Charlotte Brontë is one of the greatest and most well-known Victorian writers. Despite living in relative isolation in Haworth, a small village in Yorkshire, Charlotte and her two sisters Emily and Anne became nationally and internationally recognised as novelists. Though Jane Eyre is the most famous out of Charlotte’s works, she also wrote three other novels, all of which reflect different parts of her personal life and her growth as a writer.
Charlotte Brontë wrote her first novel, The Professor, in 1846, though it wasn’t published until after her death in 1857. It is narrated by William Crimsworth, who tells the story of his life to an old friend. After a disastrous period working for his tyrannical older brother, Crimsworth lands a job in Brussels as an English teacher at an all-boys’ school. He falls in love with Frances Henri, a Swiss teacher at the next-door girls’ school who he is tasked with teaching English to. However, the jealous headmistress of the girls’ school soon threatens their love. Like Crimsworth, Brontë moved from England to teach in a Brussels school, and like Frances, she formed a strong connection with another teacher there called Constantin Héger. The instructive yet playful dynamic between Crimsworth and Frances can be seen in the few letters between Brontë and Héger that survive. Even though The Professor was not published in Brontë’s lifetime, its setting and character dynamics occur in her later novels, showing that she hadn’t fully given up on this story.
The first novel that Brontë published – and which quickly shot her into stardom – was Jane Eyre. Orphan Jane is cast out from her aunt’s house after being made a scapegoat by her cousins, before studying at Lowood school, a charity establishment which severely mistreats its pupils. She then becomes a governess at Thornfield Hall, a large country house owned by the enigmatic Mr Rochester. Jane and Rochester quickly form a fiery connection, which despite their differences in social station soon turns into a deeply passionate romance. However, secrets and supernatural incidents at Thornfield Hall threaten to ruin everything. With its teasing and battles for control, the famous relationship between Jane and Rochester can be seen as an amplified version of the relationship between Frances and Crimsworth, showing the influence of The Professor on Brontë’s later novels. Elements of Brontë’s real life can be seen in Jane Eyre. Her older sisters Maria and Elizabeth were also malnourished and mistreated in the charity school they attended, resulting in their early deaths. Like Jane, Brontë worked as a governess, and through the novel draws attention to the isolation they faced in society, as they belonged neither to the servant classes nor to the family they worked for. Brontë includes strong gothic themes in Jane Eyre, which I believe is what made the book so popular. The blend of romance with the isolated setting and supernatural-seeming occurrences has made Jane Eyre a powerful, timeless novel.
Following the success of Jane Eyre, Brontë published Shirley in 1849. The novel is set in Yorkshire during the Luddite uprisings in 1811 and 1812, an issue which was prominent in Brontë’s home county due to the many manufacturing towns there. Main characters Caroline Helstone and Shirley Keeldar are both caught up in the political and social issues that accompanied the Luddite uprisings. Caroline questions her love for mill owner Robert Moore due to his disparaging attitude towards his starving mill workers who are rebelling. Heiress Shirley’s stake in Moore’s mill is at odds with her charitable attitude towards its workers, putting her in a difficult position. Caroline has very little money while Shirley is the owner of a large fortune, but the two characters strike up a close friendship. Part of this friendship is due to their struggle to find genuine love; Caroline is rejected by suitors because of her lack of money while Shirely worries that men are only attracted to her for her wealth. During the year that Brontë wrote Shirley, all three of her siblings – Emily, Branwell, and Anne – passed away. Brontë told fellow writer Elizabeth Gaskell that Shirley was supposed to be a model of Emily, had she lived. This accounts for why Shirley is such a brilliant character – she exudes confidence, is charitable towards the poor, loves animals, and helps Caroline come out of her shell. In her grief for her sister, Brontë created one of her most memorable and likeable characters.
Villette was the last novel that Brontë wrote and was published in 1853. Like The Professor, Villette follows an English teacher trying to make a life for themself in Brussels, but this time the teacher is female. Unlike Crimsworth, main character Lucy Snowe is secretive about her past; the reader only knows that unfortunate circumstances related to Lucy’s family have left her with nothing, and earning a living as a teacher is her only chance of survival. At the school, Lucy encounters an assortment of interesting people who impact her personal and romantic life. This includes Dr John, who is charming but insensitive, and Ginevra Fanshawe, a pupil at the school who is constantly looking for romance. Then there is Monsieur Paul, a fiery and passionate teacher who Lucy finds herself continually arguing with but also developing feelings for. Despite Lucy’s interactions with these characters, she also finds herself isolated from society. This severely impacts her state of mind, which Brontë explores in detail. Like Lucy, Brontë’s separation from her family and friends in England badly affected her mental health. The character of Monsieur Paul was also thought by critics to have been based on Constantin Héger, the Brussels teacher that Brontë was in love with but could not have because he was married. Out of all of Charlotte Brontë’s novels, Villette is arguably her most personal and autobiographical, which is why, in my opinion, it is the best.
Featured image: George Richmond, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
