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"We Are Three Sisters": Self and Family in the Writing of the Brontes

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In the history of famous authors, the Bronte sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne, stand out. Firstly, that three siblings would prove to be so gifted in the same field. For example, we can only wonder what if Charles Dickens had had two such siblings?

Then, of course, there is the obvious factor that all three Brontes were female. At a time when wealthy British women had such circumscribed career choices. Ever since their lifetimes, many have thusly commented.

But apparently few have focused on how the Brontes depicted families in their fiction, and how these tied in with their own familial situation and the Victorian ethos of family. In retrospect, this is one of those analyses whose idea is stunningly obvious. But for some reason, a priori to this book, it has been little (none?) touched on.

Most interestingly, Lamonica suggests that while the Brontes never actually denied the prospect of a woman being content through her family, they never made this out to be the only choice. A very contemporary stance.