Picture of author.

Charlotte Brontë (1816–1855)

Author of Jane Eyre

431+ Works 84,159 Members 1,316 Reviews 597 Favorited
There is 1 open discussion about this author. See now.

About the Author

Charlotte Bronte, the third of six children, was born April 21, 1816, to the Reverend Patrick Bronte and Maria Branwell Bronte in Yorkshire, England. Along with her sisters, Emily and Anne, she produced some of the most impressive writings of the 19th century. The Brontes lived in a time when women show more used pseudonyms to conceal their female identity, hence Bronte's pseudonym, Currer Bell. Charlotte Bronte was only five when her mother died of cancer. In 1824, she and three of her sisters attended the Clergy Daughter's School in Cowan Bridge. The inspiration for the Lowood School in the classic Jane Eyre was formed by Bronte's experiences at the Clergy Daughter's School. Her two older sisters died of consumption because of the malnutrition and harsh treatment they suffered at the school. Charlotte and Emily Bronte returned home after the tragedy. The Bronte sisters fueled each other's creativity throughout their lives. As young children, they wrote long stories together about a complex imaginary kingdom they created from a set of wooden soldiers. In 1846, Charlotte Bronte, with her sisters Emily and Anne published a thin volume titled Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. In the same year, Charlotte Bronte attempted to publish her novel, The Professor, but was rejected. One year later, she published Jane Eyre, which was instantly well received. Charlotte Bronte's life was touched by tragedy many times. Despite several proposals of marriage, she did not accept an offer until 1854 when she married the Reverend A. B. Nicholls. One year later, at the age of 39, she died of pneumonia while she was pregnant. Her previously rejected novel, The Professor, was published posthumously in 1857. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Disambiguation Notice:

Do not combine Charlotte with either or both of her sisters. Also, do not combine this page with that of "Bronte". Thank you.

Image credit: Portrait by George Richmond

Series

Works by Charlotte Brontë

Jane Eyre (1847) 58,574 copies
Villette (1853) 8,739 copies
Shirley (1849) 4,066 copies
The Professor (1857) 2,716 copies
Jane Eyre / Wuthering Heights / Agnes Grey (1900) — Author — 471 copies
Tales of Angria (1834) 176 copies
Best Poems of the Brontë Sisters (1997) — Author — 170 copies
Mina Laury (1838) 135 copies
Emma (1980) 130 copies
The Green Dwarf (1833) 113 copies
Stancliffe's Hotel (1839) 106 copies
The Best of the Brontës (2016) 101 copies
Shirley / The Professor (2008) 93 copies
The Spell (2005) 76 copies
100 Eternal Masterpieces of Literature - volume 1 (2017) — Contributor — 56 copies
Jane Eyre (book 1 of 2) (1947) 36 copies
The Search After Happiness (1969) 30 copies
Jane Eyre (book 2 of 2) (1988) 26 copies
Jane Eyre 25 copies
Tales of the Islanders (1829) 24 copies
High Life in Verdopolis (1995) 18 copies
Jane Eyre [adapted - Saddleback Illustrated Classics] (1999) — Original Author; Original Author — 17 copies
Angria und Gondal. (1987) 16 copies
Über die Liebe. (1988) 13 copies
Shirley, Volume 1 (1849) 12 copies
Shirley, Volume 2 (1893) 11 copies
Jane Eyre 10 copies
Jane Eyre - A Libretto (2000) 9 copies
Emma: a Fragment (1860) 8 copies
Napoleon and the Spectre (1833) 6 copies
Förfärande kvinnor (2016) 6 copies
Villette, Volume I. (2006) 5 copies
Shirley 5 copies
Albion and Marina (1830) 5 copies
Something About Arthur (1981) 5 copies
Poemas de Currer Bell (2019) 4 copies
Henry Hastings (2009) 3 copies
Jane Eyre (2016) 3 copies
Angria and the Angrians (1997) 3 copies
Jane Eyre ("Read Along") (1986) 2 copies
Poems (2014) 2 copies
Poesie 2 copies
Jane Eyre 2 copies
Villette 2 copies
Τζέϊν Έϊρ (2008) 2 copies
Town () (2005) 1 copy
Jane Eyre Annotated (2022) 1 copy
The Brontes 1 copy
Sekret 1 copy
Miss Lucy 1 copy
Jane Ayre 1 copy
Jane Eyre / Agnes Grey (1974) 1 copy
Novelas eternas (2022) 1 copy
Jane Eyre II 1 copy
Jane Eyre (2005) — Author — 1 copy
Professorn (2016) 1 copy
Bell's Poems 1 copy
Contes inédits (1979) 1 copy
Jane Eyre [Abridged] — Author — 1 copy
Moores 1 copy
The Violet 1 copy
O Enjeitado (2019) 1 copy
Episode 3 1 copy
Jane Eyre 1 copy
Σίρλεϊ 1 copy
Jane Eyre I 1 copy
Four Wishes 1 copy
Jane Eyre 1 copy
Jane Eyre 1 copy
Sarah Miles (1999) 1 copy
Jane Eyre 1 copy

Associated Works

Wuthering Heights (1847) — Preface, some editions — 51,616 copies
Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (1995) — Contributor, some editions — 915 copies
Emma Brown (2003) 554 copies
Jane Eyre [2011 film] (2011) — Author — 198 copies
The Portable Victorian Reader (1972) — Contributor — 176 copies
Erotica: Women's Writing from Sappho to Margaret Atwood (1990) — Contributor — 168 copies
The Virago Book of Ghost Stories (2006) — Contributor — 138 copies
Jane (2017) — Author of Source Material — 136 copies
The Virago Book of Victorian Ghost Stories (1988) — Contributor — 133 copies
The Penguin Book of Women's Humour (1996) — Contributor — 117 copies
The Lifted Veil: Women's 19th Century Stories (2005) — Contributor — 113 copies
Best Loved Books for Young Readers 03 (1847) — Contributor — 111 copies
Jane Eyre [1943 film] (1943) — Author — 64 copies
The Mammoth Book of Fairy Tales (1997) — Contributor — 62 copies
Jane Eyre [1997 TV movie] (1997) — Writer — 62 copies
The Faber Book of Gardens (2007) — Contributor — 45 copies
Jane Eyre [1996 film] (1996) — Writer — 45 copies
Jane Eyre [1970 TV movie] (1970) — Author — 36 copies
Great Ghost Stories: 34 Classic Tales of the Supernatural (2002) — Contributor — 26 copies
The Book Lovers (1976) — Contributor — 26 copies
Nineteenth-Century Women Poets: An Oxford Anthology (1996) — Contributor — 22 copies
Women on Nature (2021) — Contributor — 20 copies
Jane Eyre (Globe Adapted Classic) (1946) — Original Author — 20 copies
Masters of British Literature, Volume B (2007) — Contributor — 16 copies
Jane Eyre [1973 TV mini-series] (2006) — Original book — 13 copies
Selected Brontë Poems (1985) — Author — 10 copies
Classic Dog Stories (Macmillan Collector's Library) (2020) — Contributor — 9 copies
The Brontë Letters (1966) — Author — 8 copies
An Adult's Garden of Bloomers (1966) — Contributor — 7 copies
Teen-Age Treasury for Girls (1958) — Contributor — 5 copies
Great Love Scenes from Famous Novels (1943) — Contributor — 5 copies
The Anthology of Love and Romance (1994) — Contributor — 4 copies
Famous Stories of Five Centuries (1934) — Contributor — 4 copies
The King's Story Book — Contributor — 1 copy

Tagged

1001 (338) 1001 books (412) 19th century (3,288) 19th century literature (393) anthology (376) British (1,593) British literature (1,778) Bronte (948) Charlotte Bronte (427) classic (5,514) classic fiction (479) classic literature (743) classics (5,593) ebook (478) England (1,628) English (785) English literature (1,748) favorite (289) favorites (363) fiction (12,592) Folio Society (353) gothic (1,800) governess (456) historical (296) historical fiction (514) Kindle (438) literature (2,879) love (699) novel (2,241) own (655) poetry (340) read (1,401) Roman (295) romance (3,146) to-read (3,413) unread (522) Victorian (1,551) Victorian literature (303) women (441) Yorkshire (282)

Common Knowledge

Legal name
Nichols Brontë, Charlotte
Other names
Bell, Currer (pseudonym)
Nichols Brontë, Charlotte
Birthdate
1816-04-21
Date of death
1855-03-31
Burial location
Church of St Michael and All Angels, Haworth, West Yorkshire, England, UK
Gender
female
Nationality
UK
Country (for map)
England, UK
Birthplace
Thornton, Yorkshire, England, UK
Place of death
Haworth, Yorkshire, England, UK
Cause of death
probable hyperemesis gravidarum
Places of residence
Thornton, Yorkshire, England, UK
Haworth, Yorkshire, England, UK
Lancashire, England, UK
Mirfield, England, UK
Brussels, Belgium
Education
Cowan Bridge
Roe Head, Mirfield, Yorkshire, England, UK
Pensionat Heger, Brussels, Belgium
Occupations
writer
novelist
poet
teacher
Relationships
Brontë, Emily (sister)
Brontë, Anne (sister)
Brontë, Patrick (father)
Brontë, Branwell (brother)
Gaskell, Elizabeth (friend)
Thackeray, William Makepeace (friend)
Short biography
Charlotte Brontë was born in Thornton, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Her parents were Maria Bramwell and Patrick Brontë, an Anglican clergyman and poet. In 1820, when she was a small child, the family moved to Haworth on the Yorkshire moors, where the Rev. Brontë had been appointed rector. The following year, Mrs. Brontë died. In 1824, Charlotte and Emily, along with their two elder sisters Maria and Elizabeth, were sent to the Clergy Daughters' School at Cowan Bridge, near Kirkby Lonsdale, Lancashire. The discipline there was harsh, and the girls found the food and other conditions miserable. Charlotte later portrayed the terrible school in her novel Jane Eyre as the Lowood Institution. After Maria and Elizabeth died in 1825, Charlotte and Emily returned home. Their father managed the upbringing of his three remaining daughters — Charlotte, Emily, and Anne — and son Bramwell thanks to the help of their maternal aunt Elizabeth Branwell, who left her native Cornwall to come and live with them. For more than five years, the Brontë children studied and played at home, writing and telling romantic tales for one another, and inventing imaginative games. At age 15, Charlotte enrolled at a new school not far from Haworth, Roe Head School. She spent 18 months there before returning home; in 1835, she went back again for a while as a teacher. To support herself and the family, Charlotte decided to become a governess and went with Emily to a boarding school in Brussels, Belgium, to improve their French and learn German. She later became a pupil-teacher there. Her unrequited love for the school's headmaster would eventually find an outlet in her novels Villette (1853) and The Professor (published posthumously in 1857). Before that, however, the ardent heart and rebellious spirit of her most famous creation, Jane Eyre (1847) brought immediate success and fame to the author under her pen name Currer Bell. Charlotte visited London three times at the invitation of her publisher and moved in literary circles, becoming a friend of Elizabeth Gaskell and William Makepeace Thackeray. Her novel Shirley (1849), written during and after the tragic deaths of her three siblings in a single year, showed Charlotte's engagement with both women's rights and workers' rights movements. In 1854, she married Arthur Nicholls, her father's curate and her long-time suitor. She became ill and died suddenly during pregnancy at age 38 in 1855. A comprehensive three-volume edition of her letters to family and friends, edited by Margaret Smith, was published in 1995-2004.
Disambiguation notice
Do not combine Charlotte with either or both of her sisters. Also, do not combine this page with that of "Bronte". Thank you.

Members

Discussions

November 2023: The Brontë Sisters in Monthly Author Reads (December 2023)
Jane Eyre in Franklin Library Collectors (January 2023)
Jane Eyre LEC in George Macy devotees (January 2023)
November Group Read: Shirley by Charlotte Brontë in 2014 Category Challenge (December 2014)
Jane Eyre in Book talk (July 2014)
Best Bronte Quote? in The Brontës (January 2014)
Jane Eyre in The Brontës (January 2014)
Jane Eyre/Wuthering Heights in Books Compared (March 2013)
1001 Group Read, Oct. 12: Villette in 1001 Books to read before you die (November 2012)
Villette Question in The Brontës (May 2012)
*** Group Read: Jane Eyre (Spoiler Thread) in 75 Books Challenge for 2011 (April 2011)
*** Group Read: Jane Eyre (Non-Spoiler Thread) in 75 Books Challenge for 2011 (April 2011)
Jane Eyre Group Read (For the Procrastinators) Week One in 75 Books Challenge for 2010 (December 2010)

Reviews

If a romance could break you but keep you together all at the same time, is it a romance you could find yourself walking away from?

A coming of age story, filled with romance and suspense. Learning that pretty things don’t always equal a beautiful outcome. That sometimes the messy or unthinkable is the route your heart calls you to.

A favorite of mine, that I’ll continue to read over and over again.
 
Flagged
mybookloveobsession | 911 other reviews | Mar 12, 2024 |
I had a teacher in 7th grade who said she read this book every year. At the time it seemed so immensely long that I couldn't imagine that, but once I read it, I understood her passion. Charlotte bronte wanted to prove that a romance between two unattractive people could be interesting and she does. It's funny that movie makers almost always refuse to trust the material and cast good looking people in the roles, but it doesn't hurt the basic story.
I hate the protion where jane is with the missionary, but I suppose it was to build the suspense to the conclusion.
The humor and give and take in their relationship was a revelation for the time and remains enjoyable today.
… (more)
 
Flagged
cspiwak | 911 other reviews | Mar 6, 2024 |
2024 - Great read. Enjoyed immensely.
 
Flagged
DannyKeep | 911 other reviews | Mar 1, 2024 |
Led back to Jane Eyre by Jean Rhys's Wide Sagasso Sea. Loved it. Found myself making notes to capture Charlotte Bronte's wonderful sentences such as,

'I had reviewed the information I had got, looked into my heart, thoughts and feelings, and endeavoured to bring back with a strict hand such as had been straying through imagination's reckless waste into the safe fold of common sense.'


Jane Eyre stands alone but there is no doubt to me that Jean Rhys's Wide Sagasso Sea adds a dimension of horror that enriches the original.
… (more)
 
Flagged
simonpockley | 911 other reviews | Feb 25, 2024 |

Lists

My TBR (1)
1850s (1)
AP Lit (2)
Romans (3)
1840s (2)
Europe (2)
100 (1)

Awards

You May Also Like

Associated Authors

Emily Brontë Contributor, Author
Anne Brontë Contributor, Author
Emily Brontë Contributor
Jane Austen Contributor
Sara Thomson Adapter
Anne Brontë Contributor
George Eliot Contributor
Ann Ward Retold by
Henry Fielding Contributor
D. H. Lawrence Contributor
Gustave Flaubert Contributor
Alexandre Dumas Contributor
Thomas Dekker Contributor
Oscar Wilde Contributor
Theodore Dreiser Contributor
H. P. Lovecraft Contributor
Edgar Allan Poe Contributor
E. M. Forster Contributor
Mary Shelley Contributor
Alphonse Daudet Contributor
Herman Melville Contributor
Fyodor Dostoyevsky Contributor
Guy de Maupassant Contributor
Honore de Balzac Contributor
Lewis Carroll Contributor
Mark Twain Contributor
Honoré de Balzac Contributor
Leo Tolstoy Contributor
Joseph Conrad Contributor
Dante Alighieri Contributor
Henri Barbusse Contributor
Arthur Machen Contributor
Sir Walter Scott Contributor
Victor Hugo Contributor
Homer Contributor
Jack London Contributor
Sun Tzu Contributor
Gaston Leroux Contributor
George Sand Contributor
Jonathan Swift Contributor
Aldous Huxley Contributor
Theodor Fontane Contributor
John Webster Contributor
Henry James Contributor
Nikolai Gogol Contributor
Washington Irving Contributor
Marcel Proust Contributor
Stendhal Contributor
Bram Stoker Contributor
Blaise Pascal Contributor
Elizabeth Gaskell Contributor
Florence Bell Retold by
Sue Lonoff Editor
Muriel Fyfe Retold by
Thomas Hardy Contributor
Marilyn Pettit Adapted by
Philip Page Adapted by
Stevie Davies Editor, Introduction
Clement K. Shorter Introduction, Contributor
Mrs. Humphry Ward Introduction
Richard Lauter Illustrator
Hannah Gordon Narrator
Carole Boyd Narrator
David Rintoul Narrator
Kathryn White Introduction
K. M. Weiland Writer Of Added Commentary.
Penko Gelev Illustrator
Christopher Hall Adapted by
R. D. Blackmore Contributor
Barbara Heritage Contributor
Emma Butcher Contributor
Sarah E Maier Contributor
Ann Dinsdale Contributor
Fritz Eichenberg Illustrator
Nadia May Narrator
Sally Minogue Introduction
Robert Mathias Cover designer
Ugo Dèttore Translator
Barnett Freedman Illustrator
Franco Buffoni Introduction
Sam Gilpin Afterword
Joyce Carol Oates Introduction
Erica Jong Introduction
Rebecca West Introduction
Luisa Reali Traddutore
Julie Erlich Afterword
Nell Booker Illustrator
Katherine Wolkoff Cover artist
Phoebe Judge Narrator
Joe Lee Davis Introduction
L. Reali Traduttore
Clara Eggink Translator
Meg Cabot Introduction
Tyyni Tuulio Translator
James Hill Cover artist
Juliet Mills Narrator
Mary Ibbett Introduction
Skip Liepke Illustrator
Simon Brett Illustrator
Megan Wilson Cover designer
Amanda Root Narrator
Lucy Scott Narrator
May Sinclair Introduction
Edward A. Wilson Illustrator
Arthur Zeiger Afterword
Kathy Mitchell Illustrator
Dame Darcy Illustrator
Flo Gibson Narrator
Fiep Westendorp Illustrator
Akkie de Jong Translator
Mark Lilly Editor
Margaret Lane Introduction
Helen Benedict Afterword
Heather Standring Cover artist
Karen Cass Narrator
Davina Porter Narrator
Mandy Weston Narrator
Alfred John Pucci Cover artist
Peter Reddick Illustrator
George Giusti Cover designer
Tyyni Tuulio Translator
Fedora Dei Translator
Anna Bentinck Narrator
Horst Wolf Übersetzer
Howard Phipps Illustrator
Johannes Reiher Übersetzer
George Pyne Cover artist
George Tute Illustrator
Mary A. Ward Introduction
Pablo Marcos Illustrator
Monro S. Orr Illustrator
Renate Jessel Illustrator
Francis A. Leyland Contributor
T. Wemyss Reid Contributor
Ria Loohuizen Translator
Jenny Pereira Adapted by
Mary M. Threapleton Introduction
Andrea Shell Retold by
Frederick Garland Activities by

Statistics

Works
431
Also by
50
Members
84,159
Popularity
#133
Rating
4.0
Reviews
1,316
ISBNs
2,610
Languages
36
Favorited
597

Charts & Graphs