Romancing...Miss Charlotte

“Every atom of your flesh is as dear to me as my own: 

in pain and sickness it would still be dear.” 

Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

Portrait by J. H. Thompson
The Bronte Parsonage Museum

Today is the birth anniversary of one of the most popular writers: Charlotte Bronte. She was born April 21, 1816 at Thornton in Yorkshire.

Oggi è l'anniversario della data di nascita di una delle scrittrici più amate dal pubblico: Charlotte Bronte nata il 21 aprile 1816 a Thornton nello Yorkshire.  

The old parsonage at Thornton where the Charlotte was born.

Brontë family

The Bronte sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne have written some of the greatest novels of English literature.

I romanzi di Charlotte, Emily ed Anne sono stati a pieno titolo inseriti nelle grandi opere della letteratura inglese. 

Presumed portrait of Emily, Charlotte and Anne Brontë,
attributed to Edwin Landseer, ca. 1838

Charlotte and her father

Who does not remember Jane Eyre and her Mr. Rochester or the heart breaking love story beetween Catherine and Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights written by Emily or the story of Helen that,  in The tenant of Wildfell hall,  flees from her unhappy marriage.

Chi non ricorda Jane Eyre e il suo Mr. Rochester oppure la struggente storia d'amore di Heathcliff e Catherine in Cime tempestose scritto da Emily o la storia di Helen che  in The tenant of Wildfell hall fugge dal suo matrimonio infelice. 

Life was not easy for the young sisters, and their novels always have something autobiographical. Their father was a rude cultured Reverend and they lived mostly in the moors of Yorkshire.

La vita delle sorelle Bronte non fu facile e i loro romanzi hanno sempre qualcosa di autobiografico. Figlie di un rude reverendo vissero per lo più nella nella brughiera del Yorkshire. 

From a rough painting by Bramwell Bronte,
representing himself and his three sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne

Patrick Bronte was a reverend of humble origins who managed with great willpower to study at Cambridge. He had great intellectual gifts, but he was a selfish man and very strict. In 1820 they moved to Haworth in the heart of the moors that we find in their novels.
Their house was the rectory of the church where his father was serving. today became the home of the Bronte Parsonage Museum.

Viaggiarono (poco) amarono (molto), sognarono (tanto). Il padre era un reverendo di umili origini che riuscì con grande forza di volontà a studiare a Cambridge. Ebbe grandi doti intellettuali ma fu un uomo egoista e molto severo. Nel 1820 si trasferirono ad Haworth nel cuore della brughiera, dove spesso il vento sferzante del Nord non lasciava tregua. La loro casa fu la canonica della chiesa dove il padre prestava servizio oggi diventata la sede del Bronte Parsonage Museum. 

Haworth

The Parsonage

Maria Branwell, their mother, died young. The young Bronte grew up with their aunt and received maternal warmth only by their housekeeper. First attended an austere school until two old sister became ill and died for the school's poor conditions thet permanently affected their health and physical development. Charlotte continued his studies at home then at an institution where she later taught before becoming housekeeper and governess (our Jane Eyre?)

La madre morì giovane. Le figlie furono accudite da una zia ma ricevettero un po' di calore materno solo dalla loro governante. Dapprima frequentarono un austero collegio che riuscirono ad abbandonare solo dopo la morte dovuta agli stenti patiti nella scuola delle due prime sorelle. Charlotte continuò gli studi a casa  poi presso un istituto ove ella successivamente insegnò prima di diventare governante ed istitutrice  (ecco Jane Eyre?)

Charlotte Brontë’s handwritten manuscript of Jane Eyre

North Lees Hall, Haversage, Derbyshire
Charlotte Bronte's inspiration for Thornfield Hall in Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre, 1944

Charlotte and Emily and Anne dreamed to have a school in which their teaching, But it did not happen.

Charlotte ed Emily ed Anne sognavano un giorno di avere una scuola propria in cui insegnare, per mantenersi e svolgere un lavoro consono alla condizione della donna del tempo. Ma non fu così.

Unknown woman, formerly known as Charlotte Brontë (Mrs A.B. Nicholls)
by Unknown artist, watercolour, 1850

In 1842 Charlotte and Emily travelled to Brussels to enrol at the boarding school run by Constantin Héger but lack of money forced the sister to return home to a sick father and alcoholic brother. Charlotte  used the time spent in Brussels as the inspiration for some of the events in The Professor and Villette.
All three sisters wrote under pseudomini of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell.

A Charlotte ed Emily fu concessa la possibilità di recarsi a Bruxells per studi, ma la mancanza di denaro costrinse le giovani a far ritorno a casa ove l'attendeva un padre infermo e un fratello maggiore in preda all'alcool.  E fu proprio a Bruxells che Charlotte conobbe e si innamorò (non ricambiata) del suo professore Constantin Héger .
Tutte e tre le sorelle scrissero sotto pseudomini di Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell.

Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell
(Charlotte was Currer Bell, Emily was Ellis Bell and Anne was Acton Bell)

A manuscript by Charlotte Brontë
that fits comfortably into the palm of a hand.

Between 1846 and 1853 she wrote and published her most famous novels and poems. In the same years she lost her brother and her sisters. To escape from the pain caused by the many deaths Charlotte went often to London. He became friends with Elisabeth Gaskell her future biographer. 

Tra il 1846 e il 1853 scrisse e pubblicò i suoi romanzi più famosi e alcune poesie. Negli stessi anni morirono in poco tempo Branwell, il fratello maggiore, Emily (che rifiutò le cure mediche fini all'ultimo) ed Anne per consunzione. Per scappare dal dolore provocato dai numerosi lutti Charlotte si recò spesso a Londra. Divenne amica di Elisabeth Gaskell sua futura biografa.

1854 photograph

But London wasn't her home. Charlotte returned to solitary moor of Yorkshire, where against her father'will, accept the marriage proposal of the Reverend Arthur Bell Nicholl, coadjutor of the same father. They married in 1854 but their happiness was very short. Charlotte became pregnant soon after her wedding but she died, with her unborn child, on 31 March 1855, aged 38.

Charlotte ritornò nella solitaria dimora dello Yorkshire, e finì, nonostante il parere contrario del padre, per accettare la proposta di matrimonio del reverendo Arthur Bell Nicholl, coadiutore del padre stesso. Si sposarono nel 1854 ma la loro felicità durò poco. Charlotte morì incinta appena un anno dopo a soli 38 anni.

Charlotte Bronte's wedding bonnet, 1854.
Bronte Parsonnage Museum

Clothes and accessories worn by Charlotte Bronte
 on display in her old bedroom at the Bronte Parsonage Museum

Recently I bought this amazing book: The Brontes at Haworth  by Ann Dinsdale  It presents a detailed picture of the Brontes' live at Haworth, recountinng the story of each members of the family and describing the world in wich they lived. 

This book is indeed a trip back to Haworth. The texts and the pictures of the parsonage and the area surrounding it are beautiful! 

Recentemente ho comprato questo libro: The Brontes at Haworth  di Ann Dinsdale. Il testo è in inglese e descrive con immagini, testi, e fotografi e,la storia di ogni membro della famiglia e la loro vita a Haworth. E' un bellissimo viaggio nel loro mondo: sembra di 'entrare' nella canonica e nei luoghi circostanti!

The Brontes at Haworth 

by Ann Dinsdale  (english edition)

Another book I've read and enjoyed very much is 'Romancing Miss Bronte' by Juliet Gael. The novel reconstructs the life, passions, disappointments, glories, dreams, difficulties and loves of Charlotte Emily and Anne.

Un altro libro che ho letto tempo fa e che mi è piaciuto tanto è stato 'Romancing Miss Bronte' di Juliette Gael. Questo romanzo ricostruisce la vita, le passioni, le delusioni, le glorie, i sogni, le difficoltà e gli amori di Charlotte e, accanto a lei, di Emily e Anne. Bellissmo! Lo consiglio!

Charlotte Bronte Novels: 
- Jane Eyre, published 1847
- Shirley, published in 1849
- Villette, published in 1853
- The Professor, written before Jane Eyre, submitted at first along with Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey, then separately, and rejected by many publishing houses, published posthumously in 1857
- Emma, unfinished; Charlotte Brontë wrote only 20 pages of the manuscript, published posthumously in 1860. In recent decades at least two continuations of this fragment have appeared:
- Emma, by "Charlotte Brontë and Another Lady", published 1980; although this has been attributed to Elizabeth Goudge,the actual author was Constance Savery.
Emma Brown, by Clare Boylan, published 2003

Romanzi di Charlotte Brontë:

- "Jane Eyre" (1847)

- "Shirley" (1849)

- "Villette" (1853)

- "The Professor" (scritto prima di "Jane Eyre" ma rifiutato da molti editori; pubblicato postumo nel 1857)

- "Emma" rimasto incompiuto (scrisse solo 20 pagine del manoscritto)

Doogle Google 2014

For more about Bronte's life see this video  on You Tube