Abstract
Of the school-days of the Brontës nothing need be said here. Every reader of ‘Jane Eyre’ knows what Charlotte Brontë herself thought of that charitable institution to which she has given so unenviable a notoriety. There she lost her oldest sister, whose fate is described in the tragic tale of Helen Burns; and it was whilst she was at this place that her second sister, Elizabeth, also died. Only one thing need be added to this dismal record of the stay at Cowan Bridge. During the whole time of their sojourn there, the young Brontës scarcely ever knew what it was to be free from the pangs of hunger.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
Robert Southey, the Poet Laureate, wrote a crushing letter (March 1837) in which he told Charlotte that ‘Literature cannot be the business of a woman’s life, and it ought not to be.’ It was a standard view in the middle years of the Victorian Age, and Charlotte, yielding to his authoritative tone, placed his letter in an envelope marked’ southey’s advice to be kept for ever. My twenty-first birthday. Roe Head, April 21, 1837.’ See Rebecca Fraser, Charlotte Brontë (London: Methuen, 1988), pp. 109–111.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1997 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Orel, H. (1997). T. Wemyss Reid, [‘ “The Little Family” of the Brontës’] (1829–1849), in Charlotte Brontë: A Monograph (London: Macmillan and Co., 1877), pp. 26–8, 39–43, 94–8. In: Orel, H. (eds) The Brontës. Interviews and Recollections. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-25199-5_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-25199-5_1
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-66314-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-25199-5
eBook Packages: Palgrave Literature & Performing Arts CollectionLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)