Charlotte Bronte: A Passionate Life (Hardcover)

by Lyndall Gordon (Author) "'A private governess has no existence', wrote Charlotte Bronte to her sister Emily, in the summer of 1839..." (more)
Key Phrases: chainless soul, rising character, unseen space, George Smith, Jane Eyre, Currer Bell (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In this eloquent revisionist biography of English novelist Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855), Gordon (Shared Lives) argues that she hid a passionate nature beneath the facade of a dutiful Victorian woman. She and her sisters Anne (The Tenant of Wildfell Hall) and Emily (Wuthering Heights) penned fiction and poetry during Yorkshire evenings at the Haworth Parsonage where they lived with their dictatorial father. Although the sisters initially published under male pseudonyms, Charlotte revealed their identities after she wrote Jane Eyre (1847). Gordon draws on letters and her analysis of Charlotte's autobiographical fiction (Shirley; Villette) to reveal an ambitious writer with tart humor who raged against the constraints society placed on her sex, as well as a woman who, after two unrequited love affairs, embarked on a brief but happy marriage. Earlier accounts that portrayed Charlotte as a lonely, tragic figure, Gordon maintains, were skewed because of the morality of the times and Charlotte's grief at the deaths of her two sisters and brother Branwell. Illustrations.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
YA?After her death, Charlotte Bronte's father, husband, lifelong friends, and her first biographer set about to whitewash her character. While this may be a somewhat harsh evaluation, it does seem that the efforts of these original guardians of her legacy have served to lessen the impact of her personality and made the passionate life of Gordon's title into one befitting a proper and pious Victorian wife and daughter. In this fascinating look at her true motives and desires, Gordon shows that Charlotte continually desired to push to the limits the situation of women in Victorian life. In a readable and engrossing account, the author leads readers into the mind and even the soul of her subject. They can follow her development from a romantic, solitary child, happy only in the company of her siblings; through her life as a student, teacher, governess; and finally as a wife. YAs will come to understand why, in the end, she willingly sacrifices her art for her marriage. This is a vivid description of the place of women in Victorian society as well as an excellent biography. It includes extensive notes, a bibliography, both primary and secondary sources with much coverage of the Brontes' juvenalia, as well as photographs and sketches.?Susan H. Woodcock, King's Park Library, Burke, VA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc; 1st US ed edition (January 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393037223
• ISBN-13: 978-0393037227
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.8 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,404,022 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Charlotte Bronte A Passionate Life, February 20, 2000

By	Caroline Anderson (Walnut Creek, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Charlotte Bronte: A Passionate Life (Paperback)

From the time I first read "Jane Eyre" in high school until now, some 30 years and many re-readings later, I have never come across anything that made me feel I really could comprehend the woman behind the work, until I read this book,which I finished early this morning. "Jane Eyre" has always been my favorite novel... I have seen every movie adaptation, I have trudged the rainy streets of Haworth and the surrounding moors, I have read several biographies, I have read other Bronte works. You see, I thought if I understood Charlotte Bronte better, I would understand myself better, at least the part of myself that is so incredibly moved by Jane Eyre at every re-reading. I was THRILLED to find a book that leaves the strict biographical details to any of the numerous Bronte biographers and explores the soul behind the facts. It is wonderfully written in its own right and demonstrates incredible insight and respect for the Bronte genius. Without feeling like I was being manipulated by a feminist with an agenda, I came to appreciate the incredible strength of mind and character in a woman like Ms. Bronte, whose unique identity and voice couldn't be suppressed by her social and personal circumstances. My already profound admiration for Charlotte Bronte was only deepened after reading this book by Lundall Gordon for the first time.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Enigma of Charlotte Bronte, January 26, 2006

By	R. Chaffey "beckahi" (Chicago) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have long considered "Jane Eyre" to be my favorite book, and I have read much of Charlotte Bronte and the writing of her sisters. These three women were enigmas in their time; they wrote with voice beyond their years and experience, and created central female characters who were strong and could hold their ground with any male character, something not deemed proper in a modest Victorian lady. Hidden behind pseudonymns, they could give voice to the shape of women to come long after they lived and since Charlotte lived the longest of the three, it is through her legacy that anything about the Brontes can be known.

Lyndall Gordon has done a remarkable job with this biography. It is not a straight-forward chronological biography in the typical sense; while it concerns itself with dates and events as they unfolded, Gordon is more concerned with the woman behind these happenings. She has been able to delve into Charlotte's life and expose a portrait much more vivid than other biographies have created. So much has been said and misrepresented about Charlotte Bronte (thanks in large part to the biased writing of Elizabeth Gaskell so soon after Charlotte's death) and Gordon examines that image while weaving the fire of Charlotte Bronte's soul and writing into a new image of an icon.

Gordon begins by tracing the roots of the Bronte family - the death of their mother at a young age, who left behind six children to a preoccupied father who only had time for his parsonage and his only son,(so preoccupied was Mr. Bronte that he did not know of the writing gifts his three daughters possessed until they presented him with published novels) - to the trials and tribulations of publishing, to the tragic deaths of all four of her sisters and her brother, to her unlikely marriage and success as an author. Gordon traces Charlotte's struggles at school and her exhaustion at being a governess, to her years in Brussels where her gift (and love) truly caught flame for the first time. She weaves back and forth between triumph and disillusion, success and heartache, happiness and depression, painting a picture of Charlotte Bronte as a passionate, fearless woman who defied the life laid out for her.

In an age when literary pursuits were not meant for females, Charlotte Bronte turned the tide. She endured criticisms of being coarse and immoral, of being plain and undignified, of being doomed to a life of spinsterhood and illness. She rose above all of these challenges and became a mix of the heroes she had created in her novels. "Jane Eyre" may stand as her best work, but it would be amazing to know what else she might have been able to offer the world if her life hadn't been cut short.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Passion for Language, September 17, 2006

By	J. Clark "Nancy Clark" (Bergenfield, NJ, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Charlotte Bronte: A Passionate Life (Paperback)

At first I thought, "Oh, no, not ANOTHER life of Charlotte Bronte." But this one is worthwhile: convincing and upbeat. Rather than recording day-by-day events of Charlotte's life (usually viewed as pathetic), it emphasizes the miracle of her writing. I could not follow every step of Gordon's critical readings of the novels, but . . . Gordon offers so many other insights to feast upon regarding: the importance of Charlotte's letters, the Bronte family's place in society, the views of Mrs Gaskell, Charlotte's decision to marry Arthur, and the probable cause of her death. The comparison of Jane Eyre to Catherine Earnshaw and to Giselle of the ballet is only one example of Gordon's originality. The serious reader should also look up the reviews of the Times (London) and Independent (London).