The Life of Charlotte Brontë

Description

The Life of Charlotte Brontë, penned by English author Elizabeth Gaskell, is a posthumous biography released in 1857. Gaskell drew heavily from Brontë's extensive correspondence with her friend Ellen Nussey. Navigating sensitive matters, Gaskell treaded carefully. She toned down aspects such as her depiction of the Clergy Daughters' School, attended by Charlotte and her siblings, to avoid legal repercussions from the school's founder, Rev. William Carus Wilson. Though not directly attributing blame to him for the deaths of two Brontë sisters, the Carus Wilson family issued a rebuttal titled 'A refutation of the statements in 'The Life of Charlotte Brontë' regarding the Casterton Clergy Daughters' School, when at Cowan Bridge.' While candid in many respects, Gaskell omitted details regarding Charlotte's affection for Constantin Héger, a married man, fearing it would clash with contemporary morals and distress Charlotte's family and friends. Similarly, she omitted any mention of Charlotte's romantic involvement with George Smith, her publisher, who was concurrently publishing the biography.

This book has 177,643 words, 267 pages in the PDF version, and was originally published in 1857.

Production notes: This ebook of The Life of Charlotte Brontë was published by Global Grey in 2019, and updated on the 10th May 2024. The artwork used for the cover is 'Charlotte Brontë' by Patrick Branwell Brontë.