Tomorrow, July 30 will be the birth date of Emily Brontë (30 July 1818 — 19 December 1848). While I’m not a big fan of the Brontë sisters, I certainly do appreciate their contributions to literature.
1) Emily Jane Brontë was the fifth child, or six children, born into the Brontë family.
2) Her mother died when she was two.
3) Emily went to a school for clergymen’s kids when she was six with her three older sisters. However the two oldest died due to the harsh conditions at the “school”.
4) Emily worked as a governess and a schoolteacher.
5) Emily and Charlotte went to Brussels, Belgium, I n 1842 to study school administration.
6) After Emily learned that Charlotte and Anne have also written poems, they published their first book called “Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell” (read for free).
7) The collected poems sold…two copies.
8 ) Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” was published in 1847, however did not find the instant success that Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre” (book review) did.
9) Emily died of tuberculosis a year after “Wuthering Heights” was published.
10) In 1850, “Wuthering Heights” was published in a second edition, this time however Charlotte wrote an introduction explaining why she thought it was superior to “Jane Eyre”.
Zohar – Man of la Book
8 Comments
Such a sad short life. Thanks for the facts 🙂
i found “Wuthering Heights” very, very depressing…could not finish the book or the movies of same. much more appreciation of Charlott’s work. if you ever get a chance to watch the first movie of ‘Jane Eyre, watch for her best friend at school with the curly dark hair (black/white about 1930’s)…a very young Elizabeth Taylor before she shot to fame.
Hodgepodgespv I’m so sorry you didn’t like Wuthering Heights. I really love the moors. They seem they would be a fun hang out in the spring when everything is blooming. The first movie is the only one I’ve seen. Elizabeth Taylor was intense in the role of the young sick orphan, although she was so young.
Thank you Zohar for posting the info on Emily Bronte. I had no idea she died young. That religious school sounds brutal.
Yes, it does sound brutal. I know that if people, especially in Europe, kept good hygiene many people would have been saved.
Thanks for the recommendation, I’ll certainly check out the movie.
*Sigh…Everyone forgets about Anne…I loved her book, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
I still have yet to read the other sisters’ work (although I already know what happens in Jane Eyre thanks to movies on TV) but Anne has more realism in her work from what critics say. Maybe you’d like her more?
Thanks for the recommmendation Rosie, I didn’t care much for Jane Eyre but I’ll certainly give the other Bronte sisters a try.
In no way do I think Wuthering Heights is superior to Jane Eyre.