Charlotte Bronte

Charlotte BrontÐ"« was born in 1816 ,Thornton, Yorkshire, third of the six children of Patrick BrontÐ"« and Maria Branwell BrontÐ"«. Her brother Patrick Branwell was born in 1817, and her sisters Emily and Anne in 1818 and 1820.

In 1820 the BrontÐ"« family moved to Haworth.

In 1821 Maria BrontÐ"« dies of cancer and her sister, Elizabeth Branwell, moves in with the BrontÐ"« family.

In 1824 the four eldest BrontÐ"« daughters were enrolled as pupils at the Clergy Daughter's School at Cowan Bridge. The following year Maria and Elizabeth, the two eldest daughters, became ill, left the school and died: Charlotte and Emily, understandably, were brought home.

In 1825 To amuse themselves, Charlotte and Emily, fill thousands of pages in miniature books with fictions about the imaginary Kingdom of Angria. Their brother, Branwell, and their youngest sister, Anne, eventually help develop the stories, which occupy the girls well into their twenties.

In 1831 Charlotte became a pupil at the school at Roe Head, but she left school the following year to teach her sisters at home. She returned returns to Roe Head School in 1835 as a governess: for a time her sister Emily attended the same school as a pupil, but became homesick and returned to Haworth. Ann took her place from 1836 to 1837.

In 1838, Charlotte left Roe Head School. In 1839 she accepted a position as governess in the Sidgewick family, but left after three months and returned to Haworth. In 1841 she became governess in the White family, but left, once again, after nine months.

Upon her return to Haworth the three sisters, led by Charlotte, decided to open their own school after the necessary preparations had been completed. In 1842 Charlotte and Emily went to Brussels to complete their studies. After a trip home to Haworth, Charlotte returned alone to Brussels, where she remained until 1844.

In 1846 Charlotte, Emily, and Anne publish at their own expense a joint volume of Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, using pseudonymous. Only two copies are sold. Charlotte's novel The Professor is rebuffed by publishers. She begins Jane Eyre while caring for her father's recovery from an eye operation.

In 1847 Publishes Jane Eyre , an immediate success.

In 1848 Charlotte and Ann visited their publishers in London, and revealed the true identities of the "Bells." In the same year Branwell BrontÐ"«, by now an alcoholic and a drug addict, died, and Emily died shortly thereafter. Ann died the following year.

In 1849 Charlotte, visiting London, began to move in literary circles, where she met Thackeray. In 1850 Charlotte edited her sister's various works, and met Mrs. Gaskell. In 1851 she visited the Great Exhibition in London, and attended a series of lectures given by Thackeray

In 1854 Marries her fourth suitor, Arthur Bell Nichols, her father's curate, who does not share her intellectual interests but who makes her happy. Begins but does not finish a novel, Emma.

In 1854 Charlotte, expecting a child, caught pneumonia. It was an illness which could have been cured, but she seems to have seized upon it an opportunity of ending her life, and after a lengthy and painful illness, she died, probably of dehydration on March 31, 1855

In Jane Eyre Charlotte used her experiences at the Evangelical school and as governess. The novel severely criticized the limited options open to educated but impoverished women, and the idea that women "ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags." Jane's passionate desire for a wider life, her need to be loved, and her rebellious questioning of conventions, also reflected Charlotte's own dreams. "Conventionality