Contents
Charlotte Brontë
Writing Jane Eyre, a novel centred on a woman’s independence and inner life.
Jane Eyre · Shirley
- Born
- 21 April 1816
- Birthplace
- Thornton, England
- Died
- 31 March 1855
More people
Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë was an English novelist whose fiction examined work, love and the limited choices available to women. She first published under the male pen name Currer Bell.
Early life
Haworth childhood
Grew up in the Yorkshire parsonage with her literary siblings.
Teaching and languages
Worked as a teacher and governess and studied in Brussels.
Career
- 1830s–1840s
Paid employment
Balanced writing with teaching and governess work.
- 1846
First publication
Published poetry jointly with Emily and Anne under the Bell pseudonyms.
- 1847–1853
Novelist
Established a literary career while coping with successive family bereavements.
Selected work
Jane Eyre
An orphaned governess insists on dignity and moral independence.
Shirley
Explores women’s lives against industrial unrest.
Villette
Follows an English teacher’s emotionally isolated life abroad.
Beyond work
Writing family
Shared imaginative worlds and literary ambitions with Emily, Anne and Branwell.
Marriage
Married Arthur Bell Nicholls in 1854 and died the following year.
Sources & photo credit
Biography ↗Life and work ↗Photo: Branwell Brontë. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
