Charlotte Brontë

by Elizabeth Gaskell

book data

311 ratings, 3.75 average rating, 34 reviews (more data...)

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4		38%
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2		8%
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published

April 29th 2004 by Editions du Rocher (first published 1947)

details

Broché, 497 pages

isbn

2268050599 (isbn13: 9782268050591)

description

In 1855 Charlotte Brontë, pregnant and married less than a year, fell ill and died of tuberculosis—the same disease that had killed her sisters and b…more

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Jan 29, 2009

Melinda rated it:

(review of isbn 0192838059)

bookshelves: british-lit, classics

Read in February, 2009

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 ...more 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/bron... . 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.(less)

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Mar 10, 2010

Sarah rated it:

(review of isbn 0460875558)

bookshelves: bronteana

Read in March, 2010

After her first meeting with Charlotte Brontë, Elizabeth Gaskell wrote the following in a letter to a friend:

"She and I quarrelled & differed about almost every thing,-she calls me a democrat, & can not bear Tennyson- but we like each other heartily I think & I hope we shall ripen into friends."

...If that sentence doesn't fill you with love and make you excited to read this book, then there's probably no hope for you at all.

This book is a lot more than a ...more After her first meeting with Charlotte Brontë, Elizabeth Gaskell wrote the following in a letter to a friend:

"She and I quarrelled & differed about almost every thing,-she calls me a democrat, & can not bear Tennyson- but we like each other heartily I think & I hope we shall ripen into friends."

...If that sentence doesn't fill you with love and make you excited to read this book, then there's probably no hope for you at all.

This book is a lot more than a biography of Charlotte Brontë. Some of the other topics it touches on, directly or by way of object lesson: feminism/women's place in art and society, the limits and pitfalls of biography, censorship, myths about the Brontës, celebrity, the balance between being a writer and being a person, railway speculation, the history of Haworth, outdated Penzance fashions. It is a heady brew of awesomeness.

Charlotte's letters to her friends and publishers are the main draw here. They're well-chosen to convey her personality--wry, critical, kind, anxious. Props to Ellen Nussey for not destroying Charlotte's letters even under pressure from Arthur Bell Nicholls. I love, love, love thinking about these boss ladies writing letters back and forth, exchanging books and their opinions of them, and being dear friends. I love George Smith and his thoughtful book selections, too.

The introduction by Jenny Uglow in this edition is good and not too long. However, Graham Handley's "other critical apparatus," as the cover so obnoxiously describes it, is not that great. The endnotes often point out the obvious while neglecting interesting subjects. Also, unless you speak French, I'd recommend looking out for an edition that translates the French letters and exercises, at least in summary.

Especially in the early part of the book, you can see where Gaskell got some of the material she uses in her own novels, but this doesn't have the tone or style of her other prose. Still, it's pretty great. You can argue that the book has well-documented issues, but it was Victorian England after all, and by now I think its issues are part of its charm.(less)

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Apr 09, 2009

Valerie added it (review of isbn 0192838059)

Note that which edition of this you get matters substantially. This book was written while some of the people within were still alive, and there were several lawsuits and threatened lawsuits that forced Mrs Gaskell to do substantial rewrites.

The edition I have has both the original and the rewritten text--often as footnotes, but in a few cases whole chapters had to be reprinted whole, with one version moved to an appendix.

Some of the rewrites proved beneficial--for examp...more

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Jan 10, 2010

Kate rated it:

(review of isbn 0192838059)

bookshelves: classics, history

Read in January, 2010

I read this as a stand-in Gaskell while I was waiting for more of her fiction to arrive at the library. I can see why this biography is still considered one of Gaskell's important works.

First of all, Gaskell makes heavy use of letters to and from Bronte to illustrate Bronte's life and character. This is good biography practice, of course, but it also lets you see just how much more intellectual Bronte had become by the end of her life. Her letters become much more interested in id...more I read this as a stand-in Gaskell while I was waiting for more of her fiction to arrive at the library. I can see why this biography is still considered one of Gaskell's important works.

First of all, Gaskell makes heavy use of letters to and from Bronte to illustrate Bronte's life and character. This is good biography practice, of course, but it also lets you see just how much more intellectual Bronte had become by the end of her life. Her letters become much more interested in ideas, and much more thoughtful as the book draws to its conclusion. The letters and conversations Gaskell chooses to include give the sense of a character developing through life, even if they are a bit rose-colored.

The book also did much to make me overcome my distaste for the Brontes. Their whole childhoods seem to be made up of Edward Gorey illustrations come to life - a mother who died soon after bearing the 6th of her children, a distant, though accomplished, father, a creepy manse for a home with an aunt for governess, little neighborhood society, two older sisters who die young, and the rapid deaths of Charlotte's remaining brother and two sisters just as their literary productions became recognized. Gaskell clearly loved Charlotte Bronte and thought she was brilliant, but maintains a Victorian insistance that Bronte was Finally Whole when she got married, even better when she got pregnant, despite the miserable illness and death that quickly ensued.

Gaskell-as-author is very present in the book, and since that is something I enjoy in biography & history, I loved her interpolations. The OUP edition I had was made from the 3rd edition that Gaskell put together, which eliminated some of the names and scenes mentioned in earlier editions because people had objected or Gaskell had been threated with libel suits. As usual, Gaskell doesn't shy away from difficult topics - like Bronte's distress with Harriet Martineau's book to do with atheism, or the fact that Bronte didn't see how indelicate Jane Eyre could be, etc. This sounds all fussy - it isn't - it's a firm statement of Bronte's character in the face of what must have been quite a lot of criticism. Because the book is made up mostly of recounted conversations and letters, Bronte's voice shines nearly as clearly as Gaskell's.

I was surprised to like it so well. Good stuff.(less)

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Oct 20, 2009

Jill rated it:

(review of isbn 0192838059)

bookshelves: classic-literature

I found this deep and sloggy water to tread through. For someone who knew Charlotte Bronte, I was astonished at the heavy hand with which Gaskell appeared to be writing. It was as if her need to see Charlotte well treated robbed Elizabeth Gaskell of all her lightness and verve (as seen in Cranford or Wives and Daughters...). I also wondered if she was editing her friend's life as she wrote -- making it a mechanical thing. Of course, they are all questions I can never answer, but absolutely ...more

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Aug 12, 2009

Mary rated it:

(review of isbn 0192838059)

This is an interesting biography of Bronte written by one of her contemporaries, even another female author of the time (E. Gaskell of "North and South" etc.). Charlotte came across as very humble and probably listened too well to what the critics said about her work. It appears that her best book was written first, before she was opened to what others said. I also think it's funny that she didn't care for Jane Austen's work, but dealt with a lot of similar themes (womanhood, marria...more

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Jul 04, 2009

Terri rated it:

(review of isbn 0192838059)

bookshelves: librivox, listened-to

Read in November, 2009

Many of the reviews I read of this book fault it for skimming over some details of Charlotte's life. In particular, reviewers felt that the book only focused on the good and didn't bring out any of the "dark secrets" from her life. Personally, I think it's better for this.

Elizabeth Gaskell was a close friend of Charlotte Bronte and wrote the book as a tribute to her good friend. As such, she praised her friend. Wouldn't we all want our friends to remember us in a postiv...more

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May 28, 2009

Shyla rated it:

(review of isbn 1593083149)

Read in May, 2009

3.5 stars. I had high expectations with Gaskell as the biographer, but somehow she managed to put a boring spin on everything--the first third of the book was especially bad. But the information in the middle to end of the book and the frequent excerpts from Charlotte's letters made it well worth reading. I liked that she showed Bronte's flaws (the shyness and insecurity was a bit over the top) but still made Bronte fascinating and loveable. I do wish she would have gotten into some of the ju...more

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Oct 09, 2008

Deodand rated it:

(review of isbn 1582879451)

bookshelves: europe, non-fiction

Read in June, 2009

This book is one that will resonate with a very specific type of reader. It is necessary to have read her works, including the juvenilia, to understand many of the references. You have to be deeply interested in Brontë's life to tackle it. Not a few Goodreaders have been put off by the lengthy descriptions of Yorkshire life that take up the first 50 pages.

The thin information about Brontë contained in the front of many editions of her novels is quite startling when you examine t...more

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Aug 08, 2007

Ann rated it:

(review of isbn 1593083149)

Read in August, 2007

recommends it for: fans of the Brontës or Gaskell would enjoy this. Fans of 19th Cent, English literature in general.

Oh, pooh, no picture of the cover! Anyway...I'm just starting this one. I advise future readers not to skip the introduction. It would be like missing the most delicious appetizer before a sumptuous meal! I can hardly wait to really dig into this! :-)

I've been slack about recording the books I've been reading. I read The Life of Charlotte Brontë back in mid-August, so my thoughts are hardly fresh.

I do know that I absolutely adored this book, and I sank into the book as i...more

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Jul 01, 2009

Ms K rated it:

(review of isbn 1840225645)

bookshelves: 2009

Read in July, 2009

This book was very touching and quite well-written, in the style of Charlotte herself, which isn't surprising knowing now (after reading the book and so many of Charlotte's letters) how similar Charlotte and the author were in all opinions and thoughts. The book is comprised of narration by Elizabeth Gaskell and largely of letters written by Charlotte to various friends, editors, and authors. Fascinating and almost voyeuristic to read, this stunningly wide collection of Charlotte's own letters a...more

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May 21, 2009

Ashley rated it:

(review of isbn 0140434933)

Read in June, 2009

Since I only made it through the first half, I guess I'm not as interested in the life of Charlotte Bronte as I thought I was. To be fair, I had to remember that this was a Victorian biography--full of tedious descriptions of Yorkshire landscape and long excerpts from Charlotte's correspondence--and so it was destined to be boring. Although Elizabeth Gaskell was a close friend of Charlotte Bronte, and this book is no doubt often referred to in Bronte scholarship, I think I would prefer a more mo...more

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Aug 25, 2009

Zelda rated it:

(review of isbn 1593083149)

Owns a copy — Read in November, 2009

A great read but probably for real Brontë lovers only. At the time of the writing, mere months after Charlotte's death, there was a dearth of materials from which to reassemble the lives of this family. Therefore, Gaskell spends a lot of time setting the scene for the reader. Page after page is spent on descriptions of the land, the parsonage, the locals, the weather, etc. It's clearly a skill at which Gaskell excels and is welcome at first but becomes frustrating when held against the lac...more

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Oct 19, 2009

Maggie rated it:

(review of isbn 0140434933)

Read in October, 2009

The foundation of the lasting Bronte myth by a woman at odds with her own sense of authorship and femininity. As others have mentioned, the edition is key. After the first edition, numerous edits and additions were made to please a number of players (Bronte's father, husband, and Harriet Martineau etc.). The best parts are by far when Gaskell steps away long enough to include Charlotte's letters and we can hear and see her for ourselves.

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Sep 10, 2008

Anney Ryan rated it:

(review of isbn 0192838059)

The first time I picked this up, I struggled with it. Then I went to Haworth and saw the Brontes house, walked the moors, drank in their drunken brother's favorite bar, etc. THEN I could go back, manage the weighty aged diction and let the story take me away. Seriously, the real life story of the Brontes IS as equally fascinating as their own stories, if not more. Any biographer will give you the low down, but Gaskell makes their solitude, their pain, their loneliness, their eccentricity and the...more

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Jan 09, 2009

Christiana rated it:

(review of isbn 0192838059)

I read this for the first time, in the summer, in the backyard, in the hammock. I remember reading about all the gray english terrible drama and swinging lazily back and forth in the warm breeze. I really love this book. It's got whole chapters of bore bore bore, but glorious moments of intrigue and disguise and mystery and secret love!

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Feb 09, 2009

Marcella is currently reading it (review of isbn 0192838059)

bookshelves: currently-reading

I love charlotte bronte so anything I can read about her life interests me. charlotte's father asked elizabeth to write this biography after his daughter's death. however the intro alludes that many things that may have been controversial were barely mentioned. Still really enjoying

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Jun 10, 2009

Risa added it (review of isbn 0192838059)

The Life of Charlotte Bronte (Oxford World's Classics) by Elizabeth Gaskell (2002)

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