標準歴史・文化

The Brontë Sisters

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Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë grew up in the early nineteenth century in Haworth, a small village in the north of England. Their father was a priest, and the family lived in a house next to the church. Their mother died when the girls were very young, and two of their older sisters later died of illnesses they had caught at a poorly run boarding school. After these sad events, the remaining children were mostly educated at home. Their father allowed them to read from his books and newspapers, which was for girls at that time. As children, the sisters and their brother, Branwell, created imaginary kingdoms and wrote hundreds of stories about them. They wrote these stories in books, some of which were smaller than a matchbox, so that the books would fit their toy soldiers. When the sisters grew up, they worked as teachers or as governesses, women who lived with rich families and taught their children. Finding these jobs both tiring and lonely, however, they dreamed of earning a living by writing instead. In 1846, the sisters published a of poems using men's names: Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. They chose these names because they believed critics would the work of female writers unfairly. Although the sold only two copies, the sisters refused to give up. In 1847, each of them published a novel. Charlotte's Jane Eyre became a great , while Emily's Wuthering Heights was criticized at first for being too dark and strange. Anne's Agnes Grey was based on her own experiences as a governess. Sadly, Emily and Anne died young, soon after their novels appeared, and Charlotte lived only until 1855. Their lives were short, but their has lasted for two centuries. Today, Wuthering Heights is considered one of the greatest novels in the English , and many readers visit Haworth every year to see where the sisters lived. Their also helped to the belief that women were not of writing serious and powerful stories. Experts say that the sisters' strong female characters encouraged later writers to women's thoughts and feelings more honestly.