The Authors

Bronte, Austen and Shakespeare were noted to be private and independent; an accusation established by Peter Roy, historian who studies historical period authors. Little did he know that Bronte, Austen and Shakespeare were in fact; not all that shy. They allowed you to read their darkest secrets and deepest passions. Many readers do not understand their works to be to that degree, but it was because people fail to read the underlying message. So many writers write, to write, and never tap into their true emotional self and the reason why they want to write. It is hard to open access to that personal area, but that is what is separating them from the great writers. People read works from these authors so they never received the underlying messages that they would have if they were reading a novel or play from Bronte, Austen or Shakespeare.

 

Do you want to read some underlying messages? Who was Charlotte Bronte writing about in Jane Eyre? Was Shakespeare Romeo? Why did Jane Austen, the queen of romance, never marry?

 

 Charlotte Bronte

Charlotte Brontë was born in Thornton, Yorkshire in 1816. She was the third of six children, to Patrick Brontë , an Irish Anglican clergyman, and his wife, Maria Branwell. Maria Branwell Brontë died of cancer on 15 September 1821, leaving five daughters and a son to the care of her sister Elizabeth Branwell. In 1824, Charlotte was sent with three of her sisters; Emily, Maria and Elizabeth, to the Clergy Daughters' School at Cowan Bridge in Lancashire.  Its poor conditions permanently affected  Charlotte’s health and physical development and hastened the deaths of her two elder sisters, Maria and Elizabeth , who died of tuberculosis in 1825. Soon after their father removed them from the school on 1 June.

Charlotte and the other surviving children, Branwell, Emily and Anne, began chronicling the lives and struggles of the inhabitants of their imaginary kingdoms. Charlotte and Branwell wrote Byronic stories about their country “Angria” and Emily and Anne wrote articles and poems about theirs “Gondal.” The sagas were elaborate and convoluted (and still exist in part manuscripts) and provided them with an obsessive interest in childhood and early adolescence, which prepared them for their literary vocations in adulthood. In Charlotte’s journal, which was discovered in her father’s home after her death, she noted that “One’s writing is one’s escape; one’s dream.” This particular statement began to unfold the mystery as to who Jane Eyre was from Charlotte’s novel Jane Eyre. There have been great debates as to who Charlotte was writing about in Jane Eyre. Most people say that she was just a character of Charlotte’s Imagination however, some disagree. Christine McCallum, a dedicated Bronte fan had researched the novel Jane Eyre for years. Take a look at these findings:

 

Charlotte's Life	Jane Eyre's Life
- Attended Clergy Daughters' School     - School had poor conditions which permanently affected her health and physical development and hastened the deaths of her two elder sisters.    - Fell in love with a married man (Mr. Rochester). -Enjoyed the Arts (writing)	- Attended Lowood' School     - School had poor conditions which permanently affected her health and physical development and hastened the deaths of her best friend.    - Fell in love with a married man (Mr. Rochester). -Enjoyed the Arts (drawing)

          

Charlotte wrote her fairytale ending for Jane.

 

Jane Austen

Jane Austen was an English novelist whose books, set among the English middle and upper classes, are notable for their wit, social observation and insights into the lives of early 19th century women.

Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775 in the village of Steventon in Hampshire. She was one of eight children of a clergyman and grew up in a close-knit family. She began to write as a teenager and grew into an international recognized writer. Of course this happened after her death. She was not extremely popular or wealthy during her short life, Jane Austen captured the romance in her works that embodied the literary Romance Movement of her time. Not only has she been credited with developing complex characterization, she created novels that mirrored women’s position in society of the time – where marriage was seen as a woman’s only salvation.

Remaining unwed and relying on her parents for most of her life, Jane had two brothers who became clergymen and two others who joined the British Naval Forces. Her sister Cassandra, named after their mother, was a helpful assistant to her sister Jane’s novel ideas. The two would discuss the characters, their roles, their lives, and in turn make them seem as ‘real’ to them as they do to readers of her novels. Austen’s only educational background came from a relative and a brief attendance at the Reading Ladies Boarding School.

Although Austen led a calm and comfortable life, her dislike for the Bath area was reflected in the characters of her novels in which the protagonist lives in Bath and cannot stand her situation. When her father died, Austen, her sister and mother all moved to Southampton and finally to Chawton, where they all lived in a small cottage. Throughout her different living situations, Austen continued to write her novels. And, even though they were published anonymously at that time, some stated her works, and especially her character sketches were brilliant, equivalent to that of any of Shakespeare’s multifarious creations.

Most of Jane Austen’s novels, the most popular being Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Emma, all are love stories about the inner, complex emotions of women of the day. Her novels also lend themselves to themes of tragic fate from overzealous planning of one’s own destiny. Her novels also touch upon a society forcing women to search for security as they received no inheritance according to early English law. And, even though Austen passed away at the early age 41, her novels remain an intricate part of any academic study program of English Literature. And, many of her novels have become successful movies.

In 1816, Jane began to suffer from ill-health, probably due to Addison's disease. She travelled to Winchester to receive treatment, and died there on 18 July 1817. Two more novels, Persuasion and Northanger Abbey were published posthumously and a final novel was left incomplete.

 The question that lingers on everyone’s mind is why Jane Austen, the queen of Romance, never marry? It is noted that Jane Austen found the love of her life at the early age of 20. His name was Tom Lefroy. Their love is described as the love Jane created in her novels. Simply, pure, and true. Yet after several marriage proposals from Tom, Jane decided to remain alone and enclose herself with the love she created in her mind. Why? No one really knows though it is speculated that if she was to marry, to settle for love, that her romantic touch would slowly disappear and her novels would not scream with the passion and intensity that they were currently written with.

 

She settled for creating love for others; denying herself the chance to love.

William Shakespeare

Information about the life of William Shakespeare is often open to doubt. Some even doubt whether he wrote all plays ascribed to him. From the best available sources it seems William Shakespeare was born in Stratford on about April 23rd 1564. His father William was a successful local businessman and his mother Mary was the daughter of a landowner. Relatively prosperous, it is likely the family paid for Williams education, although there is no evidence he attended university.

In 1582 William, aged only 18, married an older woman named Anne Hathaway. Soon after they had there first daughter, Susanna. They had another 2 children but William’s only son Hamnet died aged only 11.

After his marriage information about the life of Shakespeare is sketchy but it seems he spent most of his time in London writing and performing in his plays. It seemed he didn’t mind being absent from his family - only returning home during Lent when all theatres were closed. It is generally thought that during the 1590s he wrote the majority of his sonnets. This was a time of prolific writing and his plays developed a good deal of interest and controversy. Due to some well timed investments he was able to secure a firm financial background leaving time for writing and acting. The best of these investments was buying some real estate near Stratford in 1605, this soon doubled in value.

Some academics known as the “oxfords” claim that Shakespeare never actually wrote any plays they suggest names such as Edward de Vere. They contend Shakespeare was actually just a successful businessman. Nevertheless there is some evidence of Shakespeare in theatres as he received a variety of criticism from people such as Ben Johnson and Robert Greene.

William Shakespeare wrote 154 Sonnets mostly in the 1590s. Fairly short poems they deal with issues such as lost love. His sonnets have an enduring appeal with his characteristic skill with language and words.

The plays of Shakespeare have been studied more than any other writing in the English language and have been translated into numerous languages. He was rare as a playwrite for excelling in tragedies, comedies and histories. He deftly combined popular entertainment with a rare poetic capacity for expression which is almost mantric in quality.

During his lifetime Shakespeare was not without controversy, but he also received lavish praise for his plays which were very popular and commercially successful.

Shakespeare died in 1664 it is not clear how he died although his vicar suggested it was from heavy drinking. His tombstone is marked with the following epitaph;

    Good friend for Jesus sake forbeare
    To digg the dust encloased heare
    Blessed by y man y spares hes stones
    And curst be he y moves my bones

It is true to say that each line of Shakespeare has been poured over by scholars and students no idea or concept has been left unturned. Shakespeare has left a profound and lasting impact on literature, cinema and theatre.

Questions…

Did William Shakespeare write all he is noted for? Perhaps. One will never know but it is truly hard to vision anyone but Shakespeare. Were his plays about him? Perhaps. He married at the young age of 18, and from what records and sources that have been uncovered, he was rarely home and did not enjoy his married life. He craved a love like Romeo and Juliet. He wanted excitement like Midsummer’s Night Dream and in his darker moments, he wanted pain like Macbeth. Perhaps he was like Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen. 

 

They lived their lives through the stories they read and the stories they wrote.