1 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:06,320 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday, everybody. We recently got a request from listener 2 00:00:06,519 --> 00:00:10,320 Speaker 1: Erica to re release our past episodes on the Brontes 3 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:12,560 Speaker 1: as a Saturday classic. Now. These are the work of 4 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:16,400 Speaker 1: past hosts Sarah and Deblina from back in We hear 5 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:19,479 Speaker 1: so often that longtime listeners think that is one of 6 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:22,639 Speaker 1: the absolute best episodes that Sarah and Deblina ever did. 7 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:25,080 Speaker 1: They are definitely a top listener favorite, so we are 8 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 1: very happy to oblige with Erica's request. Today's installment is 9 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 1: called Growing Up Bronte, and as the name suggests, it 10 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:37,640 Speaker 1: is about the unconventional childhoods of the Bronte siblings. Welcome 11 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 1: to Steph you missed in history class from how Stuff 12 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:50,000 Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm 13 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:53,360 Speaker 1: Sarah Dowdy and I'm Deblina Chuck reporting and longtime listeners 14 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:57,280 Speaker 1: know that sad royal childhoods are a frequent theme of ours, 15 00:00:57,360 --> 00:00:59,920 Speaker 1: But the truth is discussing the youth of a podcast 16 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 1: object is usually pretty interesting, whether their royalty or not. 17 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:07,040 Speaker 1: Whether it's Elliot Chellaby showing off to the Sultan, or, 18 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:11,520 Speaker 1: as we discussed recently, paleontologist Mary Anning getting struck by 19 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:15,440 Speaker 1: lightning as an infant, or even Hans Christian Anderson crashing 20 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:19,360 Speaker 1: dinner parties in his ill fitting communions. I really think 21 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 1: that taking a closer look at the early years often 22 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:26,360 Speaker 1: shows a different side of a subject, or sometimes even 23 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:29,160 Speaker 1: most intriguingly, a sign of what's to come, you know, 24 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:32,400 Speaker 1: some spark of genius in the early years. But it's 25 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:35,880 Speaker 1: rare that we devote an entire episode to those early 26 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 1: pre fame years, as we're going to do today with 27 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:43,480 Speaker 1: the talented Bronte family. While we we will follow up 28 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:47,040 Speaker 1: with an episode on their remarkable breakthroughs and their successes, 29 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 1: which we all probably know a little bit more about. 30 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:52,600 Speaker 1: There are a few good reasons for establishing a solid 31 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: footing before we go there. I mean, the first one 32 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:58,120 Speaker 1: would be that most of the family didn't live much 33 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 1: beyond childhood. That's kind of the sad reason why the 34 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 1: youngest Bronte child to die was only at ten and 35 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 1: the oldest was thirty eight, so not very long lives 36 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:12,799 Speaker 1: at all. Secondly, the Bronte children grew up under very 37 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 1: strange circumstances. They grew up in extreme isolation coupled with 38 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: endless intellectual stimulation. Yeah, there's a New Yorker article by 39 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:26,080 Speaker 1: Mary Hawthorne on their fantastic drawings and watercolors. Something you 40 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:28,240 Speaker 1: might not be aware of that the Brontes were actually, 41 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:31,880 Speaker 1: in some cases really talented artists too. But this article 42 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:36,359 Speaker 1: suggested that the peculiarities of their upbringing produced quote an 43 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:40,240 Speaker 1: extraordinary collective creative mania, which I think is a great 44 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:43,240 Speaker 1: way to think about what they were doing as kids. 45 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:47,280 Speaker 1: And there's one third reason that we want to go 46 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:49,400 Speaker 1: into their childhood a little bit first, and that's the 47 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:54,600 Speaker 1: Bronte mystique. It almost hinges on those earlier years. So 48 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 1: how did one remote family produce three world class writers 49 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: and one brilliant way stroll brother. How did the isolated 50 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:06,000 Speaker 1: and experienced Bronte girls author books filled with so much 51 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:09,040 Speaker 1: passion and terror? And what was in the water at 52 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:12,400 Speaker 1: how worth besides death and disease? And what made them 53 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:16,640 Speaker 1: also brilliant? So the Brontes are such a staple of 54 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:20,360 Speaker 1: British literature classes that it probably surprises some people to 55 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 1: learn their origins were in Northern Ireland and that their 56 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:28,160 Speaker 1: family name wasn't even Bronte. Their father, who's Patrick, was 57 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 1: born in sevent seventy seven on St. Patrick's day in 58 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: Northern Ireland, and he was the son of Hugh Bruntie, 59 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 1: who was a ditch mender. And despite the poor beginnings, 60 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 1: Patrick was the eldest of ten really you know, in 61 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:47,080 Speaker 1: a really poor family. Uh. They were very story oriented. 62 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:49,360 Speaker 1: Hugh Brunty was known in his area as being an 63 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 1: incredible storyteller. Young Patrick grew up reading as much as 64 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: he possibly could. He even memorized Paradise Lost as a kid. 65 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:00,760 Speaker 1: And that intellectual spark caught the attention of a local 66 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:05,000 Speaker 1: Presbyterian minister and from there Patrick made one good connection 67 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:09,000 Speaker 1: after another with wealthy members of the Methodist movement and 68 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:12,720 Speaker 1: ultimately earned himself a spot at Cambridge. And I read 69 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:16,880 Speaker 1: a really great biography on Charlotte Bronte by Rebecca Fraser, 70 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:21,760 Speaker 1: and she said that this jomp from being the ditchmender's 71 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:26,920 Speaker 1: son to attending Cambridge was really an almost unimaginable leap. Again, 72 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 1: it did remind me a little bit of Hans Christian 73 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:32,560 Speaker 1: Anderson actually, who had just talked about. In eighteen o six, Patrick, 74 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:35,159 Speaker 1: who had changed his name to Bronte at school, decided 75 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:38,400 Speaker 1: to take orders as a clergyman. In eighteen twelve, he 76 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:41,839 Speaker 1: met Mariah Branwell, who was from a well off Cornish 77 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:45,640 Speaker 1: merchant family with rumors of pirate ancestry. She lived in 78 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:49,479 Speaker 1: Penzance after all, and Mariah was in a pretty great 79 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:52,160 Speaker 1: place for an unmarried thirty year old in the nineteenth century. 80 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:55,599 Speaker 1: She had some money, she had some independence, and she 81 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:58,880 Speaker 1: was much loved and valued by her family. But only 82 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:03,240 Speaker 1: months after meeting Trick, Mariah packted in, married him and 83 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:07,120 Speaker 1: moved north and started having just baby after baby. They 84 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:12,800 Speaker 1: had six kids and six years Mariah, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Patrick Branwell, 85 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:17,279 Speaker 1: Emily and Anne. So most of the younger Bronte children 86 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:21,920 Speaker 1: were born in Thornton, West Yorkshire, where the Brontes could socialize. 87 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:24,599 Speaker 1: It was near enough to a town that they could 88 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:26,760 Speaker 1: go visit with friends, They had a They had a 89 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:30,479 Speaker 1: busy life there, and that was especially important considering Mr 90 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:33,920 Speaker 1: and Mrs Bronte were already pretty isolated from their extended 91 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:37,960 Speaker 1: families in Ireland and Cornwall. But of course Bronte buffs 92 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:41,039 Speaker 1: know that the kids didn't grow up in this busy, 93 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:45,440 Speaker 1: sociable town of Thornton Heathcliff, Romes Moor's after all, not 94 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:49,159 Speaker 1: some cute little village, so not long after Anne's birth. 95 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:54,520 Speaker 1: In eighteen twenty, Mr Bronte accepted a position as the 96 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 1: curate of Haworth and it wasn't really too far off 97 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:02,360 Speaker 1: from Thornton, but the hills and the moor surrounding it 98 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:06,880 Speaker 1: made the place inaccessible, plus cold and windy and boggy. 99 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:11,160 Speaker 1: And today we know that Howard was also very, very unhealthy. 100 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:14,080 Speaker 1: And I can actually remember this from my eleventh grade 101 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:17,480 Speaker 1: literature class, my teacher drawing a picture of the Bronte 102 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:21,360 Speaker 1: house and um the water supply and where it came from, 103 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:25,440 Speaker 1: and it just takes very involved, definitely, but it's something. 104 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:28,000 Speaker 1: The unhealthy nous of the town was something that Mr 105 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:32,039 Speaker 1: Bronte noticed right away and tried to fix in his 106 00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:35,520 Speaker 1: role as parson. I mean, just to give you a 107 00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:39,559 Speaker 1: few examples of how unhealthy this place really was, because 108 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:41,719 Speaker 1: he might be thinking, you know, small village, how bad 109 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:44,440 Speaker 1: could it be? But the Babbage Report on Sanitation from 110 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:49,360 Speaker 1: about thirty years after the Bronte's arrival compared Howard's death 111 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:52,080 Speaker 1: rate to that of White Chapel, London, of course, one 112 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:57,560 Speaker 1: of the um worst most packed with people's slums in London. 113 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:01,919 Speaker 1: The average life expectancy was only twenty five years. The 114 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:06,240 Speaker 1: problems that this place had where that there weren't enough privies, 115 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:10,160 Speaker 1: no sewers, water was rarely clean, and there were too 116 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:13,480 Speaker 1: many dead filling up the poorly drained churchyard. And guess 117 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:17,360 Speaker 1: where the family lived, right by the churchyard with a 118 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 1: view of the cemetery on two sides. Since the local 119 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:24,760 Speaker 1: families were mostly quite poor, they were laborers and factory workers. 120 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:28,720 Speaker 1: There were only a few other, quote, you know, respectable 121 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:32,160 Speaker 1: people that the Brontes could socialize with, so they stuck 122 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:35,120 Speaker 1: to themselves mainly. There was a class thing here. The 123 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:38,440 Speaker 1: Brontes were poor also, but they were middle class because 124 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:41,600 Speaker 1: of Mr Bronte's position. The girls grew up learning to 125 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:44,200 Speaker 1: do things like put up linen, but they had servants 126 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:46,400 Speaker 1: to do the cleaning and the cooking. Yeah, I read 127 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:51,360 Speaker 1: one description of them learning lighthousekeeping whatever that means, because 128 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:53,160 Speaker 1: it means I just imagine people walking around with a 129 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:55,480 Speaker 1: feather nut when I hear being I don't know, like 130 00:07:56,000 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: making lace or something. But still, you know, you're probably 131 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:02,600 Speaker 1: wondering at this point, why would you take this position 132 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:05,400 Speaker 1: if this town was so unhealthy. But the job meant 133 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:08,640 Speaker 1: a major raise for Mr Bronte. Plus the house for 134 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:11,200 Speaker 1: his family of eight and a job for life, which 135 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:14,880 Speaker 1: is a pretty serious thing. But the tragedies started not 136 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 1: too long after they moved. Only nine months later, Mrs Bronte, 137 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:22,400 Speaker 1: who hadn't really ever recovered after Anne's birth, started to 138 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:26,600 Speaker 1: get very sick, and Mr Bronte nursed her himself for 139 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:30,120 Speaker 1: seven months while she slowly died of what at the 140 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:33,199 Speaker 1: time people thought was stomach cancer but now what historians 141 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:37,760 Speaker 1: believe was blood poisoning. M Mariah, the oldest daughter, you know, 142 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:40,960 Speaker 1: still just a little kid, took care of her younger 143 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:44,520 Speaker 1: sisters and her brother until all six of them also 144 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:46,840 Speaker 1: got sick. They came down with scarlet fever, and at 145 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:50,040 Speaker 1: that point Mr Bronte was just at his breaking point 146 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:53,320 Speaker 1: and wrote to his sister in law, Elizabeth Branwell, to 147 00:08:53,720 --> 00:08:57,559 Speaker 1: come up to Yorkshire and please help the family. So 148 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:00,480 Speaker 1: she attended her sister's death and stayed to care for 149 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:03,440 Speaker 1: the kids, but she really wanted to go home to 150 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:07,680 Speaker 1: warmer Cornwall. Mr Bronte meanwhile tried to find a new 151 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:10,920 Speaker 1: wife to help educate his kids and also to study 152 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:13,280 Speaker 1: his temper and allow his sister in law to go home, 153 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:16,200 Speaker 1: but he found no takers. I mean, he just wasn't 154 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:19,880 Speaker 1: in that attractive a position at the time. He had 155 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:22,920 Speaker 1: six kids and a really low salary, so it just 156 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:27,160 Speaker 1: didn't help his cause. Yeah, no takers. So with six kids, though, 157 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:30,360 Speaker 1: and five of them girls, how was he supposed to 158 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:34,560 Speaker 1: educate them on a poor Parsons income. And the kids were, 159 00:09:34,559 --> 00:09:38,640 Speaker 1: of course precocious, their little Brontes. They'd read newspapers and 160 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:41,880 Speaker 1: talk politics. They'd argue about who they thought was best, 161 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:45,160 Speaker 1: the Duke of Wellington or Napoleon or Hannibal or Caesar. 162 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 1: But they didn't have a formal education, which was especially 163 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:53,320 Speaker 1: important for girls who might need to actually go work 164 00:09:53,400 --> 00:09:56,560 Speaker 1: later in life, you know, become teachers, become governesses. So 165 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:59,200 Speaker 1: it seems like kind of a hopeless situation, But then 166 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:03,160 Speaker 1: mere goal seemed to happen. In eighteen four, a new 167 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:06,840 Speaker 1: school for the daughters of the poor evangelical clergy opened 168 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:11,360 Speaker 1: at cowan Bridge, only about fifty miles from Haworth. For 169 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:18,239 Speaker 1: only fourteen pounds a year, a girl could study history, geography, globes, grammar, writing, arithmetic, 170 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:22,079 Speaker 1: needlework and fine housekeeping. And you could even choose a 171 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:24,760 Speaker 1: vocation of sorts. You could choose to learn to be 172 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:27,760 Speaker 1: a wife, a governess, or your own housekeeper. And for 173 00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:31,200 Speaker 1: added cache, the school's director was a wealthy clergyman named 174 00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:34,679 Speaker 1: Carus Wilson, which was a really big name to someone 175 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:48,160 Speaker 1: like Mr Bronte. Okay, though, if you've read Jane Eyre, 176 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:51,800 Speaker 1: you know where this story is going. The school was cold, 177 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:55,479 Speaker 1: it was damp, the building was overcrowded, too many girls 178 00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:59,360 Speaker 1: in two cramped rooms with too few privies, and poor food. 179 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:03,680 Speaker 1: And another problem was that Wilson thought deprivation was a 180 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:07,439 Speaker 1: really good thing. He believed little children were particularly sinful, 181 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:10,800 Speaker 1: so he probably wasn't the best person to be running 182 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:14,000 Speaker 1: a school full of little children in an unhealthy spot. 183 00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:18,480 Speaker 1: But by November, the four eldest Bronte girls were at 184 00:11:18,520 --> 00:11:23,480 Speaker 1: Cowan Bridge, and Mariah went home first in February. She 185 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:28,160 Speaker 1: was dead by May of tuberculosis. Elizabeth went home May 186 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:33,000 Speaker 1: thirty one, prompting Mr Bronte to leave the very next 187 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:35,440 Speaker 1: day and rescue Charlotte and Emily. So I mean that 188 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:38,160 Speaker 1: gives you a pretty good picture of what kind of 189 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:40,400 Speaker 1: state Elizabeth must have been in for him to go 190 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:43,960 Speaker 1: rushing back. She died just two weeks later, and according 191 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:48,040 Speaker 1: to an article on Elizabeth Bronte um by Jean Trippet. 192 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:52,760 Speaker 1: She's actually called the Unknown Bronte because so little is 193 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:55,320 Speaker 1: really known about her. Mariah also died young, but she 194 00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:58,320 Speaker 1: was sort of the inspiration for Helen Burns and you know, 195 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:01,000 Speaker 1: really idolized by her family. But a Elizabeth more of 196 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:04,480 Speaker 1: a blank slate. So anyway, this article by Jeane Trippett 197 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:08,839 Speaker 1: and the journal Bronte Studies. Elizabeth supposedly also met with 198 00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:13,040 Speaker 1: some unknown quote alarming accident while she was at school, 199 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:17,360 Speaker 1: her head being quote severely cut according to the school's headmistress. 200 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:20,640 Speaker 1: So it seems like there were, you know, potentially more 201 00:12:20,679 --> 00:12:24,360 Speaker 1: serious things going on, not that the accident was necessarily 202 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:27,360 Speaker 1: something um, somebody had caused her harm, but just that 203 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:30,600 Speaker 1: it wasn't covered in any more detail than that. Yeah, 204 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:32,880 Speaker 1: it sounds sketchy, you know, it makes you feel like 205 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:37,720 Speaker 1: maybe cowen Bridge was Lowwood from Jane Eyre, Charus Wilson 206 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:41,120 Speaker 1: could have been the evil Mr Brocklehurst. And I mean, 207 00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:44,160 Speaker 1: we'll talk more about Charlotte's legacy in the next episode. 208 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:46,680 Speaker 1: But since she was the only sister to become really 209 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:49,920 Speaker 1: famous during her lifetime, a lot of people took an 210 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:54,360 Speaker 1: interest in that connection. Charlotte herself said that Lowood was true. 211 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:58,080 Speaker 1: The Wilson camp claimed that Charlotte couldn't be relied on 212 00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:00,520 Speaker 1: for having been a child at the time wouldn't have 213 00:13:00,559 --> 00:13:04,360 Speaker 1: remembered things as they really were exactly. According to Frasier, 214 00:13:04,640 --> 00:13:07,240 Speaker 1: their biggest piece of evidence came from a letter signed 215 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:11,120 Speaker 1: a h which was believed to be the former headmistress 216 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:14,880 Speaker 1: and inspiration for the kind Miss Temple. In Charlotte's book, 217 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:19,640 Speaker 1: she claimed everything had been rosy in n though someone 218 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:22,560 Speaker 1: finally bothered too to the math and realized that the 219 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:25,959 Speaker 1: real Miss Temple had actually been dead when she wrote 220 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:29,840 Speaker 1: the vindicating letter, and the letter's author was probably actually 221 00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:33,840 Speaker 1: the inspiration for the evil Mrs Scatchard, which doesn't sound 222 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:36,320 Speaker 1: so good for cowen Bridge all of a sudden, but 223 00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:40,240 Speaker 1: with the death of Mariah and Elizabeth in such a 224 00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:43,080 Speaker 1: short span of time, and of course also so soon 225 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:45,960 Speaker 1: after the death of their mother, uh, the kids were 226 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:49,360 Speaker 1: really devastated. And remember their house looks out on a 227 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:52,760 Speaker 1: cemetery too, so there was really no escaping this feeling 228 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:57,040 Speaker 1: of death. A later guest remembered that Howard's high mortality 229 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:01,240 Speaker 1: rate was really obvious to anybody who was stopping through, 230 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:04,520 Speaker 1: because the church bell would constantly told for the dead, 231 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:09,040 Speaker 1: and then the tombstone chiseler would always be at work, 232 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:12,840 Speaker 1: you know, chipping away at the granite blocks, which sounds 233 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:16,000 Speaker 1: really horrifying in this context of a family who has 234 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:18,520 Speaker 1: just lost so many people in such a short span 235 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:22,680 Speaker 1: of time. So Miss Branwell became the household educator for 236 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:25,680 Speaker 1: the girls, while Mr Bronte would have given extra Greek 237 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:28,680 Speaker 1: and Latin lessons to Branwell. And they also had an 238 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:35,080 Speaker 1: inexhaustible supply of reading materials day old newspapers, magazines, borrowed books, 239 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:39,040 Speaker 1: methodist tracks, and literature. Of course, Charlotte and Branwell read 240 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:42,600 Speaker 1: almost all of Byron at age thirteen and twelve. The 241 00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:45,560 Speaker 1: only thing that Patrick Bronte seemed to censor was Miss 242 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:48,600 Speaker 1: Branwell's Ladies magazine because he thought it had silly little 243 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:51,960 Speaker 1: stories in it. He didn't want his kids to read them. Um. 244 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:55,120 Speaker 1: So it's probably no surprise that with the kids reading 245 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:59,800 Speaker 1: so much romantic literature and then geography too and current events, 246 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:02,960 Speaker 1: that they made up their own world eventually, you know, 247 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:04,920 Speaker 1: as a way to kind of get away from all 248 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:07,640 Speaker 1: that was going on in their real life and filled 249 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:11,160 Speaker 1: it with byronic heroes and their most famous creation, the 250 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:15,600 Speaker 1: Empire of Angria, with its capital of glass Town, started 251 00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:19,200 Speaker 1: when Mr Bronte brought home a set of wooden soldiers 252 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:21,920 Speaker 1: from Brandwell, and Charlotte later described it in a way 253 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:25,120 Speaker 1: that sounds so genuine. You know, you can imagine kids 254 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:28,400 Speaker 1: just picking up toys and starting this imaginary world. But 255 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:31,440 Speaker 1: she wrote, Brandwell came to our door with a box 256 00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:34,200 Speaker 1: of soldiers. Emily and I jumped out of bed, and 257 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:37,160 Speaker 1: I snatched one up and exclaimed, this is the Duke 258 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:41,239 Speaker 1: of Wellington. This shall be the Duke. Emily's became Gravy, 259 00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:45,600 Speaker 1: and Anne's waiting boy, and brand Well's Bonaparte. So with 260 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:48,440 Speaker 1: all their soldiers named, I think the names went through 261 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:52,280 Speaker 1: a few variations in some cases. Uh, the soldiers became 262 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:55,600 Speaker 1: what they called the young men, and um they lived 263 00:15:55,640 --> 00:15:59,480 Speaker 1: in Glasstown. The kids became these all powerful genies. And 264 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:02,640 Speaker 1: then the Glasstown saga morphed into something that wasn't just 265 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:05,560 Speaker 1: like playing with the soldiers on rainy days and making 266 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:09,000 Speaker 1: up stories. It really became a world for them. Yeah. 267 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:12,040 Speaker 1: Brand Will even created a language in history and maps 268 00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:15,520 Speaker 1: for this world. By January eighty nine, they started to 269 00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:20,960 Speaker 1: produce miniature Glasstown magazines with science articles, poems, and jokes. Actually, 270 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:24,120 Speaker 1: all the Glasstown writings were done on a miniature scale. 271 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:27,200 Speaker 1: So the first magazine was two and a quarter inch 272 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:29,920 Speaker 1: by one in a quarter inch, done on scraps of 273 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:34,520 Speaker 1: sugar paper or wallpaper in Angria and the Angrians brand 274 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:37,880 Speaker 1: Well crammed two thousand, five hundred words onto a five 275 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:41,360 Speaker 1: by seven inch page and they called it Scribblemania, which 276 00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:44,080 Speaker 1: I think is my new band name. And you know, 277 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:46,760 Speaker 1: they had a reason, though, behind all of this tiny writing, 278 00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:50,520 Speaker 1: which they also did to sort of imitate print almost. 279 00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:52,720 Speaker 1: It was a way to keep the adults out of 280 00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:55,520 Speaker 1: their business, you know, because it was so impossible to read, 281 00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:59,640 Speaker 1: probably especially if you're a nineteenth century person with bad eyesight. 282 00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:04,080 Speaker 1: So Emily and Anne participated in the world of Angria, 283 00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:06,919 Speaker 1: but they also created their own world called Gondol. And 284 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:09,720 Speaker 1: we don't know quite as much about Gondol as we 285 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:13,360 Speaker 1: do about Glasstown, because Charlotte destroyed much of her sister's 286 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:17,359 Speaker 1: early writings after their deaths. But there is one pretty 287 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:20,200 Speaker 1: intriguing fact, especially if you've read any of those younger 288 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:24,840 Speaker 1: Bront's works. Gondol was ruled by women, which certainly set 289 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:27,919 Speaker 1: it apart from from the world of Angria, which had 290 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:31,720 Speaker 1: these really strong male protagonists. But all the kids continued 291 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:35,040 Speaker 1: writing poems and plays and romances about their worlds and 292 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:39,399 Speaker 1: these characters well into adulthood, and Charlotte Wood at various 293 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:42,280 Speaker 1: times try to ditch her imaginary world as she'd get older, 294 00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:44,600 Speaker 1: but she'd come back, you know sometimes. Deklena and I 295 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:48,400 Speaker 1: were discussing before the podcast actually that while so charming 296 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:50,480 Speaker 1: in their youth, it does start to take on a 297 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:54,040 Speaker 1: disturbing tone when they are still so obsessed with it 298 00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:57,480 Speaker 1: as they get older. But her indirect interest in it 299 00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:01,840 Speaker 1: ultimately ended up coming out partly in some of her 300 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:06,160 Speaker 1: more famous work. Charlotte's alter ego, The Morna is very 301 00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:09,520 Speaker 1: much like her later anti hero Mr Rochester, So I mean, 302 00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:12,959 Speaker 1: there you go. But of course they couldn't play at 303 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:16,399 Speaker 1: home forever. In eighteen thirty, Mr Bronte got sick and 304 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:20,000 Speaker 1: nearly died. When he recovered, he realized his kids had 305 00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:23,480 Speaker 1: no safety net, so he decided to keep branwell at home, 306 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:26,000 Speaker 1: but he sent Charlotte to school again to learn to 307 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:29,480 Speaker 1: be a governess, this time at Mrs Wooler School at 308 00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:32,920 Speaker 1: roe Head, twenty miles from Hollworth. It was different from 309 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:36,000 Speaker 1: colin Bridge and it wasn't a charity school. Other students 310 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:39,679 Speaker 1: there were rich manufacturing daughters, and Charlotte stood out with 311 00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:43,520 Speaker 1: her Irish accent and her funny clothes. To make things worse, 312 00:18:43,560 --> 00:18:45,880 Speaker 1: she was placed at the bottom of the class since 313 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:49,880 Speaker 1: her entire education had been so haphazard, and she couldn't 314 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:52,240 Speaker 1: play because she was so nearsighted, so she was really 315 00:18:52,359 --> 00:18:55,320 Speaker 1: left out right instead of you know, joining in with 316 00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:59,440 Speaker 1: ball games. Eventually, though, according to the BBC documentary In 317 00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:03,400 Speaker 1: Search of the Brontes, she made friends through storytelling, which 318 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:06,200 Speaker 1: was really her strength. As we know, she would rehash 319 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:08,840 Speaker 1: the ghost tales that she learned from the Bronte's much 320 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:12,080 Speaker 1: loved cook Tabby, and two of her roe Head friends, 321 00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:16,080 Speaker 1: Ellen Nucy and Mary Taylor, became lifelong correspondence of her. 322 00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:18,720 Speaker 1: So she did manage to make those bonds. Yeah, and 323 00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:22,000 Speaker 1: as a side note to the correspondence with Ellen really 324 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:25,359 Speaker 1: is the source of a lot of biographical information about 325 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:28,480 Speaker 1: not just Charlotte, but the Bronte family as a whole. 326 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:32,520 Speaker 1: Mary Taylor burned her correspondence, so we don't know what 327 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:43,320 Speaker 1: all we're missing there. So Charlotte also worked her way 328 00:19:43,359 --> 00:19:45,840 Speaker 1: to the top of the class, and after two years 329 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:48,880 Speaker 1: she came home. This is maybe one of the happier 330 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:51,200 Speaker 1: times in the Brontes lives. All the kids were back 331 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:55,120 Speaker 1: at the parsonage. Charlotte's friend Ellen, who visited in eighty three, 332 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:58,200 Speaker 1: wrote that quote. They were beginning to feel conscious of 333 00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:02,160 Speaker 1: their powers. They were in each other's companionship. Their health 334 00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:05,800 Speaker 1: was good, their spirits were good. There was awten joyousness 335 00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:10,080 Speaker 1: and mirth. The perfection of unrestrained talk and intelligence brightened 336 00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:13,120 Speaker 1: the close of the days which were passing all too swiftly. 337 00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:16,159 Speaker 1: So we can kind of get a picture two of 338 00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:18,919 Speaker 1: the Brontes during this period. They would take long walks 339 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:21,720 Speaker 1: over the moors, and in the evening, the four girls, 340 00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:24,960 Speaker 1: or if Ellen was visiting, would stroll around the sitting 341 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:27,520 Speaker 1: room arm in arm. There were a lot of pets 342 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:30,160 Speaker 1: in the house. Later on they had geese named Victoria 343 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:33,399 Speaker 1: and Adelaide, which I just love. Um brand Will also 344 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:35,800 Speaker 1: still seemed like the great hope of the family, and 345 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:38,959 Speaker 1: that's something that's always interesting when you learn about the Brontes. 346 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:42,800 Speaker 1: These three very famous sisters yet the family expected the 347 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:45,440 Speaker 1: Sun to be the great one. But at this point, 348 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:48,680 Speaker 1: you know, it seemed likely. He was charming, He was smart, 349 00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:50,520 Speaker 1: he was good at everything he did. He had a 350 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:53,760 Speaker 1: well respected art teacher at this point, and while his 351 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:58,600 Speaker 1: most famous work of his sisters is unfortunately pretty crude, 352 00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:02,000 Speaker 1: not the best representation and that you'd want as your legacy, 353 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:05,760 Speaker 1: he was considered an accomplished draftsman, so maybe he was 354 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:08,679 Speaker 1: a little better at drawing than at oil painting. So 355 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:12,400 Speaker 1: Charlotte turned down a few governessing jobs to stay at home, 356 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:14,919 Speaker 1: but in eighteen thirty five she eventually got an offer 357 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:17,320 Speaker 1: that she couldn't refuse. It was a teaching position at 358 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:21,800 Speaker 1: roe Head with free education offered for one sister. But 359 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:24,399 Speaker 1: going back to roe Head turned out to be a 360 00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:28,000 Speaker 1: really serious mistake. Emily could barely make it three months 361 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:30,640 Speaker 1: before she had to go home. She couldn't stand being 362 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:34,439 Speaker 1: away from home. The more's her imaginary life, so fifteen 363 00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:38,160 Speaker 1: year old and came up instead. Charlotte was also seriously 364 00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:41,200 Speaker 1: depressed and was going through kind of a religious crisis. 365 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:45,399 Speaker 1: In August eighteen thirty six, she wrote, quote, the thought 366 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:48,320 Speaker 1: came over me, am I to spend all the best 367 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:52,159 Speaker 1: part of my life in this wretched bondage forcibly suppressing 368 00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:56,040 Speaker 1: my rage at the idleness, the apathy, and the hyperbolical 369 00:21:56,200 --> 00:22:00,639 Speaker 1: and most asinine stupidity of those fat headed oaths on compulsion, 370 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:05,000 Speaker 1: assuming an air of kindness, patience and assiduity, and to 371 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:07,639 Speaker 1: make matters worse, brand Well partly the reason why the 372 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:12,760 Speaker 1: girls were working in the first place was failing miserably. Yeah, 373 00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:16,800 Speaker 1: they had of course taken jobs to help their father out, 374 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:19,119 Speaker 1: you know, help him support brand Well. And in the 375 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:22,600 Speaker 1: fall of eighty five, Brandwell had gone to London to 376 00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:25,359 Speaker 1: apply to the Royal Academy of the Arts. You know, 377 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:27,400 Speaker 1: this was going to be his big start. He either 378 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:31,280 Speaker 1: never made it to London and was robbed on the way, 379 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:33,880 Speaker 1: or he got to London that didn't end up applying 380 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:36,880 Speaker 1: to school, or he applied but was turned down. It's 381 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:41,119 Speaker 1: unclear of what exactly happened, but Brandwell later tried to 382 00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:43,679 Speaker 1: still make his living as an artist, specifically as a 383 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:46,160 Speaker 1: portrait painter, but he couldn't really compete with a better 384 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:50,240 Speaker 1: artists and the nude gara types, and he became addicted 385 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:54,080 Speaker 1: to opium eventually, which was on top of a developing 386 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:57,520 Speaker 1: drinking problem, and it wasn't long before he had to 387 00:22:57,560 --> 00:23:00,720 Speaker 1: start making his living as a tutor, which sounds like 388 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:02,399 Speaker 1: a good job for a lot of people, but it 389 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:04,960 Speaker 1: was not something that Brandwell was suited for at all. 390 00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:08,199 Speaker 1: When he was eventually fired from his first position, his 391 00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:12,680 Speaker 1: employers complained that their sons had basically done nothing more 392 00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:15,480 Speaker 1: than make sketches and think up stories to go with 393 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:17,479 Speaker 1: their tutor strongs, which I don't know, it sounds kind 394 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:20,520 Speaker 1: of fun for them, but telling their parents weren't too 395 00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:23,200 Speaker 1: happy they were spending money on that, and there was 396 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:25,800 Speaker 1: a rumor too, right, there was also a rumor that 397 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:29,439 Speaker 1: Brandwell might have had an illegitimate child who died with 398 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:33,040 Speaker 1: a servant um. So, you know, just kind of sketchy 399 00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:37,000 Speaker 1: things starting to pick up around his name, and that charm, 400 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:40,880 Speaker 1: that intense energy he had was starting to seem more manic, 401 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:44,280 Speaker 1: a little more disturbing. After two years at school, Anne 402 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:47,399 Speaker 1: got sick and had to go home. Charlotte, who was 403 00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:51,240 Speaker 1: depressed to the point of illness, also followed in eighty eight, 404 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:54,040 Speaker 1: and over the next few years, the Bronte girls all 405 00:23:54,119 --> 00:23:58,240 Speaker 1: took teaching jobs, even painfully shy Emily, who distinguished herself 406 00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:01,400 Speaker 1: at law Hill by telling her stwodents that she preferred 407 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:05,040 Speaker 1: the school dog to them. That wouldn't win you many 408 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:09,639 Speaker 1: most popular teacher points at all, and bad experience with 409 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:13,200 Speaker 1: the Ingham family influenced her later novel Agnes Gray, while 410 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:17,440 Speaker 1: Charlotte's experience with the Sedgewick family provided inspiration for Jane Eyre, 411 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:20,239 Speaker 1: and one of Charlotte's charges even threw a Bible at 412 00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:22,679 Speaker 1: her head and was very likely the model for John Reid, 413 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:28,360 Speaker 1: Giant Eyre's cruel cousin. Yeah. So Charlotte wasn't enjoying governess thing, 414 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:31,040 Speaker 1: to say the least, but she also wasn't willing to 415 00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:34,159 Speaker 1: trade it in for a hasty marriage. She turned on 416 00:24:34,359 --> 00:24:37,200 Speaker 1: two proposals in just six months, the first of which 417 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:40,640 Speaker 1: came from Ellen's brother, who was a Calvinist preacher who 418 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:43,480 Speaker 1: really just needed a wife for his big move to Sussex. 419 00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:46,280 Speaker 1: You know it was proper that he was married. Reminds 420 00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:48,639 Speaker 1: you a little bit of Sint Jhon Rivers. I think. 421 00:24:49,119 --> 00:24:52,359 Speaker 1: The second proposal came from a clergyman who was just 422 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:55,439 Speaker 1: out of Dublin University. They met in a large group. 423 00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:59,560 Speaker 1: Charlotte mistook his name as Price instead of Bryce, and 424 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:01,760 Speaker 1: really the next thing, you know, she was getting a 425 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:05,760 Speaker 1: letter of proposal from him, and that wasn't her style. 426 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:08,840 Speaker 1: So it seems like all the brilliant Brontes were just 427 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:11,199 Speaker 1: stuck in a rut, you know, that they were going 428 00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:13,119 Speaker 1: to have to the girls were gonna have to just 429 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:16,840 Speaker 1: tutor forever or be governess is rather um something that 430 00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:19,639 Speaker 1: they did not care for. Brandwell was now working as 431 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:23,480 Speaker 1: a railway booking clerk and not taking that work very seriously. 432 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:26,919 Speaker 1: He was doodling in the ledgers, and so out of 433 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:30,560 Speaker 1: all this kind of um, I don't know, stall dead 434 00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:34,880 Speaker 1: end sort of life, it seems a new idea emerged. 435 00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:38,840 Speaker 1: Ms Brandwell proposed offering up some of her savings. She 436 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:42,200 Speaker 1: had been squirreling away money over the year from her 437 00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:45,680 Speaker 1: father's inheritance to her um, even though she was paying 438 00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:49,040 Speaker 1: Mr Bronte rent the whole time she insisted on it. Um. 439 00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:51,160 Speaker 1: She had managed to save a bit, though, and so 440 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:54,040 Speaker 1: she offered a pretty good sum for the three girls 441 00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:56,159 Speaker 1: to open their own school, you know, which would be 442 00:25:56,200 --> 00:25:58,320 Speaker 1: a lot different than being a governess, where you're not 443 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:02,200 Speaker 1: really a servant, but you're not really a member of 444 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:05,679 Speaker 1: the family either. So Consequently, you're just completely isolated. If 445 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:07,280 Speaker 1: you had your own school, you'd be able to do 446 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:11,400 Speaker 1: your own things. So Charlotte really liked this idea. Emily 447 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:13,840 Speaker 1: and Anne were into it too, but Charlotte cooked up 448 00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:18,160 Speaker 1: an additional perk. She thought that for their school to succeed, 449 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:21,239 Speaker 1: the Bronte girls would really need to distinguish themselves in 450 00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:23,720 Speaker 1: some way, have something that made them different. So she 451 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:26,840 Speaker 1: proposed that she and Emily would go off to Brussels 452 00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:29,800 Speaker 1: for a few months. Mary Taylor was studying there and 453 00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:32,240 Speaker 1: so she had a connection, and they had hone their 454 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:36,040 Speaker 1: French and their Italian. Maybe they'd pick up some German um, 455 00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:39,640 Speaker 1: you know, pick up these accomplishments that would make their 456 00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:42,440 Speaker 1: school one that people in the area would actually want 457 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:46,720 Speaker 1: to attend. And Aunt Brandwell and Mr Bronte were game, 458 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:49,360 Speaker 1: you know, a little skeptical, but they were. They were 459 00:26:49,359 --> 00:26:51,919 Speaker 1: fine with it. Sounded like an okay idea. So the 460 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:55,040 Speaker 1: Bronte started looking for a school, and with their connections 461 00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:57,040 Speaker 1: and Brussels, you know, they had somebody on the on 462 00:26:57,080 --> 00:26:58,680 Speaker 1: the other side of the channel who could do the 463 00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:01,560 Speaker 1: legwork for them, and they utimately found a school that 464 00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:05,400 Speaker 1: was high quality but pretty inexpensive, you know, within their budget, 465 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:10,080 Speaker 1: and in January ET two they settled on the Palsiona 466 00:27:10,359 --> 00:27:13,120 Speaker 1: a j So that's where we're going to leave off 467 00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:15,439 Speaker 1: for this episode. I can say at this point, you know, 468 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:18,560 Speaker 1: the Brontes are all grown up. We have exited the 469 00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:22,000 Speaker 1: growing up Bronte phase. And next time we're going to 470 00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:25,719 Speaker 1: be talking about their time in Belgium, their education, and 471 00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:28,640 Speaker 1: then the three breakout novels of course that are published 472 00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:31,440 Speaker 1: in just one year, and then as we know, all 473 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:35,879 Speaker 1: of the family tragedy that starts um piling up towards 474 00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:39,080 Speaker 1: the to the end of the Bronte saga. Plus we're 475 00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:41,879 Speaker 1: gonna talk a little bit about the reputation of the Brontes, 476 00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:44,760 Speaker 1: which is something that I'm very interested in discussing in 477 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:49,560 Speaker 1: more detail. Yeah, it's interesting how that reputation evolves and 478 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:53,879 Speaker 1: um the part that some of the Brontes themselves playing that. 479 00:27:58,320 --> 00:28:01,760 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us for this Saturday classic. 480 00:28:02,119 --> 00:28:04,240 Speaker 1: Since this is out of the archive, if you heard 481 00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:06,600 Speaker 1: an email address or a Facebook U r L or 482 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:09,520 Speaker 1: something similar during the course of the show, that may 483 00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:12,800 Speaker 1: be obsolete. 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