The Bronte Sisters

The Bronte Sisters

LIFE

Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte were daughters of the Reverend Patrick Bronte, an Irishman who lived in Haworth, a village on the Yorkshire. He was a very intelligent man, but also an eccentric, and he used to spend much of his time studying. So his children were often left to themselves.

Emily Bronte

She spent all her life at Haworth and died of consumption in 1848.

Emily had a very closed character and didn't have many social contacts.

She wrote only one novel, which is her masterpiece: Wuthering Heights, published in 1847. It is more original than the ones written by her sisters, because there are not any autobiographical elements.

critical essay

The work didn't obtain an immediat succes, because it was considerated too violent and immoral, with any moral purpose.

the characters

Heathcliff

He is the central hero. He seems to have a devil nature. He is a mysterious figure, a solitary and bad-tempered man.

Catherine

Her personality is characterised by contrasting elements.

the plot

The structure of the plot is very different from the standars of the 19^th century's novels:

the narration doesn't follow a chronological order, infact the book opens with the end of the story. Emily used very often memories and flashbacks.

the plot involves two generations:

the first is centred around Heathcliff and Catherine, which is the most romantic and imaginative part;

the second one, centred around Cathy and Hareton, who live a more natural and mature love.

use of two narrators: Nelly (who represents a world which has disappeared), and Mr Lockwood (a city man who represents the world which doesn't belong to the novel and the changes happened in the second generation).

the language

It is very strong, sometime violent, and full of images that appeal to the reader's imagination.

the theme

It is the power of human emotion and the destructive force of love and revenge. Love between the two heros is a creative and a destructive impulse at the same time.

romantic aspects

They are the love theme, the nature, the dark and daemonic hero, defined as Byronic hero (Emily probably was ispired by her brother Branwell).

realist aspects

They are in the description of the setting, in the conflict between two social classes, the complexity of the characters.

gothicism

It is represented by dreams, belief in ghost, superstitions, supernatural presences.