Emily Bronte

Emily Bronte published only one novel, Wuthering Heights, which has been hailed as a breathtaking, passionate piece of literature that tells of a doomed love. Published in 1847, this unique novel was received with mixed reviews.

Emily was born July 30, 1818 in Thornton, Yorkshire, England. Though we have little accounts of Emily’s life, they tell of a sad, wretched existence. The Bronte’s mother died in 1821, when Emily was only three, leaving the children to their raging father. Patrick Bronte was a clergyman who became rector of Haworth. The children were educated at home, except for a year where the girls were taught at the Clergymen’s Daughters School at Cowman Bridge in Lancashire The youngest sisters died there from tuberculosis. In 1835, Charlotte, the oldest, occupied the status of a teacher at Miss Wooler’s school at Roe head, and Emily accompanied her there as a pupil. Emily suffered from homesickness and only stayed for three months. In 1838, Emily spent six months as a teacher in Miss Patchett’s school at Law Hill, near Halifax, but resigned.

Trying to keep the sisters spirits up, Charlotte planned to start a school for girls in Haworth. Emily and Charlotte went to Brussels to try and learn foreign languages and school management to better equip themselves for teaching. Though her passionate style was accepted in Brussels, Emily returned to Haworth when her aunt died, in October.

In 1845 Charlotte discovered poems that Emily had written, which led to the publishing of the three sisters’, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne, poems. The book only sold two copies, though was later thought of as pure genius of Emily’s dark muse.

In the winter of 1847, Emily’s Wuthering Heights, Anne’s Agnes Grey, and Charlotte’s Jane Eyre were published in London. Though Charlotte’s novel was a success, Emily’s was thought of as too savage. Now Wuthering Heights is thought of as one of the most spectacular books in all of the English language. Soon after the publication of her first and last novel, Emily’s health started to fail her.

Emily’s brother, Branwell became an alcoholic and addicted to opium. The family suffered from his fitful rages and depressive spells. Emily tried to help her brother, as his health quickly began to descend, but he died in 1848. Emily sat for a long time in the rain, after his funeral, and ended up catching cold. It is said that her breathing became nothing but a harsh whisper. She finally told her sisters that she would see a doctor, but soon fell into a fit of harsh breathing spells. Before the doctor could arrive, Emily died. She now lays with her family in West Yorkshire, England. The vault where she lays reads her death as on the nineteenth of December, 1848.

Though later called a pure genius for her unique, dark writing style and excellent imagination, Emily met her death with sadness. She is now thought of as one of the greatest writers in the English language, and is remembered for her tragic book, Wuthering Heights.