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Emily
Bronte, the fourth of the Bronte sisters, is the author of the well
renowned classic ‘Wuthering Heights.’ It was her only work of prose to
get published. Born on 30th.July 1818, the author was one amongst six
children of an Irish clergyman Patrick Bronte who came from a Methodist
background. Her mother died when she was just three years old and all the
Bronte children were left in the care of their aunt Elizabeth Branwell who
was also a Methodist. It was their aunt who with her religious hymns and
stories about miracles, apparitions and frenzied fanaticism, filled their
heads with all kinds of ideas and fired their imaginations, the reverend
also adding in his little bit. Besides these two people, one could hear
all sorts of stories and superstitions from Haworth, a place in Yorkshire,
where the family lived.
In
1824, the four elder sisters were sent to Cowan bridge school, which was a
school for daughters of poor clergymen. However a serious epidemic broke
out and her two elder sisters died. Charlotte also became very ill and she
and Emily were sent back home so that they only spent a brief period
of time at school and were largely educated at home. She even tried her
hand at being a private governess, but she was too attached to her home
and the moors and couldn’t bear to be away for too long. She stayed at
home for a major part of her life but like all the other Bronte children
her imagination roamed far. The children lived in the clergy of Haworth, a
small isolated hill village surrounded by the moors, and having no other
source of company or entertainment the children’s only source of
pleasure was to read to each other the stories they had written. From an
early age the Bronte children made up imaginary stories that grew more
elaborate as more characters were invented and finally turned into complex
serials. The writings of Charlotte and their brother Branwell known as
the cycles of Angria still survive while unfortunately those written by
Emily and Anne do not exist anymore except for a few odd pieces of
prose. These juvenile writings of Emily and Anne were known as the tales
of the Gondolls and involved a complex story of two imaginary islands and their people.
In
1842, with the intention of starting their own small private school Emily and
her elder sister Charlotte went to a private boarding school in
Brussels. However they had to soon return because of the death of their
aunt. Emily then took over as the housekeeper of Haworth. Charlotte went
back to Brussels while the younger sister Anne and brother Branwell went
to York to work as governess and tutor for a wealthy family. In 1845 the
family was together again.
Some
years later, her sister Charlotte first discovered Emily’s poems and the three sisters published a book of their combined poetry at their own
cost titled as ‘Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell.’ They all
used masculine pseudonyms because they felt that a literary work by women
would be viewed with prejudice. However the book only sold two copies.
Then each of the sisters decided to write a novel. Emily wrote her
magnificent ‘Wuthering Heights’ but found no publishers ready to
publish it. Then finally in 1847 her work got published at last under the
name of Ellis Bell. Even though it was released, the critics were rather
harsh on her and misinterpreted the meaning and nature of the story. Emily
was paid a pittance for what was to later become one of the finest pieces
to be written in the English language. In fact many critics thought that
the book had been written by her brother Branwell since no woman from such
a secluded and conservative background could be
credited with writing a story so full of passion as 'Wuthering Heights'.
However she did not get discouraged by all this and decided to continue
writing but she contracted Tuberculosis in 1848 and her health declined
very rapidly. Within the short period of two months she died, at the young
age of thirty. But her literary work of art still remains today and is
read and enjoyed by a great multitude even today.
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