1 00:00:02,560 --> 00:00:05,240 Speaker 1: Hey, Happy Saturday. We're gonna pick up right where we 2 00:00:05,320 --> 00:00:09,760 Speaker 1: left off. Last Saturday. Listener Erica requested our past episodes 3 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:13,400 Speaker 1: on the Brontes as Saturday Classics back in April, and 4 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:16,400 Speaker 1: these originally came out in twelve. They are probably the 5 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:19,360 Speaker 1: episodes that get the most praise from our long time listeners. 6 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 1: They're one of the most popular episodes of the Sarah 7 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:26,560 Speaker 1: and Bablina era. So today's installment is called From Bronte 8 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:28,800 Speaker 1: to Bell and Back and it is all about the 9 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:32,760 Speaker 1: Bronte sisters rising fame as they began publishing their novels. 10 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:35,960 Speaker 1: Also about their brother, who you don't hear about as often. 11 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:42,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Steph you missed in history class from how 12 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:51,800 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 13 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:54,280 Speaker 1: I'm Sarah Dowdy and I'm Deblina Chocolate Boardy and we 14 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:57,360 Speaker 1: are going back to the Bronte's today. We talked about 15 00:00:57,400 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: them recently and when we left off the last EPISO, 16 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:04,440 Speaker 1: so we had just finished discussing their early lives. Charlotte, Brandwell, 17 00:01:04,520 --> 00:01:08,320 Speaker 1: Emily and Bronte's early lives. The four children of the 18 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:13,000 Speaker 1: Reverend Patrick Bronte of Haworth and by their early twenties, 19 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:16,399 Speaker 1: these four brilliant Bronte children were in a bit of 20 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:19,960 Speaker 1: a rut. Really, Brandwell, who was expected to be a 21 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:23,039 Speaker 1: great artist or writer, the really the pride of the 22 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:25,679 Speaker 1: family is the only son, was working as a railway 23 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:30,600 Speaker 1: clerk and becoming increasingly reliant on alcohol and opium. The 24 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:34,840 Speaker 1: three girls, meanwhile, had at various points taken unpleasant teaching 25 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: jobs to governessing jobs that they really weren't that well 26 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:40,520 Speaker 1: suited for. Yeah, so it seems like a blessing. One 27 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:44,840 Speaker 1: inty one. Their living aunt, Elizabeth Branwell, proposed using her 28 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 1: savings to set the girls up with their own school. 29 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:51,160 Speaker 1: Charlotte quickly sweetened the deal by convincing her aunt father. 30 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: To make the school work, they need some accomplishments like 31 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:57,760 Speaker 1: flawless French and a good grasp of Italian and German, 32 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:01,240 Speaker 1: So they hatched this plan. Arlen and Emily would study 33 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:04,440 Speaker 1: for six months at the Poncionale j and Brussels before 34 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:09,440 Speaker 1: coming back, reuniting with Anne and opening up their own school. So, yeah, 35 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:12,160 Speaker 1: it really sounds like a pretty good plan. But for 36 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:16,359 Speaker 1: nature loving home body Emily, leaving Howard was really painful. 37 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:19,240 Speaker 1: She loved being out in the Moors. For Charlotte, though 38 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:21,720 Speaker 1: it was thrilling. It was so exciting to finally get 39 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:24,760 Speaker 1: out into the world and experience some of all that 40 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:27,800 Speaker 1: she had been reading about for years and years. The 41 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:31,120 Speaker 1: two shy, kind of country Bronte girls must have really 42 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 1: stood out among their fancier and their Catholic Belgian peers. 43 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:37,799 Speaker 1: That Madame J's school for girls, but they did pretty 44 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 1: well with their lessons. They took private French lessons from 45 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:45,000 Speaker 1: Monsieur a J, who was a respected professor, and they 46 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:47,440 Speaker 1: were really doing so well, in fact, that at the 47 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:51,359 Speaker 1: end of their six months of study, Madame J suggested 48 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:54,679 Speaker 1: that they stay on for a while longer. Charlotte would 49 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:57,680 Speaker 1: teach English, Emily would instruct music, and that would be 50 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: kind of a trade for their lessons, so they wouldn't 51 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:03,960 Speaker 1: have to keep on funding their own schooling. But in 52 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:07,520 Speaker 1: October eighty two word came that Aunt Brandwell was dead, 53 00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:10,960 Speaker 1: so they headed home, finding that Brandwell was also there, 54 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: having been fired from his railroad job after a discrepancy 55 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:18,600 Speaker 1: was found in the accounts, so brand Well was added again. 56 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:22,040 Speaker 1: It's no wonder that Charlotte was soon eager to accept 57 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: the A J's invitation to return to Belgium and continue 58 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 1: her studies and would keep Governess sing and Emily would 59 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:32,800 Speaker 1: tend to their father, who was increasingly suffering from cataracts. Again, 60 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 1: in one year they'd reunite and finally start their school together. 61 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:41,440 Speaker 1: This guy around, however, Charlotte didn't exactly concentrate fully on 62 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 1: her studies. Things were okay at first, but without her 63 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:47,920 Speaker 1: sister Emily there, she became very lonely, and she started 64 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:51,560 Speaker 1: to fixate more and more on her master, her professor 65 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:55,520 Speaker 1: and wills. And if you'd like to see another side 66 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:58,760 Speaker 1: of Charlotte, one that almost helps reconcile her as the 67 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:02,800 Speaker 1: author of the passionate book, Jane Eyre, I'd recommend checking 68 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:05,920 Speaker 1: out these letters to Monsieur a J. They're kind of 69 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:10,160 Speaker 1: like love letters but not. And consequently, Charlotte's friends, the 70 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:14,080 Speaker 1: a J's and their children and countless Bronte historians have 71 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:16,760 Speaker 1: tried to figure out what exactly was going on between 72 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:20,240 Speaker 1: these two, Whether Charlotte loved Monsieur a J in a 73 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:24,960 Speaker 1: romantic way, whether he was innocent and encouraging that admiration, 74 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: you know, or whether he was just interested in her 75 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:32,120 Speaker 1: as a student, somebody who wanted to help learn French 76 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:36,200 Speaker 1: better and appreciate literature more. And then whether Charlotte even 77 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:41,320 Speaker 1: realized that her platonic obsession could be mistaken by some 78 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:44,159 Speaker 1: people as adulterous love for this guy who was married 79 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:47,359 Speaker 1: and had a large and constantly growing family. So she 80 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:49,800 Speaker 1: might have just been a little bit naive in that respect. 81 00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:52,200 Speaker 1: But even if Charlotte was unaware of the way her 82 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:55,480 Speaker 1: feelings could be taken, Madam A Jay was not. As 83 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:58,960 Speaker 1: Charlotte's second year in Belgium, war on Madam Aja ended 84 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:02,159 Speaker 1: the pairs one on in English lessons. She started acting 85 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:05,720 Speaker 1: really coolly towards Charlotte as well, and Charlotte even came 86 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:09,080 Speaker 1: to believe that Madam Jay had another teacher spy on her. 87 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:11,560 Speaker 1: By the end of the year, Charlotte was packing her 88 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:14,840 Speaker 1: bags to head back to Haworth, where she started correspondence. 89 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:18,239 Speaker 1: Those first letters must have been appropriate enough. We don't 90 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:21,280 Speaker 1: know what they contained because they don't survive. But after 91 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:25,120 Speaker 1: a few months, Monsieur a j stopped writing back and 92 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:29,440 Speaker 1: Charlotte got even more desperate. Fortunately, though, these letters do 93 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:33,680 Speaker 1: survive because even though Monsieur a ripped them up, his 94 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:37,800 Speaker 1: wife stitched them back together. As quote a safeguard for 95 00:05:37,839 --> 00:05:42,640 Speaker 1: the future. According to Charlotte Bronte's biographer Rebecca Frasier, Um, 96 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:44,920 Speaker 1: just to give you an example of the kind of 97 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:46,840 Speaker 1: writing we're talking about, I mean, it does sound very 98 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:49,599 Speaker 1: much like a love letter. Here's an example from a 99 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:54,320 Speaker 1: January letter. Charlotte wrote, quote, all I know is that 100 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:57,520 Speaker 1: I cannot that I will not resign myself to lose 101 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:00,920 Speaker 1: wholly the friendship of my master. I would rather suffer 102 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:03,600 Speaker 1: the greatest physical pain and then always have my heart 103 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:08,040 Speaker 1: lacerated by smarting regrets. If my master withdraws his friendship 104 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:11,240 Speaker 1: from me entirely, I shall be all together without hope. 105 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:14,000 Speaker 1: If he gives me a little, just a little, I 106 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:18,159 Speaker 1: shall be satisfied, happy, I shall have reason for living, 107 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: on for working. So like a love letter, but again 108 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:25,240 Speaker 1: not quite like a love letter, something kind of in between, 109 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:29,240 Speaker 1: but also clearly kind of inappropriate. Yeah, it's ambiguous, but 110 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:33,800 Speaker 1: there's definitely some sort of very strong attachment there. Meanwhile, though, 111 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:37,400 Speaker 1: the Bronte ladies were making arrangements for their long planned 112 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:41,360 Speaker 1: school because Mr Bronte's cataracts had nearly blinded him. Emily 113 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:44,360 Speaker 1: and Charlotte decided the school should be at the parsonage, 114 00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:47,680 Speaker 1: which was kind of a bad idea since, as you'll remember, 115 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:50,080 Speaker 1: it was pretty out of the way, so it was 116 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:53,680 Speaker 1: impossible for students to find. And that was really unfortunate too, 117 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:57,799 Speaker 1: because by the summer of all of the Bronte children 118 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:01,720 Speaker 1: were at home again and unemployed. Lloyd Anne had resigned 119 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 1: her four year position as the governess for the Robinson 120 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:08,360 Speaker 1: family in June, mysteriously writing in her secret diary. By 121 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:10,880 Speaker 1: the way, I quote, I was then at Thorpe Green 122 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:14,560 Speaker 1: and now I am only just escaped from it. During 123 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:17,960 Speaker 1: my stay, I've had some very unpleasant and undreamt of 124 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:22,040 Speaker 1: experiences of human nature. Kind of a strange thing to 125 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:25,880 Speaker 1: write a month after you leave a job. And then 126 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:29,760 Speaker 1: in July Brandwell had his own sort of strange exit 127 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:32,840 Speaker 1: from employment. He had been working for the Robinson's as 128 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:35,080 Speaker 1: a tutor also, and he got a note from his 129 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:38,640 Speaker 1: boss Will on vacation. The gist of it was, I 130 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 1: know what you did. It's despicable. Don't ever contact me 131 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:46,160 Speaker 1: or my family again. Quote on pain of exposure nikes. 132 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:49,960 Speaker 1: So that's a pretty serious way to be dismissed. And 133 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:53,800 Speaker 1: it seems that while Charlotte was wrestling with her possibly 134 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 1: adulterous feelings for Monsieur j but likely no more than feelings. 135 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:00,880 Speaker 1: Brand Will was having an act full affair with the 136 00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:06,120 Speaker 1: mother of his pupil, appropriately enough named Mrs Robinson um 137 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 1: or at least that was Brandwell's version of the story, 138 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:11,120 Speaker 1: the one that he told to his drinking buddies that 139 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:14,000 Speaker 1: he had had a long term affair with the promises 140 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:18,360 Speaker 1: of eventually running away together, eventually marrying. Brandwell of course 141 00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:22,120 Speaker 1: dreaming of being supported by this wealthier woman and being 142 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:27,680 Speaker 1: able to indulge his talents, you know, write poetry, right, novels, paint, 143 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:30,520 Speaker 1: that sort of thing. So again, it's unclear exactly what 144 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:33,199 Speaker 1: happened between the two of them, but there are some facts. 145 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:37,440 Speaker 1: At the time of Brandwell's dismissal, Mr Robinson was dying 146 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:40,959 Speaker 1: and Mrs Robinson did marry again, but she married again 147 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:45,160 Speaker 1: to a very well connected, wealthy man, not an improverished tutor. 148 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:50,400 Speaker 1: Mrs Robinson's doctor also later sent Brandwell large amounts of money, 149 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:53,880 Speaker 1: and her coachman eventually paid a secret visit to Brandwell. 150 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:57,480 Speaker 1: So something fishy going on there. We're just not sure 151 00:08:57,520 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: what The only problem with the whole brand Will and 152 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:04,360 Speaker 1: was Robinson romance scenario is that Mr Robinson clearly thought 153 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:08,280 Speaker 1: only Brandwell was at fault, you know, hence the on 154 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:11,800 Speaker 1: pain of exposure. Yeah, that doesn't sound like he's going 155 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:15,120 Speaker 1: to expose his wife to public scrutiny. It sounds like 156 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:19,880 Speaker 1: everybody will blame brand Well if what happened comes out. Plus, 157 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:22,520 Speaker 1: let's just be honest, who could really trust Brandwell? At 158 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:25,600 Speaker 1: this point, he was getting into a pattern of raving 159 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:28,560 Speaker 1: all night long and passing out during the day. Over 160 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:30,840 Speaker 1: the next year, he set his bed on fire. He 161 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:33,480 Speaker 1: was actually rescued by Emily and he had to start 162 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:35,960 Speaker 1: sleeping in Mr Bronte's room, which was kind of a 163 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:40,200 Speaker 1: scary thought since Mr Bronte famously slept with a loaded pistol, 164 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:44,320 Speaker 1: and because Brandwell was kind of threatening his own life 165 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:47,360 Speaker 1: by this point. So during all of this drama, the 166 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:52,199 Speaker 1: three Bronte women were ironically creating their own drama. Charlotte 167 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:55,560 Speaker 1: had started writing The Professor, Anne was writing Agnes Gray, 168 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:59,440 Speaker 1: and Emily was working on Weathering Heights. But they still 169 00:09:59,559 --> 00:10:01,959 Speaker 1: might have just toyed away on their novels like another 170 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:05,960 Speaker 1: piece of Angan or Gondol fiction. If Charlotte hadn't discovered 171 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:09,839 Speaker 1: a manuscript of Emily's poems in the Fall of Etive. 172 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:13,400 Speaker 1: I mean, you can imagine she was completely excited, completely 173 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:16,600 Speaker 1: thrilled to make this discovery, and she wrote about that 174 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:19,600 Speaker 1: a lot later, sometimes publicly, but in a later letter 175 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:22,520 Speaker 1: she wrote, they stirred my heart like the sound of 176 00:10:22,559 --> 00:10:25,240 Speaker 1: a trumpet when I read them alone and in secret. 177 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:28,720 Speaker 1: The deep excitement I felt forced from me the confession 178 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:31,400 Speaker 1: of the discovery I had made. I was sternly rated 179 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:35,199 Speaker 1: at first for having taken an unwarrantable liberty. So you 180 00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:38,440 Speaker 1: can imagine Emily was not pleased with her big sister 181 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:41,800 Speaker 1: reading her secret poem she had been working on. But 182 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:46,160 Speaker 1: after some strong convincing, Charlotte did talk Emily into publishing 183 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:49,199 Speaker 1: a group volume. So if all the sisters published, it 184 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:53,880 Speaker 1: would be okay, and they would also publish under gender 185 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:59,079 Speaker 1: ambiguous pseudonyms Kerr, Ellis and Acton Bell. A lot of 186 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:04,080 Speaker 1: speculation of out where that name Bell came from, though yeah, 187 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:08,320 Speaker 1: Bell was possibly chosen as a joke on Mr Bronte's curate, 188 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:12,720 Speaker 1: Mr Arthur Bell Nichols, who apparently really amused these women 189 00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:16,079 Speaker 1: by bragging about his Bell relations. He'll come up again. 190 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:19,240 Speaker 1: So that's a good name to remember, even aside from 191 00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:31,440 Speaker 1: the pseudonym relation. Indeed, so financed by their aunt savings 192 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:35,480 Speaker 1: and with Charlotte acting as the mysterious Bells literary agent, 193 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:39,400 Speaker 1: they published poems by Kerr Ellis and Acton Bell on 194 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:42,160 Speaker 1: the best paper they could afford, and the book got 195 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:45,040 Speaker 1: some great reviews. The critic called it a quote ray 196 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:48,200 Speaker 1: of sunshine. But it's still only sold two copies. But 197 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:50,920 Speaker 1: still they were published writers, which was something. I mean, 198 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:54,679 Speaker 1: it probably gave them the confidence to keep on writing 199 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:56,520 Speaker 1: and do what they were about to do, because by 200 00:11:56,520 --> 00:11:59,559 Speaker 1: the summer of eighty six, the Brontes were really shopping 201 00:11:59,559 --> 00:12:03,199 Speaker 1: around the novels, this time unwilling to front the entire 202 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:06,720 Speaker 1: cost of publishing themselves. They weren't willing to go vanity 203 00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:09,480 Speaker 1: all the way, but they were finding no takers for 204 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:12,760 Speaker 1: their three novels. The same day that Charlotte attended her 205 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:16,319 Speaker 1: father's cataract surgery in Manchester, she found that they had 206 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:21,240 Speaker 1: been rejected. So she was in kind of a bad place. 207 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:25,120 Speaker 1: She was in Manchester, her father was recovering from his 208 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:29,600 Speaker 1: eye surgery, you know, a nineteen century eye surgery. You 209 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:32,920 Speaker 1: can imagine kind of unpleasant. It was a long recovery. 210 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:36,800 Speaker 1: It required total silence. Her novel wasn't getting anywhere, and 211 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:40,320 Speaker 1: so she started to write a new book called Jane Ere. 212 00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:43,320 Speaker 1: She wrote for three weeks straight, and by the time 213 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 1: her father had the okay to go home in September, 214 00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:48,560 Speaker 1: she had written all the way through Jane and Mr 215 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:52,360 Speaker 1: Rochester's canceled wedding in Jane's White which when you read 216 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:55,280 Speaker 1: Jane here, I think it'll be neat next time. I 217 00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:58,600 Speaker 1: next time I read it to know that breaking point 218 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:01,520 Speaker 1: in her writing, because looking back on it, you can 219 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:05,680 Speaker 1: see there's a definitive shift in the tone of the novel. 220 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:08,440 Speaker 1: And I can definitely imagine that first part being written 221 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:12,000 Speaker 1: in this frenzy. That's true. But three weeks that's amazing 222 00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:15,600 Speaker 1: to me. Anne hadn't let rejection stop her either. She 223 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:19,000 Speaker 1: had started writing the tenant of Wildfill Hall, and with 224 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:22,000 Speaker 1: Charlotte home again, she Emily and Anne would take turns 225 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:24,520 Speaker 1: reading new chapters of their books around the fire, and 226 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:26,079 Speaker 1: I would just love to be a fly on the 227 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:29,320 Speaker 1: wall in that room. But by the following summer they 228 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:32,120 Speaker 1: had an offer from Newby Publishers in London for Anne 229 00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:35,880 Speaker 1: and Emily's books, and Charlotte continued to shop the professor around, 230 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:38,960 Speaker 1: setting it to Smith Eldering Company, where it was read 231 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:42,120 Speaker 1: by A William Smith. Williams and Williams read the book 232 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:45,120 Speaker 1: and he rejected it, but not without also encouraging the 233 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:48,480 Speaker 1: author to submit something with a bit more action, maybe 234 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:52,600 Speaker 1: a bit like Jane Eyre. Perhaps so, Charlotte sent off 235 00:13:52,679 --> 00:13:57,320 Speaker 1: her exciting new second manuscript to Williams in August. He 236 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:00,640 Speaker 1: read the manuscript, he handed it over to his boss, 237 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:04,360 Speaker 1: George Smith, who read it in one day, and the 238 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:08,439 Speaker 1: firm published the new novel by October, to almost immediate 239 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:12,120 Speaker 1: and overwhelming acclaim. I mean, just this remarkable that you 240 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:15,439 Speaker 1: had finished this novel, you know, polish it up in August, 241 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:17,640 Speaker 1: send it off and it would be published and a 242 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:21,440 Speaker 1: hit by October. It's hard to imagine today, I think 243 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:24,800 Speaker 1: a new book being as much of a cultural phenomenon 244 00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:29,240 Speaker 1: as Jane Eyre was. Ellen Charlotte's dear friend wrote a 245 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:32,800 Speaker 1: visiting London during the first height of bell Fever, and 246 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:35,440 Speaker 1: she said, when I reached London, I found there was 247 00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:38,880 Speaker 1: quite a furor about the authorship of the new novel. 248 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:42,360 Speaker 1: The work was quickly obtained and as soon as it arrived, 249 00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:45,760 Speaker 1: it was seized upon and the first half page read aloud. 250 00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:49,160 Speaker 1: It was as though Charlotte Bronte herself was present in 251 00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:53,200 Speaker 1: every word, her voice and spirit thrilling through and through. 252 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:56,360 Speaker 1: Everybody was talking about it. Gradually, though, the tone of 253 00:14:56,400 --> 00:15:00,480 Speaker 1: the reviews began to change from ecstatic to critical. Reviewers 254 00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:05,200 Speaker 1: found the novel course your religious more salacious. Gossip started 255 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:07,920 Speaker 1: when Charlotte decided to dedicate the second addition to her 256 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:11,160 Speaker 1: literary hero William Thackeray. That was kind of a mistake 257 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:14,240 Speaker 1: because it turned out that Thackeray himself had a mad wife, 258 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:19,120 Speaker 1: and folks started guessing that Kerr Bell was actually Thackery's mistress. Yeah, 259 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:23,160 Speaker 1: you can imagine. All parties were pretty embarrassed by this discovery. 260 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:27,480 Speaker 1: Despite the gossip, though in the hurtful interpretations of Charlotte's work, 261 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:30,680 Speaker 1: at least her book was very popular. It was selling well. 262 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:34,480 Speaker 1: Weathering Heights, meanwhile, was getting terrible reviews. The Atlas called 263 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:39,400 Speaker 1: it quote strange and in artistic story. Many readers figured 264 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:43,640 Speaker 1: that it must have come from this particularly wicked mine. 265 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:46,680 Speaker 1: I mean today, it's it's just so strange to imagine 266 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:50,240 Speaker 1: people um dissing on Weathering Heights so much. It's a 267 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:54,440 Speaker 1: classic something you reathe in every high school English class. 268 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:58,160 Speaker 1: But um people were seriously disturbed by it at the time. 269 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:02,800 Speaker 1: Agnes Gray, a book novelist George Moore later called quote 270 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:05,920 Speaker 1: as simple and beautiful as a muslin dress, hardly earned 271 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:09,360 Speaker 1: any buzz at all. At almost worse, some also started 272 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:12,200 Speaker 1: accusing the Bells of being one writer, a theory which 273 00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:15,360 Speaker 1: was encouraged by Emily and Anne's own publisher, who was 274 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:17,720 Speaker 1: hoping to cash in on the success of Cura Bell. 275 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:20,960 Speaker 1: The confusion finally got bad enough for Charlotte and to 276 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:23,440 Speaker 1: practically run to the nearest town in order to get 277 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:26,360 Speaker 1: to London meet Mr Smith and prove that there were 278 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:30,040 Speaker 1: at least two Bells. So then there's a big change 279 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:33,120 Speaker 1: in this story. It's this rapid ascent of fame. But 280 00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:36,120 Speaker 1: in the fall of eight less than a year after 281 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:39,080 Speaker 1: the appearance of Jane Eyre, the Brontes world really began 282 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:44,240 Speaker 1: to transform. It started with Branwell dying in September, and 283 00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:47,160 Speaker 1: he may have seemed like he was in constant danger 284 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:50,240 Speaker 1: of drinking himself to death or committing suicide, or having 285 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:53,280 Speaker 1: some unfortunate accident. While sleeping in the room with the 286 00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:56,480 Speaker 1: loaded pistols, but no one in the family had really 287 00:16:56,520 --> 00:17:00,360 Speaker 1: realized that he was seriously ill with tuberculos. This as 288 00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:04,600 Speaker 1: well his alcoholism had effectively covered it up until almost 289 00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:07,359 Speaker 1: the very end. And one of the details about all 290 00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:09,920 Speaker 1: the Brontes lives would There are so many sad details 291 00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:12,080 Speaker 1: we could choose from, but one of the saddest me 292 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:15,160 Speaker 1: is that Charlotte, Emily and Anne never told their brother 293 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:18,520 Speaker 1: that they had become famous authors. They finally did tell 294 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:22,240 Speaker 1: their father, but they just didn't feel up to letting 295 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:25,520 Speaker 1: Brandwell know, and as Charlotte later wrote, fear of causing 296 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:28,280 Speaker 1: him too deep a pang of remorse for his own 297 00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:32,320 Speaker 1: time misspent and talents misapplied. And that was their reason 298 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:35,160 Speaker 1: for holding it back for them, you know, the their 299 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:40,240 Speaker 1: fellow writer in childhood. Something about that so tragic. Another 300 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:44,320 Speaker 1: weird thing, According to Encyclopedia Britannica, some of Branwell's friends 301 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:47,159 Speaker 1: later thought he had co authored Weathering Heights because it 302 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:50,680 Speaker 1: was so masculine. And I mean that makes the whole 303 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:53,720 Speaker 1: thing that they never told him at all even more 304 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:56,800 Speaker 1: strange that it almost would fit with him. And after 305 00:17:56,840 --> 00:17:59,440 Speaker 1: Brandwell's death, the bad news just kind of kept coming 306 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:01,919 Speaker 1: for the bronte As Emily got a cold at Brandwell's funeral. 307 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:05,920 Speaker 1: By December, she was also dead from tuberculosis. Her dog 308 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:08,800 Speaker 1: keeper walked in the funeral procession with the Brontes and 309 00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:11,520 Speaker 1: their servants. He sat in their pew at the church, 310 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:13,960 Speaker 1: and he lay outside of her empty room for a 311 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:17,760 Speaker 1: week and how old. And just a few weeks after that, 312 00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:22,320 Speaker 1: Anne was also diagnosed with tuberculosis, and unlike Emily, who 313 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:24,840 Speaker 1: had really resisted any kind of medicine, any kind of 314 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:30,720 Speaker 1: doctor's interference until the literal end um, Anne took every 315 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:33,680 Speaker 1: possible remedy, including a trip to the sea in May, 316 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:38,680 Speaker 1: but she died May away from home. So just one 317 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:42,440 Speaker 1: year brings three published novels, and the next year brings 318 00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:46,840 Speaker 1: three family deaths. It's kind of the remarkable tragedy of 319 00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:51,119 Speaker 1: the Brontes lives. And home was obviously so sad and 320 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:56,240 Speaker 1: so lonely for Charlotte, now the only surviving child of six. 321 00:18:56,640 --> 00:18:58,879 Speaker 1: She wrote about how happy the dogs were when she 322 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:01,240 Speaker 1: came home because they thought that maybe the other two 323 00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:04,919 Speaker 1: weren't too far behind, and she just felt really lonely. 324 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:08,600 Speaker 1: Her father was um a kind of distant during this 325 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:11,000 Speaker 1: time too, as you can imagine. So the next period 326 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:14,719 Speaker 1: of Charlotte's life bounced between this loneliness and depression at 327 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:19,120 Speaker 1: home and then brief getaways filled with festivals and treats 328 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:21,720 Speaker 1: that were worthy of a famous novelist, because of course, 329 00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:24,240 Speaker 1: her fame hadn't gone away in the meantime, she had 330 00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:27,840 Speaker 1: just kind of left it for a while. She finished 331 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:30,960 Speaker 1: her second which was really her third work entitled Shirley, 332 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:34,080 Speaker 1: and made a second visit to London, clad and Stable, 333 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:36,560 Speaker 1: picked out by her friend Ellen, and on her third 334 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:39,920 Speaker 1: trip to London, she was showered with attention from a publisher, 335 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:42,560 Speaker 1: George Smith. They even visited the zoo together, and they 336 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:45,119 Speaker 1: kind of stalked the Duke of Wellington together, which was 337 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:48,600 Speaker 1: really fun for her, Charlotte's hero, her childhood hero. I 338 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:51,119 Speaker 1: think they sort of waited for him like on his 339 00:19:51,240 --> 00:20:01,720 Speaker 1: church root and caught a few glimpses of him. During 340 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:04,920 Speaker 1: this period, Charlotte also met the novelist Mrs Elizabeth Gaskell, 341 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:07,760 Speaker 1: who turned out to be her future biographer and who 342 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:11,800 Speaker 1: was really quickly impressed by Charlotte's hard life story and 343 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:14,840 Speaker 1: her talent and wanted to help her rehabilitate her image 344 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:18,720 Speaker 1: a little bit, so gradually word was starting to slowly 345 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:22,200 Speaker 1: creep out that Kerr Bell was actually Charlotte Bronte, even 346 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:25,400 Speaker 1: back home in Yorkshire. And one funny account, Charlotte wrote 347 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:29,000 Speaker 1: to Ellen that her family's made Martha came to her saying, quote, 348 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:33,040 Speaker 1: I've heard such news, please, ma'am. You've been and written 349 00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:36,280 Speaker 1: two books, the grandest books that ever was seen. And 350 00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:38,320 Speaker 1: I thought it was really funny to learn that. While 351 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:42,199 Speaker 1: Charlotte started to handle her fame in London, you know, 352 00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:45,879 Speaker 1: she got to meet her famous author friends and do 353 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:48,280 Speaker 1: all of that, do fun things. She was a little 354 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:52,560 Speaker 1: bit terrified with being known as this famous author back 355 00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:56,160 Speaker 1: home because it meant that her actual her actual neighbors 356 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:58,960 Speaker 1: would go and try to figure out who were the 357 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:02,000 Speaker 1: characters in her book books, which does sound pretty terrifying, 358 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:03,680 Speaker 1: and she had to be around them all the time 359 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:07,240 Speaker 1: she did. She couldn't go go back to her tiny 360 00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:10,159 Speaker 1: home and forget about it all. So amid all of 361 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:13,439 Speaker 1: this growing fame, though, Charlotte attracted a third suitor. We 362 00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:16,399 Speaker 1: talked about her first two in the first part of 363 00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:19,880 Speaker 1: this little series, but this guy was James Taylor, who 364 00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:22,919 Speaker 1: was an agent at her publisher, and they've been writing 365 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:25,480 Speaker 1: to each other for some time, but really their correspondence 366 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:30,520 Speaker 1: was kind of third rung with her literary correspondence at 367 00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:34,320 Speaker 1: her publishing. How she had always sort of preferred writing 368 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:36,600 Speaker 1: to Mr Williams, the guy who had discovered her. They 369 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:38,800 Speaker 1: talked about books and all sorts of things, and then 370 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:41,159 Speaker 1: she was obviously starting to get a bit of a 371 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:45,640 Speaker 1: crush on the publisher himself, Mr George Smith, he of 372 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:49,600 Speaker 1: the zoo trips and the lavish attentions. Mr Taylor, though, 373 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:53,000 Speaker 1: had kind of a thing for Charlotte, and he ended 374 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:56,400 Speaker 1: up being spurred on by his impending move to India 375 00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:59,480 Speaker 1: to go ahead declare his love for her and propose. 376 00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:03,720 Speaker 1: Charlotte of course refused, but it's certainly got her thinking 377 00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:07,560 Speaker 1: about that growing crush on George Smith. But her next 378 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:10,679 Speaker 1: trip to London must have really squashed this idea. She 379 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:12,800 Speaker 1: wasn't the only one thinking about it too. It seems 380 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:15,600 Speaker 1: that even her father, Patrick Bronte, seemed to have some 381 00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:20,000 Speaker 1: hopes or ideas that she might end up with George Smith. 382 00:22:20,359 --> 00:22:23,159 Speaker 1: It turned out, though, on that next trip that Smith 383 00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:25,359 Speaker 1: was clearly just going to be a friend, just going 384 00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:28,760 Speaker 1: to be her publisher, and she made that quite obvious 385 00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:32,960 Speaker 1: in a somewhat awkward way in her final complete novel, 386 00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:36,480 Speaker 1: The Lett, by having the Charlotte like heroine not end 387 00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:39,480 Speaker 1: up with the George Smith like Dr John Graham bretton which, 388 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:43,679 Speaker 1: of course I mean that's awkward because Mr Smith was 389 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:48,960 Speaker 1: of course reading these manuscripts and figuring out, oh, that 390 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:53,160 Speaker 1: would be awkward. So that sort of chance that love 391 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:55,440 Speaker 1: didn't work out for Charlotte. But she had other things 392 00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:58,119 Speaker 1: to keep her busy when she wasn't so bothered by 393 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:01,720 Speaker 1: her own characterization in the press as an immoral course writer. 394 00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:06,399 Speaker 1: She disliked her sister's memories being disrespected. According to an 395 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:10,240 Speaker 1: article in Women's Writing by Susan R. Bauman, it's largely 396 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:14,159 Speaker 1: Charlotte who's responsible for Emily's later reputation as the wild 397 00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:17,800 Speaker 1: more poetus and Anne's as the devotional Christian writer. And 398 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:21,439 Speaker 1: she did this by shaming reviewers with biographical details of 399 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:25,440 Speaker 1: her sister's lives and sad deaths, editing and publishing more 400 00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:29,080 Speaker 1: of their poems, and more strangely, sometimes even agreeing with 401 00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:33,960 Speaker 1: critics negative assessments of their work. So consequently, some Bronte 402 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:39,320 Speaker 1: biographers considered Charlotte the Snafari's curator of her sister's writing. 403 00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:44,160 Speaker 1: Bauman mentioned theories ranging from Charlotte tricking Emily into revealing 404 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:46,760 Speaker 1: her poetry, so not just like I can't believe you 405 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:49,360 Speaker 1: read my poetry, but let's get over it in a bit, 406 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:52,800 Speaker 1: something more serious than that, um, And then theories even 407 00:23:53,119 --> 00:23:57,480 Speaker 1: as extreme as Charlotte purposefully destroying Emily's second novel after 408 00:23:57,520 --> 00:24:01,359 Speaker 1: her death out of jealousy andesing to note here, since 409 00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:05,760 Speaker 1: Charlotte is so very much responsible for the way people 410 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:11,600 Speaker 1: ultimately saw Emily Bronte and Bronte, her own life was 411 00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:16,560 Speaker 1: shaped largely by Mrs Gaskell's biography that came out after 412 00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:20,120 Speaker 1: Charlotte's death, which really turned her from this sketchy writer 413 00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 1: of naughty books to a heartbroken, admirable churchgoing woman who 414 00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:30,639 Speaker 1: had never neglected her more I don't know quote womanly 415 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:33,639 Speaker 1: duties at home. She was the parson's daughter. She was 416 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:38,280 Speaker 1: the parson's wife, um, not the scandalous writer that she 417 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:42,080 Speaker 1: was depicted us. Charlotte's posthumous reputation was also shaped by 418 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:45,520 Speaker 1: her widower. Remember that Mr Nichols, the curate that we 419 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:47,600 Speaker 1: talked about earlier, this is why we asked you to 420 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:50,879 Speaker 1: remember him. While Charlotte had gone from making fun of 421 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:52,919 Speaker 1: him with her sisters to at least thinking of him 422 00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:56,080 Speaker 1: as a nice guy, he had fallen head over heels 423 00:24:56,119 --> 00:25:00,560 Speaker 1: without her even noticing. And on December fifty three she 424 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:03,800 Speaker 1: received the fourth out of nowhere proposal of her life. 425 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:07,720 Speaker 1: And this time Charlotte's father was furious that his poor 426 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:11,720 Speaker 1: Irish curate um kind of a lot like himself, would 427 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:14,440 Speaker 1: court his daughter. You know, he really thought that Charlotte 428 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:18,600 Speaker 1: deserved somebody with more money, somebody with more prestige. But 429 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:22,879 Speaker 1: instead of calling under some rock and disappearing, Nichols escalated 430 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:26,399 Speaker 1: this courtship to really an all out war with Mr Bronte. 431 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:29,159 Speaker 1: It was so awkward he handed in his notice, but 432 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:32,919 Speaker 1: he was stuck in the town for several months, having 433 00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:35,880 Speaker 1: to see each other all the time. Charlotte once um 434 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:40,040 Speaker 1: Once Mr Nichols did eventually leave Howard, Charlotte eventually got 435 00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:44,240 Speaker 1: permission from her father to start communicating with him and 436 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:47,840 Speaker 1: uh eventually start visiting him. She's thirty seven at this point, 437 00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:51,560 Speaker 1: to just consider that, and then ultimately they married in 438 00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:56,560 Speaker 1: June eighteen fifty four. Her father was supposedly too sick 439 00:25:56,720 --> 00:25:59,480 Speaker 1: to attend the ceremony, so she was given away by 440 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:02,840 Speaker 1: her old friend, Miss Waller, whose school she had attended 441 00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:06,360 Speaker 1: so many years before, and wore a white embroidered dress, 442 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:09,120 Speaker 1: a bonnet and a veil, and was said to look 443 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:11,520 Speaker 1: like a little snow drop there in the middle of 444 00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:15,000 Speaker 1: the in the middle of the summer. By December, Charlotte 445 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:18,000 Speaker 1: was writing to Ellen hinting of a pregnancy, but from 446 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,919 Speaker 1: that point on she only got sicker and sicker. She 447 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:24,640 Speaker 1: died March thirty one, eight and it's kind of unclear 448 00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:27,800 Speaker 1: exactly what she died of. I think it's generally accepted 449 00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:30,480 Speaker 1: that it may have been tuberculosis was the official cause. 450 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:35,480 Speaker 1: It could have been also dehydration from really extreme morning sickness. 451 00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:39,000 Speaker 1: That's another theory that's out there. Yeah, there are several theories, 452 00:26:39,119 --> 00:26:43,080 Speaker 1: or just that Charlotte's health was not so great anyway, 453 00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:45,359 Speaker 1: she had suffered from ill health for a long time, 454 00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:51,359 Speaker 1: and that maybe her pregnancy um kind of escalated latent tuberculosis. 455 00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:55,120 Speaker 1: But a month before her death, she had interestingly changed 456 00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:58,439 Speaker 1: her will to benefit Mr Nichols, so his attentions to 457 00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:02,399 Speaker 1: her during her sickness and four must have really impressed 458 00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:05,120 Speaker 1: her because when they had first gotten married, she had 459 00:27:05,119 --> 00:27:07,920 Speaker 1: set it up so he'd have zero control over her 460 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:11,560 Speaker 1: estate even if she died childless, which was kind of 461 00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:15,800 Speaker 1: an unusual arrangement for a married couple at the time. 462 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:20,240 Speaker 1: And um, he wouldn't even be able to access her 463 00:27:20,240 --> 00:27:22,880 Speaker 1: money for debts that sort of thing. Mr Nichols cared 464 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:25,600 Speaker 1: for Mr Bronte for six more years until his death. 465 00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:29,439 Speaker 1: Mr Bronte is sometimes considered a too stern, too self 466 00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:32,720 Speaker 1: interested figure, but one has to feel for him. I mean, 467 00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:35,680 Speaker 1: he lost all six of his children. Of his own 468 00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:39,240 Speaker 1: famous temper, he supposedly said quote, had I been numbered 469 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:43,439 Speaker 1: amongst the calm, sedate, concentric men of the world, I should, 470 00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:47,080 Speaker 1: in all probability never have had such children as mine. 471 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:49,919 Speaker 1: And I think that's an interesting point to start to 472 00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:54,440 Speaker 1: wrap this up on Mrs Gaskell's biography sort of wonders 473 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:56,960 Speaker 1: what would Charlotte Bronte have been like if she had 474 00:27:57,000 --> 00:27:59,800 Speaker 1: been brought up in a healthy and happy situation. But 475 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:04,399 Speaker 1: Mr Bronte's own words how much his personality likely shaped 476 00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:07,919 Speaker 1: his children, shows that it almost did seem to be 477 00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:12,960 Speaker 1: a requirement that they had this isolated upbringing, This unhealthy 478 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:17,160 Speaker 1: atmosphere they lived in, and the development of their intense 479 00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:20,520 Speaker 1: imaginations almost came from that. It's also neat too. I 480 00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:24,200 Speaker 1: think that we rarely talk about our subjects in such 481 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:27,679 Speaker 1: a broad view as this, But I read a New 482 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:31,199 Speaker 1: Yorker article on the Bronte myth and noted that the 483 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:35,600 Speaker 1: sisters have really been quote remolded in successive generations to 484 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:39,880 Speaker 1: fit with different agendas, Freudian feminist agendas, and that's so 485 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:43,920 Speaker 1: strange to me. It has been interesting to learn about 486 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:49,080 Speaker 1: a biography and how that's connected to the writer's works, 487 00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:53,840 Speaker 1: but also how much these lives are open to interpretation. 488 00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:02,520 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us for this Saturday classic. 489 00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:05,000 Speaker 1: Since this is out of the archive, if you heard 490 00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:07,320 Speaker 1: an email address or a Facebook U r L or 491 00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:10,240 Speaker 1: something similar during the course of the show, that may 492 00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:13,520 Speaker 1: be obsolete now. So here is our current contact information. 493 00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:16,800 Speaker 1: We are at History Podcast at how stuff Works dot com, 494 00:29:16,840 --> 00:29:19,680 Speaker 1: and then we're at Missed in the History all over 495 00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:23,800 Speaker 1: social media that is our name on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, 496 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:28,160 Speaker 1: and Instagram. Thanks again for listening. For more on this 497 00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:39,240 Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics, visit how Stuff Works dot com.