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The Life of Charlotte Brontë

Elizabeth Gaskell,

Angus Easson (Editor, Introduction, Notes)

3.78 · Rating details · 8,750 ratings · 284 reviews

Elizabeth Gaskell's The Life of Charlotte Bronte (1857) is a pioneering biography of one great Victorian woman novelist by another. Gaskell was a friend of Bronte's and, having been invited to write the official life, determined to both tell the truth and honor her friend. This edition collates all three previous editions, as well as the manuscript, offering fuller informa ...more

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Paperback, Third Edition of 1857, Oxford World's Classics, 587 pages

Published June 20th 2002 by Oxford University Press (first published 1857)

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Feb 16, 2014 Sawsan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Charlotte Bronte one of my favorite authors of classics, i think she's a fascinating person,her writings 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 too
this 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 h ...more

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Oct 05, 2013 Duane rated it really liked it

Shelves: rated-books, reviewed-books, biographies

A biography of Charlotte Bronte written by one of her contemporaries and as biographies go it's very good. If you are interested in or are a student of Charlotte Bronte this is a must read. It's probably more subjective than one would like a biography to be, but it's obvious Gaskell liked Charlotte and wanted to show her in the best possiible light. But this is a very detailed work, full of interesting information about Charlotte and the entire Bronte family. And the fact that Gaskell is a very ...more

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Apr 17, 2015 J.A. Ironside rated it it was ok

Shelves: biography, family-dysfunction

I like Elizabeth Gaskell's work. She tells engaging stories and that is exactly what she has done here. Originally requested by Charlotte's father to write a biography of Charlotte's life. Patrick Bronte together with Charlotte's widowed husband, Arthur Bell Nicholls, wisely realised that if they did not select someone to write about Charlotte's life, then someone who was not their choice would certainly do so. Unfortunately, while Gaskell seemed the most suitable choice for a fair, unbiased acc I like Elizabeth Gaskell's work. She tells engaging stories and that is exactly what she has done here. Originally requested by Charlotte's father to write a biography of Charlotte's life. Patrick Bronte together with Charlotte's widowed husband, Arthur Bell Nicholls, wisely realised that if they did not select someone to write about Charlotte's life, then someone who was not their choice would certainly do so. Unfortunately, while Gaskell seemed the most suitable choice for a fair, unbiased account, they would have been better to have chosen one of Charlotte's many other female writer friends. Gaskell certainly does not allow the truth to get in the way of a good story. She certainly did do a fair amount of research, although she was happy to pass over various sources who had a better claim of intimacy with Charlotte than she herself did. Gaskell did visit Haworth during Charlotte's life and Charlotte visited Gaskell in London (where, it is to be noted, she was extremely uncomfortable and taken to gatherings where she would be considered an oddity with a curious lack of sensitivity in her host!) however the 'friendship' between them was not nearly so close as Gaskell intimates.

She also compounds the issue by giving an unequal and selective portrait of the rest of the Bronte family which does a great disservice to Patrick, Branwell and even Emily. Patrick wrote to Gaskell on several occasions to politely request that she clear up and amend certain inaccuracies; Gaskell never replied to any of these letters and went abroad just as the biography was published. In the end Patrick dropped the matter, preferring to let his daughter's memory rest.

Part of the problem with writing a biography of the Brontes, is that they wrote such strong and enduring characters that they frequently became confused with their creations. This biography gives a flavour of the times and certainly tells us a lot about Elizabeth Gaskell but get your Bronte facts elsewhere. Julet Barker's The Brontes is excellent. ...more

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Nov 20, 2017 Katie Lumsden rated it really liked it

A thoroughly brilliant, moving and engaging read - more letters and commentary than a biography at times, but well worth a read.

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Jan 29, 2009 Melinda rated it really liked it

Shelves: british-lit, classics

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 large 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. ...more

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Oct 18, 2020 Iza Brekilien rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, brontë-mania, victorian-related, following-author, biography, great-britain

This book is particularly interesting to me because it combines two factors : one, Elizabeth Gaskell *and* Charlotte Brontë (two for the price of one) ; two, this is the first biography that a man (Patrick Brontë) asked a woman to write. Apparently, no woman novelist had written a biography before about a woman novelist. It was published in 1857, so 2 years after Charlotte's death.

This is a strange biography : at the very beginning of the book, Elizabeth Gaskell tells us about Yorkshire and its This book is particularly interesting to me because it combines two factors : one, Elizabeth Gaskell *and* Charlotte Brontë (two for the price of one) ; two, this is the first biography that a man (Patrick Brontë) asked a woman to write. Apparently, no woman novelist had written a biography before about a woman novelist. It was published in 1857, so 2 years after Charlotte's death.

This is a strange biography : at the very beginning of the book, Elizabeth Gaskell tells us about Yorkshire and its inhabitants and it's really funny ! Because she was well bred and respectable and the people of Yorkshire tended to be... rougher. At least, the one she chose to describe, I'm afraid she was an unreliable narrator, she chose a certain aspect of life in Yorkshire to display.

Then she moves on to the life of Charlotte. She visited people she knew, she wrote to her friends, she gathered information, of course she talked with her father (I'm not sure she really liked him ?) and so we learn about her childhood and that of her famous siblings. But as soon as we reach the stage when Charlotte has made friends and corresponds with them, there are a lot (and I mean a lot) of letters, commented by Elizabeth from her point of view.

Since Charlotte's father was at the origin of this biography, and Elizabeth was a friend of Charlotte, there are certain details that you feel she holds back out of delicacy I guess (and fear of trials), about Branwell of course - he's barely there, but not only. Reputation was important in those days so never lose sight that the biography was subjective. One detail pops to my mind (not written, I learned otherwise) : Elizabeth never let her own daughter read Jane Eyre before she turned 20 ! Charlotte in here is portrayed as a rather depressed, but a very wise and obedient daughter - she lacks the spark that must have existed when you read her books and see her personality shine through. Even if I think that her mental health must have been in cause (but hey, dead mother, dead siblings, sick father, ill health, gloomy winters), not only her physical health as Elizabeth says. But still, you catch a glimpse of that spark here and there. And you know that Charlotte was her father's daughter : he left Ireland at a very young age to make a life for himself, Charlotte, obscure daughter of a Yorkshire clergyman, managed to bring her sisters' books and her own to lasting world wide fame. She must have felt trapped in the monotony of her life as the eldest daughter replacing her mother, literature was a means of escape.

What shocked me was how unsanitary Haworth was, not only because of the weather, the cold, the lack of heating, but also because apparently when it rained, the waters washing the cemetary contaminated the town's water supplies (anyone who has seen pictures of Haworth will understand why, there's a very steep road there) ! No wonder so many people died young in this family and in the surrounding neighbourhood. At one time, there were eight people buried in one day in Haworth !

As a conclusion, I would say that it's a very interesting biography, not only when it comes to Charlotte, but also about Elizabeth herself and the era they were living in and the memory they wanted to leave for posterity. It's worth reading also for Charlotte's letters and the stories you learn, details about her life, how she and Elizabeth Gaskell's daughter held hands when they were together - some things that make her more alive to us, more human.

I don't intend to read this biography only. I heard that Elizabeth's book was making a saint out of Charlotte, now I have Laura El Makki's biography, who I heard was turning Charlotte into a villain, then I have the book written by Peggy Hewitt who worked at the Brontë parsonage. Those two are on my shelves, but I'm mostly looking forward to reading Juliet Barker's books - the ultimate reference, so I heard. Great reads to come ! ...more

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May 31, 2011 Marie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Most of us now know how wrong Gaskell got some things. That being said, if she had not recorded the life of "her dear friend", the Brontës as we know them would not have been propelled to the mythical heights which have fueled their popularity. Gaskell does a good job of weaving Charlotte's life into a fantastical story, but left out major elements -- things that would have been improper or embarrassing to publish, and totally skewed and falsified other things to add to the romance and intrigue ...more

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May 05, 2017 Lorena rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I read this book because Truman Capote recommended it in one of his letters, and so far he's batting 100. It explains so much about this very serious, judgmental, somewhat dour woman and the darkness in her work. My God, she lived across the lane from an overpacked cemetery whose rotting bodies leaked into the town water supply and caused much sickness and death, including many members of her family. I was fascinated to read that she admired the French writer George Sand, who was her temperament ...more

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Jul 23, 2020 Jess rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: bah-humbug, bronte, 2020, culled, gave-up, give-me-strength

There are some brilliant Brontë biographies out there. This is not one of them.

Fabulous - though intrinsically unengaging – propaganda. Gaskell almost single-handedly gave breath to the Brontë myth, depicting Charlotte as a suffering saint, establishing the opinion that the works of Emily and Anne were negligible and implying Patrick Brontë was a family tyrant – among other static images. As a dedicated Brontë fanatic, I would be lying if I said my blood did not boil as I attempted this one.

Ulte ...more

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Oct 23, 2012 Dorothea rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is not the one book to read about the Brontës, but certainly not to be skipped if one is reading several.

It was completed and published only two years after Charlotte's death, by a personal friend of Charlotte's who was also a friend of her father's and who gained access to many of Charlotte's letters and who traveled to all the places that were important to Charlotte and interviewed people there who knew her.

So, despite the omissions, the softenings, the biases that Mrs. Gaskell wrote alon This is not the one book to read about the Brontës, but certainly not to be skipped if one is reading several.

It was completed and published only two years after Charlotte's death, by a personal friend of Charlotte's who was also a friend of her father's and who gained access to many of Charlotte's letters and who traveled to all the places that were important to Charlotte and interviewed people there who knew her.

So, despite the omissions, the softenings, the biases that Mrs. Gaskell wrote along with the truth, her Life of Charlotte Brontë is important, nearly as a primary source. In it are not only long excerpts from many letters (which can, of course, be found elsewhere) but also Mrs. Gaskell's own reports of conversations with Charlotte and clear descriptions of Haworth, the Rue d'Isabelle in Brussels, and other places that were so important to Charlotte's life and writing.

The Life is also very beautifully written. I'm now eager to read Mrs. Gaskell's novels, but I think one pleasure to be expected from them -- her ability to describe a landscape -- is probably greatest in this biography, since the landscapes are real. As I'm not a Victorian reader with boundless patience, I often skip over descriptions of scenery, and I almost did so at the beginning of the Life. That would have been a mistake! This chapter, which carries the reader from the Leeds and Bradford railway, to Keighley station, to the steep hill of Haworth village, leads the reader into the Haworth church, to stand before certain inscriptions to the right of the communion table.

Anyone familiar with the story of the Brontë family will of course know what these are: the grave-markers of a family marked by death. Mrs. Gaskell gives their texts in full. A more powerful, somber, and appropriate beginning to Charlotte Brontë's biography, I can't imagine.

I read the Penguin Classics edition, edited and introduced by Alan Shelston in 1975. He explains that the text given is that of the first edition. The biography was substantially revised for a third edition: some new material was added at that time but two major episodes (that of the Cowan's Bridge school for clergymen's daughters, upon which Charlotte Brontë based Lowood in Jane Eyre, and that of Mrs. Robinson's role in Branwell Brontë's downfall) were revised to be less scandalous. Notes and an appendix give the important additions and changes of the third edition.

Shelston's introduction is a bit more severe on Mrs. Gaskell than I thought justified (although I'm easily swayed by good writers) but I was glad of his argument that she was compelled to write this biography because she perceived Charlotte Brontë as a real-life version of one of her own heroines -- a moral paragon. This was a good thing to keep in mind while reading the Life; it explains not only the major omission of Charlotte's feelings for M. Heger (an omission which can also be explained by readers' sensibilities and the need for approval by Charlotte's still-living father and widower) but also some minor smoothed edges. ...more

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Nov 19, 2017 Amanda rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, non-fiction

2017: DNF at 33%. I had the wrong expectations for this work. This is a collection of letter fragments written by Charlotte Bronte, which Gaskell has curated and contextualized. I was expecting a Gaskell novel about Charlotte Bronte. Gaskell's writing does not shine or entertain in this volume like it does in most of her other works (at least, for me). I may attempt to finish this in the future, now knowing what to expect. I recommend you pick this up if you want to learn about Charlotte Bronte, ...more

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Jan 10, 2010 Kate rated it it was amazing

Shelves: history, classics

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 m 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. ...more

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Apr 14, 2015 Sara rated it it was amazing

Shelves: biography

What a remarkable discourse this is on the life of Charlotte Bronte, as assembled by her friend, Elizabeth Gaskell. Having been written so soon after her death, this biograph might perhaps lack in the objectivity which a later biography could present, but whatever might be lacking in that quarter is well made up for in spirit and understanding.

Much of Gaskell's approach is to quote from the considerable correspondence of Charlotte herself, which gives this a pointedly personal flavor. We are see What a remarkable discourse this is on the life of Charlotte Bronte, as assembled by her friend, Elizabeth Gaskell. Having been written so soon after her death, this biograph might perhaps lack in the objectivity which a later biography could present, but whatever might be lacking in that quarter is well made up for in spirit and understanding.

Much of Gaskell's approach is to quote from the considerable correspondence of Charlotte herself, which gives this a pointedly personal flavor. We are seeing Charlotte's life as she herself saw it, and while that cannot be all of the truth of a life, it can surely be most of what is significant.

I was struck by how much of what makes Jane Eyre so gripping is torn from actual experience. That Charlotte was subjected to many of the events at school that parallel those at Eyre's beginning is horrible to think and the death of her own sister, Maria, is the event that precipitates her character of Helen. With such a somber beginning to life, she had every right to expect more happiness and comfort in later years, but little of that was forthcoming.

Her determination in completing her novels in the face of some real criticism, is a testament to the strong character she possessed and her belief in God's presence in her life. She accepted herself as a faulted human being and she was welcoming of constructive criticisms that she felt might increase her understanding of her own foibles.

Speaking about stories she read when quite young, she says "...for I read them in childhood, and childhood has a very strong faculty of admiration, but a very weak one of criticism." I found that a poignant observation, for I too have a great love for some literature that came to me young and still impresses my soul although I would be forced to confess that they are inferior to other works which touch me less.

Of course, among the more touching parts of the biography are the deaths of her sisters, Emily and Anne. Our familiarity with them as authors no doubt increases our distress at their deaths, but I was struck at how perfectly her view of death aligns with what we ourselves feel upon the loss of those we love. Speaking of another young acquaintance, Charlotte says, "Wherever I seek for her now in this world, she cannot be found, no more than a flower or a lead which withered twenty years ago. A bereavement of this kind gives one a glimpse of the feeling those must have who have seen all drop around them, friend after friend, and are left to end their pilgrimage alone. But tears are fruitless, and I try not to repine." How hauntingly predictive of her own situation to come, but even in the face of her serious personal losses, she held to the last part of this statement and refrained from sinking into her sorrows.

I could quote at length from the letters she wrote regarding this loss. Having lost a close sister myself, I could feel the impact of all her words and feelings. Of Emily, "not a branch of fern, not a young bilberry leaf, not a fluttering lark or linnet, but reminds me of her." She was as expressive in her letters, as ever she was in her novels. I was delighted to read her own expressed opinion of Jane Austen, a curiosity that I never thought to have satisfied.

There is not a moment of boredom in this book and Mrs. Gaskell exhibits her own great talent of writing and exposition. I am ashamed at not having read all of Charlotte Bronte's writings and am quite anxious in the light of this better understanding of her character to now rectify the omission. I will happily undertake both Shirley and Villette before the year's end. I am also stirred to re-read Jane Eyre and the works of both Emily and Anne. ...more

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Mar 16, 2015 Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: biography-memoirs

3.5*

I should never think about reviews! Once I decide I have Something To Say, it just drags on & on!

I now have recent reads that prove that writing a biography or memoir when the subject or close friends & family are still living is no easy task. Memories differ, things happen that some want to forget. Take

by David Niven where he allegedly borrowed other peoples' memories, amalgamated some of his own & for obvious reasons didn't want to admit that his second marriage was deeply unhappy. & 3.5*

I should never think about reviews! Once I decide I have Something To Say, it just drags on & on!

I now have recent reads that prove that writing a biography or memoir when the subject or close friends & family are still living is no easy task. Memories differ, things happen that some want to forget. Take

Out of the Box The Highs and Lows of a Champion Smuggler by Julie McSorley

proves in the internet age that changing names won't give you any privacy.

So I can understand some of the difficulties Mrs Elizabeth Gaskell would have faced when the recently deceased Charlotte's father invited her to write the biography. Charlotte & Elizabeth were friends, but the friendship was relatively recent. It must have been a very delicate act balancing Rev Bronte's feelings & the truth. I guess to good Reverend didn't think there was anything very odd about his ideas on children's nutrition (the young Brontes lived mostly on potatoes, even though there was enough money for better food) because that is in the book! Even with EG's restrained writing Charlotte's father comes across as selfish & a bit of a nutter.

I think EG stands her ground on the subject of Branwell. As delicately as EG writes about him, there is no doubt that Branwell was a favoured & spoilt child. Except for one poem, I have never read any of his written works, but certainly his paintings can most charitably be described as uneven. On the other hand, just take a look of this painting of Charlotte's! Just full of joy.

I would like to read one of the CB biographies that show up in my GR recommendations. Or better still one about all three Bronte sisters. I think they will show a far more passionate & vital woman than comes across in EG's writing. The book comes to life when Charlotte's letters are used – CB is a most eloquent correspondent!

The edition I have is a 1971 by Heron Books. It's well illustrated & has extensive appendices, one of which mentions that EG was given access to some of the Brontes' juvenile writings, but gave them only the most cursory of studies. (in EG's defence they were tiny!)

I'm intending to reread Jane Eyre later in the year & will try another Bronte biography then. ...more

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May 29, 2019 Katie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2019, date-1800-1950, author-female

These days, this biography gets a lot of flak. In part, it's justified, because Gaskell went into this with certain aims, which influences how she wrote about her subject and means her objectivity is pretty much shot. She wanted to write about Charlotte Brontë the woman because she was worried about how people perceived her through her writing. That wasn't for Gaskell to say (and she also makes assumptions about Anne Brontë that I had issues with). It's the job of a biographer not to pass judgem These days, this biography gets a lot of flak. In part, it's justified, because Gaskell went into this with certain aims, which influences how she wrote about her subject and means her objectivity is pretty much shot. She wanted to write about Charlotte Brontë the woman because she was worried about how people perceived her through her writing. That wasn't for Gaskell to say (and she also makes assumptions about Anne Brontë that I had issues with). It's the job of a biographer not to pass judgement, and in some ways, she did. She wanted to paint a certain picture, one which influenced several biographies of Brontë after hers. She also allowed herself to be swayed in her perception of Patrick Brontë's character, and then never corrected her observations, despite him pointing our the error by letter.

On the other hand, though, the criticism is also harsh, because Gaskell was having to write about subjects related to persons still living, persons who could, and did, threaten libel. It must have been a very difficult tightrope for her to walk between being truthful and avoiding being sued or causing upset to the families of people involved in some of what went on involving Branwell Brontë. She also tried to be fair to the model for Lowood School - Cowan Bridge - by writing of improvements there since the little Brontës had been students. She tried to be a careful, conscientious biographer; if she comes across as too careful and conscientious, then that's because she was a product of her time.

I don't think it's reasonable to expect a respectable Victorian lady, a mother of four daughters, to write about her friend's passion for a married man (Monsieur Héger, the model for M Paul Emmanuel in Villette, and possibly also Rochester from Jane Eyre). Gaskell just wasn't that kind of writer. She addressed prostitution and 'fallen' women in her novels, but that was fiction. She wanted to celebrate Brontë as a model of Victorian femininity, and, however misguided that was, it's unlikely another Victorian writer would have touched the subject of Brontë's forbidden love either.

Aside from her cautiousness, Gaskell does gather a lot of information about Brontë from letters and people's memories, and pieces it together diligently to form somewhat of an accurate picture of Brontë's life. It must be fairly accurate, at least, because her biography is still being used as the roadmap for interpretations of the Brontë sisters lives (one recent biopic - To Walk Invisible - makes use of some of what Gaskell writes here).

That's not to say that Gaskell's is the definitive biography, or the only one you should read. There are issues with it, as I've discussed. Some of what Gaskell writes is debunked by later biographies, which were more able to discuss Brontë's passionate nature, and could talk about Branwell without having to worry about being sued. Later biographers were much freer than Gaskell in many ways and I would strongly suggest looking at them as well. Also, Jenny Uglow's biography of Elizabeth Gaskell gives good insight into her process and the issues she faced when writing the biography.

Above all, though, people should read Charlotte Brontë's letters. Gaskell's biography is mostly made up of letters from the woman herself, and her character, interests, and passions shine through in those. There are, of course, letters left out here, and letters that hadn't yet been discovered, but what is here paints a picture of a clever, funny, shy, passionate woman. She was complicated. Gaskell gives us a taste of that complexity, so, all in all, this biography did something right. ...more

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Mar 26, 2012 Rebecca rated it liked it

Shelves: ebooks, non-fiction, brit-lit

I've heard this biography disparaged by others who love Charlotte Brontë, and so I fully intend to read other biographies for the sake of comparison. However, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this account of Ms. Brontë by one of her contemporaries.

ETA a few quotes (from Charlotte's letters) that really resonated with me:

"I have some qualities that make me very miserable, some feelings that you can have no participation in—that few, very few, people in the world can at all understand. I don't pride m ...more

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Jan 13, 2015 Katherine rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Maybe I would have liked this more if I didn't know that Elizabeth Gaskell was a big fat phony who didn't even really care for Charlotte Bronte or her writing. "My dear friend Charlotte"? Really? She knew her for a couple years before she died, they were never "good friends" and Gaskell wrote letter upon letter spreading gossip about her and her family. Not to mention how often Gaskell brings herself into the narrative. Ugh. ...more

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Feb 02, 2020 Charlie rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 19th-century, read-in-2020

How this book made it onto The Guardian's 100 best nonfiction books ever list in 2017 is truly beyond me. At times beautiful but mostly boring and painful. ...more

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Mar 07, 2011 Susan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

It's amazing to be able to read a biography of Charlotte Bronte written by someone who knew her. Ms Gaskell used her skill developed as a novelist in presenting events, and in some places she was so strongly indignant on the Brontes' behalf--the Lowood school, Branwell's relationship with his employer's wife--that she had to make modifications in the third edition. (This version has all the third edition changes highlighted in the notes so the reader can compare for themselves) She made extensiv ...more

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Oct 31, 2013 Ali Nazifpour rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

This is one of the best books I have read, and definitely the best autobiography. It has all the merits of a great novel, but it is real.

It can be read for many reasons. It can be read by those interested in literature as an account of three great novelists, as the book completely captures its three characters, and it enriches our understanding of the novelists and their novels. It can be read by the historian because it also captures the spirit of its time and its place. It can be read by the s ...more

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Jun 15, 2017 Sonya added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017

I own a greeting card that depicts three happy, smiling young ladies who appear to be thinking slyly, all with brown eyes and middle-parted hair. The words "Bronte Sisters" are lettered into the pastel rose background of the card, and I have mounted it on the wall above this very computer where I pen--er, type--these lines to you. They smile down, but never make eye contact.

Yet I must report that, according to this biography of Charlotte by Mrs. Elizabeth Gaskell, my card and its merriness? Lie ...more

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Aug 08, 2018 Girl rated it liked it

Shelves: 2018

It's a fascinating book, especially if one wants to have a view of the Brontes as seen by their contemporaries. Gaskell did a lot of research on her subject, and many later biographers made use of her findings. However, she also omitted some key information about Charlotte Bronte's love life (her love for her married teacher, M. Constantine Heger), as it would not have gone down well with the public. It's a very interesting document of Victorian sensibilities. ...more

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Feb 03, 2021 Jazzy Lemon rated it it was amazing

Shelves: english-authors, classics

An excellent biography written by her good friend and for the most part compiled from Charlotte Brontë's letters. One of the most touching things was the death of Emily, and the sad heart of her faithful dog, Keeper, who attended the funeral and then howled and cried outside her door for days afterward. ...more

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Apr 15, 2019 Jocelyn Green rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: biography

In this biography, Charlotte Bronte's friend Elizabeth Gaskell makes use of dozens of letters to show us the kind of person Charlotte was, and inso doing, let Charlotte speak for herself as much as possible. I appreciated getting to know Charlotte's voice and personality through all these letters. Not every single one of them held my interest as much as others, but those were easy enough to skim. ...more

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Jul 16, 2015 Lauren Kammerdiener rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own, nonfiction, supplements, biographical, 2016, reviewed

"Now there is something touching in the sight of that little creature entombed in such a place, and moving about herself like a spirit, especially when you think that the slight, still frame encloses a force of strong, fiery life, which nothing has been able to freeze or extinguish."

Upon the death of her dear friend, Elizabeth Gaskell was asked to write a biography on fellow novelist Charlotte Brontë, the woman whose books had so widespread an impression on the public, that half the country ...more

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Aug 19, 2017 Suzanne rated it liked it · review of another edition

This biography has been written by a friend of Charlotte Bronte, another female author who knew Charlotte personally and wrote with care not to expose other friends to unwelcome public scrutiny. It draws heavily, quoting verbatim, on many letters written by and to Charlotte, so the reader enters into a very intimate relationship with the reclusive protagonist. Her deep love for her family and her Yorkshire home pervade the text. Entering into the details of her domestic life, one gets to underst ...more

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Dec 26, 2015 Andrea AKA Catsos Person marked it as could-not-finish

Shelves: andrea-s-reviews-hall-o-fame, biography, zread-in-2015

CNF @ 26% May 8, 2015 Women's Lit group BOTM

What would be interesting about the life of a poor clergyman' daughter from the Victorian era?

1) Her experiences and people at The Clergy Daughters' School inspired aspects of Jane Eyre's (the character) experiences at the fictional charity school Lowood.

2) She fell in love with a married man (Constantine Heger) who may have inspired the character M Paul Emmanuel from her novel "Villette"

3) She had a romance with her publisher George Smith

Gaskell tone ...more

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Dec 22, 2020 Grasshopper Bot rated it it was ok

Didn't enjoy it. ...more

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Dec 27, 2011 James Kelly rated it did not like it

If you're looking for a biography of Charlotte Brontë, don't stop here. Gaskell's work is more fiction than fact, motivated by a desire to rescue Charlotte from accusations of being base and unfeminine. Because her works were deemed inappropriate from the pen of a woman, Gaskell attempts to portray Charlotte as a properly quiet, demure and retiring woman whose work merely reflected the harsh, brutal world around her. Consequently everyone around Charlotte is vilified and her environment painted ...more

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Jan 30, 2014 Catherine Siemann rated it really liked it

Shelves: victorians

On the one hand, this biography was a huge contributor to the Bronte myth, and suffers typical Victorian reticence to the point that it obfuscates as often as it illuminates. If you want to read a biography of Bronte, Juliet Barker or Lyndall Gordon provide more information. On the other, Gaskell was friends with Bronte, towards the end of her life, and writes with real affection, and there's something irresistible about reading one important Victorian novelist's biography of another. ...more

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About Elizabeth Gaskell

Elizabeth Gaskell

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Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, née Stevenson (29 September 1810 – 12 November 1865), often referred to simply as Mrs. Gaskell, was an English novelist and short story writer during the Victorian era. She is perhaps best known for her biography of Charlotte Brontë. Her novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many strata of society, including the very poor, and as such are of interest to socia ...more

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“If we would build on a sure foundation in friendship, we must love our friends for their sakes rather than for our own.” — 158 likes

“[Charlotte Brontë] once told her sisters that they were wrong - even morally wrong - in making their heroines beautiful as a matter of course. They replied that it was impossible to make a heroine interesting on any other terms. Her answer was, 'I will prove to you that you are wrong; I will show you a heroine as plain and as small as myself, who shall be as interesting as any of yours.” — 11 likes

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