Early women writers had to fight for their place in the literary world and that’s how it was for Anne Brontë who published under a male pseudonym.
No one can dispute that Anne Brontë (1820-1849) was a writer ahead of her time, even though she wasn’t as well-known as her sisters – Charlotte and Emily. She was born the last of seven children of Patrick and Maria Brontë. Her mother, Maria, died of tuberculosis when Anne was only one year old. Their first two children also died at age eleven with the same disease. Patrick encouraged his children’s imaginations and urged them to stretch their minds so it was no surprise that they all became poets, writers, and Branwell, his only son, a painter. Creativity ran high in all the children due to the early exposure to a multitude of literature pieces.
Charlotte, Emily, and Anne all attended Miss Wooler’s school in Roe Head, England then worked as governesses once they graduated. But all of them wrote poetry as a regular escape from work.
After much struggle of finding a publisher, Anne released her first book, Agnes Grey in 1847, the same year Charlotte’s Jane Eyre and Emily’s Wuthering Heights made an appearance. But they were all published under male pseudonyms until 1850 after the deaths of Anne and Emily. Finally, Charlotte revealed their true identities.
Anne’s second book The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was published a year before her death and the subject matter of it as well as her first book made people uncomfortable. She shined a light on martial abuse, alcoholism, opium addiction, infidelity, class inequality, and the right of a woman to choose her own life. No one spoke of these things, they simply endured them. Her sisters Charlotte and Emily glossed over these subjects and tended to romanticize such issues of the day.
Anne died at twenty-nine years of age with two published books to her name and a body of poetry. Charlotte lived to age thirty-nine, the longest of all seven children. They all died of tuberculosis and it’s sad that their father outlived them all.
Of the sisters, Anne wanted to write the truth no matter how painful or that no one wanted to hear it. She felt she owed it to herself to expose the problems of the times and be truthful. That simply wasn’t done in her day. Literary scholars proclaimed her far ahead of her time and celebrate her books.
Here is what she wrote just days before her death: I have no horror of death: if I thought it inevitable I think I could quietly resign myself to the prospect … But I wish it would please God to spare me not only for Papa’s and Charlotte’s sakes, but because I long to do some good in the world before I leave it. I have many schemes in my head for future practise—humble and limited indeed—but still I should not like them all to come to nothing, and myself to have lived to so little purpose. But God’s will be done.
If you had lived back then, do you think you’d have read her books? I think I would’ve been curious. I loved Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights by her sisters.
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I would have been curious, for sure.
Her sister’s Jane Eyre is one of my all-time favorites.
Denise, thank you for coming over. Frankly, I had never heard of Anne Bronte before I ran across an article about her. History seems to have buried her deep. Have a wonderful day. Looks like spring here.
PBS/Masterpiece did a miniseries on the family a few years ago. But, I was aware of all of the siblings before that.
That’s great, Denise. I wish I’d seen that. Masterpiece has some really good programs on it. I watch it religiously.
Hi, I reckon I need to get out more, but I have never heard of Anne. What was her pen name?
Ronmcdonald555, I had never heard of her either. Her pen name was Acton Bell. Never heard of that either. The populace decided that if Anne wasn’t going to play nice, they wouldn’t buy her books. She went against the grain. Have a beautiful day.
I have read her books and I think they were (and in many ways still are) needed! I would definitely have been curious, and most likely have read her books if I’d have lived back then.
Ami, it’s sad that she faded into obscurity. And it’s really sad that all the siblings and the mother died of tuberculosis. Of course, they had no treatment back then and didn’t even really know what caused it. Enjoy your day.
It is! I do love that Anne was brave enough to go ahead and do the hard thing! She gave us treasures that we can still enjoy and learn from because of her courage!
I agree, Ami. And to go against the norm does take a lot of courage. Even more so during her age when men ruled everything and their say was law.
not ever read any of these type of books unless a requirement in school – they did not stick with me!
I’d would’ve been curious about her books and might have read them, particularly if I was concerned about honesty.
Karijean, she really told it like it really was and they didn’t want to look at that or examine themselves. The men were kinda running roughshod over the women and they didn’t want anything to challenge their “authority.” But it was sorely needed. Anne was a rebel and she got buried deep in history. She wrote in the back of her prayer book, “Sick of mankind and their disgusting ways.”
I would have read them. I had the pleasure of visiting their house when I visited friends.
Debby, how exciting to see the house where they lived. Sounds like a great opportunity. England has so much history to explore. Thanks for coming.
Thanks for sharing about the lesser-known Bronte sister, Linda. Since my teen years, I have loved Jane Eyre by big sister Charlotte. In fact, I now own an early edition of her work, still with nods to her male pseudonym. After researching the sisters, I downloaded a copy of Agnes Grey. I haven’t read it yet, but I hope to carve out some time in the near future. Such a tragic story for this gifted family, all with lives cut short. I’m glad Anne had the courage to speak the truth. She might have been criticized for speaking out, but without truth-speakers, change never happens.
Karen, I agree. Change never happens unless someone speaks up and says, “this is wrong.” I, too, loved Jane Eyre and still remember scenes of the madwoman in the attic and lightning striking a tree when she agrees to marry Mr. Rochester from the book even though it’s been over fifty or sixty years since I read it. Charlotte felt as Anne did about social injustice and inequality but was more subtle. Anne just blared it out. No hiding. She was very bold. She wrote in the back of her prayer book, “Sick of mankind and their disgusting ways.” She was angry about the treatment of women. Let me know what you think of Agnes Grey. I’m curious. Blessings and love, dear Filly sister.
I would definitely have been curious. Great post, Linda!
Linda, this is a really interesting post. I really did not know anything about her. You never hear much about her compared to her sisters. I totally identify with the quote you used at the end–she felt as so many of us do–that there is so much left to be done and that we are afraid we won’t have time to accomplish the good things we want to do before we die. And 29 is so young, isn’t it? Very sad. I am going to get some of her writings and read them. You’ve made me curious!
Thank you, Cheryl. I’m glad I found out some things about her. Her poetry is very beautiful and thought-provoking. Of the sisters, only Charlotte married. They all died so young. I agree about her quote when her life was ebbing away. We all feel we haven’t done enough and are leaving so much undone. I’m sure I’ll feel that way. There will still be stories in my head. One of the sites I went to said she left one half-finished manuscript which Charlotte promptly burned. Maybe Anne made her promise. Strange that all the sisters got tuberculosis from a school they all went to. Very sad.
What an interesting article. I had never heard of her or her books. I think I would have read them.
Barbara, thank you so much for stopping by and reading about Anne. I’m sure there are a lot of readers who’ve never heard of her. She only wrote the two novels and they were promptly squashed because of their controversial subject matter. I hope you have a beautiful day.
Hi, yes , I would have been very interested! This is so very interesting , I had not heard of her before. Thank you so much for sharing this info. Have a great day.
Alicia, I’m so happy my post interested you. I found it very fascinating and knew I couldn’t be the only one. She sure had a lot of courage to write the things she did. Blessings and love, sweet lady.
I am pretty sure I would have picked up her books.I would think I would be as socially active as I am now and would have been aware of some of the issues she addressed. It is so sad, and wrong, that woman were not taken seriously or given credit for their abilities. Unfortunately, it is an issue that still exists today in so many areas.
How sad these talented women died at such young ages. One wonders how much more they could have accomplished had they lived longer. Thank you for the interesting post.
Possibly. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you.