Bronte sisters brother

and am still so weak that I can scarcely hold a pen."* While he attributes his condition to unspecified ailments, the frequency of such complaints, coupled with his erratic employment history, suggests a pattern consistent with chronic alcohol abuse.

Analyzing Branwell's letters reveals a man increasingly isolated and dependent. They planned to teach modern languages, so they decided to study abroad first.

A governess was a woman who lived with a wealthy family and educated their children. She also wrote about the social, health, and economic conditions of the region.

Haworth's Conditions

The many deaths in the Brontë family were not unusual for the area, where people faced death daily. Branwell’s life was marked by unfulfilled potential, as he struggled with personal and professional failures, often overshadowed by his sisters’ literary success.

His birth name was Patrick Prunty or Brunty.

He was a very smart young man and earned a scholarship to St John's College, Cambridge. While his cause of death was recorded as ‘chronic bronchitis-marasmus’, most now believe that he died from acute tuberculosis aggravated by alcoholism, drug use (specifically opium and laudanum) and alcohol withdrawal, aka delirium tremens.

This comparison raises a critical question: How might Branwell’s life have differed had he adopted the disciplined habits of his sisters?

A closer examination of Branwell’s alcoholism reveals its societal and personal implications. Aunt Branwell taught the children arithmetic, the alphabet, and sewing skills. He died in 1861 at the age of 84.

Emily didn't settle well at the school; her health seemed to get worse, and she had to go home after three months. The Brontë sisters, though constrained by gender norms, found solace and purpose in their writing. The story is told by two narrators, making it complex and engaging.

1848: Anne's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

A year before her death, Anne published her second novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

This was because another publisher had spread a rumor that all three novels were written by one person, Ellis Bell (Emily). She died the following year at age 38. His death at the age of 31, attributed to tuberculosis and complications from alcoholism, underscores the devastating toll of his habits. Charlotte and Anne were more practical and didn't hesitate to find work.

The idea was that the books were small enough for the toy soldiers to read.

Their stories became more complex as they grew up, influenced by the magazines and newspapers their father subscribed to.

Influences on Their Writing

Their fictional worlds were born from their vivid imaginations, fueled by reading and discussions.

Newspapers and Magazines

The magazines and newspapers Patrick Brontë read were a treasure trove of information for his children.

Crucially, he didn’t have the mental resources to counter rejection.

Daphne du Maurier, in her definitive biography, The Infernal World of Branwell Brontë, writes: ‘The seeds of Branwell’s destruction lay not just in his doomed love affair, but also his inability to distinguish truth from fiction and reality from fantasy. However, Patrick's brother had notable descendants, including James Brontë Gatenby, a scientist, and Peter Gatenby, a medical director for the UN.

The Brontës in Popular Culture

Movies

• Three Sisters of the Moors (1944, American short film): Molly Lamont as Charlotte, Lynne Roberts as Emily, and Heather Angel as Anne.
• Devotion (1946, American film): Ida Lupino as Emily, Olivia de Havilland as Charlotte, and Nancy Coleman as Anne.
• Les Sœurs Brontë (1979, French film): Isabelle Adjani as Emily, Marie-France Pisier as Charlotte, Isabelle Huppert as Anne, Patrick Magee as Patrick Brontë, and Pascal Greggory as Branwell Brontë.
• Emily (2022, British/American film): Emma Mackey as Emily, Alexandra Dowling as Charlotte, and Amelia Gething as Anne.

Objects in Outer Space

• Asteroid #39427 is named Charlottebrontë.
• Asteroid #39428 is named Emilybrontë.
• Asteroid #39429 is named Annebrontë.
• A 60-kilometer-wide impact crater on the planet Mercury is named Brontë, in honor of the family.

Sport

• In 2018, a new horse race at York Racecourse was named the Brontë Cup to honor the family.

Images for kids

• Branwell Brontë, self-portrait, 1840

• The life of a woman as imagined in the Victorian world around 1840.

• Governess in a rich English family in the second half of the 19th century

• Jane Eyre, pleading her case to her aunt, Mrs Reed, before she is sent to hard service at Lowood (second edition of Jane Eyre, 1847)

See also

In Spanish: Familia Brontë para niños