ABSTRACT
Charlotte Brontë (1816–1855) was the eldest surviving daughter of a family of six, living at Haworth, Yorkshire, where her father was curate. She taught in a school for three years and was subsequently a governess. In 1842 she went with her sister Emily to study languages at a school in Brussels (cf. Villette 1853). Her other novels are The Professor, (published posthumously in 1857), Jane Eyre, 1847 and Shirley, 1849. She died after her brother and sisters in 1855 a few months after her marriage to her father’s curate. Jane Eyre is the most popular of her novels and is basically a ‘Cinderella’ story. Charlotte Brontë was much concerned with the hopes and loves of women and although not as great a poet as her sister Emily, had both originality and passion. In the following extract Jane is a governess at Thornfield Hall, Mr. Rochester’s house.
