The Brontës: Wild Genius on the Moors

Summary (from the publisher): The story of the tragic Brontë family is familiar to everyone: we all know about the half-mad, repressive father, the drunken, drug-addled wastrel of a brother, wildly romantic Emily, unrequited Anne, and "poor Charlotte." Or do we? These stereotypes of the popular imagination are precisely that - imaginary - created by amateur biographers such as Mrs. Gaskell who were primarily novelists and were attracted by the tale of an apparently doomed family of genius. Juliet Barker's landmark book is the first definitive history of the Brontës. It demolishes the myths, yet provides startling new information that is just as compelling - but true. Based on first-hand research among all the Brontë manuscripts, including contemporary historical documents never before used by Brontë biographers, this book is both scholarly and compulsively readable. The Brontës: Wild Genius on the Moors is a revolutionary picture of the world's favorite literary family.

 

Review: The Brontë family, known for the writing sisters who between them wrote and published Wuthering Heights, Agnes Grey, and Jane Eyre, are typically referred to as forlorn children raised by a repressive and cold father in an isolated and cold setting. Yet in the comprehensive 979 pages of this family biography, Barker unravels the myths long perpetuated about this famous family and the truth behind the tales.  

 

The father of the famous Brontë sisters was Patrick, born in Ireland in 1777. Patrick left Ireland to attend St John's College, Cambridge. After graduating he became a curate and after several jobs with several different parishes acquired the position with the Haworth parish, which he held until his death. He married Maria Branwell in 1812, who was the daughter of a successful grocer and tea merchant of Penzance. Much of what we know of Maria is gleaned from some of the only surviving letters she left behind, letters written to Patrick after their engagement. The couple had six children between 1814 and 1820: Maria, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Patrick Branwell, Emily Jane, and Anne. Yet tragedy soon struck, when the children's mother Maria died of cancer in 1825. Fortunately, the children's aunt Branwell came to live with them and helped Patrick raise his six children. Disaster struck again when Patrick scraped together money to send his daughters away to boarding school. Maria and Elizabeth both caught consumption and died within months of each other in 1825. The death of the two eldest daughters again deprived the younger children of maternal figures and created a void in the family.

 

After the catastrophe of Maria and Elizabeth's deaths, the remaining four children were largely raised and educated at home. All four surviving children delighted in fantasy kingdoms and chronicling their imaginary kingdoms in tiny, handwritten books. Indeed, Charlotte and Branwell in particular had a close writing partnership as children and would interweave complex storylines in their writing. The children were in part influenced by writings by their father, principally, The Maid of Killarney; "They would imitate his style, particularly his inclusion of poems as songs in the text, and borrow his characters" (89).

 

The Brontë children did attempt means of going out into the world and earning their own living, with varied success. All three girls spent time working as teachers and governesses. Charlotte in particular hated her teaching jobs, writing about her time at a school, saying, "But just then a Dolt came up with a lesson. I thought I should have vomited" (296). Eventually, all four adult children ended up back at home with father Patrick. Branwell slowly succumbed to mental illness and alcoholism, while Charlotte, Emily, and Anne worked on their writings and published books. Branwell died of consumption and alcoholism in 1848 and was tragically quickly followed by Emily later in 1848 and Anne in 1849.

 

Following the death of Anne, Charlotte no longer felt compelled to keep her identity a secret and was feted in society as the author of Jane Eyre. It was likely a wise choice that the sisters chose to publish under the pseudonyms Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, because of the moral outrage that the novels elicited upon first publication. "It was not simply the unprecedented passion with which they were written that dismayed the critics: the stories and characters, too, displayed all those qualities which polite Victorians most feared - a disregard for social niceties, an obsession (as it was seen then) with violence, cruelty and vice, and a complete lack of that satisfying morality which doled out rewards to the innocent and good and punished those who had done wrong" (104). Yet despite this criticism, Charlotte was able to live comfortably with her father on her earnings and eventually married her father's curate Arthur Bell Nicholls, who apparently loved her greatly for herself and not her writing. Tragically, their happy marriage and Charlotte's contentment was ended too soon when Charlotte died in 1855, likely of pregnancy and a 'wasting disease.' Patrick Brontë outlived his wife and all six of his children. His daughter's husband cared for him in his final years. After Patrick's death, Arthur returned to his home in Ireland and spent his remaining years as a farmer.

 

Many of the erroneous myths long perpetuated about the family are thanks to Gaskell's biography of Charlotte that was published shortly after her death. For instance, Mrs. Gaskell described Haworth drastically different than it truly was: "'Isolated,' 'solitary,' 'lonely' are the epithets on every page. But in reality, Haworth was a busy, industrial township, not some remote rural village" (105). Patrick was described as a half-mad and violent eccentric, when in reality he was a devoted father and well liked in his parish. Even during Patrick's lifetime, these discrepancies were noted by visitors to Haworth, who upon meeting Patrick and talking with people throughout the town, had their "faith in Mrs. Gaskell" severely undermined. It is unfortunate that to this day, these myths are still held as fact by many readers of the Brontës' works.

 

This novel does primarily focus on Charlotte Bronte, as she was the longest living of her siblings, the most prolific both in fiction and letters, and who was not as private and reclusive as her more retiring sisters. Letters written by Charlotte to her friend Ellen are extensively quoted throughout. However, I do wish the motivations and thoughts behind the other sisters and behind their father Patrick was explored a bit more. Additionally, after her sisters' deaths, the novel spends significant time and pages detailing the many travels and social adventures that she enjoyed after her identity as the author of her books became known. While this was important to understanding Charlotte, it was at times a tedious and long drawn out account.

 

It is perfectly fitting that Barker chose to write this as a family biography rather than selecting one member, because ultimately, they functioned as a self-sufficient and close knit unit. "They were dependent on each other for the mutual support and criticism which underpinned their lives and illuminated their literary efforts. Without this intense family relationship, some of the greatest novels in the English language would never have been written" (979). While still a very tragic family story, I enjoyed this comprehensive and unprejudiced account of the Brontës, which does much to correct the false impressions long generated about the family.

 

Stars: 4