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Charlotte Bronte

CHARLOTTE BRONTE, sister of Emily and Anne Bronte, was born April 21, 1816, and died March 31, 1855.

Their father was an Irishman of poor health and eccentric ways. Their mother died when the children were young, and they were left to bring themselves up in a bleak and solitary house, close to the churchyard, their only solace an intense enjoyment of the world of make-believe. Deaths in the family, sorrow and tribulations of all kinds, the struggle to make a way in the world by teaching and serving as governess, the necessity of acting as mother to the family, all were a part of the intense life of Charlotte. In 1846 the three sisters issued a small volume of poems under the names of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. The book was hardly noticed at the time. The three sisters each began a novel. Emily's "Wuthering Heights" and Anne's "Agnes Grey" found publishers' but "The Professor" of Charlotte remained unaccepted until she had made her name famous with other work. She threw herself into the composition of "Jane Eyre," which was published in 1847. It took the reading public by storm; the literary sensation of the day was "Who is Currer Bell?" The answer did not come till "Shirley" had been published in 1849, when the author became a part of the great world of letters. "Villette," her last book, came in 1853. The next year she was married to the Rev. Mr. Nicholls; she died the year after, when success and happiness should have crowned her life.

Beginning with the life by Charlotte's friend, Mrs. Gaskell, the three sisters have been the subject of innumerable books and articles.