#The Brontë sisters

[burningvelvet]

jacob elordi and margot robbie starring in yet another whitewashed wuthering heights adaptation which is going to further destroy the public perception of this classic literary work by misleading people into interpreting it as a common bodice ripper bc no one cares about nuance or meaning and all anyone cares about is profit... crying shaking throwing up!!!

it's also really ironic to imagine what heathcliff himself would think about how he's portrayed in media. he hates everyone and would hate more than anyone the fans who romanticize him, just as he canonically hates isabella for adoring him and wanting to believe that he's better than he is — that he is the romantic hero she's made him out to be. how ironic is it that most fans of the work embody isabella? and on that note, how much do you want to bet that isabella will be written out of the story along with most of the other characters plotlines, like how the colonial rhetoric is written out by the fact of elordi's mere presence?

heathcliff is such a wonderfully written character and one of the most iconic in all literary history. he doesn't deserve this chronic mistreatment and neither do any of the other characters. least deserving of all is emily brontë herself who would be continuously disappointed if she were misfortunate enough to have to bear witness to these adaptations. she's actively rolling in her grave as we speak and the producers are parodying heathcliff digging her up so that she can share in the torment they insist upon...

[hairtusk]

The bloodstained handkerchief belonging to Anne Brontë, used in the weeks leading up to her death from tuberculosis in May 1849

[eva-eyre]

[nymphpens]

[kratosfilms]

⊹₊┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ୨୧ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈₊⊹

emily (2022) headers

[unamazing-sheep21]

what if they were like….brothers or something. The Bronte brothers. The the Brontë cousins.

2/3 are Byronic heroes and the third guy is just some guy from Yorkshire

[cinematicjourney]

The Brontë Sisters (1979) | dir. André Téchiné

[coochiequeens]

The sisters didn’t use androgynous pseudonyms because they were non-binary or wanted to be men. It was because of the prejudice against female authors and the obstacles facing women who wanted to get published." - Joan Smith

Story by Craig Simpson

The Brontë sisters have been included in LGBT events because the androgynous pen names they used suggest they were “genderqueer” figures exploring “gender identity”.

Feminists have reacted angrily to Emily, Charlotte and Anne’s inclusion in Pride Month material discussing “the Brontës and gender identity” because of their alter egos.

Charlotte published her works under the name Currer, Emily under the moniker Ellis and Anne adopted “Acton”. All three went by the same surname, Bell.

At the time, it was common for female writers to adopt male pseudonyms when writing and publishing their works in order to be taken seriously by the establishment – a practice still employed today by some authors.

Material posted online by the Brontë Parsonage Museum, the one-time Yorkshire home of the authors, states that “gender is explored” in their novels, some of which exhibit “gender queerness”.

Joan Smith, the author of Misogynies, told The Telegraph: “What next, the Brontë brothers?

“The sisters didn’t use androgynous pseudonyms because they were non-binary or wanted to be men. It was because of the prejudice against female authors and the obstacles facing women who wanted to get published.

"Imposing modern nonsense about gender identity on 19th-century women writers is an insult to what they managed to achieve.”

Neither Charlotte nor her younger sisters Emily or Anne were ever known to have had same-sex relationships. The younger pair both died in their late 20s without having any recorded romances at all.

Charlotte married the curate Arthur Bell Nicholls.

The “Pride at the Parsonage” material about “The Brontës and Gender Identity” was posted by the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth, West Yorkshire.

This was the home of the famed novelists, who gave the world Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey.

The Parsonage has said that Charlotte created an entire persona for her alias, Currer, and that she was more “assertive” when using it in correspondence.

Charlotte’s 1853 novel Villette is held up as an example of “gender queerness” in one post, which quotes an obscure academic paper.

The quote from the paper states that Charlotte’s character Lucy taking part in a play dressed as a man “adds masculinity on top of her femininity to perform gender queerness” and finds “delight and joy in this genderqueer performance”.

Posts from the Parsonage state that the Brontës managed to defy the gender expectations of their day by using their pseudonyms, adding that many potential female novelists may have been silenced by the societal norms of their day.

The inclusion of the sisters in LGBT-themed material has prompted an online backlash, with more than 170 comments.

One comment said: “The Brontës adopted male pseudonyms because at that time women weren’t allowed or accepted to be writers or to earn a living for themselves outside of professions deemed to be suitable for women (governesses, servants, etc) based on stereotypes.

“They were not ‘queer’ in the modern sense, or considered themselves to have a male or non-binary identity.

“They did it out of necessity due to the restrictive gender stereotypes that people had to conform to at that time.

“Recent trends and movements citing the relevance and importance of ‘gender identity’ mystify me.”

Another person said: “Ugh, this is a woeful stretch. The barriers they faced were all about being female. Not much has changed.”

And another wrote: “Stop pushing a regressive ideology. And Charlotte Brontë died as a result of her female biology. You are doing the Brontës a major [disservice].”

The Parsonage Museum responded by adding their own comment, stating: “We remain committed to our Pride at the Parsonage campaign and stand beside all those we seek to include and celebrate.”

The public statement on Facebook added: “As well as a commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, the Brontë Society has a policy of respect and a duty of care to its staff.

"While courteous discussion is welcomed, we will not allow our thoughtful and hardworking staff to be subjected to hatred or bullying behaviour.”

The Brontës are not the first writers to be controversially included in Pride events.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, the poet laureate, was named as an LGBT historical figure on a tour for schools, despite a lack of evidence that the poet had any homosexual relationships.

While there is no clear evidence Tennyson was homosexual, the Isle of Wight home where he lived with his wife of 42 years was included in a tour of sights linked to LGBT figures whose stories may have been obscured by “cis/heteronormative narratives”.

The Parsonage Museum has been contacted for comment

[amatesura]

To Walk Invisible (2016) | dir. Sally Wainwright

[literatureismyentirepersonality]

Hello! Just wanted to say I enjoy your tumblr. Seeing your posts on the Brontes, Austen, Keats and Hamlet remind me of the time when I was obsessed with literature and specifically these works/authors. One of my underrated favourites is Villette by Charlotte Bronte (though Jane Eyre was my first Bronte love.) And Mansfield Park awakened me to Austen's depths. What are your favourite Bronte novel and Austen novel?

Halloo!

I LOVE Villette. It is Charlotte Brontë's best work in my eyes, showing her real development as a writer. I've always found it confusing/sad that Jane Eyre is the most well known of the Brontë ouvre because although it's good and I enjoy it, it is the weakest link. Charlotte Brontë got SO much better. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is my favourite Brontë novel, partly because I lean more towards Anne's cleaner style, partly because the subject matter is very dear to me. Wuthering Heights was my first love, though. My grandma took me to visit the parsonage having read only bits of Jane Eyre and I took home a copy of Wuthering Heights and devoured it in one night. It's a really magical whirlwind on your first read.

I really need to appreciate Mansfield Park more and do a re-read— I know I saw much more in Emma as an adult and I may well see more there too. Northanger Abbey was my favourite for a while as the most cheerful and fun (and my first Austen novel) but Persuasion has my heart.

Also Keats! Keats! Do you have a favourite piece? A gripe against The Eve of St Agnes? (I do) Please talk to me about Keats because Tumblr has not yet scratched that itch for me.

[kajaono]

If you ask me who is my favorite author: one of the Brontë sisters, Gaskell or Austen, at the end of the day I will always say Gaskell

Yeah Austen is amazing. Her novels always make me laugh, she introduced me to this whole regency section of literature

But Gaskell is just a completely different level. She is such an amazing observer of human nature. She sees the horror in illness, hunger, poverty and death but she also sees the beauty in life. She realized that one thing can never exist without the other. So there is sadness, humor, love and prejudice. Her books are just so full of empathy, for actually all of her characters, and this is so calming and always touches me heart

[burningvelvet]

Ruth Wilson in Jane Eyre (2006)

[hairtusk]

filed under: signs that aren't poems, but could be

[eva-eyre]

get you a man who calls you the weirdest nicknames like mustard seed and firmly believes you’re an elf

[thequietabsolute]

— conjecture: my girlfriend knows more about the Brontës than god does 🏸

[ladysparrow01]

I would be in such danger as the Heroine of a Gothic Romance Novel (which is why I'd be perfect for it). Yes, I have an inability to resist exploring in Strange Places. And yes, I have a total lack of warning signals when it comes to Crumbling Gothic Architecture or Ghostly Shenanigans. But what would truly get me, I think, is my Reputation for being Wretched at Responding/Replying to any kind of Correspondence in a timely manner.

"We haven't heard from Elle in a long while, is that strange? I mean, her letters just stopped arriving. Isn't that odd?" "No, that's just Elle for you. She'll probably write back in a few weeks like nothing's happened. I'm sure she's fine."

Meanwhile, out on the Moors in the Shadow a Dilapidated Manor: cue Myself running barefoot in a billowing nightgown, through the rain, with a dying lantern in my hand as I attempt to flee from the Horrors my snooping in the attic unleashed.