English 12 / Unit 5: The Victorian Era
5.3 The Brontë Sisters
Notes
Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë published under male pen names (Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell) because women writers faced prejudice.
- Jane Eyre (Charlotte, 1847): a first-person narrative of an orphan who becomes a governess; blends Gothic elements with a story of independence. Jane declares, "I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will."
- Wuthering Heights (Emily, 1847): a wild story of Catherine and Heathcliff, told through the narrators Lockwood and Nelly Dean (nested narration). Catherine says, "Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same."
- Both novels use Gothic settings: moors, storms and secrets.
Practice
Why did the Brontë sisters publish under names like Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell?
Male-sounding pseudonyms helped them be taken seriously.
Jane says, "I am no bird; and no net ensnares me." What does she mean?
The bird and net metaphor stands for her independence.
Wuthering Heights is told partly by Lockwood and Nelly Dean. This makes the story:
Layered narrators filter the events.
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