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Today we're going to learn about the famous writers, the Brontë sisters.
Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë were nineteenth century English poets and novelists whose
works include Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, now considered
classics of English literature.
They were three of six children born to Patrick Brontë, an Irish clergyman, and his wife
Maria.
The girls lived with their family at the parsonage in Haworth, in Yorkshire, England.
In 1821 their mother died, when Charlotte was 5, Emily was 3, and Anne was only one year old.
Maria's sister, Elizabeth Branwell, moved in with the Brontës to help care for the
six young children.
In 1824 the four oldest girls, Maria, Elizabeth, Charlotte, and Emily, were sent to school
at Cowan Bridge.
Conditions at the school were terrible, and the next year Maria Brontë, age 11, and Elizabeth,
age 10, died of tuberculosis.
Charlotte and Emily were immediately pulled from the school and returned home to Haworth,
and for the next six years the four remaining Brontë children were educated at home.
Charlotte, Emily, Anne, and their brother Branwell would write stories together, elaborate
stories about imaginary countries they invented, inspired by magazines and newspapers their
father bought.
The siblings recorded these adventures in tiny books they made from scraps of paper
and bound with thread.
As teenagers, the girls attended another school, the Roe Head School, where they each studied
for a short time.
But because the Brontës were poor, the girls went to work as quickly as possible.
Charlotte and Emily became teachers as soon as they turned 19, while Anne went to be a
governess, teaching the children of a wealthy family.
The girls did not much enjoy their jobs, and in 1842 Charlotte and Emily traveled to Brussels
to study.
This did not last long, however, for later that year their aunt, Elizabeth Branwell,
died, and the sisters returned home.
Aunt Branwell had left her nieces enough money to pay off all their debts and ensure that
they did not need to teach anymore.
In 1846, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne used the money to publish a book of poems.
They published under male pen names, pretending to be three brothers instead of three sisters,
because they felt that their writing would not be taken seriously if anyone knew they
were women.
Charlotte wrote as Currer, Emily wrote as Ellis, and Anne wrote as Acton Bell.
The book of poems did very badly, only selling two or three copies in its first printing,
but the sisters were not discouraged.
Instead, each one wrote a novel which was published in 1847: Charlotte's Jane Eyre,
Emily's Wuthering Heights, and Anne's Agnes Grey.
The reaction to these books was incredible.
They were very popular, selling many copies and attracting the attention of literary critics.
In 1848 Anne published another book, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, which sold even better than
her first book had.
This success was short-lived, however.
In September of 1848, their brother Branwell died, most likely of tuberculosis.
He had never been successful, although he had tried many different occupations including
those of writer, teacher, and painter, and turned to drugs and alcohol to cope, which
worsened his health and possibly led to his death.
Three months later, Emily Brontë also died of tuberculosis, when she was only 30 years old.
The following spring Anne died, also of tuberculosis, at the age of 29.
Charlotte Brontë was left alone with her father.
Despite her fame and success, which only increased when she revealed her true identity as a woman,
she felt very lonely.
In 1854 she married her father's assistant, Arthur Bell Nichols, and became pregnant.
Shortly afterward she died of complications from the pregnancy, just before her 39th birthday.
Although the lives of the Brontë sisters were short, their contributions to literature
are still considered some of the greatest in the English language.
I hope you enjoyed learning about the Brontë sisters today.
Goodbye till next time!