Charlotte Bronte – Life and Works
The Victorian period was the golden age of English novels. Novelists gained popularity and it was the Bronte sisters who had become the emblem of this time.
Among the Bronte Sisters, it was probably Charlotte who had won over the hearts of the readers with her novel, Jane Eyre.
Together with her siblings, Charlotte was able to hone her passion for writing. They would often write to entertain themselves. Given the harsh environment they lived in, their living conditions were accustomed to tragedies. At a very young age, they lost already their two older sisters leaving the three of them with their brother, Branwell who brought constant shame to the family because of his addiction. Hoping for a brighter future, Charlotte began to explore the field of writing through a self-directed apprenticeship. Her works of this time were imitations of earlier poets. She took up a short trip to study how to write literary pieces at Roehead in 1831. Five years later, she ventured out into professional writing. During her time, it was unbecoming of a woman to write because women are expected to be mothers and wives. After receiving a discouraging response from Robert Southey, she challenged herself once again by studying at a Belgian school. She was able to publish her works alongside her sisters by using a male pseudonym.
Her novel, Jane Eyre blossomed into fruition that attracted various readers and critics. Going against the tide of traditional Victorian novels that depict Cinderella-like narratives, Charlotte’s works were inspired by gothic horror with dark setting Her experiments with poetic forms shaped the modes of writing of the Victorian period… Her works received an array of varied responses from readers to critics. Some were disturbed by the way she write because of the notion about women yet some celebrated the profound boldness of her female characters. She had created quite an uproar in the literary field because some were skeptical about a woman capable of producing a masterpiece. From this point, it can be viewed that her works sparked a fire of feminism. She died at age of 38 on March 38, 1855.
