In the language of flowers, Heather is a symbol of loneliness and hopelessness, which is akin to the fate of three sisters (the unreality of marriage due to lack of dowry and the early death of all three).
The Bronte sisters - Brontë, Charlotte (1816-1855), Brontë, Emily (1818-1848), and Brontë, Ann (1820-1848) were English novelists and founders of critical realism in 19th century English literature.
The Bronte sisters were born in Haworth, Yorkshire — Charlotte on April 21, 1816, Emily on July 30, 1818, and Ann on January 17, 1820 in the family of poor Irish country clergyman, Patrick Bronte. Their father was a weaver, but later studied theology and became an Anglican priest, receiving a small parish in the North of England near the industrial city of Leeds. There were born his six children - a son and five daughters; after the birth of the youngest, his wife died.
When Charlotte was eight and Emily six years old, their father sent their four older daughters to Cowan bridge school. Conditions at the school where governesses were trained were terrible — two older sisters died of tuberculosis here. Bronte took home the sick Charlotte and Emily. Later, Charlotte went to boarding school for a fee, and Emily and Ann were educated at home. Terrible memories of school remained in their memory forever: later, Charlotte mentions it in a novel “Jane Eyre”. All the children of Patrick Bronte tried to write, and his son Branwell and Charlotte was fond of drawing. After graduating from boarding school, Charlotte continued to teach there, and the sisters began working as governesses in wealthy families.
In 1837, Charlotte sent her poems for review to the famous poet laureate Robert Southey. In response, Southey noted that "it is not a woman's business to devote herself exclusively to poetry", although it is permissible to engage in poetry as a pleasant pastime, provided that one does not forget "for its sake one's feminine duties".
Charlotte and Emily go to Brussels in 1842, hoping to learn French there. In order to avoid paying tuition fees at the boarding school, they took it upon themselves to teach English.
In 1846, the sisters published a collection of poems under the name of the bell brothers (Charlotte-Carrer, Emily-Ellis, Ann-Acton). In 1847, under the same names, the girls send their prose to London. Emily's novels “Wuthering heights” and Ann's “Agnes Grey” were accepted, while Charlotte's “The Teacher” was rejected by publishers. At the same time, publishers Smith and Elder gave a serious assessment of the novel "The Teacher" and recognized the author's literary gift. Charlotte begins working on a new “Jane Eyre” novel.
The sisters also tried to open a boarding school for girls. They had teaching experience, a good education, an excellent knowledge of French, and a large room in the parsonage. But there was not enough money and connections — no one went to study in a poorly furnished country house near the cemetery.
On August 24, 1847, Charlotte Bronte sent the manuscript of "Jane Eyre" to publishers Smith and Elder, and on October 16, her novel was published. The essay, written with sincerity and passion, won the readers and brought the author a resounding success. The novel was enthusiastically praised by the leading press and criticized by reactionaries.
The rumor that the brothers did not exist and that the novel "Jane Eyre" was written by a teacher, Charlotte Bronte, spread quickly. The success of "Jane Eyre" feat publishers to publish the novels of the Bronte sisters "Wuthering Heights" and "Agnes Grey". "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte was also expected to be a success, however, not so noisy, while Ann’s novel sold poorly, its merits was evaluated later. At first glance, "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte - a story of dark fatal passions of individuals similar to the heroes of romantic poems of Byron.
The novel traces the features of romanticism, the influence of which is reflected not only in the writer's interest in fatal human passions, but also in the language, its characteristic romantic imagery, pathos, in the landscape that invariably accompanies the events and experiences of the characters. The work combines elements of romanticism and realism.
After the publication of the novels, the Bronte sisters gained financial independence and fame; they could leave the work of governesses and do what they loved. Haworth became a place of pilgrimage for the curious, who wanted to see the famous sisters, who avoided meeting the public. Meanwhile, their brother Branwell, a talented artist, was dying of alcoholism and the family disease-tuberculosis (died September 24, 1847). While caring for him, Emily also falls ill with tuberculosis, and after a while, the same fate befalls Ann. In 1848, Ann died on May 26 and Emily on December 22. Charlotte is left with a blind father, without her sisters, with whom she is used to sharing her thoughts and plans. She starts working on new novels. At the end of 1849, the novel "Shirley" was published, in 1853 — "Villette", the novel "Emma" remained unfinished, Charlotte managed to write only two chapters.
In 1854, a young assistant priest, Arthur Bell Nicholls, appears in Haworth, where Charlotte lived with her father. He falls in love with Charlotte and asks for her hand in marriage, but his father is against it. In order not to upset her father, Charlotte refuses to marry. However, at the last moment, when Arthur, having decided to become a missionary, is about to go to India, Charlotte, having already said goodbye to him, agrees to the marriage, and Arthur Bell Nicholls remains in Haworth. Their marriage did not last long. The following year, on March 31, 1855, Charlotte died during a premature birth, complicated by tuberculosis, at the age of 39.
The sisters' work reflected the processes taking place in English literature in the 1830s and 1840s, marked by the flourishing of the novel genre and the emergence of critical realism. In novels, new types of characters appear who are sensitive and think deeply about life. The image of the human personality is deepened, and it is shown that its behavior is largely determined by social factors.
Unlike in their style, the novels of the Bronte sisters reflected not only the features of the worldview of the sane Charlotte and the romantic Emily, but also the aesthetic differences between the literary currents of realism and romanticism. At first glance, the novels of Charlotte Bronte are written in the spirit of critical realism, and the works of Emily are romantic works. However, the happy ending of "Jane Eyre" is not plausible, and the tragic ending of "Wuthering Heights" seems quite vital — romanticism and realism intertwined, from the depths of one direction was born another.
In the novels of the Bronte sisters, the themes of female emancipation, which became the banner of the feminist movement that developed in the 20th century, are also clearly heard. Defending the sense of self-esteem, the consciousness of their emotional and moral significance, the heroines of Bronte are able to make independent decisions, achieve their goals, and fully bear responsibility for their mistakes, without placing the blame on others. Charlotte Bronte was the first to show society the suffering of a woman who sees all the paths of life closed, except the only one indicated to her by nature, but even on this path she is waiting for troubles and disappointments. Through the mouths of their heroines, the writers called on society to look at the unsightly fate of women, at the lack of opportunities for their development as full members of society.
Their books were read by contemporaries, and today the novels of Charlotte, Emily and Ann Bronte have been translated into dozens of languages and repeatedly adapted into films. Literary historians still cannot find the answer to how girls from a poor family, who did not receive special education, were able to create such significant works for their time. The novels of the Bronte sisters remain one of the most popular classical works in the 21st century. The problems posed in them are relevant and continue to worry the modern reader.
Nazira Artykbayeva,
librarian of the Department of the International Book
