotte herself refused Newby's proposal. She continued corresponding with London firms, trying to interest them in her novel " The Teacher ". All publishers rejected it, however, the literary consultant of Smith, Elder and Company sent a letter to Currer Bell, in which he kindly explained the reasons for the refusal: the novel lacked the fascination that would allow the book to sell well. In the same month (August 1847), Charlotte sent the manuscript of Jane Eyre to Smith, Elder and Company. The novel was accepted and published in record time.

Deaths of Branwell, Emily and Anne Brontë

Along with literary success, trouble came to the Brontë family. Charlotte's brother and only son, Branwell, died in September 1848 from chronic bronchitis or tuberculosis . His brother's serious condition was aggravated by drunkenness and drug addiction (Branwell took opium ). Emily and Anne died of pulmonary tuberculosis in December 1848 and May 1849, respectively.

Now Charlotte and her father are alone. Between 1848 and 1854 Charlotte led an active literary life. She became close to Harriet Martineau , Elizabeth Gaskell , William Thackeray and George Henry Lewes .

Bronte's book gave birth to the feminist movement in literature. The main character of the novel, Jane Eyre , is as strong a girl as the author. However, Charlotte tried not to leave Howerth for more than a few weeks, as she did not want to leave her aging father.

Marriage. Death

During her life, Charlotte repeatedly refused marriage, sometimes taking marriage proposals seriously, sometimes treating them with humor. However, she chose to accept the offer of her father's assistant, the priest Arthur Bell Nicholls .

Charlotte met her future husband in the spring of 1844 , when Arthur Bell Nicholls arrived in Howherth. Charlotte's first impression of her father's assistant was not at all flattering. She wrote to Ellen Nussey in October 1844:

Mr. Nicholls had just returned; even to save my life, I cannot consider in him those interesting beginnings of good that you discovered; I am mainly always struck by the narrowness of his thinking [11] .

Similar reviews are found in Charlotte's letters in later years, but over time they disappear.

Charlotte married on June 29, 1854, in her father's church. Patrick, although he had given (but reluctantly) consent to the marriage, decided not to attend the ceremony, so Charlotte was led down the aisle by Margaret Wooler. The newlyweds spent their honeymoon in Wales, after which they returned to live in Patrick's house. In January 1855, her health condition deteriorated sharply. In February, a doctor who examined the writer came to the conclusion that the symptoms of illness indicated the beginning of pregnancy and did not pose a threat to life.

Charlotte suffered from constant nausea, lack of appetite, and extreme weakness, which led to rapid exhaustion. However, according to Nicholls, it was only in the last week of March that it became clear that Charlotte was dying.

Charlotte died on March 31, 1855, aged 38. The cause of death was never established. [12] [13] [14] Her death certificate listed the cause of death as tuberculosis, however, as many of Charlotte's biographers have suggested, she may have died from dehydration and exhaustion caused by severe toxicosis . [13] It can also be assumed that Charlotte died of typhus , which could have been infected by her old maid Tabitha Aykroyd, who died shortly before Charlotte’s death [ source not specified 1092 days ] .

The writer was buried in the family crypt in St. Michael's Church, located in Howerth, West Yorkshire, England.

Creativity

Early creativity
Charlotte Brontë began writing early: her first surviving manuscript ( There was once a little girl ) dates back to approximately 1826 (the author was 10 years old). In 1827-1829, the Bronte children came up with several large and small games, which served as the basis for their further creativity. In her children's autobiographical note, "The Story of the Year" (12 March 1829), Charlotte described the origins of the game "Young People", from which the "African" saga would develop in the coming years:
Charlotte and Branwell Brontë. A fragment of the group “Portrait with a Gun” (the painting itself was destroyed; only its photograph, a copy and a fragment with the image of Emily have survived). Work by Branwell Brontë, circa 1834-5.
Dad bought soldiers for Branwell in Leeds. When Dad got home it was night and we were in bed, so the next morning Branwell came to our door with a box of toy soldiers. Emily and I jumped out of bed, I grabbed one and exclaimed: “It's the Duke of Wellington! Let him be mine! When I said this, Emily also took one and said let it be hers. When Anne came down and she took one [15] .

Arthur Wellesley , Duke of Wellington , a famous military leader of Irish descent, was Charlotte's hero. At first she made him the central character of her “African” saga. In the story "The Twelve Adventurers" (April 1829), the thirteen-year-old author describes the departure of the 74-gun ship "Invincible", its wreck on the west coast of Africa, the founding of an English colony and the help of powerful genies in creating the magnificent City of Glass:

One evening, when we were all assembled in the Chamber of Justice, Arthur Wellesley, then a mere trumpet player, suddenly exclaimed, as we were discussing our good fortune:

- (...) Wouldn’t it be better to immediately send to England, tell about the new world that we discovered and about its riches; and don’t you think that they will send us an army?

Francis Stewart immediately stood up and said:

- Young man, think before you speak! How can we send to England? Who here is tough enough to cross the Atlantic again? Don't you remember the storm that washed us onto the shores of Trinidad?

Arthur Wellesley replied:

- (...) I am not so reckless as to assume that we ourselves will be able to cross the ocean in the damaged and leaking ship that we have, or that we will be able to build another in time (...). But in what a short time we built the city where we are now! How long did it take to erect this majestic Chamber in which we now reside? Were not these marble columns and this magnificent dome built by superhuman strength? If you look at the city from this Gothic window and see the morning rays, the gilded battlements of powerful towers and the columns of magnificent palaces erected in a few months, can you doubt that magic was used in their creation?

Here he stopped. We were all convinced that the genies helped us build our city. He continued:

“Well, if the genies built our city, wouldn’t they help us call upon our compatriots to protect what they built from enemy attacks?”

He was interrupted again as the roof shook and the chamber filled with smoke. The floor opened up and we heard a voice say:

- When the sun appears in the east over the forests, you all must be on the border of the ruined desert, for if you do not come, I will crush you into atoms.

The appearance of genies, of course, was due to the fact that the Brontë children were reading the tales of the Arabian Nights.

Branwell Bronte. Portrait of Zamorna. Around 1835
Soon the saga Duke of Wellington gave way to his sons: Arthur Augustus Adrian Wellesley, Marquis of Duero (he would later become Duke of Zamorna and King of Angria) and his younger brother Lord Charles Albert Florian Wellesley (later Charles Townshend or Townshend). Charlotte partly identified herself with him, since Lord Charles is one of the main narrators on whose behalf she narrates the story.

It should be noted that some of Juvenilia’s works are not related to the saga (for example, “The Adventure in Ireland” or “The Adventures of Monsieur Edouard de Krak”), but over time, almost everything that comes from Charlotte’s pen turns out to be part of her fictional African world.

In 1830, Charlotte renamed the Glass City Verdopolis. From this moment on, the English colonies in Africa received the name Verdopolitan Confederation (or Verdopolitan Union). The Confederation initially united four kingdoms: Wellingtonland (later Senegambia), Parrisland (Edward Parry - the name of the soldier Emily), Rossland (the name of the soldier Anne) and Snychisland. In 1834, during the War of Conquest, another kingdom was annexed to them - Angria.

Branwell Bronte. Portrait of Alexander Percy. Around 1835
The Angrian part of the “African” saga (after the “Glasstown” and “Verdopolitan”) is the latest and most interesting. Its main “nerve” is formed by the confrontation between the two main characters of the saga: Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Zamorna, and Alexander Percy, Earl of Northangerland. Initially, Alexander Percy was conceived as the leading negative character (in the “Glasstown” part he bears the “talking” name Rogue), but over time both heroes lost their uniqueness. Zamorna, developing on the model of the Byronic hero, quickly acquired all the vices characteristic of this type; the character of Alexander Percy, for his part, acquired tragic overtones. In addition, Charlotte and her brother decided to intermarriage the heroes: Zamorna married for the second time the daughter of Alexander Percy. Mary-Henrietta Percy-Wellesley thus becomes a bargaining chip in the intrigues of her husband and father, who are pulled and pushed away from each other. The Zamorna-Northangerland confrontation results in a civil war in Angria.

Charlotte Brontë's late adolescence was marked by the emergence of a new type of heroine. In childhood and adolescence, the girl was guided by literary romantic models, mainly by the heroines of Byron and Walter Scott. However, in 1838-1839, Charlotte created an original female character, the highest point of development of which would be the character of Jane Eyre. Jane's prototype as a juvenile is Elizabeth Hastings; her opposition to and love for Colonel William Percy forms the first sketch of the future novel that would make Charlotte Brontë famous.

Almost all of Charlotte Bronte's early works have reached us. Since they were originally written from the perspective of wooden soldiers, the manuscripts are written in extremely small handwriting in block letters (the children imitated the books). Thanks to the efforts of scientists who worked on deciphering the Brontës, in the 20th century almost the entire legacy of Charlotte Brontë was published in various fragments. However, the scientific publication required more time. It is currently close to completion [16] .

Children's and youth works ( Juvenilia )

The list below is incomplete (the full list is too extensive). The names written in square brackets are given by the researchers.
First page of Charlotte Brontë's manuscript, The Secret, 1833.
Two romantic stories: “The Twelve Adventurers” and “An Adventure in Ireland” (1829) The last work is, in fact, not a story, but a short story.
Magazine "Young People" (1829-1830)
The Search for Happiness (1829)
Characters of the Eminent Men of Our Time (1829)
Stories about the islanders. In 4 volumes (1829-1830)
Evening Walk, poem by the Marquis of Duero (1830)
Translation into English verses of the First Book of Voltaire's Henriad (1830)
Albion and Marina (1830) . Charlotte's first "love" story, written under the influence of Byron; Marina's character corresponds to the character of Hayde from the poem "Don Juan". Charlotte's story is somewhat mystical in nature.
The Adventures of Ernest Alembert. Tale (1830)
The Violet and Other Poems of the Marquis of Duero (1830)
Wedding (1832) (poem and story)
Arthuriana, or Scraps and Remains (1833)
Something About Arthur (1833)
Two stories: "The Secret" and "Lily Hart" (1833)
Visits at Verdopolis (1833)
Green Dwarf (1833)
Foundling (1833)
Richard the Lionheart and Blondel (1833) , poem
Leaf from an Unopened Volume (1834)
"Spell" and "High Life in Verdopolis" (1834)
The Dump Book (1834)
Snack Dishes (1834)
My Angria and the Angrians (1834)
"We Weaved a Net in Childhood" [Retrospective] (1835) , one of Charlotte Brontë's most famous poems
Current Events (1836)
[Exile of Zamorna] (1836) , poem in two cantos
[Return of Zamorna] (1836-7)
[Julia] (1837)
[Lord Duero] (1837)
[Mina Laurie] (1838)
[Stancliffe Hotel] (1838)
[Duke of Zamorna] (1838)
[Captain Henry Hastings] (1839)
[Caroline Vernon] (1839)
Farewell to England (1839)
Ashworth (1840) first draft of the novel for printing. Ashworth is a kind of pseudonym for Alexander Percy.
Some popular editions of Charlotte Brontë's juvenile history
" Legends of Angria " (1933, edited by F. E. Ratchford). This book includes the young adult novel " The Green Dwarf ", the poem "The Banishment of Zamorna", the story "Mina Laurie", the young adult novel "Caroline Vernon" and "Farewell to Angria" - a prose fragment whose genre is difficult to determine.
"Charlotte Bronte. Five little novels" (1977, edited by U. Zherin). This book includes the novellas A Current Event, Julia, and Mina Laurie, as well as the young adult novels Captain Henry Hastings and Caroline Vernon.
" Tales of Angria " (2006, edited by Heather Glen). This book includes the stories "Mina Laurie" and "Stancliffe Hotel", a short novel in letters "The Duke of Zamorna", the novels "Henry Hastings" and "Caroline Vernon", as well as diary fragments that Charlotte Brontë wrote while she was a teacher at the Row -Hede.
Mature creativity
Novels of 1846-1853
In 1846, Charlotte Brontë completely completed a novel specially written for publication, “The Teacher.” Under the pseudonym Currer Bell, she offered it to several publishers. Everyone rejected the manuscript, but the literary consultant at Smith, Elder and Company, William Williams, saw the potential of the aspiring author and wrote a letter to Currer Bell, explaining that the book had to be attractive to the public and, therefore, sellable. Two or three weeks after receiving this letter, Charlotte sent the manuscript of the novel Jane Eyre (written between August 1846 and August 1847) to Smith, Elder and Company.

In her Life of Charlotte Brontë, E. Gaskell described the reaction that the new novel caused:

When the manuscript of "Jane Eyre" reached the future publishers of this wonderful novel, it fell to the lot of one gentleman connected with the company to read it first. He was so greatly struck by the character of the book that he expressed his impressions in very emotional terms to Mr. Smith, who seemed extremely amused by this excited admiration. “You seem so fascinated that I don’t know if I can believe you,” he said, laughing. But when the second reader, a sober Scotchman, not subject to enthusiasm, took the manuscript home in the evening and became so deeply interested in the story that he sat up half the night until he finished reading it, Mr. Smith's curiosity was sufficiently aroused that he wanted to read the novel himself, and, however great there were praises lavished on him, he found that they did not sin against the truth [17] .

Charlotte sent Jane Eyre to publishers on August 24, 1847 , and the book was published on October 16 of the same year. Charlotte was pleasantly surprised when she received her fee. By modern standards it was small: the author was paid 500 pounds [*8] .

In 1848-1849 Charlotte Brontë wrote the second of her published novels, Shirley . The external circumstances of her life, however, were not conducive to creativity: at the beginning of 1848, a scandal concerning the authorship of her sisters’ novels (“Wuthering Heights” by Emily Brontë and both Anne’s books, “Agnes Gray” and “ The Stranger of Wildfell Hall ”) were attributed to Currer Bell ), forced Charlotte to come to London and reveal her pseudonym. During the latter part of this year her brother Branwell and sister Emily died. It was also obvious that Charlotte's youngest sister, Anne, would not live long; and indeed, she died in May 1849. Two months after that, in August, Charlotte graduated from Shirley. On October 26, the book was published.

In 1850-1852, Charlotte wrote her last (and perhaps best) book, Villette (The name "Town" is a misnomer, since Villette is the name of the capital of Labascourt: place names are not translated). The novel is distinguished by a very heavy atmosphere - a consequence of the grief experienced by the author. The writer puts the main character in dead-end situations: the death of loved ones, the loss of friends, longing for a destroyed home. Lucy Snow, according to the author, is doomed from the very beginning to failure, troubles and hopeless loneliness. She is an outcast from earthly happiness and can only hope for the Kingdom of Heaven. In a way, you can say that Charlotte took out her own pain from the loss of her family on her heroine. The book is distinguished by intimacy and exceptional psychological persuasiveness.

"Villette" was published on January 28, 1853 and became the last work that Charlotte managed to finish.

Unfinished fragments

After Charlotte Brontë's death, several unfinished manuscripts remained.

One of them, containing two chapters under the title " Emma ", was published shortly after the author's death. The novel was completed, taking care of the legacy of Charlotte Brontë, by the writer Constance Savery ( 1897 - 1999 ), who published the novel “ Emma ” under the following co-authorship: Charlotte Brontë and Another Lady ( eng. Charlotte Brontë and Another Lady ) ; in 1980, the novel was published by Dent & Sons , the book was a success (even reprinted in the USA) and remained in print until another version of the novel - with the title " Emma Brown " - completed by Claire Boylan , was published in 2003 .

There are two more fragments: "John Henry" (circa 1852) and "Willie Allyn" (May-June 1853).

Her first novel, “ Teacher ,” rejected by publishers in the 40s, was published in 1857, after the author’s death. Later, a collection of short stories about the imaginary kingdom of Angria was published (first publication - 2006) - “ Tales of Angria ” ( Tales of Angria ), written by Charlotte Bronte and her brother Branwell during their school years (1838-1839).

The meaning of creativity

Charlotte Bronte is one of the most talented representatives of English romanticism and realism . Possessing an extremely nervous and impressionable temperament, she possessed to a high degree what Goethe calls the secret of genius - the ability to penetrate the individuality and subjective mood of an outsider. With a limited range of observations, she depicted with amazing brightness and truth everything that she had to see and feel. If sometimes the excessive brightness of the images turns into a certain coarseness of colors, and excessive melodrama in positions and sentimental conclusions weaken the artistic impression, then realism, full of life’s truth, makes these shortcomings invisible.

Elizabeth Gaskell's posthumous biography of Charlotte Brontë, A Life of Charlotte Brontë , was the first of many biographies of the writer to be published. E. Gaskell's book is not always reliable, but its main drawback is that it almost completely ignores the early literary work of Charlotte Brontë.

A crater on Mercury is named after Charlotte Brontë .

Charles Brontë is depicted on the 1980 British 12 pence postage stamp [18] .

In 1997, on the 150th anniversary of the publication of S. Bronte's novel "Jane Eyre", the Royal Mail of Great Britain issued a postage stamp in denomination of 1 £.

Novels
Jane Eyre , 1846-1847, published 1847

Shirley , 1848-1849, published 1849
Town , 1850-1852, published 1853
Teacher , 1845-1846, published 1857
Emma (Unfinished).
Poems
" Poems of Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell " (1846)
The Complete Poems of Charlotte Brontë (1971). Edited by C. K. Shorter and C. W. Hatfield.
"The Poems of Charlotte Brontë" (ed. Tom Winnifrith, 1984)