1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:16,079 Speaker 1: I'm fair Dowdy and I'm de Blaye and chuco boarding 4 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:18,840 Speaker 1: and we are going back to the Brontes today. We 5 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:21,439 Speaker 1: talked about them recently, and when we left off the 6 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:26,520 Speaker 1: last episode, we had just finished discussing their early live Charlotte, Brandwell, 7 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:30,360 Speaker 1: Emily and Bronte's early lives the four children of the 8 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 1: Reverend Patrick Bronte of how Earth, and by their early twenties, 9 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 1: these four brilliant Bronte children were in a bit of 10 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:42,000 Speaker 1: a rut. Really, Brandwell, who was expected to be a 11 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:45,080 Speaker 1: great artist or writer, the really the pride of the 12 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:47,760 Speaker 1: family is the only son, was working as a railway 13 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 1: clerk and becoming increasingly reliant on alcohol and opium. The 14 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: three girls, meanwhile, had at various points taken unpleasant teaching 15 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:00,400 Speaker 1: jobs to governessing jobs that they really weren't that well 16 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: suited for. Yeah, so it seems like a blessing one. 17 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:06,680 Speaker 1: In forty one, there living aunt Elizabeth Brandwell proposed using 18 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:09,520 Speaker 1: her savings to set the girls up with their own school. 19 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:13,240 Speaker 1: Charlotte quickly sweetened the deal by convincing her aunt father. 20 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:16,560 Speaker 1: To make the school work, they need some accomplishments like 21 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:19,840 Speaker 1: flawless French and a good grasp of Italian and German, 22 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:23,280 Speaker 1: so they hatched this plan. Charlotte and Emily would study 23 00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:26,520 Speaker 1: for six months at the Poncionale j and Brussels before 24 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:31,000 Speaker 1: coming back, reuniting with Anne and opening up their own school. 25 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:34,039 Speaker 1: So it really sounds like a pretty good plan. But 26 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 1: for nature loving home body Emily, leaving Howard was really painful. 27 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,319 Speaker 1: She loved being out in the moors. For Charlotte, though 28 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: it was thrilling, it was so exciting to finally get 29 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:46,840 Speaker 1: out into the world in experience some of all that 30 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 1: she'd been reading about for years and years. The two shy, 31 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 1: kind of country Bronte girls must have really stood out 32 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:57,400 Speaker 1: among their fancier and their Catholic Belgian peers at Madame 33 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:00,160 Speaker 1: J's school for girls, but they did pretty well all 34 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:03,760 Speaker 1: with their lessons. They took private French lessons from Monsieur 35 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:07,240 Speaker 1: a J, who was a respected professor, and they were 36 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:09,760 Speaker 1: really doing so well, in fact, that at the end 37 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:13,440 Speaker 1: of their six months of study, Madame is J suggested 38 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:16,760 Speaker 1: that they stay on for a while longer Charlotte would 39 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:19,760 Speaker 1: teach English, Emily would instruct music, and that would be 40 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:22,560 Speaker 1: kind of a trade for their lessons, so they wouldn't 41 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:26,040 Speaker 1: have to keep on funding their own schooling. But in 42 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:29,600 Speaker 1: October two where it came that Aunt Brandwell was dead, 43 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: so they headed home, finding that Brandwell was also there, 44 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 1: having been fired from his railroad job after a discrepancy 45 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:40,239 Speaker 1: was found in the account. So brand Well was at 46 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:43,520 Speaker 1: it again. It's no wonder that Charlotte was soon eager 47 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:46,680 Speaker 1: to accept the A J's invitation to return to Belgium 48 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:49,720 Speaker 1: and continue her studies and would keep Governess sane and 49 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:53,160 Speaker 1: Emily would tend to their father, who was increasingly suffering 50 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:56,919 Speaker 1: from cataracts. Again. In one year they had reunite and 51 00:02:57,040 --> 00:03:00,239 Speaker 1: finally start their school together. This guy around. How Over, 52 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: Charlotte didn't exactly concentrate fully on her studies. Things were 53 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:08,120 Speaker 1: okay at first, but without her sister Emily there, she 54 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:11,080 Speaker 1: became very lonely, and she started to fixate more and 55 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:15,680 Speaker 1: more on her master, her professor Muilsieur j. And if 56 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: you'd like to see another side of Charlotte, one that 57 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:22,400 Speaker 1: almost helps reconcile her as the author of the passionate book. 58 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 1: Jane Ere, I'd recommend checking out these letters to Monsieur J. 59 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:31,040 Speaker 1: They're kind of like love letters but not. And consequently, 60 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: Charlotte's friends, the a J's and their children and countless 61 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:37,760 Speaker 1: Bronte historians have tried to figure out what exactly was 62 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: going on between these two, Whether Charlotte loved Monsieur J 63 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:46,120 Speaker 1: in a romantic way, whether he was innocent and encouraging 64 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:49,200 Speaker 1: that admiration, you know, or whether he was just interested 65 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 1: in her as a student, somebody who wanted to help 66 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:57,440 Speaker 1: learn French better and appreciate literature more. And then whether 67 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:03,000 Speaker 1: Charlotte even realized that her tonic obsession could be mistaken 68 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:05,680 Speaker 1: by some people as adulterous love for this guy who 69 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:08,840 Speaker 1: was married and had a large and constantly growing family. 70 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 1: So she might have just been a little bit naive 71 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:13,840 Speaker 1: in that respect. But even if Charlotte was unaware of 72 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:16,280 Speaker 1: the way her feelings could be taken, Madam a J 73 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:19,599 Speaker 1: was not. As Charlotte's second year in Belgium war on, 74 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:23,159 Speaker 1: Madam Aja ended the pairs one on one English lessons, 75 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:26,840 Speaker 1: she started acting really coolly towards Charlotte as well, and 76 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:29,320 Speaker 1: Charlotte even came to believe that Madame a Jay had 77 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:32,560 Speaker 1: another teacher spy on her. By the end of the year, 78 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:35,159 Speaker 1: Charlotte was packing her bags to head back to Haworth, 79 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:38,720 Speaker 1: where she started correspondence. Those first letters must have been 80 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:42,240 Speaker 1: appropriate enough. We don't know what they contained because they 81 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:45,280 Speaker 1: don't survive. But after a few months, Monsieur a J 82 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:50,280 Speaker 1: stopped writing back, and Charlotte got even more desperate. Fortunately, though, 83 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:54,280 Speaker 1: these letters do survive because even though Monsieur a J 84 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:58,040 Speaker 1: ripped them up, his wife stitched them back together as 85 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 1: quote a safeguard for the future. According to Charlotte Bronte's 86 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:06,480 Speaker 1: biographer Rebecca Frasier, just to give you an example of 87 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:08,160 Speaker 1: the kind of writing we're talking about, I mean, it 88 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:10,760 Speaker 1: does sound very much like a love letter. Here's an 89 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:15,599 Speaker 1: example from a January letter, Charlotte wrote, quote, all I 90 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:18,680 Speaker 1: know is that I cannot that I will not resign 91 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:22,040 Speaker 1: myself to lose wholly the friendship of my master. I 92 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:25,080 Speaker 1: would rather suffer the greatest physical pain and then always 93 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:28,760 Speaker 1: have my heart lacerated by smarting regrets. If my master 94 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:32,480 Speaker 1: withdraws his friendship from me entirely, I shall be altogether 95 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:35,840 Speaker 1: without hope. If he gives me a little, just a little. 96 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:40,200 Speaker 1: I shall be satisfied, happy, I shall have reason for living, 97 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:44,040 Speaker 1: on for working. So like a love letter, but again 98 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:47,320 Speaker 1: not quite like a love letter, something kind of in between, 99 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:51,640 Speaker 1: but also clearly kind of inappropriate. It's ambiguous, but there's 100 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:55,840 Speaker 1: definitely some sort of very strong attachment there. Meanwhile, though, 101 00:05:55,880 --> 00:05:59,440 Speaker 1: the Bronte ladies were making arrangements for their long planned 102 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:03,440 Speaker 1: school because Mr Bronte's cataracts had nearly blinded him. Emily 103 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:06,440 Speaker 1: and Charlotte decided the school should be at the parsonage, 104 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:09,760 Speaker 1: which is kind of a bad idea since, as you'll remember, 105 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:12,160 Speaker 1: it was pretty out of the way, so it was 106 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:15,719 Speaker 1: impossible for students to find. And that was really unfortunate too, 107 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 1: because by the summer of eighty five all of the 108 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:23,279 Speaker 1: Bronte children were at home again and unemployed, and had 109 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:26,240 Speaker 1: resigned her four year position as the governess for the 110 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:30,280 Speaker 1: Robinson family in June, mysteriously writing in her secret diary. 111 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:32,960 Speaker 1: By the way, I quote, I was then at Thorpe Green, 112 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:36,599 Speaker 1: and now I am only just escaped from it. During 113 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:40,040 Speaker 1: my stay, I've had some very unpleasant and undreamt of 114 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:44,080 Speaker 1: experiences of human nature, kind of a strange thing to 115 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 1: write a month after you leave a job. And then 116 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:51,839 Speaker 1: in July Brandwell had his own sort of strange exit 117 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:54,920 Speaker 1: from employment. He had been working for the Robinson's as 118 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:57,159 Speaker 1: a tutor also, and he got a note from his 119 00:06:57,200 --> 00:07:00,720 Speaker 1: boss Ball on vacation. The gist of it was, I 120 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:03,719 Speaker 1: know what you did. It's despicable. Don't ever contact me 121 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:08,919 Speaker 1: or my family again, quote on pain of exposure. So 122 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:12,160 Speaker 1: that's a pretty serious way to be dismissed. And it 123 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:16,600 Speaker 1: seems that while Charlotte was wrestling with her possibly adulterous 124 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:20,120 Speaker 1: feelings for Monsieur j but likely no more than feelings, 125 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:23,280 Speaker 1: brand Will was having an actual affair with the mother 126 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:28,480 Speaker 1: of his pupil, appropriately enough named Mrs Robinson um Or 127 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:31,440 Speaker 1: at least that was Brandwell's version of the story, the 128 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:33,280 Speaker 1: one that he told to his drinking buddies that he 129 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:36,440 Speaker 1: had had a long term affair with the promises of 130 00:07:36,520 --> 00:07:40,920 Speaker 1: eventually running away together, eventually marrying. Brandwell of course, dreaming 131 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:44,560 Speaker 1: of being supported by this wealthier woman and being able 132 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:49,240 Speaker 1: to indulge his talents, you know, write poetry, right, novels, 133 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:52,480 Speaker 1: paint that sort of thing. So again it's unclear exactly 134 00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:54,440 Speaker 1: what happened between the two of them, But there are 135 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: some facts. At the time of Brandwell's dismissal, Mr Robinson 136 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:02,120 Speaker 1: was dying, and this is Robinson did marry again, but 137 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:05,600 Speaker 1: she married again to a very well connected, wealthy man, 138 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:10,560 Speaker 1: not an improverished tutor. Mrs Robinson's doctor also later sent 139 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:14,400 Speaker 1: Brandwell large amounts of money, and her coachman eventually paid 140 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:18,720 Speaker 1: a secret visit to Brandwell. So something fishy going on there. 141 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:21,240 Speaker 1: We're just not sure what. The only problem with the 142 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:24,800 Speaker 1: whole brand Well and Mrs Robinson romance scenario is that 143 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:27,920 Speaker 1: Mr Robinson clearly thought only brand Well was at fault, 144 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:32,400 Speaker 1: you know, hence the on pain of exposure. Yeah, that 145 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:35,760 Speaker 1: doesn't sound like he's going to expose his wife to 146 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:39,200 Speaker 1: public scrutiny. It sounds like everybody will blame brand Well 147 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:42,800 Speaker 1: if what happened comes out. Plus, let's just be honest, 148 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:45,240 Speaker 1: who could really trust brand Well? At this point, he 149 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:48,440 Speaker 1: was getting into a pattern of raving all night long 150 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:51,280 Speaker 1: and passing out during the day. Over the next year, 151 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:53,840 Speaker 1: he set his bed on fire. He was actually rescued 152 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 1: by Emily and he had to start sleeping in Mr 153 00:08:56,559 --> 00:08:59,160 Speaker 1: Bronte's room, which was kind of a scary thought, since 154 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:03,200 Speaker 1: Mr Ande famously slept with a loaded pistol, and because 155 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:07,120 Speaker 1: Branwell was kind of threatening his own life by this point. 156 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:10,840 Speaker 1: So during all of this drama, the three Bronte women 157 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:15,079 Speaker 1: were ironically creating their own drama. Charlotte had started writing 158 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:18,600 Speaker 1: The Professor, Anne was writing Agnes Gray, and Emily was 159 00:09:18,679 --> 00:09:22,520 Speaker 1: working on Wuthering Heights. But they still might have destroyed 160 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:25,200 Speaker 1: away on their novels like another piece of Angrin or 161 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:29,760 Speaker 1: Gondol fiction if Charlotte hadn't discovered a manuscript of Emily's 162 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:32,240 Speaker 1: poems in the fall of eighty five. I mean you 163 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:36,360 Speaker 1: can imagine she was completely excited, completely thrilled to make 164 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:39,360 Speaker 1: this discovery, and she wrote about that a lot later, 165 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:43,000 Speaker 1: sometimes publicly, but in a later letter she wrote, they 166 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:45,320 Speaker 1: stirred my heart like the sound of a trumpet when 167 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:48,640 Speaker 1: I read them alone and in secret. The deep excitement 168 00:09:48,679 --> 00:09:51,559 Speaker 1: I felt forced from me the confession of the discovery 169 00:09:51,559 --> 00:09:53,960 Speaker 1: I had made. I was sternly rated at first for 170 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:58,240 Speaker 1: having taken an unwarrantable liberty. So you can imagine Emily 171 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:02,720 Speaker 1: was not pleased with her sister reading her secret poems 172 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:06,360 Speaker 1: she'd been working on, but After some strong convincing, Charlotte 173 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:10,000 Speaker 1: did talk Emily into publishing a group volume, so if 174 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:13,280 Speaker 1: all the sisters published it would be okay, and they 175 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:18,920 Speaker 1: would also publish under gender ambiguous pseudonyms Kerr Ellis and 176 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:23,760 Speaker 1: Acton Bell. A lot of speculation about where that name 177 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:28,200 Speaker 1: Bell came from, though, yeah, Bell was possibly chosen as 178 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:32,520 Speaker 1: a joke on Mr Bronte's curate, Mr Arthur Bell Nichols, 179 00:10:32,559 --> 00:10:35,840 Speaker 1: who apparently really amused these women by bragging about his 180 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:38,839 Speaker 1: Bell relations. He'll come up again, So that's a good 181 00:10:38,920 --> 00:10:44,199 Speaker 1: name to remember, even aside from the pseudonym relation. Indeed, 182 00:10:44,559 --> 00:10:47,720 Speaker 1: so financed by their aunt's savings and with Charlotte acting 183 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:52,040 Speaker 1: as the mysterious Bell's literary agent, they published poems by 184 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:55,400 Speaker 1: Kerr Ellis and Acton Bell on the best paper they 185 00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:58,240 Speaker 1: could afford, and the book got some great reviews. The 186 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:01,560 Speaker 1: critic called it a quote ray of sunshine. But it's 187 00:11:01,559 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 1: still only sold two copies. But still they were published writers, 188 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:07,040 Speaker 1: which was something. I mean, it probably gave them the 189 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:10,440 Speaker 1: confidence to keep on writing and do what they were 190 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:12,840 Speaker 1: about to do, because by the summer of eighteen forty six, 191 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:16,199 Speaker 1: the Brontes were really shopping around their novels, this time 192 00:11:16,559 --> 00:11:19,840 Speaker 1: unwilling to front the entire cost of publishing themselves. They 193 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:22,760 Speaker 1: weren't willing to go vanity all the way, but they 194 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:26,320 Speaker 1: were finding no takers for their three novels. The same 195 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:29,880 Speaker 1: day that Charlotte attended her father's cataract surgery in Manchester, 196 00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:34,960 Speaker 1: she found that they had been rejected. So she was 197 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:37,240 Speaker 1: in kind of a bad place. She was in Manchester. 198 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:41,240 Speaker 1: Her father was recovering from his eye surgery. You know, 199 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:46,439 Speaker 1: nineteenth century eye surgery, you can imagine kind of unpleasant. 200 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:50,120 Speaker 1: It was a long recovery. It required total silence. Her 201 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:53,040 Speaker 1: novel wasn't getting anywhere, and so she started to write 202 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:56,440 Speaker 1: a new book called Jane Eyre. She wrote for three 203 00:11:56,480 --> 00:11:59,040 Speaker 1: weeks straight and by the time her father had the 204 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:01,760 Speaker 1: okay to go home and September, she had written all 205 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:05,880 Speaker 1: the way through Jane and Mr Rochester's canceled wedding in 206 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:08,960 Speaker 1: Jane's White which when you read Jane here, I think 207 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:11,160 Speaker 1: it'll be neat next time. I next time I read 208 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:14,720 Speaker 1: it to know that breaking point in her writing, because 209 00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:17,600 Speaker 1: just looking back on it, you can see there's a 210 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:20,880 Speaker 1: definitive shift in the tone of the novel, and I 211 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:24,559 Speaker 1: can definitely imagine that first part being written in this frenzy. 212 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:28,319 Speaker 1: That's true, But three weeks that's amazing to me. Anne 213 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:31,600 Speaker 1: hadn't let rejection stop her either. She had started writing 214 00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:34,920 Speaker 1: The Tenant of Wildfill Hall, and with Charlotte home again, 215 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:38,080 Speaker 1: she Emily and Anne would take turns reading new chapters 216 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:39,920 Speaker 1: of their books around the fire, and I would just 217 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:42,480 Speaker 1: love to be a fly on the wall in that room. 218 00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:45,000 Speaker 1: But by the following summer they had an offer from 219 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:48,400 Speaker 1: Newby Publishers in London for Anne and Emily's books, and 220 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:51,920 Speaker 1: Charlotte continued to shop the professor around, setting it to Smith, 221 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:54,959 Speaker 1: Elder and Company, where it was read by A William Smith. 222 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:58,000 Speaker 1: Williams and Williams read the book and he rejected it, 223 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:01,480 Speaker 1: but not without also encouraging the author to submit something 224 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:04,720 Speaker 1: with a bit more action, maybe a bit like Jane 225 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:10,040 Speaker 1: Eyre perhaps, so Charlotte sent off her exciting new second 226 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:13,880 Speaker 1: manuscript to Williams in August. He read the manuscript, he 227 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:16,960 Speaker 1: handed it over to his boss, George Smith, who read 228 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:20,400 Speaker 1: it in one day, and the firm published the new 229 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:24,960 Speaker 1: novel by October to almost a media and overwhelming acclaim. 230 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:28,560 Speaker 1: I mean, just this remarkable that you had finished this novel, 231 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:31,000 Speaker 1: you know, polish it up in August, send it off, 232 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:33,920 Speaker 1: and it would be published and a hit by October. 233 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:37,120 Speaker 1: It's hard to imagine today, I think a new book 234 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:41,920 Speaker 1: being as much of a cultural phenomenon as Jane Eyre was. Ellen. 235 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:46,160 Speaker 1: Charlotte's dear friend wrote a visiting London during the first 236 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:49,640 Speaker 1: height of Belle Fever, and she said, when I reached London, 237 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:52,760 Speaker 1: I found there was quite a furor about the authorship 238 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:56,200 Speaker 1: of the new novel. The work was quickly obtained, and 239 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:58,880 Speaker 1: as soon as it arrived, it was seized upon. In 240 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:01,920 Speaker 1: the first half paid read aloud, it was as though 241 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:05,760 Speaker 1: Charlotte Bronte herself was present in every word, her voice 242 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:10,800 Speaker 1: and spirit thrilling through and through everybody was talking about it. Gradually, though, 243 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:13,680 Speaker 1: the tone of the reviews began to change from ecstatic 244 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:19,359 Speaker 1: to critical. Reviewers found the novel course your religious more salacious. 245 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:22,520 Speaker 1: Gossip started when Charlotte decided to dedicate the second addition 246 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:25,640 Speaker 1: to her literary hero William Thackeray. That was kind of 247 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:28,360 Speaker 1: a mistake because it turned out that Thackeray himself had 248 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:31,840 Speaker 1: a mad wife, and folks started guessing that Kerr Bell 249 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:35,720 Speaker 1: was actually Thackeray's mistress. Yeah, you can imagine all parties 250 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:39,600 Speaker 1: were pretty embarrassed by this discovery. Despite the gossip, though 251 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:43,360 Speaker 1: in the hurtful interpretations of Charlotte's work, at least her 252 00:14:43,400 --> 00:14:46,920 Speaker 1: book was very popular. It was selling well. Weathering Heights, meanwhile, 253 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:50,920 Speaker 1: was getting terrible reviews. The Atlas called it quote strange 254 00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:55,200 Speaker 1: and inartistic story. Many readers figured that it must have 255 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:59,600 Speaker 1: come from this particularly wicked mind. I mean today, it's 256 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:04,240 Speaker 1: it's so strange to imagine people dissing on Weathering Heights 257 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:07,840 Speaker 1: so much. It's a classic something you breathe in every 258 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:12,280 Speaker 1: high school English class. But um, people were experiously disturbed 259 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:16,000 Speaker 1: by it at the time. Agnes Spray, a book novelist 260 00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:19,080 Speaker 1: George Moore later called quote as simple and beautiful as 261 00:15:19,080 --> 00:15:21,880 Speaker 1: a muslin dress. Hardly earned any buzz at all at 262 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:25,320 Speaker 1: the Thomas, where some also started accusing the Bells of 263 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:28,480 Speaker 1: being one writer, a theory which was encouraged by Emily 264 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:31,120 Speaker 1: and Anne's own publisher, who was hoping to cash in 265 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:34,440 Speaker 1: on the success of Curve Bell. The confusion finally got 266 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:37,120 Speaker 1: bad enough for Charlotte and to practically run to the 267 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:39,920 Speaker 1: nearest town in order to get to London meet Mr 268 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:42,480 Speaker 1: Smith and prove that there were at least two bells. 269 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:45,920 Speaker 1: So then there's a big change in this story. It's 270 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:48,800 Speaker 1: this rapid ascent of fame. But in the fall of 271 00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:51,800 Speaker 1: eighty eight, less than a year after the appearance of 272 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:55,800 Speaker 1: Jane Eyre, the Brontes world really began to transform. It 273 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:59,920 Speaker 1: started with Branwell dying in September, and he may have 274 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:03,400 Speaker 1: seemed like he was in constant danger of drinking himself 275 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:06,000 Speaker 1: to death or committing suice that are, having some unfortunate 276 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:09,480 Speaker 1: accident while sleeping in the room with the loaded pistols, 277 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:12,720 Speaker 1: but no one in the family had really realized that 278 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:16,560 Speaker 1: he was seriously ill with tuberculosis as well. His alcoholism 279 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:20,240 Speaker 1: had effectively covered it up until almost the very end, 280 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:23,280 Speaker 1: and one of the details about all the Bronte's lives 281 00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:25,640 Speaker 1: would There are so many sad details we could choose from, 282 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:28,680 Speaker 1: but one of the saddest me is that Charlotte, Emily 283 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:31,040 Speaker 1: and Anne never told their brother that they had become 284 00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:35,400 Speaker 1: famous authors. They finally did tell their father, but they 285 00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:38,240 Speaker 1: just didn't feel up to letting Brandwell know, and, as 286 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:41,600 Speaker 1: Charlotte later wrote, fear of causing him too deep, a 287 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:46,160 Speaker 1: pang of remorse for his own time misspent and talents misapplied. 288 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:48,920 Speaker 1: And that was their reason for holding it back for them, 289 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:52,920 Speaker 1: you know, the their fellow writer in childhood. Something about 290 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:57,760 Speaker 1: that so tragic. Another weird thing. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, 291 00:16:57,920 --> 00:17:01,200 Speaker 1: some of Branwell's friends later thought he co authored Weathering 292 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:04,560 Speaker 1: Heights because it was so masculine. And I mean that 293 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:07,280 Speaker 1: makes the whole thing that they never told him at 294 00:17:07,320 --> 00:17:11,120 Speaker 1: all even more strange, that it almost would fit with him. 295 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:13,840 Speaker 1: And after Brandwell's death, the bad news just kind of 296 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:16,000 Speaker 1: kept coming for the Brontes. Emily got a cold at 297 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:20,440 Speaker 1: Brandwell's funeral. By December, she was also dead from tuberculosis. 298 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:23,080 Speaker 1: Her dog keeper walked in the funeral procession with the 299 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:25,879 Speaker 1: Brontes and their servants. He sat in their pew at 300 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:28,640 Speaker 1: the church, and he lay outside of her empty room 301 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:31,600 Speaker 1: for a week and how old. And just a few 302 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:35,840 Speaker 1: weeks after that and was also diagnosed with tuberculosis. And 303 00:17:36,359 --> 00:17:39,280 Speaker 1: unlike Emily, who had really resisted any kind of medicine, 304 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:44,600 Speaker 1: any kind of doctor's interference until the literal end um, 305 00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:48,000 Speaker 1: Anne took every possible remedy, including a trip to the 306 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,840 Speaker 1: sea in May, but she died May away from home. 307 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:56,159 Speaker 1: So just one year brings three published novels, and the 308 00:17:56,240 --> 00:17:59,679 Speaker 1: next year brings three family death. It's kind of the 309 00:18:00,359 --> 00:18:04,200 Speaker 1: remarkable tragedy of the Brontes lives. And home was obviously 310 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:08,240 Speaker 1: so sad and so lonely for Charlotte, now the only 311 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:12,800 Speaker 1: surviving child of six. She wrote about how happy the 312 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:15,320 Speaker 1: dogs were when she came home because they thought that 313 00:18:15,359 --> 00:18:18,560 Speaker 1: maybe the other two weren't too far behind, and she 314 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:22,560 Speaker 1: just felt really lonely. Her father was um a kind 315 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:24,960 Speaker 1: of distant during this time too, as you can imagine. 316 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:27,920 Speaker 1: So the next period of Charlotte's life bounced between this 317 00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:31,720 Speaker 1: loneliness and depression at home and then brief getaways filled 318 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:35,880 Speaker 1: with festivals and treats that were worthy of a famous novelist, 319 00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:38,720 Speaker 1: because of course, her fame hadn't gone away in the meantime, 320 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:41,480 Speaker 1: she had just kind of left it for a while. 321 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:44,879 Speaker 1: She finished her second which was really her third work 322 00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:48,479 Speaker 1: entitled Shirley, and made a second visit to London, clad 323 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:51,000 Speaker 1: and Sable, picked out by her friend Ellen, and on 324 00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:54,080 Speaker 1: her third trip to London, she was showered with attention 325 00:18:54,119 --> 00:18:57,040 Speaker 1: from a publisher, George Smith, they even visited the zoo together, 326 00:18:57,240 --> 00:18:59,600 Speaker 1: and they kind of stalked the Duke of Wellington together, 327 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:03,320 Speaker 1: which really fun for her. Charlotte's hero, her childhood hero. 328 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:05,879 Speaker 1: I think they sort of waited for him like on 329 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:08,639 Speaker 1: his church root and caught a few glimpsees of him. 330 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:12,160 Speaker 1: During this period, Charlotte also met the novelist Mrs Elizabeth Gaskell, 331 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:14,960 Speaker 1: who turned out to be her future biographer, and who 332 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:19,040 Speaker 1: was really quickly impressed by Charlotte's hard life story and 333 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:22,080 Speaker 1: her talent and wanted to help her rehabilitate her image 334 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:25,960 Speaker 1: a little bit. So gradually word was starting to slowly 335 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:29,440 Speaker 1: creep out that Kerr Bell was actually Charlotte Bronte, even 336 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:32,640 Speaker 1: back home in Yorkshire, and one funny account, Charlotte wrote 337 00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:36,240 Speaker 1: to Ellen that her family's made Martha came to her saying, quote, 338 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:40,280 Speaker 1: I've heard such news, please, ma'am. You've been and written 339 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:43,520 Speaker 1: two books, the grandest books that ever was seen. And 340 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:45,560 Speaker 1: I thought it was really funny to learn that. While 341 00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:49,439 Speaker 1: Charlotte started to handle her fame in London, you know, 342 00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:53,119 Speaker 1: she got to meet her famous author friends and do 343 00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:55,480 Speaker 1: all of that, do fun things. She was a little 344 00:19:55,520 --> 00:20:00,200 Speaker 1: bit terrified with being known as this famous author back home, 345 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:03,680 Speaker 1: because it meant that her actual her actual neighbors would 346 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:06,800 Speaker 1: go and try to figure out who were the characters 347 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:09,720 Speaker 1: in her books, which does sound pretty terrifying, and she 348 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:11,680 Speaker 1: had to be around them all she did she could 349 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:15,520 Speaker 1: go go back to her tiny home and forget about 350 00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:18,480 Speaker 1: it all. So amid all of this growing fame, though, 351 00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:21,639 Speaker 1: Charlotte attracted a third suitor. We talked about her first 352 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:25,359 Speaker 1: two in the first part of this little series, but 353 00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:28,000 Speaker 1: this guy was James Taylor, who was an agent at 354 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:30,880 Speaker 1: her publisher, and they've been writing to each other for 355 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:34,280 Speaker 1: some time, but really their correspondence was kind of third 356 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:38,919 Speaker 1: rung with her literary correspondence at her publishing how she 357 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:42,639 Speaker 1: had always sort of preferred writing to Mr Williams, the 358 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:44,840 Speaker 1: guy who had discovered her. They talked about books and 359 00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:47,719 Speaker 1: all sorts of things, and then she was obviously starting 360 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:50,720 Speaker 1: to get a bit of a crush on the publisher himself, 361 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:54,040 Speaker 1: Mr George Smith, he of the zoo trips and the 362 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:58,960 Speaker 1: lavish attentions. Mr Taylor, though, had kind of a thing 363 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:01,560 Speaker 1: for Charlotte, and he ended up being spurred on by 364 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:05,320 Speaker 1: his impending move to India to go ahead declare his 365 00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:09,280 Speaker 1: love for her and propose. Charlotte of course refused, but 366 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:13,199 Speaker 1: it certainly got her thinking about that growing crush on 367 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:16,399 Speaker 1: George Smith. But her next trip to London must have 368 00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:18,960 Speaker 1: really squashed this idea. She wasn't the only one thinking 369 00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:21,760 Speaker 1: about it too. It seems that even her father, Patrick Bronte, 370 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:25,720 Speaker 1: seemed to have some hopes or ideas that she might 371 00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:28,600 Speaker 1: end up with George Smith. It turned out, though, on 372 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:31,600 Speaker 1: that next trip that Smith was clearly just going to 373 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:34,280 Speaker 1: be a friend, just going to be her publisher, and 374 00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:38,320 Speaker 1: she made that quite obvious in a somewhat awkward way 375 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:41,840 Speaker 1: in her final complete novel, The Let, by having the 376 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:44,960 Speaker 1: Charlotte like heroine not end up with the George Smith 377 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:47,720 Speaker 1: like Dr John Graham bretton which, of course I mean 378 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:53,000 Speaker 1: that's awkward because Mr Smith was of course reading these 379 00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:57,159 Speaker 1: manuscripts and figuring out, oh, that would be awkward. So 380 00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:01,760 Speaker 1: that sort of chance that love didn't work out for Charlotte, 381 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:03,800 Speaker 1: But she had other things to keep her busy when 382 00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:06,840 Speaker 1: she wasn't so bothered by her own characterization in the 383 00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:10,920 Speaker 1: press as an immoral course writer. She disliked her sister's 384 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:15,000 Speaker 1: memories being disrespected. According to an article in Women's Writing 385 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:19,080 Speaker 1: by Susan R. Bauman, it's largely Charlotte who's responsible for 386 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:22,840 Speaker 1: Emily's later reputation as the wild more Poetus and Anne's 387 00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:25,920 Speaker 1: as the devotional Christian writer. And she did this by 388 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:30,159 Speaker 1: shaming reviewers with biographical details of her sister's lives and 389 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:33,920 Speaker 1: sad deaths, editing and publishing more of their poems, and 390 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:38,439 Speaker 1: more strangely, sometimes even agreeing with critics negative assessments of 391 00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:43,480 Speaker 1: their work. So consequently, some Bronze biographers considered Charlotte the 392 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:48,760 Speaker 1: snafari's curator of her sister's writing. Bauman mentioned theories ranging 393 00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:52,520 Speaker 1: from Charlotte tricking Emily into revealing her poetry so not 394 00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:55,080 Speaker 1: just like I can't believe you read my poetry, but 395 00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:57,760 Speaker 1: let's get over it in a bit, something more furious 396 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:01,320 Speaker 1: than that um and then theories even as extreme as 397 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:05,600 Speaker 1: Charlotte purposefully destroying Emily's second novel after her death out 398 00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:09,800 Speaker 1: of jealousy. Interesting to note here since Charlotte is so 399 00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:16,480 Speaker 1: very much responsible for the way people ultimately saw Emily Bronte, 400 00:23:16,359 --> 00:23:21,240 Speaker 1: and Bronte her own life was shaped largely by Mrs 401 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:25,200 Speaker 1: Gaskell's biography that came out after Charlotte's death, which really 402 00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:28,879 Speaker 1: turned her from this sketchy writer of naughty books to 403 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:35,680 Speaker 1: a heartbroken, admirable churchgoing woman who had never neglected her more. 404 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:39,520 Speaker 1: I don't know quote womanly duties at home. She was 405 00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:43,040 Speaker 1: the parson's daughter. She was the parson's wife, um not 406 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:47,920 Speaker 1: the scandalous writer that she was depicted as. Charlotte's posthumous 407 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:51,760 Speaker 1: reputation was also shaped by her widower. Remember that Mr Nichols, 408 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:54,080 Speaker 1: the curate that we talked about earlier. This is why 409 00:23:54,119 --> 00:23:57,280 Speaker 1: we asked you to remember him. While Charlotte had gone 410 00:23:57,280 --> 00:23:59,359 Speaker 1: from making fun of him with her sisters to at 411 00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:01,800 Speaker 1: least thinking of him as a nice guy, he had 412 00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:05,199 Speaker 1: fallen head over heels without her even noticing. And on 413 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:09,399 Speaker 1: December eighteen fifty three she received the fourth out of 414 00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:12,960 Speaker 1: nowhere proposal of her life. And this time Charlotte's father 415 00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:17,120 Speaker 1: was furious that his poor Irish curate, um kind of 416 00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:20,240 Speaker 1: a lot like himself, would court his daughter. You know, 417 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:24,200 Speaker 1: he really thought that Charlotte deserved somebody with more money, 418 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:27,800 Speaker 1: somebody with more prestige. But instead of calling under some 419 00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:31,600 Speaker 1: rock and disappearing, Nichols escalated this courtship to really an 420 00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:34,880 Speaker 1: all out war with Mr Bronte. It was so awkward 421 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:37,560 Speaker 1: he handed in his notice, but he was stuck in 422 00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:40,960 Speaker 1: the town for several months, having to see each other 423 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:44,440 Speaker 1: all the time. Charlotte once um once. Mr Nichols did 424 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:48,800 Speaker 1: eventually leave. How Charlotte eventually got permission from her father 425 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:53,560 Speaker 1: to start communicating with him and eventually start visiting him. 426 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:56,320 Speaker 1: She's thirty seven at this point, to just consider that, 427 00:24:56,720 --> 00:25:00,440 Speaker 1: and then ultimately they married in June eighteen d four. 428 00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:05,439 Speaker 1: Her father was supposedly too sick to attend the ceremony, 429 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:08,040 Speaker 1: so she was given away by her old friend, Miss Willer, 430 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:11,560 Speaker 1: whose school she had attended so many years before, and 431 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:14,800 Speaker 1: wore a white embroidered dress, a bonnet and a veil, 432 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:17,680 Speaker 1: and was said to look like a little snow drop 433 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:19,840 Speaker 1: there in the middle of the in the middle of 434 00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:23,880 Speaker 1: the summer. By December, Charlotte was writing to Ellen hinting 435 00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:26,280 Speaker 1: of a pregnancy, but from that point on she only 436 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:30,800 Speaker 1: got sicker and sicker. She died March thirty one, and 437 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:33,439 Speaker 1: it's kind of unclear exactly what she died of. I 438 00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:36,560 Speaker 1: think it's generally accepted that it may have been tuberculosis, 439 00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:40,360 Speaker 1: with the official cause it could have been also dehydration 440 00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:44,560 Speaker 1: from really extreme morning sickness. That's another theory that's out there. Yeah, 441 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:48,439 Speaker 1: there are several berries, or just that Charlotte's health was 442 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:51,720 Speaker 1: not so great anyway. She had suffered from ill health 443 00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:55,240 Speaker 1: for a long time, and that maybe her pregnancy um 444 00:25:55,760 --> 00:26:00,480 Speaker 1: kind of escalated latent tuberculosis. But a month before her death, 445 00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:04,440 Speaker 1: she had interestingly changed her will to benefit Mr Nichols. 446 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:07,560 Speaker 1: So his attentions to her during her sickness and before 447 00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:11,359 Speaker 1: must have really impressed her. Because when they had first 448 00:26:11,359 --> 00:26:13,359 Speaker 1: got married, she had set it up so he'd have 449 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:18,040 Speaker 1: zero control over her estate even if she died childless, 450 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:22,119 Speaker 1: which was kind of an unusual arrangement for a married 451 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:25,159 Speaker 1: couple at the time. And um, he wouldn't even be 452 00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:29,120 Speaker 1: able to access her money for debt that sort of thing. 453 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:31,960 Speaker 1: Mr Nichols cared for Mr Bronte for six more years 454 00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:35,840 Speaker 1: until his death. Mr Bronte is sometimes considered a too stern, 455 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:39,640 Speaker 1: too self interested figure, but one has to feel for him. 456 00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:42,439 Speaker 1: I mean, he lost all six of his children of 457 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:45,760 Speaker 1: his own famous temper, he supposedly said quote, had I 458 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:49,800 Speaker 1: been numbered amongst the calms sedate, concentric men of the world, 459 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:53,760 Speaker 1: I should, in all probability never have had such children 460 00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:56,560 Speaker 1: as mine, And I think that's an interesting point to 461 00:26:56,760 --> 00:27:00,639 Speaker 1: start to wrap this up. On Mrs Gaskell's biography sort 462 00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:03,880 Speaker 1: of wonders what would Charlotte Bronte have been like if 463 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:06,800 Speaker 1: she had been brought up in a healthy and happy situation. 464 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:11,240 Speaker 1: But Mr Bronte's own words how much his personality likely 465 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:15,040 Speaker 1: shaped his children, shows that it almost did seem to 466 00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:18,920 Speaker 1: be a requirement that they had this isolated upbringing, this 467 00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:23,880 Speaker 1: unhealthy atmosphere they lived in, and the development of their 468 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:27,399 Speaker 1: intense imaginations almost came from that. It's also I need 469 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:30,800 Speaker 1: to I think that we rarely talk about our subjects 470 00:27:30,840 --> 00:27:34,640 Speaker 1: in such a broad view as this, But I read 471 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:37,760 Speaker 1: a New Yorker article on the Bronte myth and noted 472 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:42,000 Speaker 1: that the sisters have really been quote remolded in successive 473 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:46,720 Speaker 1: generations to fit with different agendas, Freudian feminist agendas, and 474 00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:49,560 Speaker 1: that's so strange to me. It has been interesting to 475 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:54,800 Speaker 1: learn about a biography and how that's connected to the 476 00:27:54,880 --> 00:28:01,560 Speaker 1: writer's works, but also how much these lives are into interpretation. Yeah, 477 00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:03,480 Speaker 1: it's so true, but I kind of like that aspect 478 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:05,480 Speaker 1: of it. But it's still up to get interpretation, because 479 00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:08,960 Speaker 1: then you can't definitively say, Okay, this happened to them, 480 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:10,359 Speaker 1: and this is why this is in the book. You 481 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:13,160 Speaker 1: still have room for interpretations when you read the novels 482 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:15,320 Speaker 1: as well, which is fun. Yeah, and to look at 483 00:28:15,359 --> 00:28:19,359 Speaker 1: how they shaped their own identities and how much the 484 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:21,800 Speaker 1: press influenced it. I don't know, it's all very cool 485 00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:24,280 Speaker 1: to me. So I think that's probably a good time 486 00:28:24,359 --> 00:28:30,879 Speaker 1: to move on though, and go to listener mail. So 487 00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:33,199 Speaker 1: we received an email from listener Alan. He said, I 488 00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:35,840 Speaker 1: really enjoyed the podcast on Robert Shaw in the fifty 489 00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:38,400 Speaker 1: four regiment, although I was a little disappointed that you 490 00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:42,880 Speaker 1: have quickly passed over Thomas Wentworth Higginson, who preceded Shaw 491 00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:45,640 Speaker 1: in leading a regiment of free plays and in many 492 00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:49,040 Speaker 1: ways outstripped him in the cause of emancipation and equality 493 00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:53,760 Speaker 1: for African Americans. But makes Higginson particularly interesting and deserving 494 00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:56,720 Speaker 1: of his own podcast is that, in addition to his 495 00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:59,760 Speaker 1: dedication to the abolitionist movement, he was one of the 496 00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:03,320 Speaker 1: night teenth centuries great ricontours, as well as the editor 497 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:05,960 Speaker 1: and friend of Emily Dickinson. Now you can see why 498 00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:09,040 Speaker 1: I picked this email for this episode. In fact, it 499 00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:12,240 Speaker 1: is largely because of his efforts and influence that Dickinson's 500 00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:16,560 Speaker 1: brilliance was brought to a national audience. Dickinson herself died 501 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:20,600 Speaker 1: of mysterious circumstances, although her death certificate lists Bright's disease 502 00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:24,000 Speaker 1: as a cause, There's been recent speculation that she may 503 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:27,880 Speaker 1: have been an epileptic um. And then he also suggest 504 00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:30,960 Speaker 1: some other interesting scandals about Dickinson. But I thought this 505 00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:35,360 Speaker 1: was such a neat coincidence because one of the articles 506 00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:39,880 Speaker 1: I used or consulted for this episode compared Emily Dickinson 507 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:43,600 Speaker 1: and Emily Bronte. Emily Dickinson was apparently a huge Emily 508 00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:48,240 Speaker 1: Bronte fan, and a lot of circumstances in their life 509 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:51,160 Speaker 1: kind of line up in a strange way. Interesting. Well, 510 00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:53,760 Speaker 1: we always love when our listeners give us a different 511 00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:57,960 Speaker 1: perspective like that. If you have any stories related to 512 00:29:57,960 --> 00:29:59,840 Speaker 1: the Bronte's or anything else that you want to share 513 00:29:59,880 --> 00:30:02,680 Speaker 1: with us, you can write us or a history podcast 514 00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:05,280 Speaker 1: at Discovery dot com, or you can look us up 515 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:07,640 Speaker 1: on Facebook and write to us there, or we're on 516 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:09,880 Speaker 1: Twitter at miss and History. And to share one more 517 00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:15,040 Speaker 1: unusual medical fact, I didn't realize tuberculosis was still a 518 00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:19,280 Speaker 1: worldwide problem, did you. I did, only because when I've 519 00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:21,960 Speaker 1: traveled internationally, I have to get the You have to 520 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:25,080 Speaker 1: get the vaccination. Yeah, okay, I hadn't thought of that, 521 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:27,120 Speaker 1: or make sure that your vaccination is up to date. 522 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:29,480 Speaker 1: I should say. I just always think of it in 523 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:33,360 Speaker 1: association with romantic poets and novelists and not as a 524 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:37,480 Speaker 1: global problem. But I received my alumni magazine the other day. 525 00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:40,560 Speaker 1: Here I am reading about all these tuberculosis stuff, and 526 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:43,880 Speaker 1: I learned that a third of the world's population is 527 00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:48,360 Speaker 1: actually infected with tuberculosis. So, um, I don't know. It's 528 00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:50,800 Speaker 1: those You can combine a little bit of medical history 529 00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:54,960 Speaker 1: with literary history too, and we have both types of 530 00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:58,920 Speaker 1: articles on our website at how stuff works dot com. 531 00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:03,240 Speaker 1: You can find them by going to our homepage www 532 00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:09,239 Speaker 1: dot howta works dot com. Be sure to check out 533 00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:12,440 Speaker 1: our new video podcast, Stuff from the Future. Join how 534 00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:15,040 Speaker 1: st Work staff as we explore the most promising and 535 00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:19,680 Speaker 1: perplexing possibilities of tomorrow. The houst Works iPhone app has 536 00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:22,160 Speaker 1: a rise. Download it today on iTunes.