The Life Of Charlotte Brontë (2002) - Plot & Excerpts
The Life of Charlotte Bronte, by Elizabeth Gaskell. First published in 1857 in two volumes. The version I read, bought gently used, is the 2005 Barnes & Noble Classics edition.I read this book for two reasons: one, I am in the middle of a Bronte project for Owl and Zebra Press, and two, it is on the Best Books list, both in general and in biography. It is considered either the best or one of the best biographies ever written.So let’s start there. Why is this one of the best biographies ever written? There are several reasons that present themselves. Gaskell started with an interesting life, a life that is still interesting 120 years later. It’s the reason I couldn’t wait to read the book: a small, pastor’s family of mostly girls, in the middle of nowhere but with very high levels of genius, dying off one by one until only the father had made it to age 40. Meanwhile, the three girls who made it to adulthood whipped off novels before their untimely deaths–novels that would be acknowledged as some of the best ever written. Intriguing. Also, it never hurt Gaskell that not only Bronte was famous at the time of her death, but that Gaskell was also famous. (At time time, Gaskell was even more famous.) Now, however, critics like to point more to the sensitivity of Gaskell’s biography, which I think refers to its humanity. Gaskell handles Bronte’s life with kid gloves, yet–for the time, at least–does not shy away from all the facts. (We’ll talk more about this later.) Also, it would take a great writer to write such a great biography, right? I would argue that much of the charm of the book comes from Bronte herself. Gaskell composed most of the book by lifting Bronte’s own letters, letting Bronte speak for herself and effectively shrouding the whole book in Bronte’s literary charms and talents. I would say that the style comes off as more Bronte’s than Gaskell’s. In fact, when we are pulled for long from the Bronte letters, we are lifted from the flow and a little disappointed at the disintegration of the literary spell.It probably didn’t hurt, either, that Gaskell was threatened with a high profile libel suit as soon as the book hit the shelves. In the book, Gaskell obliquely (read: Victorian style) accuses a Lady of England of an affair (of unknown nature) with the Bronte son. And, ultimately, unwitting murder. The Lady had a fit and managed to have all copies pulled from sale and the book re-issued with omissions. Thankfully, our current copies are the original.As for the rest of the history, it is this: Charlotte Bronte was born the third-eldest daughter in a family of six. Her father was a pastor and moved his young family to the far-North moors of England, to a small, isolated village, where her mother quickly died. Her aunt came to raise the children (but would die before they became writers), and Mr. Bronte realized his children’s genius–especially his son’s–and sought an education for them. Through a series of boarding schools and then stints as governesses and teachers, two sisters perished and three emerged into adulthood intensely shy and religious and weak in body. As a way to escape governessing, Bronte published a book of the three sisters’ poetry and they took on male nom de plumes and wrote their first novels. In a relatively short span of time, the sister’s became famous, the Bronte son drank himself to death (after a public exposure of his affair/obsession with his employer’s wife), and the two remaining sisters died. After Charlotte’s brief marriage and untimely death, the novelist Elizabeth Gaskell–a newer friend of Bronte’s–rushed to gather letters and interview, writing The Life of Charlotte Bronte rather quickly. These are the bones of the story, the story that would lead to Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, and five other novels. As for anything more, you can read the book and see.As for the book as a piece of literature, it is okay. In fact, it’s so okay that you rarely remember that you are reading; you’re just flawlessly lifted from you life and the language is smooth and unobtrusive. As I mentioned above, the bulk of the text comes from letters and most of those letters written by Charlotte Bronte, therefore the tone is largely Bronte’s conversational tone. It’s quite pleasant, and while Gaskell is sort of telling me one thing about Bronte, I am reading something else in the character of her letters. Nearing the end, the book drags on, and I lost interest when Gaskell included all those letters from Bronte discussing the literature and literary news of their times. It was a mistake to veer from Bronte’s more personal revelations, but I am guessing that Gaskell had scant else to go on during this period. It makes me wonder if the tale should have been told in a less chronological way, at least as far as the letters go.Speaking of dragging on, I know that she claims having left out many letters, but it felt like Gaskell included too much. In other words, the book easily could have been streamlined and still said the same thing. Time after time, we see letters revealing to us the same things about Bronte, over and over. Gaskell herself is guilty of repeating things, driving home her points with the ring of a hammer on a stake.On the other hand, she left important things out, thanks to her Victorian sensibilities. Those Victorians were strange people. What could and couldn’t be said created a web of deception and revelation that is difficult to comprehend at this distance. For example, Gaskell can not say, “Bronte was pregnant when she died.” She can also not mention what happened with the baby or how far along Bronte was. Actually, she probably didn’t know, because Bronte herself never could have said. The history of the Brontes includes many incidences where we are required to read between the lines or, in the worst cases, wonder longingly at a pale space between facts.But beyond her very Victorian omissions, one can’t help feel that Gaskell had but one lens through which she saw Charlotte, and it is applied completely and thickly. I have no doubt that Bronte struggled with homesickness, sickliness, and possible depression, but Gaskell lays it on so thick that we don’t get the part of Bronte that shines through her letters: the wit, sarcasm, humor, and even happiness. Personally, it really seems that Bronte herself perpetuated the impression others would have of her physical weakness, her helplessness, her depression (through classic negativity)… yet she was clearly also strong, capable, smart, and at times deeply satisfied. Just like all of us, Bronte and Gaskell saw herself/her one way, while the reality was much more complex and subtle. And, as is always the case, Bronte becomes to us a sort of collage of a dozen memorable and iconic moments: the Bronte children receiving their box of wooden soldiers; little Charlotte lost in absorption of the political news; Emily on the moors with her faithful dog; Anne toiling as a governess with her head bent is submission; the three girls walking the parlour in the dark of night, discussing their writing; the near-empty house in the middle of the graveyard.At any rate, I loved reading this biography for its revelation of the writing life. I would say “writing life in Victorian times,” but I find that not much is different between Bronte’s being a writer and my being a writer. For more on reading The Life as a writer, see my blog HERE.So, yeah, I recommend it, but it can get long and dry at times. And I strongly suggest that you take anything Gaskell says with a grain of salt: she was, after all, a famous woman rushing to write the definitive biography on another famous person, one whom she had known only for a limited time. I’m not saying Gaskell’s motives or knowledge were bad, just that they were–like all of ours–mixed and not crystal clear.I’m sure there are more modern biographies that are more entertaining, but this one is surely worth reading, especially if you enjoy biographies, love the Brontes, or are writing biographies of your own._______________There must have been biographical snippets on TV here and there, about Charlotte Bronte, but I don’t know how to find them. The BBC announced their intention of making a drama about the lives of the Brontes, last May. They have not said much more than who will write, direct, and generally where the filming will take place. Also, casting was happening way back in May. Waiting for more information. There’s also a highly fictionalized film, Devotion, from 1946._______________“My heart is a very hot-bed for sinful thoughts, and when I decide on an action I scarcely remember to look to my Redeemer for direction. I know not how to pray; I cannot bend my life to the grand end of doing good; I go on constantly seeking my own pleasure” (p127).“I recollected the fable of the willow and the oak; I bent quietly, and now, I trust, the storm is blowing over me” (p138).“I think, if you can respect a person before marriage, moderate love at least will come after; and as to intense passion, I am convinced that that is no desirable feeling” (p151).“This made it possible for her to go through long and deep histories of feeling and imagination, for which others, odd as it sounds, have rarely time” (p157).“I am a fool. Heaven knows I cannot help it!” (p159).“…but, God knows, I have enough to do to keep a good heart in the matter” (p159).“I find it is not in my nature to get along in this weary world without sympathy and attachment in some quarter; and seldom indeed do we find it” (p160).“As to getting into debt, that is a thing we could none of us reconcile our minds to for a moment” (p162).“…but when you have thrown the reins on the neck of your imagination, do not pull her up to reason” (p183).“All this, looked upon as a well-invented fiction in Shirley, was written down by Charlotte with streaming eyes; it was the literal true account of what Emily had done” (p211).“Do not condemn yourself to live only be halves” (p220).“You thought I refused you coldly, did you? It was a queer sort of coldness, when I would have given my ears to say Yes, and I was obliged to say No” (221).“I must remember perfection is not the lot of humanity; and as long as we can regard those we love, and to whom we are closely allied, with profound and never-shaken esteem, it is a small thing that they should vex us occasionally by what appear to us unreasonable and headstrong notions” (p231).“[Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell] stole into life; some weeks passed over, without the mighty murmuring public discovering that three more voices were uttering their speech” (p236).“…nor will you be praised and admired for remaining at home to comfort your mother; yet, probably, your own conscience will approve, and if it does, stay with her” (p237).“If you see any honey, gather it” (p250).“…yet she must not shrink from the extra responsibility implied by the very fact of her possessing such talents” (p273).“‘The pomp and circumstance of war’ have quite lost in my eyes their fictitious glitter” (p279).“I have now outlived youth; and, though I dare not say that I have outlived all its illusions…” (p279).“When people belong to a clique, they must, I suppose, in some measure, write, talk, think, and live for that clique; a harassing and narrowing necessity” (p278).“Till the last hour comes, we never know how much we can forgive, pity, regret” (p290).“Fortitude is good; but fortitude itself must be shaken under us to teach us how weak we are” (p301).“…before ‘the desk was closed, and the pen laid aside forever'” (p304).“But, Lord, whatever be my fate, / Oh let me serve Thee now!” (p305).“I do not now how life will pass, but I certainly do feel confidence in Him who has upheld me hitherto” (p313).“Solitude, Remembrance, and Longing are to be almost my sole companions all the day through–that at night I shall go to bed with them” (p313).“But crushed I am not, yet; nor robbed of elasticity, nor of hope, nor quite of endeavor” (p313).“The strength, if strength we have, is certainly never in our own selves; it is given us” (p319).“The two human beings who understood me, and whom I understood, are gone” (p320).“…it is for me a part of my religion to defend this gift, and to profit by its possessions” (p320).“That matters little. My own conscience I satisfy first” (p326).“…it is so bad for the mind to be quite alone, and to have none with whom to talk over little crosses and disappointments” (p336).“Thackeray still proves himself greater when he is weary than other writers are when they are fresh” (p340).“Happiness quite unshared can scarcely be called happiness; it has no taste” (p341).“…if I knew all that was coming, it would be comparatively flat. I would much rather not know” (p341).“…she only grieves that a mind of which this is the emanation, should be kept crushed by the leaded hand of poverty” (p342).“Some people’s natures are veritable enigmas: I quite expected to have had one good scene at least with him; but as yet nothing of the sort has occurred” (p342).“…but he who shuns suffering will never win victory” (p343).“Youth has its romance, and maturity its wisdom, as morning and spring have their freshness, noon and summer their power, night and winter their repose. Each attribute is goof in its own season” (p346),“…that is to say, the excuses were often worse than the crime itself” (p347).“…but I think grief is a two-edged sword, it cuts both ways; the memory of one loss is the anticipation of another” (p352).“…’enough,’ the proverb says, ‘is as good as a feast'” (p358).“Sunday–yesterday–was a day to be marked with a white stone” (p381).“Who has the words at the right moment?” (p382).“…we must love our friends for their sakes rather than for our own” (p387).“…it is better to be worn our with work in a thronged community, than to perish f inaction in a stagnant solitude” (p388).“…it is good to be attracted outside of ourselves–to be forced to take a near view of the sufferings, the privations, the efforts, the difficulties of others” (p393).“If, on the other hand, we be contending with the special grief,–the intimate trial,–the peculiar bitterness with which God has seen fit to mingle our own cup of existence,–it is very good to know that our overcast lot is not singular …. there are countless afflictions in the world, each perhaps rivaling–some surpassing–the private pain …. a thorn in the flesh for each; some burden, some conflict for all” (p393).“‘…marriage might be defined as the state of two-fold selfishness'” (p407).“Submission, courage, exertion, when practicable,–these seem to be the weapons with which we must fight life’s long battle” (p410).“…my palette affords no brighter tints; were I to attempt to deepen the reds, or burnish the yellows, I should by botch” (p416).“I might explain away a few other points, but it would be too much like drawing a picture and then writing underneath the name of the object intended to be represented” (p416).“The longer I live, the more plainly I see that gentle must be the strain on fragile human nature; it will not bear much” (p424).***REVIEW WRITTEN FOR THE DEVON TREVARROW FLAHERTY BLOG***
After I read that wretched book by Gelsely Kirkland, I was refreshed and encouraged to read a biography of Charlotte Bronte. I recently read "Cranford", and Elizabeth Gaskell became of interest to me. In searching other books that she had written, I found that she had known and been a friend of Charlotte Bronte's, and was asked by Charlotte's father to write a biography of her after her death. Hence the beginning of reading "The Life of Charlotte Bronte".It is a very worthwhile book, based largely on the lovely letters written by Charlotte herself over the course of her lifetime to friends, publishers, and acquaintances. Oh what enjoyment to read letters that expressed such real and genuine depth of understanding about literature, art, character, and the place of Christians in a fallen world! (I am thinking here of the comparison of Charlotte's letters to so many blogs that are tepid, shallow, and so flabby in their language and intellectual structure! Whipped out in a "fast food" world of seconds and minutes contrasted with a "slow food" world where her letters took hours or days to write and evidenced long and deep thoughts, carefully considered and mulled over before being put on paper.)I had always heard of the grim existence and life of the Bronte sisters. Mrs. Gaskell puts real faces to each of the Bronte children, and shows how the difficulties in their lives actually was used probably to mold them into the creative people they became. Six children were born into the home of Patrick Bronte, an Anglican priest and Maria, his wife. Tragically, the father outlived his wife and all six children. The first two daughters, Maria and Elizabeth, died within a month of each other when they were 12 and 11 years old respectively. They had contracted TB at the girls school they had attended for clergymen's daughters. Charlotte became the older sister caring for her younger sisters, her aging father and for her chronically ill brother. Branwell, the only son, died when he was 30, a broken and tragic young man. Seduced by the older wife of his employer, he suffered the loss of his job because of her, then was rejected by her and became an alcoholic and opium addict. Less then 3 months after Branwell died, younger sister Emily died from TB and grief at the age of 29. Less than a year later, youngest sister Anne also died, probably of TB, at the age of 27. Charlotte was left alone to take care of her aging father in his parish in Yorkshire. While the environs in Haworth, Yorkshire were indeed severe and difficult, and the family situation filled with great trial and sorrow... I would not describe any of the Bronte's as grim. Charlotte was a deeply devoted Christian, who understood that much of our lot in life on earth involves suffering. Her father being an Anglican priest, she knew from her teaching in the church and from the Bible the truth of the fallen world we live in, and that truth enabled her to live with courage in very difficult circumstances. While she struggled with discouragement, poor health, and grief for long periods of time, she never despaired or projected any sentiment that would have reflected poorly on Christ who is her Lord. She loved her family, loved her father, and with her sisters banded together to write poetry and books suitable for publications. The perseverance of the three daughters, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne, to get their work published shows amazing tenacity and grit. After reading "Jane Eyre", Charlotte's most famous book, I was struck by the vast education Charlotte had from the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, from the book of nature, and from books she read to educate herself. An interesting article to read alongside "Jane Eyre" is at http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/b... . The article is "Specific dates: the link between Jane Eyre, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Bible" and provides a fascinating link between the Bible Charlotte was so familiar with... the Book of Common Prayer used daily in their readings and prayers, and dates in the book of Jane Eyre. Fascinating reading! She married when she was 39, and died a mere 9 months after her marriage, most likely of severe dehydration from terrible nausea and weakness from her pregnancy. She and the baby died and are buried in Haworth.
What do You think about The Life Of Charlotte Brontë (2002)?
Do not read this book if you expect a biography of the sort published in the 20th and 21st century. It is a different format and not at all satisfying if one expects the above described.I enjoyed the book but I definitely have a couple "bones to pick." One, Gaskell's chronology is quite hazy and hard to decipher. Two, one of the reasons for the first point is Gadkell's frequent insertion of Charlotte's correspondence. While fascinating to read these letters, it helps Gaskell avoid making any sort of opinion of and/or judgment call on any of her friend's choices. Haskell is deferential in the extreme. This book makes it easy to see why all of the books of the Brontë sisters are so utterly depressing. (Any biography would do the trick, I think.)This book also makes me want to read an actual biography written by an unconnected third party with a bit more time than two years separating the author from the death of the subject.
—Jeni Enjaian
One senses that Charlotte Bronte would have been appalled by this account. Partly because she would have shrunk instinctively from any kind of disclosure about her life; but more especially because it is palpably dishonest, a hagiography of St Charlotte. She was not that kind of woman.It is a curious feeling to read about the childhood and development of the three Bronte sisters, complete with their needlework each evening, and candles out at nine: and to realise with a jolt that it is not intended as some work of stylised fiction, but an account of real lives in the early 1800s. It has to be said that Mrs Gaskell clearly blurs the distinction between the two – by the end of the book one is positively choking on the syrup in which she engulfs the reader. But there are some interesting snippets of real life in Victorian Haworth all the same.Similarly, it made me stop and think, on reading Charlotte’s letters: that the innocent and (by today’s standards) naïve emotions and aspirations which she describes were not simply another nineteenth century novelist’s fanciful characters: they were the real thing. No surprise in some ways. But if ever one has harboured thoughts that Bronte’s or Jane Austen’s characters are a bit limp and implausible, then this shows that they weren’t entirely. It really was like that in those days. All the same, Mrs Gaskell’s editing must take some blame (or credit, depending on your point of view). Amidst all the long detail of CB’s repeated bouts of poor health and fretting over dead pets and other “appropriate” ladies’ pursuits in the nineteenth century: it’s strange that her relations with men barely get a mention. The narrative claims she hardly had any – but does – just about – acknowledge that she had no less than four proposals of marriage. Not bad for a shrinking violet.Measured against more recent biographies it does not stand up all that well in terms of its structure (unbalanced by a long, impressionistic opening description of life in Yorkshire). Mrs G’s technique is relatively unsophisticated – selected (and sanitised) extract after extract of the letters, frequently with little additional insight added by the author herself (beyond an insistence that CB was saintly).I’ve been begrudging. But all the same Mrs Gaskell’s prose flows invitingly, and there is no doubt the book has great historical interest, precisely because it is written by one significant nineteenth century name, with an even more significant one as her subject.
—Peter Ellwood
I love Charlotte Bronte, she's one of my favorite authors of classics, i think she's a fascinating person,her writing were emotional and honest reflecting life and people at that time focusing on moral values and responsibility.i read about her life before but i enjoyed reading this book toothis book is written by her friend Elizabeth Gaskell who used charlotte's letters to her friends to write this biography,the letters showed some aspects of Charlotte's feelings and personality Charlotte Bronte lived a hard and sad life, lost her mother and her older two sisters while she was a little girl; and she became like a mother to her younger sisters, after a hard time at school she worked as a governess for almost two years,the three sisters -Charlotte,Emily,Ann- were talented in writing, they first published their work under false names for men,and after the success of their novels they revealed their true identitiesshe was heartbroken and emotionally disturbed after the death of her brother and sisters Emily and Ann within eight months, but continued writing and published another two novels, she married 1854 and died while she was pregnant 1855the first novel she wrote was published after her death
—Sawsan
