Is this a photo of the Brontë sisters? From left to right (supposedly): Charlotte, Anne, and Emily Brontë. Photograph found by Seamus Molloy
Overview
Directions
Written Blog Response: When we completed our introductory study I would like you to compose a 500 word blog response covering what you learned about the Victorian era, the Bronte sisters, and which novel you intend to study and why. Please include direct evidence from this post. You may also include questions and insights you would like to discuss in class. I look forward to your responses.
The Victorian Age
The Victorian era was a period of dramatic change that brought England to its highest point of development as a world power. The rapid growth of London, from a population of 2 million when Victoria came to the throne to one of 6.5 million by the time of Victoria's death, indicates the dramatic transition from a way of life based on the ownership of land to a modern urban economy. England experienced an enormous increase in wealth, but rapid and unregulated industrialization brought a host of social and economic problems. Some writers such as Thomas Babbington Macauley applauded England’s progress, while others such as Mathew Arnold felt the abandonment of traditional rhythms of life exacted a terrible price in human happiness.
The early Victorian period (1830–48) saw the opening of Britain’s first railway and its first Reform Parliament, but it was also a time of economic distress. The Reform Bill of 1832 extended voting privileges to men of the lower middle classes and redistributing parliamentary representation more fairly. Yet the economic and social difficulties associated with industrialization made the 1830s and 1840s a “Time of Troubles,” characterized by unemployment, desperate poverty, and rioting. The Chartists, an organization of workers, helped create an atmosphere open to further reform. The “condition of England” became a central topic for novelists including Charles Kingsley, Elizabeth Gaskell, and Benjamin Disraeli in the 1840s and early 1850s.
Although the mid- Victorian period (1848–70) was not free of harassing problems, it was a time of prosperity, optimism, and stability. The achievements of modern industry and science were celebrated at the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park (1851). Enormous investments of people, money, and technology created the British Empire. Many English people saw the expansion of empire as a moral responsibility, and missionary societies flourished. At the same time, however, there was increasing debate about religious belief. The Church of England had evolved into three major divisions, with conflicting beliefs about religious practice. There were also rationalist challenges to religion from philosophy (especially Utilitarianism) and science (especially biology and geology). Both the infallibility of the Bible and the stature of the human species in the universe were increasingly called into question.
In the later period (1870–1901) the costs of Empire became increasingly apparent, and England was confronted with growing threats to its military and economic preeminence. A variety of socialist movements gained force, some influenced by the revolutionary theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The literature of the 1890s is characterized by self-conscious melancholy and aestheticism, but also saw the beginnings of the modernist movement.
The extreme inequities between men and women stimulated a debate about women’s roles known as “The Woman Question.” Women were denied the right to vote or hold political office throughout the period, but gradually won significant rights such as custody of minor children and the ownership of property in marriage. By the end of Victoria’s reign, women could take degrees at twelve universities. Hundreds of thousands of working-class women labored at factory jobs under appalling conditions, and many were driven into prostitution. While John Stuart Mill argued that the “nature of women” was an artificial thing, most male authors preferred to claim that women had a special nature fitting them for domestic duties.
Literacy increased significantly in the period, and publishers could bring out more material more cheaply than ever before. The most significant development in publishing was the growth of the periodical. Novels and long works of non-fiction were published in serial form, fostering a distinctive sense of a community of readers. Victorian novels seek to represent a large and comprehensive social world, constructing a tension between social conditions and the aspirations of the hero or heroine. Writing in the shadow of Romanticism, the Victorians developed a poetry of mood and character. Victorian poetry tends to be pictorial, and often uses sound to convey meaning. The theater, a flourishing and popular institution throughout the period, was transformed in the 1890s by the comic masterpieces of George Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde. Very different from each other, both took aim at Victorian pretense and hypocrisy.
from The Norton Anthology of English Literature
Bronte Family Biography
Six years after the loss of her sisters, Charlotte set off for Roe Head School. She returned a little after a year later and taught her sisters. In 1835, Charlotte became a teacher at Roe Head, and Emily became a student there, but she only lasted three months. She would speak to no one except Charlotte and became very thin and pale. She was soon back at Haworth. Anne took Emily's place at Roe Head.
In the next few years, Emily became a teacher at Law Hill School. Failure was the result. Emily endured her position for six months; she disliked teaching very much, and longed for the moors that surrounded her home.
In February of 1842, Charlotte and Emily went to Brussels. They stayed at the Pensionnat Heger, where they became pupils. Madame Heger was the head of the school. The two sisters learned French, German, music, singing, writing, arithmetic, and drawing.
At home, Aunt Branwell had become very ill. Charlotte and Emily came home, only to find her dead and buried. Afterwards, Emily stayed at the Parsonage, but Charlotte went back to Brussels. She became a teacher at the Pensionnat, but she was very dissatisfied with her students. In a letter to Branwell, she said:
"I can discern only one or two [pupils] who deserve anything like regard...They have not intellect or politeness or good-nature or good-feeling..."
Madame Heger thought that Charlotte had fallen in love with her husband, and therefore became very cold and distant towards her. Monsieur Heger taught her German, but otherwise, had little to do with her. Early in 1844, Charlotte came home, but continued to write to Monsieur Heger, even though he allowed her to write to him only twice a year.
Branwell's talents seemed very promising. He was seen as the gifted one in the family. His father had hired a painting master to teach his only son, and it was also thought that Branwell could possibly turn out to be a poet or a journalist. Unfortunately, Fate dictated otherwise. Branwell was to go to London to attend the Royal Academy Schools, but he did not present himself as planned. Instead, he roamed the streets of London, wasting his money on alcohol. Later on, when he had failed at portrait painting and working on railroads, he tried his hand at tutoring (the Robinson family hired him). Branwell was dismissed because of "irregularities," as it was termed. He had been having an affair with Mrs. Robinson. Finally, at age 31, Charlotte's only brother died.
Meanwhile, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne had begun publishing their poetry and novels. Charlotte had written Jane Eyre (1846), Shirley (1849), and Villette (1853). It was not until after her death that The Professor was published in 1857. Charlotte had begun several novels, but she never finished them. Emily's novel Wuthering Heights was published in 1847. Anne's accomplishments included Agnes Grey (1847) and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848). All of the Bronte sisters had contributed poems to a collection of poetry, entitled Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (1846). Currer, Ellis and Acton were the aliases assumed by Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Bronte. The sisters lived in such times that women were not always given a fair chance in the business world. Therefore, they assumed masculine names, so that their books would have a better chance of being published.
Disaster struck in October of 1848, when Emily fell sick with tuberculosis. In December of 1848, Emily's coffin was laid in the same vault as that of her mother and brother. Anne soon followed her sister to the grave, after she was consumed by the same relentless disease that had deprived her mother, brother, and three sisters of their lives.
The only remaining members of the Bronte family were Patrick and Charlotte. Charlotte was very deeply grieved at the loss of her companions. Writing restored her energy. In Shirley, she explained her feelings:
"...who cares for imagination? Who does not think it a rather dangerous, senseless attribute - akin to weakness - perhaps partaking of frenzy - a disease rather than a gift of the mind?
Probably all think it so, but those who possess - or fancy they possess - it. To hear them speak, you would believe that their hearts would be cold if that elixir did not flow about them; that their eyes would be dim if that flame did not refine their vision; that they would be lonely if this strange companion abandoned them. You would suppose that it imparted some glad hope to spring, some fine charm to summer, some tranquil joy to autumn, some consolation to winter, which you do not feel. An illusion, of course; but the fanatics cling to their dream, and would not give it for gold."
Charlotte also wrote to her publisher, when she was announcing the completion of Shirley:
"Whatever now becomes of the work, the occupation of writing it has been a boon to me. It took me out of dark and desolate reality into an unreal but happier region."
In a later letter to the same publisher, she wrote:
"The faculty of imagination lifted me when I was sinking, three months ago...I am thankful to God, who gave me this faculty; and it is for me a part of my religion to defend this gift and to profit by its possession."
During this time, her father's curate, the Reverend Arthur Bell Nicholls, had been spending a great deal of time with Patrick and Charlotte. It was not long before he proposed, and Charlotte accepted. They were married on the morning of Thursday, June 29, 1854. One year after the marriage, Charlotte died. The cause of her death was tuberculosis, and it is thought that complications in early pregnancy hastened the process.
Patrick Bronte ended up outliving his wife and six children. His only companion was Charlotte's husband, who looked after Charlotte's father, in compliance with Charlotte's last wishes. Patrick, at age 84, was the last of his family to die.
Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre (1846)
Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! - I have as much soul as you, - and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you!
Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights (1847)
And I pray one prayer - I repeat it till my tongue stiffens - Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living; you said I killed you - haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers, I believe. I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always - take any form - drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!
Summary: When Heathcliff, a poor Gypsy boy, is adopted into wealthy Catherine Earnshaw's family, he and Catherine form a bond that progresses from childhood friendship to teenage passion. Because of Heathcliff's lowly social status, however, Catherine decides she cannot marry him, and instead marries the gentleman Edgar Linton. This sets in motion a chain of events that ravages both the Linton and Earnshaw families with jealousy, revenge, and bitterness, leaving only the ghosts of Catherine and Heathcliff to haunt the moors. Emily Bronte is also known for her amazing poetry, including, "No Coward Soul is Mine."
Well, then, it must be that you think they are both weak and prone to err, and the slightest error, the merest shadow of pollution, will ruin the one, while the character of the other will be strengthened and embellished - his education properly finished by a little practical acquaintance with forbidden things. Such experience, to him (to use a trite simile), will be like the storm to the oak, which, though it may scatter the leaves, and snap the smaller branches, serves but to rivet the roots, and to harden and condense the fibres of the tree. You would have us encourage our sons to prove all things by their own experience, while our daughters must not even profit by the experience of others. Now I would have both so to benefit by the experience of others, and the precepts of a higher authority, that they should know beforehand to refuse the evil and choose the good, and require no experimental proofs to teach them the evil of transgression. I would not send a poor girl into the world, unarmed against her foes, and ignorant of the snares that beset her path; nor would I watch and guard her, till, deprived of self-respect and self-reliance, she lost the power or the will to watch and guard herself; - and as for my son - if I thought he would grow up to be what you call a man of the world - one that has "seen life," and glories in his experience, even though he should so far profit by it as to sober down, at length, into a useful and respected member of society - I would rather that he died to-morrow! - rather a thousand times!
Summary: This is the story of a woman's struggle for independence. Helen "Graham" has returned to Wildfell Hall in flight from a disastrous marriage. Exiled to the desolate moorland mansion, she adopts an assumed name and earns her living as a painter. Anne Bronte also wrote the semi-autobiographical, Agnes Grey (1847).
Anne Bronte's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848)
Summary: This is the story of a woman's struggle for independence. Helen "Graham" has returned to Wildfell Hall in flight from a disastrous marriage. Exiled to the desolate moorland mansion, she adopts an assumed name and earns her living as a painter. Anne Bronte also wrote the semi-autobiographical, Agnes Grey (1847).
The Pillar Portrait (from left to right: Anne, Emily, Charlotte)
Background: Only one group portrait painting survives of all three Bronte Sisters, painted in the 1830s by their teenage brother Branwell. It is known as the Pillar Portrait because, before completion, Branwell painted his own figure out of the picture. His outline is just visible behind the pillar. The painting was seen by people visiting Rev. Patrick Bronte at Haworth Parsonage in the 1850s. It is obviously not a masterpiece but, as with the destroyed group portrait, visitors were told that the resemblances were good. There is a description of the painting in Elizabeth Gaskell's biography of Charlotte Bronte (1857).
The painting was at Haworth Parsonage until the death of Rev. Patrick Bronte in 1861 when Charlotte's widower, Arthur Bell Nicholls, took it with him to Ireland. The portrait was hidden away in a wardrobe in his house. A photo of it was sent to him in the 1890s but he was rather vague and neglected to point out that it depicted his first wife Charlotte. Arthur Bell Nicholls died in 1906 but the painting wasn't discovered until 1914.
I feel like when people think if English authors that are women, Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters would come to mind along with some others. I know when I think about them I sometimes think that they were around the same time. They were but they just missed each other. Charlotte Bronte was born a year before Austen died, Emily was born a year after, and Anne was three years after. So when you think about it, they were at the same time but they kind of weren’t. Another thing I found interesting was that six out of the eight family members were killed by tuberculosis. Also, in To Walk Invisible, it is shown that the father, Patrick, is sick and it seems like he is going to be the one to die before all of them. But when you read about them, he lives to be 84 and outlived the rest of his family members. The book that I want to study is The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. I was looking up the summaries for then and out of the three of them, it seemed the most intriguing to me. I also want to read it because it is the only book out of the three of them that I know nothing about so I’m curious to know more. To me, when you think of the Bronte sister's books, you think of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre so if this is her great book then I would like to know more about it.
ReplyDeleteIn the Victorian era a lot changed for women and people in the lower middle class. They gained more rights during this time. The reform bill of 1832 gave more people the ability to vote and it redistributed the representation in the government. During this time money was very tight and many people weren’t working and if they were they were working in a factory under horrible conditions for little pay. By the end of this era women could go to some universities to get their education. This was at the beginning of Industrialization and made rioting frequent as well and was headlines of all of the papers because the economy was failing during this time in England. Later on though, it got better, there were many achievements in science and new technology and investments greatly helped the British Empire. During this time the Church of England had divided into three different divisions because of their conflicting views. The validity of the Bible and how humans came to be became a common question and philosophical ideas became an interest.
ReplyDeleteThe Bronte family had six children and soon after Patrick got appointed to a parish in Yorkshire his wife died leaving him to raise six children with the oldest being Maria at 7 years old. Maria, Elizabeth, Charlotte and Emily went away to school and sadly Maria and Elizabeth died of tuberculosis. In the late 1840’s - early 1850’s the sisters began publishing books to support themselves. Sadly right during this time Emily died of tuberculosis and Anne followed soon after. The only Bronte’s left was Patrick and Charlotte. Charlotte was soon proposed to by a reverend which she accepted but a year after marriage she died of tuberculosis as well leaving only the father, Patrick who outlived his whole family and lived to 84. I would like to read Jane Eyre because I think the story line is kind of similar to Jane Austen and I want to compare the two as I read.
The Victorian times changed life in England dramatically. Innovations in technology and major growth in the economy. During the mid-Victorian period, people started to question the philosophy surrounding religion. Women were slowly given little rights such as ownership of a child and property ownership if married. & finally got the right to educate themselves by going to university. As more people got educated and became literate, it opened doors for authors including the Bronte sisters, who published their novels under male names. The Bronte sisters themselves lived hard lives. Their mother died early on in their lives; their brother became an alcoholic after his failed painting career, and their father was sick and dying when they finally became young women. The girls took it upon themselves to straighten out the families finances after their brother failed time and time again. The sisters accomplish extraordinary things, considering the demeaning role women were supposed to play during Victorian society. The sisters incorporate an element of spook and hardship in their novels because they didn’t live easy lives. The sisters wrote about topics that interested them such as women's rights, civil rights, and the right to follow your dreams even when society tells you that you can’t. After reading the descriptions for the novels the Bronte sisters wrote, I decided to read Anne Bronte’s novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall because it seemed like an interesting piece of literature. And also because I believe if an english teacher recommends a book to you, it’s most likely worth a read. I’ve heard that this novel is much more feminist compared to the other Bronte sisters novels, and I’m looking forward to reading it. Through further research, I discovered that the main character Helen Graham, goes against cultural norms by divorcing her husband and by claiming custody of her child (new law being enforced during Victorian times). And although it was the law, making the decision to be a single mother was controversial and made several people upset. Helen pursues her dream profession and becomes a painter, selling her paintings to support herself and her child. I’m excited to see Helen’s lifestyle and her decisions with her son compared to what was considered normal, affects life in the new village. Also maybe what the other villagers think of the whole situation.
ReplyDeleteThe Victorian area was a huge step forward for England. During this time period, the population grew and there was a shift towards a more urban lifestyle instead of the traditional one. Women also started to gain some rights during this period, although they couldn’t vote or hold political offices yet, they gained the ability to have custody of minor children and have ownership of property in marriage. Publishers were able to bring out more material for cheaper than ever before due to literacy increasing. The Church of England evolved into three major divisions with conflicting beliefs about religious practice. Rationalist challenges to religion from philosophy and science started to appear. The Industrial Revolution was huge during this period as well, as it was made up if technological, scientific, and industrial innovations like mass production, steam engines, railways, sewing machines, gas and electric light, and the telegraph.
ReplyDeleteThere were six children of the Bronte family. Charlotte went to Roe Head School where she then became a teacher when Emily was a student there. Emily became a teacher at Law Hill School and learned that she disliked teaching. Charlotte, Emily, and Anne began publishing their poetry and novels thereafter and being women, they didn’t have a fair chance in the business world, therefore, they published under masculine names allowing their books to have a higher chance of being published. This is similar to Jane Austen as she published her novels anonymously. After the rest of her family passed away, it was just Patrick (the father) and Charlotte, where she then wrote to restore her energy by explaining her feelings in Shirley. One year after marrying a Reverend, Charlotte died to tuberculosis, and their father, Patrick, ended up outliving his wife and six children and his only companion was Charlotte’s husband. I think it would be interesting to study the Wuthering Heights novel as it follows a boy who forms a bond with a girl and showcases Emily Bronte’s poetry. The novel kind of reminds me of Romeo and Juliet, with the fact that there are families who gain behavior of jealousy, revenge, and bitterness. Furthermore, it shows that a woman wanted to marry someone for their status, similar to Pride and Prejudice.
To begin, the main takeaway I have from the Victorian Era is that it was a time of large advances technologically, causing many problems with adjusting to the Era for the people living in it. First, many people at the time had issues with altering their way of life in order to keep up with all of the advancements being made. For example, many business owners had to work much longer and harder in order to keep up with the competition. This puts a lot of stress on the people living in this era, thus making life at home hard as well as life when working. To add on to this existing stress, many technological advancements led to a large jump in pollution and waste production, causing the risk of death in this era to skyrocket. From the Bronte sisters’ perspective, their water source which came from a river became polluted, leading to many people in the area that they lived in to become ill or even die from the effects of the pollution. All of this stress and fear of death from their water source caused the Bronte sisters to write most of their stories with a gothic theme to them. By living in an era and area where there were many dangers and risks to life and occupations, it makes sense that the Bronte sisters’ works tended to be darker and have more intense plots to them. In fact, there was so much stress on the people living during this era that many people didn’t even consider the Victorian Era to be an “era of improvement,” and instead thought of it as a terrible time in the history of England specifically. When people living in a specific era are not proud or happy with the time period they live in, there tends to be an increase in conflict. For the Bronte sisters, the conflicting times they lived in may have influenced the amount of conflict in their novels, leading to very intricate plots that will be interesting to read. Transitioning to the Bronte sisters’ individual works, I believe that I would have the most enjoyment reading the novel by Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights. After getting a brief summary of the novel and watching the movie trailer, it seems like the main character Heathcliff goes through a lot of traumatic moments when he was a child, and I would like to witness how this affects him in adulthood when he returns to his childhood friend Catherine at Wuthering Heights. Also, it is always very interesting to follow a story about how two main characters who planned on being in love forever have another person get in the way and witness how this event affects all three of the characters in this love triangle. I believe there will be many intense moments between the main characters throughout the novel, and you can never go wrong with conflict in a novel. Finally, I feel like this novel may have some sort of connection to life in high school, as there is much drama in high schools especially around relationships. If I were able to read a novel that I can somewhat relate to I think it would be beneficial to my understanding of the plot and my analysis of important events in the novel.
ReplyDeleteFor me at least, it seems to me was a time equivalent to when the United States was experiencing the roaring twenties, but simultaneously facing the great depression, “England experienced an enormous increase in wealth, but rapid and unregulated industrialization brought a host of social and economic problems.” If you couldn’t already see how the Victorian era is an exciting time to write about, a lot of politics was going on as well, one example being extreme inequality between men and women. “England experienced an enormous increase in wealth, but rapid and unregulated industrialization brought a host of social and economic problems.” During this period of time is where the Bronte sisters had time to write about the society they were living in. There are a lot of similarities between Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters, not only is there a poorly painted portrait of them, but their works of literature are well known all around the world. Wuthering Heights seems to be interesting, because it feels like it has the same structure as Jane Austens, Pride and Prejudice, which is something I would like to experience more of.
ReplyDeleteWhat I thought of when I heard the word Victorian age I instantly think of art and how it took over Europe and was highlighted with people like Shakespere and Leonardo Da Vinci. I now realize that was the renaissance. The Victorian era was England’s first step into becoming a more advanced nation and empire. During the Victoerian era, Advancements in technology, science, and the economy set off a huge industrial spike. This spike both helped and hindered the great British Empire. At the beginning of the era the new parliament was formed and a bill was passed that the lower middle class was allowed to vote, leading to a more fair voting system. However despite a new fairness to the lower middle class industrialization still caused maybe problems for them including Poverty, unemployment, and rioting. The Victorian era also brought about a great advancement in science as more was learned about our planet and the universe around it. Unfortunately the church did not agree with these ideals and stood by their beliefs which lead to The Bible, the statue of the human species, and the universe all come into question. As the empire grew, so did Britain's enemies. Socialist groups seemly fueled by the theories are Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels helped them gain force and be a constant threat to England’s economics and military. The Victorian age also constantly shed light on the roles of women. Women did not have the right to vote or hold political office, but were not completely blocked off. They were allowed to own land through marriage and could earn a degree and twelve different universities. The Victorian era paved a path for women to gain more and more rights that they are still striving for today. :Lastly, the role of novels played a huge role in the Victorian age. Non-fiction reads fielded a variety of readers and used their stories to display real life in a different world. This way of displaying the real world was then transferred in the form of theater which only enhanced the stories.
ReplyDeleteThe Story of the Bronte sisters is a sad one, but the legacy they left behind in their novels was their happy ending. What the story of the sisters taught me is to never give when it seems impossible to complete your task. The Bronte sisters want to publish their books but because they were women it would be extremely difficult to get that done. Instead of giving up right there they made their pen names masculine so people would acknowledge their work and read their fantastic stories. Each of the sisters wrote a masterpiece with compelling characters and a rich storyline. Charlotte wrote Jane Eyre, the story of a girl that has been outcasted her entire life and is hired to care for the proud Edward Rochester’s Bard. She slowly begins to fall in love with the gentlemen but finds a terrible secret that could halt their relationship. Emily wrote Wuthering Heights, the story about a gypsy boy named Heathcliff and a rich white girl named Cathrine Earnshaw and their love and status. Cathrine decided against marrying Healthcliff because of his poor statue and when heathcliff (now a grown adult and wealthy) returns to Cathrine (who is married) the encounter is not met with as much joy as anticipated and may lead to come cruel actions being taken in the name of family. Finally, Anne wrote The tenant of Wildfell hall, the story of a woman who is fighting for her own independence away from an awful marriage. It highlights the struggles of poor women during that age and how she overcame her obstacles. The Novel that spoke the most to me was Wuthering Heights because the moral of the story is you should never treat someone a certain way because of their wealth or the color of their skin but by the character of their personality and the actions that support it. I like the fact that this poor gypsy boy who was rejected by the girl he loved returns to her as an adult wealthy and I am interested in seeming how she acts around him now that he is wealthy.
Ben Weeden
The Victorian Era was marked by rapid progress in industrialization and social reforms. It brought up England’s world power and changed many people’s lives. Although women were still banned from voting, they still gained rights to education. Which gave some women writers, like the Bronte sisters, more opportunities.
ReplyDeleteThe Bronte sisters were Charlotte, Emily and Anne; they were well known poets and novelists.
They had it rough growing up, living in a financially unstable household without a mother along with an ill father and alcoholic brother. After their brother’s failed attempts to his painting career, the sisters took matters into their own hands and started publishing their poems and novels under male names, in attempts to help out the family’s finance.
All three novels seemed very interesting but the one I would like to read further more is Jane Eyre, because I’m excited to see what conflicts Jane will face.
Grace Shih
During the Victorian era, there was a huge change in the population. The population more than tripled by the time Queen Victoria died. This led to a lot more economic issues. A majority of the people called the era the Time of Troubles because there was unemployment, large portions of the population was in extreme poverty and there was rioting in the streets in response to the economic conditions. This period mostly ended for most citizens around 1848 but it wasn’t the real end of all the problems they faced. There were still many issues but most saw it as a time of prosperity and stability. After 1870 they soon realized that the cost of supporting England was beginning to be very high and they were getting threats to their military and their economic preeminence. At this time literature began evolving, it started to become much more melancholy and much more atheistic and it was the beginning of the modernist movement. This was where women started seeing more rights in society. They started the era not being able to vote or hold office, and by the end of the era they won the right to custody of minor children, own property, and even fulfill their education by being able to receive degrees at 12 universities. They started working in factories but they were working in poor conditions. Literacy was also improving in society during this time and that allowed publishers to begin printing books much cheaper than before making them more accessible to lower class citizens. This led the way for more authors like the Bronte sisters to come out. The Bronte sisters were half of the 6 children their parents Patrick and Maria had had. Their mother died while the children were very young, the oldest was 7 years old. The oldest sisters soon went off to school where the two oldest died due to an outbreak of tuberculosis. The girls were in and out of school and held many jobs between the remaining 3 sisters. Their brother was seen as the gifted sibling and they brought out a painting master which didn’t turn out too well and he threw away his potential when he wandered the streets of London drunk instead of attending a school. He also lost many jobs due to misconduct, and he once had an affair with the wife of his employer. When he passed away the three sisters decided to start publishing their works. Because of the status of women during this time, their chances of being published as women were greatly lowered, so the three sisters went and published their works under male aliases: Currer for Charlotte, Ellis for Emily, and Acton for Anne. Anne and Emily grew ill of tuberculosis and both died leaving Charlotte the last remaining sibling surviving alongside her father who ended up outliving all his children. I think I would like to read Jane Eyre because I think it’s an interesting story of an orphan who doesn’t fit in and doesn’t know what love is and she learns to love when she finds a place she is accepted into.
ReplyDeleteThe Victorian Age was England's strongest point as a country. Their world power and population grew tremendously. It's wealth increased but industrialization brought social and economic problems. In the early Victorian period Britain opened its first railway and its first reform parliament, but there was also economic distress. The economic and social problems associated with industrialization made the 1830s and 1840s the “Time of Troubles”. The troubles that were faced were unemployment, desperate poverty, and rioting. In the mid-Victorian period, it was a time of prosperity, optimism, and stability. Investments of people, money, and technology created the British Empire. In the later-Victorian period, England was confronted with growing threats to its military and economic preeminence. The literature at this time was the beginning of the modernist movement. Men and Women were still not equal at this point in time. Women were denied the right to vote or even hold political office throughout the period. They eventually won significant rights such as custody of minor children and the ownership of property in marriage. By the end of the period women could take degrees at twelve universities. Sadly many wome labored at factory jobs under horrible conditions and many of the women were driven to prostitution. The literacy of this time period shifted into more mature literature. The writers developed a poetry of mood and character, and the poetry tends to be pictorial and uses sound to convey meaning.
ReplyDeleteThe novel I would like to read is Wuthering Heights because I find it interesting that this poor boy fell in love with a girl but she doesn't love him. Later in life he finds her again, and is now wealthy, and she now shows interest in him.
I found my dive into the study of the Victorian Era very intriguing. I haven’t learned this much about another country before and I found what I learned very interesting. Additionally, I can draw many similarities to different parts of history. For example, the “Time of Troubles” seemed very similar to the Great Depression in that there was a lot of unemployment, poverty, and opposition. On the topic of opposition, I learned that many people, including novelists, disagreed with Queen Victoria’s ideas to advance the standard of living, economy, and society. One writer, Mathew Arnold, “felt the abandonment of traditional rhythms of life exacted a terrible price in human happiness”. I noticed that one reason some people of England disliked the turn their country was taking was because they thought the preservation of traditional values was very important. I also learned that during this period, England saw reform in their government with an addition of a Parliament and extended voting rights. With a decline in the economy from the “Time of Troubles”, the country saw the modernist movement start to develop near the end of the Queen’s reign. With it came a lot of other things including an increase in literacy rates, socialist movements, and women’s movements. The expansion of people who could read led to many more writers surfacing including the Brontë sisters. When I was deciding the novel that I wanted to read, I had trouble deciding between Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. After reading the summaries of both, their stories seem very interesting. Jane Eyre seems very eerie and mysterious, but in the short excerpt Mr. Pellerin read in class, I noticed some humor. I think all of these traits will combine to create a great thriller which is what I will be looking forward to if I read this book. On the other hand, Wuthering Heights looks to be interesting too. I am intrigued to see what the summary means when it mentions “leaving only the ghosts of Catherine and Heathcliff to haunt the moors”. This novel looks to have another suspenseful story. I am very interested in both books, but I would most likely choose Jane Eyre before Wuthering Heights.
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ReplyDeleteIn the Victorian era, a lot of change occurred throughout England. London saw a large increase in population, and in wealth. However, rapid industrialization brought many social and economic problems. In the early Victorian period, England found itself in a time of economic distress. In the middle period of this era, England made many groundbreaking achievements such as the Great Exhibition in Hype Park. As this era was coming to an end, England was faced with growing threats in its military and economic capabilities. Socialist movements began to catch the attention of citizens as Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles grew in power. These events started to hint at the beginning of the modernist movement.
The Bronte family consisted of six children with their parents Patrick and Maria. Not too long after Patrick took control of the parish in Haworth, Yorkshire, Marie has passed away. Two of the sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, unfortunately, caught tuberculosis, killing them both. The disease had infected their school which made Patrick bring his other daughter home. Many years later Charlotte began to teach at the Roe Head school. Many events occurred which eventually lead to Emily, Charlotte, and Anne to begin publishing their own novels. Charlotte wrote Jane Eyre, Shirley, and Villette. She had begun many novels that were never finished because of her unexpected death. After these deaths, only Patrick and Charlotte remained. Charlotte was later proposed to, which she accepted. Sadly, not too long after she had died of tuberculosis as well. Patrick lived until he was 84, outliving all of his other family members. All of the novels look very interesting to read. Anne Bronte’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall looked the most interesting because of its plot.
The nineteenth century was the golden age of English literature. The most distinctive and even surprising thing was that female writers entered the stage of history and played an important role during this period. They made English literature far ahead of the world during that time. Their appearance has epoch-making significance and influence, and the first step is taken by Jane Austen. Nevertheless, when Austin's writing reached its peak, she died early, and the three Bronte sisters were the most determined and famous followers. The two younger sisters also died before the age of thirty. The longest living Charlotte also lived only thirty-nine years. The three women used three of their own representative novels to present their different consciousness of life and inner world. Charlotte was sparkling like a star, "Jane Eyre" gave her all she wanted, except for love. She had to marry a little priest who she didn't like or even hate. However, after marriage, she lived a contented happy life. During that time was also the only happy life of her entire Bronte family. I would like to read Jane Eyre because I have seen the movie version before. Therefore, I want to read Charlotte's original book, after all, the film can never reveal the full meaning and state of mind that the original book wants to express.
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ReplyDeleteWhile studying this information about the Bronte sisters I have discovered that the victorian era was a very interesting period in time. I have never really learned much about England and it is fascinating to learn about there strongest point as a country. During this time their population and power grew an amazing amount. In this time period, they also increased there wealth tremendously. This all ended when Queen Elizabeth died, this time period was known as the time of troubles because of unemployment and large amounts of poverty, Similar to the great depression here in the united states. The Bronte family consisted of six children with their parents Patrick and Maria. Two of the sisters, Maria and Elizabeth had tuberculosis, which ended up killing them both. A few years later Emily, Charlotte, and Anne begin publishing their own novels. Charlotte wrote Jane Eyre, Shirley, and Villette. She also started many more that were never finished because of her early unexpected death. Later After Charlette got proposed to she also became infected with tuberculosis and died shortly after. Patric lived to 84 years old and outlived the rest of his family. While I choose to read Wuthering Heights all the book the Bronte sisters wrote seemed like they would be interesting reads.