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The Brontës: Three Great Novels: Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
Demonstrating the remarkable range of their powers, this volume of three works by the Brontë sisters offers readers the opportunity to witness their unique combination of realism and romance which places these novels among the greatest works of nineteenth century literature. Charlotte Brontë's
Jane Eyre met immediate success when it was first published in 1847 and remains a much-loved classic. Considered by the public to be rough and strange when it was originally published, Emily Brontë's only novel Wuthering Heights has become one the most popular of all English novels. The Tenant of
Wildfell Hall , Anne Brontë's second novel, was a dramatic and courageous challenge to the conventions supposedly upheld by Victorian society. It has since become a classic, compelling in its imaginative power, the realism and range of its dialogue, and its psychological insight into the characters
involved in a marital battle.
Jane Eyre met immediate success when it was first published in 1847 and remains a much-loved classic. Considered by the public to be rough and strange when it was originally published, Emily Brontë's only novel Wuthering Heights has become one the most popular of all English novels. The Tenant of
Wildfell Hall , Anne Brontë's second novel, was a dramatic and courageous challenge to the conventions supposedly upheld by Victorian society. It has since become a classic, compelling in its imaginative power, the realism and range of its dialogue, and its psychological insight into the characters
involved in a marital battle.
942 pages, Paperback
First published August 27, 1982
About the author
Charlotte Brontë
2,541 books20k followersCharlotte Brontë was an English novelist, the eldest out of the three famous Brontë sisters whose novels have become standards of English literature. See also Emily Brontë and Anne Brontë.
Charlotte Brontë was born in Thornton, Yorkshire, England, the third of six children, to Patrick Brontë (formerly "Patrick Brunty"), an Irish Anglican clergyman, and his wife, Maria Branwell. In April 1820 the family moved a few miles to Haworth, a remote town on the Yorkshire moors, where Patrick had been appointed Perpetual Curate. This is where the Brontë children would spend most of their lives. Maria Branwell Brontë died from what was thought to be cancer on 15 September 1821, leaving five daughters and a son to the care of her spinster sister Elizabeth Branwell, who moved to Yorkshire to help the family.
In August 1824 Charlotte, along with her sisters Emily, Maria, and Elizabeth, was sent to the Clergy Daughters' School at Cowan Bridge in Lancashire, a new school for the daughters of poor clergyman (which she would describe as Lowood School in Jane Eyre). The school was a horrific experience for the girls and conditions were appalling. They were regularly deprived of food, beaten by teachers and humiliated for the slightest error. The school was unheated and the pupils slept two to a bed for warmth. Seven pupils died in a typhus epidemic that swept the school and all four of the Brontë girls became very ill - Maria and Elizabeth dying of tuberculosis in 1825. Her experiences at the school deeply affected Brontë - her health never recovered and she immortalised the cruel and brutal treatment in her novel, Jane Eyre. Following the tragedy, their father withdrew his daughters from the school.
At home in Haworth Parsonage, Charlotte and the other surviving children — Branwell, Emily, and Anne — continued their ad-hoc education. In 1826 her father returned home with a box of toy soldiers for Branwell. They would prove the catalyst for the sisters' extraordinary creative development as they immediately set to creating lives and characters for the soldiers, inventing a world for them which the siblings called 'Angria'. The siblings became addicted to writing, creating stories, poetry and plays. Brontë later said that the reason for this burst of creativity was that:
'We were wholly dependent on ourselves and each other, on books and study, for the enjoyments and occupations of life. The highest stimulus, as well as the liveliest pleasure we had known from childhood upwards, lay in attempts at literary composition.'
After her father began to suffer from a lung disorder, Charlotte was again sent to school to complete her education at Roe Head school in Mirfield from 1831 to 1832, where she met her lifelong friends and correspondents, Ellen Nussey and Mary Taylor. During this period (1833), she wrote her novella The Green Dwarf under the name of Wellesley. The school was extremely small with only ten pupils meaning the top floor was completely unused and believed to be supposedly haunted by the ghost of a young lady dressed in silk. This story fascinated Brontë and inspired the figure of Mrs Rochester in Jane Eyre.
Brontë left the school after a few years, however she swiftly returned in 1835 to take up a position as a teacher, and used her wages to pay for Emily and Anne to be taught at the school. Teaching did not appeal to Brontë and in 1838 she left Roe Head to become a governess to the Sidgewick family -- partly from a sense of adventure and a desire to see the world, and partly from financial necessity.
Charlotte became pregnant soon after her wedding, but her health declined rapidly and, according to biographer Elizabeth Gaskell, she was attacked by "sensations of perpetual nausea and ever-recurring faintness." She died, with her unborn child, on 31 March 1855.
Charlotte Brontë was born in Thornton, Yorkshire, England, the third of six children, to Patrick Brontë (formerly "Patrick Brunty"), an Irish Anglican clergyman, and his wife, Maria Branwell. In April 1820 the family moved a few miles to Haworth, a remote town on the Yorkshire moors, where Patrick had been appointed Perpetual Curate. This is where the Brontë children would spend most of their lives. Maria Branwell Brontë died from what was thought to be cancer on 15 September 1821, leaving five daughters and a son to the care of her spinster sister Elizabeth Branwell, who moved to Yorkshire to help the family.
In August 1824 Charlotte, along with her sisters Emily, Maria, and Elizabeth, was sent to the Clergy Daughters' School at Cowan Bridge in Lancashire, a new school for the daughters of poor clergyman (which she would describe as Lowood School in Jane Eyre). The school was a horrific experience for the girls and conditions were appalling. They were regularly deprived of food, beaten by teachers and humiliated for the slightest error. The school was unheated and the pupils slept two to a bed for warmth. Seven pupils died in a typhus epidemic that swept the school and all four of the Brontë girls became very ill - Maria and Elizabeth dying of tuberculosis in 1825. Her experiences at the school deeply affected Brontë - her health never recovered and she immortalised the cruel and brutal treatment in her novel, Jane Eyre. Following the tragedy, their father withdrew his daughters from the school.
At home in Haworth Parsonage, Charlotte and the other surviving children — Branwell, Emily, and Anne — continued their ad-hoc education. In 1826 her father returned home with a box of toy soldiers for Branwell. They would prove the catalyst for the sisters' extraordinary creative development as they immediately set to creating lives and characters for the soldiers, inventing a world for them which the siblings called 'Angria'. The siblings became addicted to writing, creating stories, poetry and plays. Brontë later said that the reason for this burst of creativity was that:
'We were wholly dependent on ourselves and each other, on books and study, for the enjoyments and occupations of life. The highest stimulus, as well as the liveliest pleasure we had known from childhood upwards, lay in attempts at literary composition.'
After her father began to suffer from a lung disorder, Charlotte was again sent to school to complete her education at Roe Head school in Mirfield from 1831 to 1832, where she met her lifelong friends and correspondents, Ellen Nussey and Mary Taylor. During this period (1833), she wrote her novella The Green Dwarf under the name of Wellesley. The school was extremely small with only ten pupils meaning the top floor was completely unused and believed to be supposedly haunted by the ghost of a young lady dressed in silk. This story fascinated Brontë and inspired the figure of Mrs Rochester in Jane Eyre.
Brontë left the school after a few years, however she swiftly returned in 1835 to take up a position as a teacher, and used her wages to pay for Emily and Anne to be taught at the school. Teaching did not appeal to Brontë and in 1838 she left Roe Head to become a governess to the Sidgewick family -- partly from a sense of adventure and a desire to see the world, and partly from financial necessity.
Charlotte became pregnant soon after her wedding, but her health declined rapidly and, according to biographer Elizabeth Gaskell, she was attacked by "sensations of perpetual nausea and ever-recurring faintness." She died, with her unborn child, on 31 March 1855.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
April 30, 2008
I only read Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. They were written very well and I give Jane Eyre five stars. However, Wuthering Heights was too grim and morbid a story although written beautifully so I give it four stars.
September 27, 2008
Jane Eyre-Bronte's development of such a moral and courageous woman is to be applauded. We need more of these heroines in our day and time!
Working on reading the others
Working on reading the others
August 25, 2008
I love Jane Eyre! Fell in love with it in High School and still love it.
January 4, 2019
Love love love
October 15, 2025
Interesting reading these back to back. Aspects come out such as how much they were presumably writing to entertain each other with their own insider story hooks. It took on the feel of fanfic a bit once I started noticing revisions I assumed were for an immediate audience, for overly long stories published serially. They became more approachable viewed that way.
May 2, 2008
Jane Eyre:
I had a hard time getting into this book at first. At the time I was very busy. It was a sweet and sad story. It has a surprising twist and is still very romantic.
I couldn't just find "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte. I haven't read the other two books listed with this but I do want to read Wuthering Heights.
I had a hard time getting into this book at first. At the time I was very busy. It was a sweet and sad story. It has a surprising twist and is still very romantic.
I couldn't just find "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte. I haven't read the other two books listed with this but I do want to read Wuthering Heights.
June 26, 2007
Pretty much what I expected: Victorian gothic melodrama spewed all over the place. Not really what I'd call an excellent book; I had no special love for any of the characters, and the story was of course slightly silly. And yet, I had the irresistible urge to finish it.
April 30, 2008
I only read Jane Eyre, and I loved it. I surprised myself and my lack of morals, when I found myself wishing Jane would just forget about Mr. Whatever_his_name_is crazy, phyco wife and run away with him- Are you shocked with me :)!!!!
May 3, 2008
Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books. It is a little wordy, but so, so amazing. I have read Wuthering Heights. I don't like it as well, but it is a good dark, crazy people story.
I ave not read "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall." Is it good?
I ave not read "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall." Is it good?
May 3, 2008
I've only read Jane Eyre from this book. I read it in college for a lit class so that might be why I was so into it. But I really did like it!
May 10, 2008
liked them all, but i'm a sucker for the classics
May 10, 2008
I tried to find "Jane Eyre" alone, but couldn't. It's a classic love story and I adored it :)
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September 27, 2009currently reading jane eyre, read w. heights and the tenant, loved both. these books have restored my faith in female writers.
April 23, 2010
Simply amazing. The Bronte sisters really don't need any explanation.
January 14, 2011
I love all the classics, especially the Bronte' sisters.
May 22, 2011
I love having these three classics together in one volume with an interesting cover.
July 8, 2012
I have read them all, but it is really only Jane Eyre that I love and have read repeatedly.
July 30, 2014
Thumbs up to Wuthering Heights which is the least romantic story ever, and to Jane Eyre, but I can't get into Wildfell at all.
October 22, 2014
I liked all three stories. Many reoccurring themes in all three stories. Abandonment by the father, alcoholism and abuse, working as governesses. Makes me wonder how much was from their real life.
January 19, 2008
These are definitely the three best of the Brontes.
July 9, 2009
tenant is suprising
theme governess, victorian woman , legal
theme governess, victorian woman , legal
August 24, 2011
Loved all three stories but I think The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was my favorite.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews