EGH359 The Brontës

Aims/Description: 'Literature cannot be the business of a woman's life, nor ought it to be.' So advised Robert Southey, Poet Laureate, to a young Charlotte Bronte in 1837. Just ten years later she and her sisters, Emily and Anne, caused a sensation: their first novels, published under pseudonyms just weeks apart, were read and reviewed with astonishment, praise and censure. Now some 200 years since their births, the Bronte siblings (including their brother, Branwell) sustain a thriving industry of literary tourism and their works can be read and enjoyed via a multitude of editions and adaptations. This module will explore the art of the Brontës, their writings, drawings and paintings from collaborative juvenilia through to Charlotte's final novel, Villette. These works shed light upon the socio-cultural trends and political upheavals of the 1840s and 1850s, from the plight of the governess to machine breaking in the industrial North. This module will also ask how and why the Brontës have enjoyed such a varied and long-lasting cultural afterlife.

Staff Contact: REGIS AMBER

Teaching Methods: Seminars, Independent Study

Assessment: Course work

Information on the department responsible for this unit (English):

Departmental Home Page

Teaching timetable

NOTE The content of our courses is reviewed annually to make sure it's up-to-date and relevant. Individual modules are occasionally updated or withdrawn. This is in response to discoveries through our world-leading research; funding changes; professional accreditation requirements; student or employer feedback; outcomes of reviews; and variations in staff or student numbers. In the event of any change we'll consult and inform students in good time and take reasonable steps to minimise disruption.

URLs used in these pages are subject to year-on-year change. For this reason we recommend that you do not bookmark these pages or set them as favourites.

Teaching methods and assessment displayed on this page are indicative for 2025-26.