Charlotte Bronte was the third child of Patrick Brontë, an Irish crofter’s child who rose through a Cambridge instruction to become a ceaseless minister at Haworth, in Yorkshire in 1820. Charlotte was just five years when her mother Maria died. After four years her two sisters passed on because of the cruel conditions in the Clergy Daughters’ School at Cowan Bridge, Lancashire to which they and the eight-year-old Charlotte were sent in 1824. Charlotte’s encounters at the school affected her depiction of Lowood School in ‘Jane Eyre.’
After the demise of the two most seasoned Brontë girls, Patrick and Maria’s sister Elizabeth gave the kids invigorating and wide-extending training at home. Charlotte, her two sisters Anne and Emily Brontë, and their splendid sibling Branwell developed complex conjured up worlds, which they expounded on widely in small handcrafted books. Charlotte selected another school not a long way from Haworth at the age of 15. Roe Head School was less cruel than the Clergy Daughters’ School, yet Charlotte went through just a year and a half there before getting back.
As a grown-up, Charlotte filled in as a tutor and went through certain years educating at school in Brussels. Her lonely love for the school’s superintendent educated her books ‘Villette’ (1853) and ‘The Professor’. It was the enthusiasm and insubordination of ‘Jane Eyre’ (1847) that earned her fame. ‘Shirley’ (1849) composed during and after the heartbreaking death of her three kin inside a year, showed Charlotte’s commitment with the two ladies’ privileges and radical specialists’ developments.
In June 1854, she wedded her father’s curate Arthur Nicholls, who had for some time been an admirer. She got pregnant. She then seriously fell ill and died on 31 March 1855.
A Short Biography of Charlotte Bronte
Charlotte Bronte was born on April 21st, 1816. She was born in Thornton. It was located in the west of Bradford in the West Riding of Yorkshire. She was born to Patrick Bronte and Maria. Her father served as a clergyman. She had five siblings and her number was 3rd in the six children. Around1820, the family traveled to the village of Haworth and settled there. Patrick Bronte was appointed a perpetual curate of St. Michael and All Angels Church in Haworth. On 21st April 1821, Charlotte`s mother, Maria, died because of cancer.
Patrick sent four of her daughters including Charlotte to the Clergy Daughters’ School in August of 1824. It was located in Cowan Bridge in Lancashire. Due to the poor conditions of the school and the deaths of her sisters, Charlotte`s health got permanently affected. Due to these deaths of daughters, her father quit her schooling. This school became the basis for Lowood School in Jane Eyre.
She came back and started taking care of her young sisters. She wrote her first poem in 1829 when she was only 13 years old. Later on, she wrote around 200 poems in her life. a large number of these poems were published in ‘Branwell’s Blackwood’s Magazine.’ In this phase of life, she also wrote fictional stories about Byronic heroes. These stories were also published in this magazine.
During 1831 and 1832, Charlotte got her education at Roe Head in Mirfield. There she also met Mary Taylor and Ellen Nussey and developed a lifelong friendship with them. She wrote a novella ‘The Green Dwarf.’ It was written under the name of Wellesley in 1833. From 1835 to 1838, Charlotte served as a teacher at Roe Head School. She was not happy with life and the way it moved ahead, she started giving vent to her frustration in writing melancholic poems. Many of her poems were set in the fascinating and imaginary world of Angria but these poems drew sharp attention to her own life and living conditions.
In 1839, she became a governess in the families living in Yorkshire. She served as governess till 1841. In the month of May in 1839, she served in the family of Sidgwick at their summer residence. It was located in Lothersdale. One of the children of this family, one day threw a Bible at Charlotte. This incident is somehow quoted in an indirect way in the first chapter of Jane Eyre. In this chapter, John Reed throws a book at Jane. She did not remain a governess for a long time because of the humiliating behaviors of her employers.
In 1842, Emily and Charlotte Bronte visited Brussels. They visited to get enrolled in a boarding school. This school was under the supervision of Constantin Heger and Claire Zoe. During this time, Charlotte developed her fervor and zeal for Protestantism and started objecting to Madame Heger for her belief in the tyrannical submission of Catholicism to the Pope. While living there in the boarding they had to do some services so Charlotte taught English while Emily taught music.
They intended to stay longer in Brussels but they had to return because of the death of their aunt Elizabeth Barnwell. She had come to take care of them after the death of their mother. She died in 1842 due to internal obstruction. Charlotte returned to Brussels in 1843 and started teaching in a school. But due to homesickness, she returned to Haworth in 1842.
Once she returned to Haworth, she decided with her sisters to start a boarding school in their home. The school was introduced as ‘The Misses Bronte`s Establishment for the Board and Education of a limited number of Young Ladies. The project did not succeed and they had to abandon it in 1844.
In 1846, the three sisters, Anne, Charlotte, and Emily published a collection of poems with their own finances. They published the poems with pseudonyms of Currer for Charlotte, Acton Bill for Anne, and Ellis for Emily. Although they could sell only two copies of the publication yet they decided to continue their writing. They completed the first draft of their novel and sent it to some publishers with their pseudonyms.
The first manuscript of Bronte was ‘The Professor’ but this manuscript could not get a publisher. The publisher Smith, Elder & Co encouraged Currer Bell to send any other longer work for publication. This motivated her to pursue her writing career. Six weeks later, Bronte sent another manuscript and in August 1847, ‘Jane Eyre’ was published. This book was successful as it followed the story of a governess who married her employer, Mr. Rochester, without any information about his first wife.
The story is about the struggle of Jane. This book amalgamated the elements of gothic melodrama with naturalism and it attracted a large number of audiences. The book was written in the first-person narrative.
The book got success but speculations were made about the gender of Currer Bell. Some believed that Currer Bell was a woman. Some of the critics called it an improper book. Whatever the critics opined, the sale of the book continued and soon it was ordered for the second edition.
In 1848, Bronte started working on her second novel, Shirley. She was about to complete the novel but Bronte’s family had to endure the deaths of three of its family members. Branwell died due to Chronic Bronchitis. He developed the disease because of excessive drinking. Emily died because of pulmonary tuberculosis in December 1848. Anne died in May 1849 due to the same disease of pulmonary tuberculosis. This impacted Charlotte Bronte to a larger extent and she could not write in such bleak circumstances.
Shirley got published in October 1849. Charlotte Bronte decided to write so that she could give vent to her grief in her writings. This book was written in a third-person narrative. The reviews were not so good regarding this novel.
In 1853, Charlotte Bronte published her third and last novel, ‘Villette.’ This novel deals with isolation and internal conflict due to social repression. This novel is written in the first-person narrative. The novel is based on Charlotte`s experience in Brussels. The novel has many autobiographical elements. The novel was acknowledged by many of the critics but some called it coarse writing. She was also charged with not depicting the female character Lucy in her full bloom of femininity.
Before Charlotte published ‘Villette’ she received a proposal for marriage from Arthur Bell Nicholls. He was the curate of Charlotte`s father. He had been in love with her for a very long time. He was a poor person and this became the reason that she rejected the proposal. Even her father did not give his consent for the marriage. Elizabeth Gaskell encouraged her to think of the positive aspects and marry him. She also tried to improve the financial statue of o Arthur Bell.
Gradually, Charlotte got attracted to Nicholls and they got married in June 1854 with the consent of her father. They celebrated their honeymoon in Banagher, County Offaly, Ireland. This marriage was successful and Bronte remained happy with her husband.
Charlotte Bronte soon became pregnant and was happy for the arrival of her baby but her health started to deteriorate. She started being attacked by sensations of perpetual nausea. She felt dizzy and weakened. Without giving birth to her first child, Charlotte Bronte died on March 31st, 1855. The death certificate affirmed that she died because of tuberculosis. However, some of her biographers view that she died because of dehydration and malnourishment. She was buried in the Church of St. Michael and All Angels at Haworth. It was her family vault.
Her first novel, ‘The Professor’ was published in 1857 after her death. The new novel she had been working at was completed by recent authors and was published by Clare Boylan in 2003 as ‘Emma Brown: A Novel from the unfinished manuscript by Charlotte Bronte.’
In 1875, Elizabeth Gaskell published The Life of Charlotte Bronte. It was an important biography because it marked a trend to highlight the life of female novelists. In the biography, Charlotte`s private details were discussed. The biography is a detailed one but it does not talk about Charlotte`s love for Heger who was a married man of Brussels.
The times of London published 4 letters of Bronte on July 13th, 1913. These letters were written to Constantin Heger when she left Brussels in 1844. These letters were written in French. The letters show that Charlotte had been in one-sided love with Heger.
Charlotte Bronte’s Writing Style
Bronte’s style as Embodiment of Victorian Characteristics
Numerous subjects, styles, kinds, and methods of Victorian Literature are reflected in the novels of Charlotte Bronte, particularly that of ‘Jane Eyre.’ Regular subjects of Victorian writing are imparted to Jane Eyre. Food was a recurring topic of all Victorian books as a result of the yearning that numerous individuals looked in this timespan. This topic is reflected in the distinctive portrayal of under sustenance at Lowood School in Charlotte Bronte’s ‘Jane Eyre.’ Another basic topic was ladies’ profound quality and sensuality. Before the publishing of ‘Jane Eyre,’ ladies were straightforward and authentic under the desires for society, the spouse and mother from whom all ethical quality sprang.
After this novel was distributed, the new lady became overwhelmed, based on the primary character, Jane, who was autonomous, solid, forward, and radical in the feeling of marriage and contraception conclusions. The subject of sex embarrassment obliges ladies’ ethical quality and erotic nature since it, likewise, conflicted with the earlier moderate social desires and convictions for ladies. This topic began to get basic in Victorian writing. A case of sex outrage is in ‘Jane Eyre’ when Jane engaged with Rochester, her well off chief, and wound up wedding him.
Her Use of Genre
Charlotte`s greatest characteristic of her writing is that she incorporates a number of genres in her writings. She does not write her novel keeping one genre in mind rather she makes use of several other genres and this marks her style a unique style. It is her style that is very much different from other writers. This can be seen in the case of her famous novel ‘Jane Eyre.’ The genre of this novel can be delegated to a wide range of types; Romance, Mystery, and Gothic Fiction.
It very well may be viewed as an exemplary sentimental novel as a result of the energetic relationship that Jane and Rochester structure. It is a puzzle as in all through the book, Jane suspects something about Rochester and his past dependent on the episode of Grace Pool accidentally setting his bed ablaze in a tipsy state and not getting terminated for it. She at that point finds the mystery of his past that he has a spouse, Bertha, who has one frantic and was the person who set his bed ablaze. It is viewed as Gothic Fiction in light of the heavenly and dream components that Charlotte Bronte incorporates.
Charlotte’s Rebellion Against Traditional Style of Writing
Charlotte’s writing style is remarkably wonderful. It is through this style, she consolidates dream components in ‘Jane Eyre’ through references to fantasies, prophetic dreams, mythic symbolism, and unprecedented unexpected developments.
A case of the mythic symbolism appears through Charlotte’s accentuation on the picture of enthusiasm. Jane was consistently an energetic and enthusiastic character since she was a kid. Charlotte expounds on Jane after her cousin hits her with the book. She says that her blood was still warm; the mind-set of the revolted slave was all the while propping her with its harsh life.
The picture of her warm blood and her serious annoyance contrasted with that of a revolted slave shows Jane’s incredible feeling even as a youngster. This picture is underscored through symbolism when Charlotte composes of Jane’s affections for Rochester as blazing iron and obscurity and consuming.
These allegorical pictures of a fire depict to the readers the serious enthusiasm that Jane has for Rochester. Fire is another picture that Charlotte expounds on throughout the novel. She says in the room burst which Jane spared Rochester from, in the language that both Rochester and Jane use in portraying their feelings towards one another. In the last fire that obliterated Thornfield Hall, injured Rochester, and murdered Bertha.
As Vaughan would see it, this symbolism of fire and energy was Charlotte’s method of accentuating the untrustworthy and wicked love that Jane and Rochester imparted to one another dependent on the fire of hellfire. In the Victorian era, this relationship would be viewed as shameful, not just founded on the distinction in their classes, yet additionally in light of the fact that they had faith in immaculateness. Charlotte conflicts with the customary convictions with her symbolism of energy and desire among Jane and Rochester.
Her Style is Complex
Charlotte’s composing style is commonly instructed, complex, and feeling filled. A large portion of her sentences contains various descriptive words and exotic pictures. Her one of a kind style might be overpowering for certain readers, yet it’s amazing and solid. The readers can relate to ‘Jane Eyre’ as a character through the unpredictable sentence structure that is loaded up with feeling and symbolism.
Use of Setting
Another great quality of Charlotte`s writing style is that she uses a number of settings for her novels and the tone and mood of her novels change with every new setting. For example, as indicated by George P. Landow, ‘Jane Eyre’ is distributed into five particular settings. The story begins when Jane is a kid living in her relative’s, the Reed’s, house in Gateshead Hall. At that point, she is sent to Lowood School and has numerous encounters there with Miss.
Temple, Helen Burns, and Mr. Brocklehurst. Following eight years in school, she inhabits Thornfield as a tutor to Adele. This is the place she experiences passionate feelings for her chief, Rochester. At that point, she moves out after his revelation of Bertha, Rochester’s frantic spouse. She is then taken into the Moor House by her cousins, the Rivers. At long last, she is brought together with Rochester at the Ferndean Manor.
Each setting of the book has its own interesting state of mind in a solid connection to the characters present at each spot. For example, Robert B. Martin calls attention to that the setting of Thornfield is significantly more close to home than the two going before settings at Gateshead and Lowood. It is as a result of the association Jane makes to Rochester and the association Rochester needs to Thornfield. In part 11 of ‘Jane Eyre’, Mrs. Fairfax first makes notice to Rochester when she says that incredible houses and fine grounds require the nearness of the owner.
Since Mrs. Fairfax said this, Jane felt just as it was not alive except if Rochester was available which is firmly associated with how Jane felt forlorn and down on the grounds that when he was not there. This association among character and setting mirrors the unpredictable mindset of Thornfield relying upon whether Rochester is there or not.
At the point when he is away traveling, the state of mind is serious and barren in light of the fact that the readers can comprehend and feel the aching that Jane has for Rochester and the forlornness she feels in the immense, void house. At the point when he is there, the disposition changes to energizing and private due to the emotions that Jane has toward him and the enthusiasm that she connects with the house.
Her Characters are Unique
Charlotte`s characters are very much unique and she reflects the inner motives of the characters very directly to the readers so that the readers can have a clear picture. Charlotte Bronte works superbly with mirroring the characters in ‘Jane Eyre’ to the readers through her composition. One special and fascinating character is Bertha, Rochester’s crazy spouse in ‘Jane Eyre.’ The Victorians during the nineteenth century had an interest in wellbeing, at times more prominent than that of governmental issues, religion, and Darwinism.
They accepted a related psyche body association picked up quality, and numerous individuals considered physical to be emotional well-being as being interrelated as opposed to isolated elements. As indicated by Mayer, these perspectives of the time are reflected in Bertha’s character through her psychological instability and the physical danger she puts on Rochester.
Contrasted with Jane, Bertha is her inverse and depicted to the readers as a beast. Rochester depicts her as having ‘red balls’ for eyes, a cover rather than a face, and mass rather than an alluring structure like Jane. Jane is solid in the body and psyche. She persevered through the unfortunate conditions at Lowood where numerous students faced death and survived due to cold and appetite when she had fled from Thornfield and lived outside. Her psychological quality is shown through her fearlessness as a kid with her malevolent auntie, harassing cousin, and dishonest superintendent.
She remained consistent with herself and persuaded to be fruitful as a lady in this time in spite of the troublesome circumstances these individuals had made for her. Interestingly, Bertha is depicted by Rochester as having gone frantic. The Victorians would see this as an absence of mental quality. She, likewise, represents a danger to Rochester truly by her demonstrations, for example, setting his bed ablaze while he was resting, lurching at him and Jane in the room, and really prevailing with regards to torching the house at the finish of the book.
Rochester is delineated as the perfect hero of the Victorian occasions. He is exceptionally sentimental and enchanting which adds to the gothic style of this novel. Regardless of his appeal, there was a lot of debate over Rochester’s character in Victorian occasions. English law at the time said that a man whose spouse became crazy couldn’t get separation. To manage his concern, he put his wife into containment, secured a stay with a worker to think about her. He at that point continued to nearly participate in plural marriage by wedding Jane. Numerous Victorians of the time addressed why Jane could ever return to such a man.
The character of Jane isn’t the customary courageous woman of the time. In numerous sentimental books of the Victorian period, the courageous woman was excellent. Jane is depicted by Charlotte as straightforward and plain. She additionally varies from the conventional courageous woman in her quality as a lady. Charlotte made a lady character that was equivalent to the male character. Jane isn’t equivalent in status or class, yet in enthusiastic quality and development. This conflicted with society’s convictions of the time since Victorians generally accepted that ladies were not equipped for compelling feelings.
Flaws in her Writing Style
In fact, Bronte has numerous defects in her writing style. As M. Heger brought up to her, she has a literary awkwardness wherein her creative mind can prompt a turbid progression of words blurring her significance. She is likewise powerless to doubtful plots without verisimilitude, for example, is the situation with Villette, in which Cecil says she extends the long arm of occurrence till it turns out to be decidedly separated.
Her driving male characters, for example, Dr. John, are ridiculous, just monotonous collections of good characteristics, except for M. Paul Emanuel, who is introduced in un-heroic terms through most of the book.
In any case, her capacity to give emotional representations of her courageous women restricts the depiction of her secondary characters. It is through the courageous woman that the reader is given a picture of different characters. For instance, in Villette, the reader sees everything through the eyes of Lucy Snowe. Each character is delineated as he is seen through her vision, the barest portrayals contrasted and the intricately completed picture of the character through whose eyes we take a gander at him.
Charlotte Bronte perceived her failure to handle issues of the day in the method of Dickens. In Victorian Novelists: Essays in Revaluation, David Cecil states that her books are not about men like Dickens’, nor about men like Thackeray’s, yet about an individual man. Bronte expounds on singular encounters with solid sentiments of suggestive pictures. Bronte’s quality is her capacity to portray and cause the readers to feel what’s going on. Cecil considers her the principal emotional author; thus, her champions are exceptionally intelligent of herself: when Lucy Snowe in Villette talks, it is genuinely Charlotte talking.
Cecil states that on a very basic level, her chief characters are no different individuals; and that individual is Charlotte Bronte. Her range is kept, not exclusively to an immediate articulation of a person’s feelings and impressions, yet to an immediate articulation of Charlotte Bronte’s feelings and impressions.