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she had longed for and imagined in her writings, but her letters demonstrate genuine happiness during the all-too brief period of her married life. In less than a year after the wedding, at the age of 38, she died of complications in the early stages of pregnancy. Her first biographer Elizabeth Gaskell, a deeply Christian woman herself, who had known Charlotte in the last years of her life, marvelled at her quiet survival of a life of trial and tribulation: ‘the wonder to me is how she can have kept heart and power alive in her life of desolation’. 12 Gaskell portrayed her subject as a long-suffering daughter whose tragic life had been directed by duty and stoicism. I believe that Charlotte Brontë’s heroic survival of such a tough pilgrimage through life was the result of her strong religious faith, however unorthodox. I think we can say, in conclusion, that her personal commitment to ‘the world-redeeming creed of Christ’ meant that she believed that Christ would never finally abandon a creature he had made in his own image, that she would eventually find justice in the next world if not in this world, and that meanwhile it was her duty to exercise her strong creative encouragement of her fellow human beings. Notes: 1 This talk was first delivered at St John’s Church, Canberra, in October 2008. 2 T. Wemyss Reid, Charlotte Brontë: A Monograph (London: Macmillan and Co., 1877), pp. 24-6. 3 Psalm 23: often quoted by Charlotte Brontë, e.g. Jane Eyre, ch. 37. 4 The Letters of Charlotte Brontë with a selection of letters by family and friends, ed. Margaret Smith, vol. 2 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995), p. 343. 5 He was ordained an Anglican priest in 1807 and, after several curacies, was appointed Perpetual Curate of Haworth in 1820. 6 Christine Alexander, “Charlotte Brontë at Roe Head”, Norton Critical Edition: Charlotte Brontë, ‘Jane Eyre’, 3rd edition. ed. Richard J. Dunn (New York and London: 2001, p. 407. 7 Christine Alexander, The Early Writings of Charlotte Brontë (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1983), pp. 142, 144. 8 Alexander, “Charlotte Brontë at Roe Head”, p. 403. 9 Alexander, Early Writings of Charlotte Brontë, p. 141. 10 Smith (ed), Letters of Charlotte Brontë, vol. 1, p. 144. As punishment for offending the gods, Tantalus was plunged into a river up to his chin and tortured with insatiable thirst. Whenever he tried to drink, the river receded; and so he was continually “tantalized” and continually disappointed. 11 Smith (ed), Letters of Charlotte Brontë, vol. 1, pp. 166-8. 12 Elizabeth Gaskell, The Letters of Mrs Gaskell, ed. J.A.V. Chapple & Arthur Pollard (Manchester: Manchester UP, 1966), pp. 10-12. - 24 -
The Plot & Characters of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë 1820-1849 by Christopher Cooper - A gift to members of the Australian Brontë Association from the President, Christmas 2000. The illustrations are from the Folio Society edition of the novel. - 25 -
Page 1 and 2: The Brontë Th under er The Journal
Page 3 and 4: Portraiture and the Art of Branwell
Page 5 and 6: But rather than speculate on the ve
Page 7 and 8: which was regarded as study for wha
Page 9 and 10: Branwell’s portrait of his friend
Page 11 and 12: But to return to happier days. It w
Page 13 and 14: into the area of engraving, which w
Page 15 and 16: demonstration in London of the proc
Page 17 and 18: Charlotte Brontë and Christianity
Page 19 and 20: of free thinkers as a result of sci
Page 21 and 22: called godly deprivations. Charlott
Page 23 and 24: agony. In her poetry she yearns for
Page 25: must combat the temptation to live
Page 29 and 30: CHAP 6: GILBERT’S GROWING INTERES
Page 31 and 32: CHAP 21: CONSENT Helen’s father g
Page 33 and 34: alone to confide something of impor
Page 35 and 36: CHAP 46: GILBERT’S ADVICE TO LAWR
Page 37 and 38: wedding. He arrives too late but di
Page 39 and 40: that his visits were rather more fr
Page 41 and 42: Rose: Rose is Gilbert’s sister. S
Page 43 and 44: Lord Lowborough, Ralph Hattersley a
Page 45 and 46: Music and the Brontës Michael Link
Page 47 and 48: Emily began studying the piano at H
Page 49 and 50: Music is also used to comfort. Hele
Page 51 and 52: This is an advantage, as live music
Page 53 and 54: allad-one of those you promised to
Page 55 and 56: 2010. The pianist was Maya Irgalina
Page 57 and 58: ...The time is 1812, the place is Y
Page 59 and 60: Here’s the first line: Of late ye
Page 61 and 62: progressed through the book. Right
Page 63 and 64: The Australian Brontë Association

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