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Emily Brontë Reappraised
Emily Brontë’s incomparable Wuthering Heights is, for many of us, one of our most cherished novels, with the character of Heathcliff being the ultimate romantic hero. It is a work that has bewitched us for almost 200 years. But Emily herself remains an enigmatic, even mysterious figure, often painted unfairly in a negative light.
So Emily Brontë Reappraised conjures a new image of the great writer by looking at her afresh from the vantage point of the new millennium. It’s a biography with a twist, taking in the themes of her life and work – her feminism, her passion for the natural world – as well as the art she has inspired, and even the “fake news” stories about her. What we discover is that she was, in fact, a thoroughly modern woman. And now, in the 21st century, it’s time for the real Emily Brontë to please stand up.
156 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 15, 2018
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August 3, 2018
Link to Review: https://girlwithherheadinabook.co.uk/...
Emily is a perennial conundrum to Brontë fans and biographers alike and for the most part this does seem to be because she willed it so. I have been trying to track down a reliable Emily biography for this year's Brooding about the Brontës but had resigned myself to disappointment before I heard of the release of Emily Brontë Reappraised which from its very title offered a fresh take. Too often dismissed as the weirdest of a trio of weird sisters, Emily Brontë wrote few letters, only one novel and rarely left home. She is an enigma. Predictably, people have been unwilling to let the mystery alone - Emily was mad, Emily was autistic, Emily was kind to her brother Branwell, Emily stole her brother Branwell's novel and passed it off as her own, Emily had a lover named Louis Parensall (she most definitely did not), Emily was a mystic. With so many versions of this long-dead woman clouding the truth, the stated mission of O'Callaghan's book seems even more bold. What is the truth about Emily Brontë?
As O'Callaghan points out, Emily Brontë would almost certainly be horrified to discover the cult that has sprung up around her. Unlike her sister Charlotte, Emily seems to have had no desire to be 'forever known'. It was she who insisted on writing under a pseudonym and unlike Anne and Charlotte, she refused to travel to London to make herself known to their publishers. To discover herself immortalised in the form of knitted dolls and Kate Bush songs would be unlikely to prompt a positive reaction. Yet it is Emily's own desire for privacy which has led to the 'void in detail about Emily' which has in turn made her 'riper for myth-making than any other Brontë'. Modern diagnoses of personality disorders appear to define her better than Charlotte's attempts to explain her sister, yet it all reminds me of Deborah Yaffe's Among the Janeites which charts how Jane Austen fans are able to find whatever they want to in Jane Austen's letters and works. The blank creates a mirror.
O'Callaghan traces the roots of Emily's mythography, from how Charlotte Brontë attempted to make her sister's book more palatable by whitewashing her reputation to how Mrs Gaskell's distaste for Emily (despite the fact that the two never met) coloured how she presented her in The Life of Charlotte Brontë. With so little material left behind, even subsequent biographers who try to be open-minded have had to rely on the shaky material left behind by Charlotte. So much is made of Emily's early departure from Roe Head, with popular Brontë legend taking it as evidence that Emily could not survive away from Haworth but O'Callaghan notes the numerous alternative explanations offered by biographers over the years. Older and taller than most of the other pupils, was Emily perhaps under-stimulated? Was she bored? After three months, did she perhaps decide it was just not for her?
Reading through, it struck me again how unfair that passing episodes in the life of an individual should come to be how they are defined. Does the fact that, when in Brussels, Emily insisted on giving piano lessons at a time that suited herself really give much indication as to her character? She did not want to miss out on study, yet her young pupils thought her cruel for taking up their leisure time. Interactions between the two sides were tricky and appear to have led to the episode where Emily refused to listen to what was currently fashionable, telling them that she was 'as God made me'. Two hundred years on, the Wheelwrights sound to me like unpleasant children trying to get a rise out of their piano teacher by insulting her clothes. I applaud Emily for refusing to take the bait but again gives little account of her personality as a whole.
Weirdest of all though is the popular biographical tendency to 'diagnose' Emily. From agoraphobia to autism to anorexia, scholars have been trying to pin a medical label on Emily for decades. O'Callaghan notes that the evidence for these supposed conditions generally comes back to Charlotte's testimony and that Charlotte is a 'slippery witness', trying to establish herself as the saintly elder sister who wanted to mother the recalcitrant Emily. Stranger still though is the way in which even modern biographers such as Claire Harman have created imaginary inner monologues for Emily to support their own hypotheses. O'Callaghan's indignation simmers off the page at the poor scholarship, observing that there is no evidence available to draw any such firm conclusions.
O'Callaghan analyses Emily as a writer, analysing her poetry and the themes within Wuthering Heights. Unlike the other two sisters, Emily's prose work contains little in the way of biographical material, so it gives little away about her character. Personally, it took me years to get round to reading Emily's poetry and yet I felt it brought me far closer to her voice than Heights ever did. That's not to say that I believe it relates to personal experiences as I am well aware that most of Emily's verses focus on Gondal but all the same, its power is undeniable. However, poetry cannot be adapted innumerable times for the stage and screen and so it is easier for Emily to fly below the radar. Reappraised is rare in its sincere attempt to engage with Emily's poetry, meaning there can be little wonder why Emily remains so opaque to the reader.
The chapters on Emily's relationship with nature and feminism were particularly fascinating. Emily's lack of femininity was one of the main things that Victorian society appeared to struggle with. Even Charlotte, usually so eager to whitewash her siblings, drew attention to this in fictionalising her as the mannish Shirley Keeldar in Shirley. O'Callaghan compares this vision of Emily to Rosie the Riveter and indeed the parallel is convincing - but it is a very twentieth century image, so it would be hardly surprising that Emily failed to fit in with Victorian mores. Monsieur Heger said that Emily 'should have been a man - a great navigator' and even the creepy Haworth stationer John Greenwood commented on her manliness. O'Callaghan charts the ambition behind Emily's Gondal heroines, specifically Augusta (A.G.A.) and Emily's long-term interest in Queen Victoria, with the two young women born in the same year. For O'Callaghan, the older Cathy is all a self-assertive character, longing for the freedom of masculinity which would allow her to tramp the moors as Heathcliff can but trapped by her female status. O'Callaghan further states the case that Cathy's infamous statement 'I am Heathcliff' is less a declaration of love than one of selfhood, similar to Charlotte's 'Reader, I married him'. Reappraised is always clear that it is impossible to make any statements on Emily with certainty, but it does raise some very intriguing questions.
Reappraised is a highly accessible biography offering a refreshingly open-minded interpretation of Emily while managing to avoid the stock anecdotes and imaginings which have made so many of the other biographies so repetitive. That being said, reading this in the midst of my Brooding did make me notice how heavily O'Callaghan had borrowed from Lucasta Miller's The Brontë Myth - all cited correctly and acknowledged, but all the same it does make one realise how difficult it can be to strike new ground in such an overcrowded field. What sets Reappraised apart from said field however is the fact that it is written by someone entirely free of the snobbery and melodrama so common among Brontë scholars. O'Callaghan does not pretend that her book is definitive nor does she presume any previous knowledge so her book achieves its goal. She accepts that we will never really know the real Emily Brontë but she manages instead to reappraise and through that, I felt that I got closer to the weirdest of the three weird sisters than I ever had before.
Emily is a perennial conundrum to Brontë fans and biographers alike and for the most part this does seem to be because she willed it so. I have been trying to track down a reliable Emily biography for this year's Brooding about the Brontës but had resigned myself to disappointment before I heard of the release of Emily Brontë Reappraised which from its very title offered a fresh take. Too often dismissed as the weirdest of a trio of weird sisters, Emily Brontë wrote few letters, only one novel and rarely left home. She is an enigma. Predictably, people have been unwilling to let the mystery alone - Emily was mad, Emily was autistic, Emily was kind to her brother Branwell, Emily stole her brother Branwell's novel and passed it off as her own, Emily had a lover named Louis Parensall (she most definitely did not), Emily was a mystic. With so many versions of this long-dead woman clouding the truth, the stated mission of O'Callaghan's book seems even more bold. What is the truth about Emily Brontë?
As O'Callaghan points out, Emily Brontë would almost certainly be horrified to discover the cult that has sprung up around her. Unlike her sister Charlotte, Emily seems to have had no desire to be 'forever known'. It was she who insisted on writing under a pseudonym and unlike Anne and Charlotte, she refused to travel to London to make herself known to their publishers. To discover herself immortalised in the form of knitted dolls and Kate Bush songs would be unlikely to prompt a positive reaction. Yet it is Emily's own desire for privacy which has led to the 'void in detail about Emily' which has in turn made her 'riper for myth-making than any other Brontë'. Modern diagnoses of personality disorders appear to define her better than Charlotte's attempts to explain her sister, yet it all reminds me of Deborah Yaffe's Among the Janeites which charts how Jane Austen fans are able to find whatever they want to in Jane Austen's letters and works. The blank creates a mirror.
O'Callaghan traces the roots of Emily's mythography, from how Charlotte Brontë attempted to make her sister's book more palatable by whitewashing her reputation to how Mrs Gaskell's distaste for Emily (despite the fact that the two never met) coloured how she presented her in The Life of Charlotte Brontë. With so little material left behind, even subsequent biographers who try to be open-minded have had to rely on the shaky material left behind by Charlotte. So much is made of Emily's early departure from Roe Head, with popular Brontë legend taking it as evidence that Emily could not survive away from Haworth but O'Callaghan notes the numerous alternative explanations offered by biographers over the years. Older and taller than most of the other pupils, was Emily perhaps under-stimulated? Was she bored? After three months, did she perhaps decide it was just not for her?
Reading through, it struck me again how unfair that passing episodes in the life of an individual should come to be how they are defined. Does the fact that, when in Brussels, Emily insisted on giving piano lessons at a time that suited herself really give much indication as to her character? She did not want to miss out on study, yet her young pupils thought her cruel for taking up their leisure time. Interactions between the two sides were tricky and appear to have led to the episode where Emily refused to listen to what was currently fashionable, telling them that she was 'as God made me'. Two hundred years on, the Wheelwrights sound to me like unpleasant children trying to get a rise out of their piano teacher by insulting her clothes. I applaud Emily for refusing to take the bait but again gives little account of her personality as a whole.
Weirdest of all though is the popular biographical tendency to 'diagnose' Emily. From agoraphobia to autism to anorexia, scholars have been trying to pin a medical label on Emily for decades. O'Callaghan notes that the evidence for these supposed conditions generally comes back to Charlotte's testimony and that Charlotte is a 'slippery witness', trying to establish herself as the saintly elder sister who wanted to mother the recalcitrant Emily. Stranger still though is the way in which even modern biographers such as Claire Harman have created imaginary inner monologues for Emily to support their own hypotheses. O'Callaghan's indignation simmers off the page at the poor scholarship, observing that there is no evidence available to draw any such firm conclusions.
O'Callaghan analyses Emily as a writer, analysing her poetry and the themes within Wuthering Heights. Unlike the other two sisters, Emily's prose work contains little in the way of biographical material, so it gives little away about her character. Personally, it took me years to get round to reading Emily's poetry and yet I felt it brought me far closer to her voice than Heights ever did. That's not to say that I believe it relates to personal experiences as I am well aware that most of Emily's verses focus on Gondal but all the same, its power is undeniable. However, poetry cannot be adapted innumerable times for the stage and screen and so it is easier for Emily to fly below the radar. Reappraised is rare in its sincere attempt to engage with Emily's poetry, meaning there can be little wonder why Emily remains so opaque to the reader.
The chapters on Emily's relationship with nature and feminism were particularly fascinating. Emily's lack of femininity was one of the main things that Victorian society appeared to struggle with. Even Charlotte, usually so eager to whitewash her siblings, drew attention to this in fictionalising her as the mannish Shirley Keeldar in Shirley. O'Callaghan compares this vision of Emily to Rosie the Riveter and indeed the parallel is convincing - but it is a very twentieth century image, so it would be hardly surprising that Emily failed to fit in with Victorian mores. Monsieur Heger said that Emily 'should have been a man - a great navigator' and even the creepy Haworth stationer John Greenwood commented on her manliness. O'Callaghan charts the ambition behind Emily's Gondal heroines, specifically Augusta (A.G.A.) and Emily's long-term interest in Queen Victoria, with the two young women born in the same year. For O'Callaghan, the older Cathy is all a self-assertive character, longing for the freedom of masculinity which would allow her to tramp the moors as Heathcliff can but trapped by her female status. O'Callaghan further states the case that Cathy's infamous statement 'I am Heathcliff' is less a declaration of love than one of selfhood, similar to Charlotte's 'Reader, I married him'. Reappraised is always clear that it is impossible to make any statements on Emily with certainty, but it does raise some very intriguing questions.
Reappraised is a highly accessible biography offering a refreshingly open-minded interpretation of Emily while managing to avoid the stock anecdotes and imaginings which have made so many of the other biographies so repetitive. That being said, reading this in the midst of my Brooding did make me notice how heavily O'Callaghan had borrowed from Lucasta Miller's The Brontë Myth - all cited correctly and acknowledged, but all the same it does make one realise how difficult it can be to strike new ground in such an overcrowded field. What sets Reappraised apart from said field however is the fact that it is written by someone entirely free of the snobbery and melodrama so common among Brontë scholars. O'Callaghan does not pretend that her book is definitive nor does she presume any previous knowledge so her book achieves its goal. She accepts that we will never really know the real Emily Brontë but she manages instead to reappraise and through that, I felt that I got closer to the weirdest of the three weird sisters than I ever had before.
January 17, 2022
3,5
Ganz interessant
Ganz interessant
June 17, 2026
Accessible, colloquially written overview that outlines Emily Bronte’s life then examines certain key aspects, cutting through how they have been handled by biographers. O’Callaghan suggests that
Emily has been the subject of much mythologizing, from the shaping of her legacy by her sister Charlotte and the latter’s own biographer Mrs Gaskell to modern films and novels. She sifts sensibly through the myths and provides the kind of readable brisk introduction I was looking for after recently re-reading Wuthering Heights.
Emily has been the subject of much mythologizing, from the shaping of her legacy by her sister Charlotte and the latter’s own biographer Mrs Gaskell to modern films and novels. She sifts sensibly through the myths and provides the kind of readable brisk introduction I was looking for after recently re-reading Wuthering Heights.
March 9, 2019
A very readable and refreshing attempt to separate the myths from the facts. What people think they know about Emily often comes from Charlotte or Mrs Gaskell who were biased sources, and their opinions were also subject to the values of the society they lived in at the time. So when we are left with the actual facts of Emily’s life, (that which can be verified from other sources) what emerges is a portrait of a strong, independent and practical woman.
I especially enjoyed the chapter about Emily in nature, she was running a prototype wildlife hospital!
The book does not attempt to rewrite Emily’s life but offers new perspectives and fascinating insights.
It also contains a useful bibliography and could be read alongside some of the earlier biographies such as Juliet Barker’s tome which is probably the most credible of those discussed.
I especially enjoyed the chapter about Emily in nature, she was running a prototype wildlife hospital!
The book does not attempt to rewrite Emily’s life but offers new perspectives and fascinating insights.
It also contains a useful bibliography and could be read alongside some of the earlier biographies such as Juliet Barker’s tome which is probably the most credible of those discussed.
May 6, 2020
¿Sabían que Emily Brontë escribió durante toda su vida, incluso hasta el día de su muerte, sobre un reino completamente dominado por mujeres llamado “Gondal”?
Wow! Esta breve biografía fue una lectura muy divertida! Primero que nada, me parece muy necesario tanto en biografías como en investigaciones en general contemporáneas de clásicos y autores clásicos, que se tenga en cuenta el contexto siglo XXI - 2020. No puedo expresar cuanto me sorprende ver que tantos investigadores ignoran esto. Mucho más aún, si estos autores y obras son básicamente estudiados en torno al género, racismo y clasismo, conceptos sociales que como sabemos son todo menos inmóviles. Como lectora, es tan refrescante leer referencias a pop culture actual, obras y películas actuales...sentí este libro como una conversación de fan a fan.
Como fan declarada de las Brontë que soy, Emily siempre me había transmitido esa imagen borrosa y confusa que menciona la autora, la cual es producto de las conflictivas biografías y opiniones que se tienen sobre ella. Emily es la hermana que menor material biográfico ofrece. La autora ofrece un caso convincente acerca de cómo la representación de Emily en la cultura contemporánea ha sido casi solamente influenciada por la idea que Charlotte tenia de ella, y por lo tanto por la normativa biografía The Life of Charlotte Brontë de Elizabeth Gaskell. Emily no era mística, sobrenatural, delicada y propensa a enfermedades alejada de su hogar. Era mas bien una mujer que hacía lo que le daba la gana siempre, teniendo opiniones fuertes de las convenciones sociales humanas. Notar que no digo victorianas, sino que Emily crítica fuertemente la hipocresía y el egoísmo en general humanos, como lo muestra en su devoir “El gato”. También tenía una fuerte oposición a comportarse según los mandatos de la feminidad tradicional. Durante su estadía en Bruselas, se recuerda que se negaba rotundamente a usar la numerosas faldas (o petticoats) que iban debajo de la falda principal femenina y se burlaban de ella por eso, a diferencia de Charlotte que no tuvo problemas en adherirse a esta moda de la ciudad. En ese sentido, me convence plenamente el alegato de la autora de que Emily era la mayor protofeminista de entre las tres hermanas. Era una figura fuerte, con aspectos masculinos (es decir una reserva e independencia obstinadas) que su hermana trató de maquillar.
Me gustó encontrar que en este libro se reafirma el caso de la inteligencia de genio de Emily (que no es una conjetura, de hecho está respaldada por sucesos, cartas y memorias de la época) y que se habla de su amor por los animales y la naturaleza como algo adelantado a su siglo y visionario. Para mi, Emily Brontë es un personaje inspirador justamente por eso. La veo como una mujer con intereses, filosofía de vida e ideas que encajan perfecto en la actualidad, en pleno 2020, y que en su época le causaron tanto estigma y los injustos calificativos de excéntrica y obtusa. Creo que no pude estar más de acuerdo con la autora en esto, sobretodo porque ella también resalta la película To Walk Invisible (2016), biopic de las Brontë, como una de las mejores representaciones de ellas (que lo es! Es tan realista, sin romanticismos absurdos y justa para con las hermanas y sus obras). A pesar de todos estos aspectos positivos, hay un tema en el que no cedo. La autora descarta rápidamente el comportamiento excéntrico en Emily asumiendo que también es parte del mito. Yo no creo que esto sea así ya que Emily era un genio y ese rasgo intelectual, como dice la psicología, conlleva muy posiblemente comportamientos excéntricos y hasta antisociales.
Este libro me dejó con muchas ganas de leer la biografía esencial de las Brontës de Juliet Barker. Además me puso en conflicto interno porque mi preferida siempre fue Charlotte. Ciertamente terminaré de leer los poemas de Emily con muchas más ganas. Si sienten curiosidad por Emily, este libro es un must! El único tema es que está en inglés...pero pueden encontrar un gran sustituto en la biografía de Emily traducida al español de Winifred Gerin.
Wow! Esta breve biografía fue una lectura muy divertida! Primero que nada, me parece muy necesario tanto en biografías como en investigaciones en general contemporáneas de clásicos y autores clásicos, que se tenga en cuenta el contexto siglo XXI - 2020. No puedo expresar cuanto me sorprende ver que tantos investigadores ignoran esto. Mucho más aún, si estos autores y obras son básicamente estudiados en torno al género, racismo y clasismo, conceptos sociales que como sabemos son todo menos inmóviles. Como lectora, es tan refrescante leer referencias a pop culture actual, obras y películas actuales...sentí este libro como una conversación de fan a fan.
Como fan declarada de las Brontë que soy, Emily siempre me había transmitido esa imagen borrosa y confusa que menciona la autora, la cual es producto de las conflictivas biografías y opiniones que se tienen sobre ella. Emily es la hermana que menor material biográfico ofrece. La autora ofrece un caso convincente acerca de cómo la representación de Emily en la cultura contemporánea ha sido casi solamente influenciada por la idea que Charlotte tenia de ella, y por lo tanto por la normativa biografía The Life of Charlotte Brontë de Elizabeth Gaskell. Emily no era mística, sobrenatural, delicada y propensa a enfermedades alejada de su hogar. Era mas bien una mujer que hacía lo que le daba la gana siempre, teniendo opiniones fuertes de las convenciones sociales humanas. Notar que no digo victorianas, sino que Emily crítica fuertemente la hipocresía y el egoísmo en general humanos, como lo muestra en su devoir “El gato”. También tenía una fuerte oposición a comportarse según los mandatos de la feminidad tradicional. Durante su estadía en Bruselas, se recuerda que se negaba rotundamente a usar la numerosas faldas (o petticoats) que iban debajo de la falda principal femenina y se burlaban de ella por eso, a diferencia de Charlotte que no tuvo problemas en adherirse a esta moda de la ciudad. En ese sentido, me convence plenamente el alegato de la autora de que Emily era la mayor protofeminista de entre las tres hermanas. Era una figura fuerte, con aspectos masculinos (es decir una reserva e independencia obstinadas) que su hermana trató de maquillar.
Me gustó encontrar que en este libro se reafirma el caso de la inteligencia de genio de Emily (que no es una conjetura, de hecho está respaldada por sucesos, cartas y memorias de la época) y que se habla de su amor por los animales y la naturaleza como algo adelantado a su siglo y visionario. Para mi, Emily Brontë es un personaje inspirador justamente por eso. La veo como una mujer con intereses, filosofía de vida e ideas que encajan perfecto en la actualidad, en pleno 2020, y que en su época le causaron tanto estigma y los injustos calificativos de excéntrica y obtusa. Creo que no pude estar más de acuerdo con la autora en esto, sobretodo porque ella también resalta la película To Walk Invisible (2016), biopic de las Brontë, como una de las mejores representaciones de ellas (que lo es! Es tan realista, sin romanticismos absurdos y justa para con las hermanas y sus obras). A pesar de todos estos aspectos positivos, hay un tema en el que no cedo. La autora descarta rápidamente el comportamiento excéntrico en Emily asumiendo que también es parte del mito. Yo no creo que esto sea así ya que Emily era un genio y ese rasgo intelectual, como dice la psicología, conlleva muy posiblemente comportamientos excéntricos y hasta antisociales.
Este libro me dejó con muchas ganas de leer la biografía esencial de las Brontës de Juliet Barker. Además me puso en conflicto interno porque mi preferida siempre fue Charlotte. Ciertamente terminaré de leer los poemas de Emily con muchas más ganas. Si sienten curiosidad por Emily, este libro es un must! El único tema es que está en inglés...pero pueden encontrar un gran sustituto en la biografía de Emily traducida al español de Winifred Gerin.
April 3, 2021
It was so welcome to feel as though author was addressing the reader in 2018 rather than being stuck in a time warp. Reading this felt like a lovely kind friend meets you for coffee and cake and sits down for a chat about Emily. It’s thoroughly researched and fairly presented without bitchiness or bias - no mean feat when it comes to Bronte biography. I learnt new things from this book which I hadn’t from other far longer books. I rarely find Emily’s mysticism fully addressed in any text other than Emily’s own works although here I felt the author was kindly and tactfully leaving this topic open to the readers’ own spiritual viewpoints. In short, it was like reading a Bronte book but without the anguish.
August 9, 2020
Es gibt viele Biografien über die Brontë-Schwestern und ganz besonders über Emily Brontë.
Claire O' Callaghan, Dozentin für gender studies an der University of Loughborough London, zeigt in ihrer Studie "Emily Brontë Reappraised " schon gleich zu Beginn die Vielzahl von Interpretationen des Lebens und Werks dieser außergewöhnlichen Schriftstellerin. Köstlich gleich zu Anfang zu lesen: die versammelten Skurrilitäten und Deutungen rund um die Autorin. Scheu sei sie gewesen, möglicherweise mit Asperger-Syndrom, Mystikerin, vielleicht anorektisch. Aber auch der hier gewählte Buchuntertitel "Das andere Gesicht der Emily Brontë" weist eher nebulös in die angestrebte Neubewertung.
Dabei will die Autorin mit Vorurteilen aufräumen und eine Biografie aus der Sicht des 21. Jahrhunderts vorlegen, ein Schwerpunkt soll auf eine feministische Perspektive gelegt werden. Das überrascht etwas - aus meiner Sicht gehört diese Vorgehensweise eher in die 70er Jahre des vorigen 20. Jahrhunderts.
An der biografischen Mythenbildung wesentlich beteiligt war übrigens Charlotte Brontë, denn bald nach Erscheinen ihres einzigen Romans stirbt Emily 1848 mit nur 40 Jahren, die Schwester wird ihre Biografin und Lektorin, sie bewertet, katalogisiert, interpretiert und verändert das Werk ihrer Schwester. So verstärkt sie das Vorurteil, Emily sei weltfremd und provinziell. O'Callaghan dazu: "Zweifellos liebte Charlotte ihre Schwester ….. doch sie lieferte eine konstruierte und widersprüchliche Darstellung…., die bewusst Fakt und Fiktion vermengte, um Emily so zu porträtieren, wie sie sie haben wollte." Könnte es nicht nur schwesterliche Liebe, sondern auch Eifersucht, ja Neid gewesen sein? Charlotte war doch in der Lage, Emilys Talent und Fähigkeiten zu beurteilen und den hohen literarischen Wert ihres belletristischen und lyrischen Werks zu erkennen? In einem Vorwort zu Emilys Roman schreibt sie:" Ich habe gerade Wuthering Heights durchgelesen und habe zum ersten Mal einen klaren Einblick bekommen in das, was seine Mängel genannt werden und vielleicht wirklich sind ….. Ich weiß nicht, ob es richtig oder ratsam ist, solche Dinge wie Heathcliff zu erschaffen." So finden sich in Charlottes Äußerungen nicht so sehr Erhellendes über Emily, als vielmehr Offenbarungen aus ihrer eigenen Gedankenwelt. Nicht der Schutz der verstorbenen Schwester steht dabei im Vordergrund, sondern vielmehr der Schutz der eigenen Werke. Claire O' Callaghans Fazit: " Leider hat das Bild, das Charlotte von ihrer Schwester konstruiert hat, um sich selbst zu inszenieren …… Emilys Ruf dauerhaft beschädigt." An der bis heute richtungsweisenden Wirkung ihres Romans, z.B. auch in Film- und Popkultur, ist jedoch nicht zu zweifeln und das sollte nach meinem Verständnis das Wesentliche an der Beurteilung einer herausragenden Künstlerin sein: das Nachwirken des künstlerischen Werks.
Abschließend kann ich sagen, dass ich das vorliegende Buch sehr gerne gelesen habe, die Lektüre war fesselnd und zeigte mir neue Perspektiven auf, die Übersetzung von Marion Ahl ist nicht immer ganz gelungen, beeinträchtigt das Lesevergnügen aber nicht wesentlich, Vorwissen und Liebe zu den Werken der Schwestern Brontë ist von Vorteil, aber nicht unbedingt Voraussetzung. Wuthering Heights liegt zur erneuten Lektüre bereit. Ich freue mich.
Nachsatz: Es gibt eine ähnliche biografische Neubewertung "Charlotte Bronte Revisited – a view from the 21st century" von Sophie Franklin. Ich hoffe, der in viktorianischer Literatur engagierte Dryas Verlag nimmt sich auch dieser deutschen Ausgabe an!
Claire O' Callaghan, Dozentin für gender studies an der University of Loughborough London, zeigt in ihrer Studie "Emily Brontë Reappraised " schon gleich zu Beginn die Vielzahl von Interpretationen des Lebens und Werks dieser außergewöhnlichen Schriftstellerin. Köstlich gleich zu Anfang zu lesen: die versammelten Skurrilitäten und Deutungen rund um die Autorin. Scheu sei sie gewesen, möglicherweise mit Asperger-Syndrom, Mystikerin, vielleicht anorektisch. Aber auch der hier gewählte Buchuntertitel "Das andere Gesicht der Emily Brontë" weist eher nebulös in die angestrebte Neubewertung.
Dabei will die Autorin mit Vorurteilen aufräumen und eine Biografie aus der Sicht des 21. Jahrhunderts vorlegen, ein Schwerpunkt soll auf eine feministische Perspektive gelegt werden. Das überrascht etwas - aus meiner Sicht gehört diese Vorgehensweise eher in die 70er Jahre des vorigen 20. Jahrhunderts.
An der biografischen Mythenbildung wesentlich beteiligt war übrigens Charlotte Brontë, denn bald nach Erscheinen ihres einzigen Romans stirbt Emily 1848 mit nur 40 Jahren, die Schwester wird ihre Biografin und Lektorin, sie bewertet, katalogisiert, interpretiert und verändert das Werk ihrer Schwester. So verstärkt sie das Vorurteil, Emily sei weltfremd und provinziell. O'Callaghan dazu: "Zweifellos liebte Charlotte ihre Schwester ….. doch sie lieferte eine konstruierte und widersprüchliche Darstellung…., die bewusst Fakt und Fiktion vermengte, um Emily so zu porträtieren, wie sie sie haben wollte." Könnte es nicht nur schwesterliche Liebe, sondern auch Eifersucht, ja Neid gewesen sein? Charlotte war doch in der Lage, Emilys Talent und Fähigkeiten zu beurteilen und den hohen literarischen Wert ihres belletristischen und lyrischen Werks zu erkennen? In einem Vorwort zu Emilys Roman schreibt sie:" Ich habe gerade Wuthering Heights durchgelesen und habe zum ersten Mal einen klaren Einblick bekommen in das, was seine Mängel genannt werden und vielleicht wirklich sind ….. Ich weiß nicht, ob es richtig oder ratsam ist, solche Dinge wie Heathcliff zu erschaffen." So finden sich in Charlottes Äußerungen nicht so sehr Erhellendes über Emily, als vielmehr Offenbarungen aus ihrer eigenen Gedankenwelt. Nicht der Schutz der verstorbenen Schwester steht dabei im Vordergrund, sondern vielmehr der Schutz der eigenen Werke. Claire O' Callaghans Fazit: " Leider hat das Bild, das Charlotte von ihrer Schwester konstruiert hat, um sich selbst zu inszenieren …… Emilys Ruf dauerhaft beschädigt." An der bis heute richtungsweisenden Wirkung ihres Romans, z.B. auch in Film- und Popkultur, ist jedoch nicht zu zweifeln und das sollte nach meinem Verständnis das Wesentliche an der Beurteilung einer herausragenden Künstlerin sein: das Nachwirken des künstlerischen Werks.
Abschließend kann ich sagen, dass ich das vorliegende Buch sehr gerne gelesen habe, die Lektüre war fesselnd und zeigte mir neue Perspektiven auf, die Übersetzung von Marion Ahl ist nicht immer ganz gelungen, beeinträchtigt das Lesevergnügen aber nicht wesentlich, Vorwissen und Liebe zu den Werken der Schwestern Brontë ist von Vorteil, aber nicht unbedingt Voraussetzung. Wuthering Heights liegt zur erneuten Lektüre bereit. Ich freue mich.
Nachsatz: Es gibt eine ähnliche biografische Neubewertung "Charlotte Bronte Revisited – a view from the 21st century" von Sophie Franklin. Ich hoffe, der in viktorianischer Literatur engagierte Dryas Verlag nimmt sich auch dieser deutschen Ausgabe an!
August 24, 2018
I thought this was an excellent book, with an interesting and plausible slant on the known facts about Emily Bronte and differentiating between that and Bronte mythology so by the end, it leaves the reader with a much clearer picture of the real Emily Bronte. I'd be happy to recommend it.
November 14, 2018
Really enjoyed this assessment of all aspects of Emily Bronte. The author is very fair to Emily and it seems that it's long past time that Emily was seen through this viewpoint.
Some of Emily's poetry is included.
One I'd like to read again and I'm now interested in reading the book in this series about Charlotte.
Some of Emily's poetry is included.
One I'd like to read again and I'm now interested in reading the book in this series about Charlotte.
Read
August 18, 2018I enjoyed this very much. A must-read for any Emily Bronte fan, and full of helpful ideas about what to read next.
March 4, 2026
We would have been friends
April 9, 2021
Lovedddd. Always love reading about the Brontes and over the years I've grown to love Wuthering Heights more than any other Bronte novel, and so I really appreciated this closer look at Emily!
November 1, 2022
A must-read if you are a fan of the Bronte's! Emily, the middle of the three sisters, has been much maligned in the past but Claire O'Callaghan's book brings Emily's character right up to date! She was an amazing person and as with her sisters, died far too young!
November 5, 2018
This book is structured like a poorly written and sparse dissertation, stating the premise before presenting evidence then revisiting with summary and next point. This author argues that we don’t know Emily’s unadulterated self because Charlotte revised her work and reinvented her reputation. But this book offers only more speculation without new evidence beyond the circumstantial. I’m surprised that Emily’s religious views were omitted from the study. I thought that was a big part of her life that put context to her other pursuits.
July 16, 2018
A well written and balanced ‘biography’ of Emily, raises some questions and answers others. Unfortunately there’s a dearth of primary documentation and a lot of what we know of Emily is down to speculation. One thing is sure, Emily is probably the most proficient of the Brontë sisters not just in her poetry but also with the text of Wuthering Heights. I’d recommend reading this if only to avoid some of the heavier biographies which can be tough going.
September 19, 2025
Emily, We Hardly Know Ye
As a die-hard Brontëite, I found this book hard to put down. However, I feel it’s important to let you know what you’ll be reading before you dive in. This book is not going to shore up any new, headline-worthy facts about her. We know very little about Emily and her life and no book will change that. It simply offers some new insight and viewpoints into what we already know and debunks some well-known myths about her and her family. The author herself is straightforward about that (aside from the ironic claim to make ‘the real Emily Brontë stand up’). My only complaint on this score is that sometimes the author presents a version of Emily that she likes and has interpreted. She admits it, though, and I suppose in the end it goes to show that since we know so little about Emily, we’ll all imagine her a little differently.
So you won’t walk away with a definitive image of who she was, but perhaps with an image of who she might have been. Regardless, I’d encourage any Brontë fan to read it. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Emily better, not just as a writer but as a person. I’ve come to deeply appreciate her as a unique and fascinating individual, and will return to her works with a fresh perspective.
February 8, 2025
I love all things Brontë and Emily is my favourite!
Claire O’Callaghan does a marvellous job at taking historical research and opinion on Emily Brontë and applying a modern interpretation to the previous views on one of literature’s great female talents.
Split into several different themes including but not limited to Emily’s early years, friendships, her writing, life on the Moors, bonds with animals, feminism, and her final days, Claire O’Callaghan rehabilitates Emily’s character and personality with a 21st century perspective in mind to conclude that history has painted quite an unfair, close-minded, misogynistic and prejudicial, portrait of Emily. One that strong women often still get painted with today.
One thing I found quite sad was whilst societal views of women have changed and developed for the good over the years… the women of today reading this book will no doubt find some commonality with Emily’s historical biographical treatment… which tells us we still have so much work to do.
This really was a fascinating and insightful book. I loved how it was split into the different themes making navigation really easy!
Lots of excerpts from Emily’s writings and information on other books, tv series and films on the Brontes!
This is a must for any Bronte fan. I can’t recommend it enough!
Bravo, Claire O’Callaghan! 👏🏻
Claire O’Callaghan does a marvellous job at taking historical research and opinion on Emily Brontë and applying a modern interpretation to the previous views on one of literature’s great female talents.
Split into several different themes including but not limited to Emily’s early years, friendships, her writing, life on the Moors, bonds with animals, feminism, and her final days, Claire O’Callaghan rehabilitates Emily’s character and personality with a 21st century perspective in mind to conclude that history has painted quite an unfair, close-minded, misogynistic and prejudicial, portrait of Emily. One that strong women often still get painted with today.
One thing I found quite sad was whilst societal views of women have changed and developed for the good over the years… the women of today reading this book will no doubt find some commonality with Emily’s historical biographical treatment… which tells us we still have so much work to do.
This really was a fascinating and insightful book. I loved how it was split into the different themes making navigation really easy!
Lots of excerpts from Emily’s writings and information on other books, tv series and films on the Brontes!
This is a must for any Bronte fan. I can’t recommend it enough!
Bravo, Claire O’Callaghan! 👏🏻
October 11, 2022
A one-sitting book, I read this as a postscript to Juliet Barker's biography in the hopes of getting a little more focus on Emily. The annoying thing is I largely agree with Claire O'Callaghan's portrayal of Emily - she's debunking the right myths, at least - but I really hated the style and delivery of this book. It reads worse than a first-year undergraduate essay, is very much a subjective, superficial, ~frothy take on Emily and who the author "imagines her to be", and the style is much too colloquial for me to take seriously or enjoy ("Anyhow, I think..." etc).
Other things I personally do not ever want to read in a biography ("biography with a twist", yeah, I know) of a 19th c. woman: 1) "mansplains", 2) "she would probably like Instagram" and 3) "*yawns*". *Yawns* ?????!? I'm not joking. I wish I was joking.
Other things I personally do not ever want to read in a biography ("biography with a twist", yeah, I know) of a 19th c. woman: 1) "mansplains", 2) "she would probably like Instagram" and 3) "*yawns*". *Yawns* ?????!? I'm not joking. I wish I was joking.
July 9, 2020
Excellent short overview on Emily Bronte's life and work; in the same series as "Anne Bronte Reimagined," and with some thematic similarities. This volume also strives to get at what can be objectively known about the writer's life, looking at the mythology that has built up around her. Where Anne has been tagged the reserved, maybe boring Bronte, Emily's image has gone in the other direction, as a wild, untamed mystic, and possible recluse. Includes lots of interesting information. Next up: Charlotte!
January 24, 2023
Emily Bronte is my favourite author, and has been for most of my life. This slim volume looks once again at her life-story, and unravels some of the myths surrounding Emily. My Kindle edition, at least, was poorly edited with many distracting errors - I don't know if the hard copy books suffer from a similar fault. The author provides some thoughtful insights but this is a slim volume containing nothing new.
April 21, 2026
This is an accessible and engaging book introducing the enigmatic author of 'Wuthering Heights' to readers who are new to the Bronte sisters. However, it is poorly edited and full of typos. At one point, an extract from 'Wuthering Heights' is mistakenly attributed to Lockwood when it is in fact Nelly Dean. This really should have been picked up in editing as an intrinsic error like this affects the integrity of what is otherwise an informative read.
September 26, 2018
An informed and balanced review of Emily Bronte which intelligently addresses many of the myths about her. In particular, a number of the myths which, in my opinion, were so poorly exploited in the very disappointing article a few months ago in the Guardian. A worthwhile read for any fan of this intriguing member of the Bronte family.
August 7, 2019
Best book I've finished this year. I love Emily Brontë and reading about who she was/could have been makes me devastated that she only ever published one novel. I'll be dreaming about that potential novel for the rest of my life while rereading her poetry and Wuthering Heights again, again and again!
July 10, 2022
very easy reading, nothing new or sensational to reveal but refreshing that the facts and myths one Emily had been reappraised with a 21st century perspective. Read it in almost one straight sitting.
June 17, 2023
An interesting biography of Emily Brontë. Claire O'Callaghan presents all her information in a concise and approachable way, even if the contemporary references are somewhat strange. My only criticism is that I wish it were longer. I would recommend this biography to any Brontë fan.
October 28, 2018
Interesting read & dispels many myths with a modern perspective. Worthy read for Bronte fans.
September 9, 2019
A very informative read, comes across very objectively and certainly questions what we have been led to believe about Emily
July 21, 2022
Excellent book on the person and life of Emily Brontë. A balanced, scholarly, and accessible read. Highly recommend.
August 9, 2022
3.5 stars
I really enjoyed this demystification of Emily, especially as I feel like there’s lots of myths about her, perpetuated throughout the 200 years since her death.
I really enjoyed this demystification of Emily, especially as I feel like there’s lots of myths about her, perpetuated throughout the 200 years since her death.
September 13, 2022
Interesting enough but nothing new to add. Lacking in depth at times and a plug for her favourite Bronte film! But was left vaguely disappointed.
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