Charlotte Brontë

by Claire Harman

  [W]hat were the faults of that devoir?: Shirley, 410.

  over our nerves like fingers…Where is the other world?: Shirley, 356.

  a woman pretty nearly unsexed: James Lorimer, unsigned review, North British Review, August 1849, Critical Heritage, 116.

  To such critics I would say: CB to WSW, 16 August 1849, LCB 2, 235.

  scarce supportable: CB to WSW, 16 August 1849, LCB 2, 236.

  Jane Eyre, in spite of some grand things…There is throughout it a murmuring: Elizabeth Rigby, unsigned review, Quarterly Review, December 1848, Critical Heritage, 110 and 109–10.

  too odiously and abominably pagan: Critical Heritage, 111.

  What we deeply feel is our own: CB to WSW, ?31 August 1849, LCB 2, 246.

  moral Jacobinism…Never was there a better hater…To say that Jane Eyre is positively immoral: unsigned review, Christian Remembrancer, April 1848, Critical Heritage, 90–91.

  masculine, inured to suffering…fiery judgment on society…they have not the same means: Eugène Forçade, Revue des deux mondes, 31 October 1848, Critical Heritage, 101–2.

  However this is not to be yet: CB to WSW, ?c. 15 September 1849, LCB 2, 254.

  fairly broke down: CB to EN, ?24 September 1849, LCB 2, 263.

  Were my Sisters now alive: CB to WSW, 1 November 1849, LCB 2, 272.

  gossiping inquisitiveness: CB to WSW, ?1 October 1849, LCB 2, 266.

  read all over the district…I met sometimes: CB to WSW, 1 November 1849, LCB 2, 272.

  Why can [the Press] not be content: CB to James Taylor, 6 November 1849, LCB 2, 280.

  the grand function of woman: G. H. Lewes in The Edinburgh Review, January 1850, Critical Heritage, 161.

  I can be on my guard against my enemies: CB to G. H. Lewes, ?c. 10 January 1850, LCB 2, 330.

  I certainly don’t think: Elizabeth Barrett Browning to Mary Russell Mitford, 18 February 1850, Frederic G. Kenyon (ed.), The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (2 vols.; London, 1897), 1, 435.

  The hand was a cramped and nervous one: Harriet Martineau’s Autobiography, ed. Chapman, 2, 326.

  addressed her reply: Harriet Martineau’s Autobiography, ed. Chapman, 2, 327.

  She said I was not to answer it…[S]he is a good—she is a great woman: CB to WSW, ?17 November 1849, LCB 2, 286–7.

  to care about literature…lost sight of whatever was prominent: CB to G. H. Lewes, 1 November 1849, LCB 2, 275.

  almost formed the resolution: CB to WSW, 19 November 1849, LCB 2, 290.

  big Babylon: CB to EN, ?5 December 1849, LCB 2, 299.

  [K]indness is a potent heart-winner: CB to EN, 26 November 1849, LCB 2, 298.

  [he] too is really most gentlemanly…the little man…the Helstone order of men…He tries to be very kind: CB to EN, 26 November 1849, LCB 2, 298.

  in a chilly fashion…Boys! I have been dining with “Jane Eyre”: George Smith, “Recollections of a Long and Busy Life,” National Library of Scotland MSS 23191–2, quoted by Margaret Smith in LCB 2, 300 n8.

  He is a very tall man: CB to PB, 5 December 1849, LCB 2, 301.

  whether a tall moustached man…in came a neat little woman…[S]he was so pleasant: “ ‘Innocent and Un-Londony’: Impressions of Charlotte Brontë,” BST, 19:1–2 (1986).

  ideas, images, pleasant feelings: CB to WSW, 19 December 1849, LCB 2, 312.

  I think I should scarcely like to live in London: CB to MW, 14 February 1850, LCB 2, 344.

  a little lady in a black silk gown…But I had time for a good look at her…She has a very sweet voice: ECG to Catherine Winkworth, 25 August 1850, LCB 2, 447.

  At 19 I should have been thankful: ECG to Catherine Winkworth, 25 August 1850, LCB 2, 448.

  [Their works] appeared at last: CB, “Biographical Notice of Ellis and Acton Bell” (1850), LCB 2, 744.

  Never in all her life: CB, “Biographical Notice of Ellis and Acton Bell” (1850), LCB 2, 746.

  An interpreter ought always: CB, “Biographical Notice of Ellis and Acton Bell” (1850), LCB 2, 746.

  [she was] long-suffering, self-denying: CB, “Biographical Notice of Ellis and Acton Bell” (1850), LCB 2, 746.

  thankful to subside: CB to Elizabeth Smith, 25 May 1850, LCB 2, 406.

  other and less agreeable engagements: quoted by Margaret Smith in LCB 2, 414 n1.

  all five were remarkable: CB to EN, 12 June 1850, LCB 2, 415.

  full of authoresses…the charming currer bell…“Rochester” airs: “Vivian” [G. H. Lewes], “A Flight of Authoresses,” Leader, 15 June 1850, quoted in LCB 2, 425 n3.

  [Emily’s] eyes, her features: CB to EN, 12 June 1850, LCB 2, 414.

  in every lineament: CB to EN, 12 June 1850, LCB 2, 415.

  I was moved to speak to him: CB to EN, 12 June 1850, LCB 2, 414.

  the trembling little frame…An impetuous honesty…New to the London world: William Makepeace Thackeray, “The Last Sketch,” The Cornhill Magazine, April 1860, Interviews, 109.

  I indulged Miss Brontë: George Smith, “Charlotte Brontë,” The Cornhill Magazine, December 1900, Interviews, 93.

  chief incidents: CB to EN, 12 June 1850, LCB 2, 414.

  a somewhat difficult guest…Strangers used to say…For my own part: George Smith, “Charlotte Brontë,” The Cornhill Magazine, December 1900, Interviews, 95–6.

  buoyant animal spirits: CB to EN, 21 June 1850, LCB 2, 419.

  I believe that George and I understand each other very well: CB to EN, 21 June 1850, LCB 2, 419.

  No, I never was in the least bit in love: GS to Mrs. Humphry Ward, 18 August 1898, “Charlotte Brontë and George Smith: An Extract from the late Sir Tresham Lever’s Unpublished Biography of George Smith,” BST, 17:87 (1977).

  She was very small: George Smith, “Charlotte Brontë,” The Cornhill Magazine, December 1900, Interviews, 92.

  we all sat silent and expectant…in mittens, in silence, in seriousness…To say that we little girls…Every one waited: Anne Thackeray Ritchie, Chapters from Some Memoirs (1894), extract in LCB 2, 754–5.

  I do and I don’t: related by George Smith, “Charlotte Brontë,” The Cornhill Magazine, December 1900, Interviews, 98.

  She would make you a very nice wife…Oh! you know whom I mean: George Smith, “Charlotte Brontë,” The Cornhill Magazine, December 1900, Interviews, 98.

  uneasily and perpetually conscious…the possession of genius: George Smith, “Charlotte Brontë,” The Cornhill Magazine, December 1900, Interviews, 92.

  I never remember the time…Was it weak: Villette, 483 and 484.

  some early hip trouble…not remarkable in appearance: John Richmond to Reginald Smith, 30 December 1909, BPM, SG 102.

  brown merino wool: A. M. W. Stirling, The Richmond Papers (London, 1926), 60.

  Richmond said: reported by William Cory in 1867, who had the story from his old schoolfriends Montagu and Arthur Butler, Interviews, 204.

  an expression difficult for a society portraitist to flatter: for a discussion of how George Richmond idealised sitters, see Mark Bostridge, “Charlotte Brontë and George Richmond,” BST, 17:86 (1976).

  general impression of chin: Anne Thackeray Ritchie to Reginald J. Smith, 18 October 1906, Interviews, 160.

  illuminating features: A. M. W. Stirling, The Richmond Papers (London, 1926), 60.

  half in apology: A. M. W. Stirling, The Richmond Papers (London, 1926), 60.

  one citing Anne and the other Emily: for CB saying that the likeness reminded her of Anne, see Stirling, The Richmond Papers (1926), 60. William Cory reported CB as having said “it is so like my sister Emily” (Interviews, 204), though it must be borne in mind that he had his information at third hand.

  she had met Dickens: reported by John Stores Smith in “Personal Reminiscences: A Day with Charlotte Brontë” (1868), Interviews, 168.

  and never would: “Dickens had not read Jane Eyre and said he never would as he disapproved of the whole school. He had not read Wuthering Heights,” Jerome Meckier, “Some Household Words: Two New Accounts of
Dickens’s Conversation,” The Dickensian, 71:1:375 (January 1975).

  meet, work, talk and walk together…She appears exhaustless: CB to EN, 18 December 1850, LCB 2, 535.

  [S]he looked up at me…I saw at once: Life, 372.

  this did not prevent her: Harriet Martineau’s Autobiography, ed. Chapman, 2, 350.

  a death-blow to [Martineau’s] future usefulness: CB to James Taylor, 24 March 1851, LCB 2, 589.

  some hours as happy: CB to WSW, 20 July 1850, LCB 2, 427.

  somehow about to be married to somebody: CB to EN, 15 July 1850, LCB 2, 425.

  each moment he came near me: CB to EN, 9 April 1851, LCB 2, 600.

  significant eulogy…I have told him nothing: CB to EN, 5 May 1851, LCB 2, 611.

  out of patience: CB to EN, 5 May 1851, LCB 2, 611.

  second-rate…something of the gentleman…one passing glimpse: CB to EN, 23 April 1851, LCB 2, 609.

  good—mild and uncontentious: CB to EN, ?28 July 1851, LCB 2, 671.

  proper, steady-going, clerical faults…finding himself invited to tea…could make strange havoc: Shirley, 531.

  he sat alone—clapping his hands: CB to EN, ?28 January 1850, LCB 2, 337.

  One reviewer: an anonymous one, in Fraser’s Magazine, December 1849; see Critical Heritage, 152–5.

  at once the most highflown: unsigned review, The Times, 7 December 1849, Critical Heritage, 151.

  as Adam’s son: CB, “Preface,” The Professor, 3.

  my feelings towards it…You may allege: CB to GS, 5 February 1851, LCB 2, 572.

  tremble on her hostess’s arm: as related by Elizabeth Smith to ECG and used in Life, 381.

  thirty thousand souls…not one loud noise: CB to PB, 7 June 1851, LCB 2, 631.

  The brightest colours blaze on all sides: CB to PB, 31 May 1851, LCB 2, 625.

  Whatever human industry has created: CB to PB, 7 June 1851, LCB 2, 630–31.

  not much in my way: CB to ECG, ?14 June 1851, LCB 2, 639.

  a mixture of a Genii Palace: CB to EN, 2 June 1851, LCB 2, 628.

  Thackeray should have one: see CB to GS, 1 July 1851, LCB 2, 655.

  he has not merely a double: CB to PB, 17 June 1851, LCB 2, 640–41.

  strangely suggestive: CB to EN, 2 June 1851, LCB 2, 628.

  very remarkable…the presence of an intellect: “A Phrenological Estimate of the Talents and Dispositions of a Lady,” LCB 2, 658.

  Her attachments are strong and enduring…Her sense of truth and justice: “A Phrenological Estimate of the Talents and Dispositions of a Lady,” LCB 2, 657.

  She is sensitive: “A Phrenological Estimate of the Talents and Dispositions of a Lady,” LCB 2, 658.

  Before I received your last: CB to GS, 8 July 1851, LCB 2, 663.

  Can I help wishing you well…You do not know: CB to GS, 22 September 1851, LCB 2, 699.

  FOURTEEN The Curate’s Wife, 1851–5

  quite out of Manchester Smoke: CB to GS, 1 July 1851, LCB 2, 655.

  a fond but bashful suitor: CB to ECG, 22 May 1852, LCB 3, 48.

  What is it you say: CB to GS, 22 September 1851, LCB 2, 700.

  calm sleep: the next year, CB looked back on EN’s latest visit, saying, “I do miss my dear bed-fellow. No more of that calm sleep.” CB to EN, ?26 October 1852, LCB 3, 73.

  I am not sure myself: CB to EN, 4 May 1852, LCB 3, 44.

  we find it difficult to disconnect: unsigned review, The Examiner, 5 February 1853, Critical Heritage, 175.

  A sorrowful indifference: Villette, 156.

  [I]s there nothing more for me in life?…I believe in some blending: Villette, 361.

  I cannot write books handling the topics of the day: CB to GS, 30 October 1852, LCB 3, 75.

  trudges: CB to EN, 6 June 1852, LCB 3, 51.

  The Sea is very grand…[H]ad Mr. Nicholls been there: CB to PB, 2 June 1852, LCB 3, 47–8.

  not that I am likely: CB to GS, 30 October 1852, LCB 3, 75.

  If the witholding of the author’s name: CB to GS, 30 October 1852, LCB 3, 74.

  it amuses me: William Makepeace Thackeray to Lucy Baxter, 11 March ?1853, MS Berg, tipped in to H. B. Forman’s copy of Villette (1853). The letter, with minor punctuation changes, appears in The Letters and Private Papers of William Makepeace Thackeray, collected and edited by Gordon N. Ray (4 vols.; London, 1946), 3, 233.

  it is now a very different matter: CB to EN, ?9 December 1852, LCB 3, 91.

  dim misgivings: CB to EN, 15 December 1852, LCB 3, 92.

  with little sympathy: CB to EN, 15 December 1852, LCB 3, 93.

  vaguely felt…the meaning: CB to EN, 15 December 1852, LCB 3, 93.

  like lightning it flashed on me: CB to EN, 15 December 1852, LCB 3, 93.

  one ordinarily so statue-like: CB to EN, 15 December 1852, LCB 3, 93.

  a strange shock…I could only entreat him: CB to EN, 15 December 1852, LCB 3, 93.

  Agitation and Anger: CB to EN, 15 December 1852, LCB 3, 93.

  rush to the brain…almost be to kill him at once: CB to EN, 26 July 1852, LCB 3, 58.

  turbulence of feeling…He just treats him: CB to EN, 18 December 1852, LCB 3, 94.

  bitter against him…They don’t understand: CB to EN, 2 January 1853, LCB 3, 101.

  He is very discreet: PB to the Reverend W. J. Bullock, 31 January 1853, LPB, 215.

  a rude, and dissenting population…has nearly approached: testimonial of Reverend J. Burnet, vicar of Bradford, “Romance in the Parsonage: New Nicholls Letters,” The Daily Telegraph, 10 January 1936.

  rather the real …Mrs. S[mith] and her daughters: CB to EN, 19 January 1853, LCB 3, 108.

  There was a poor girl: George Smith, “Charlotte Brontë,” The Cornhill Magazine, December 1900, Interviews, 92–3.

  to make my heart swell: CB to EN, 15 February 1853, LCB 3, 123.

  It must be read continuously: unsigned review, Literary Gazette, 5 February 1853, Critical Heritage, 180.

  In Passion and Power: unsigned review, Leader, 12 February 1853, Critical Heritage, 184.

  Currer Bell might have called: unsigned review, Spectator, 12 February 1853, Critical Heritage, 181.

  any possible translation of it: The title page of Villette contains a note unusual for the date: “The Author of this work reserves the right of translating it.”

  You see how much the ladies think…now…vowed: CB to WSW, 23 March 1853, LCB 3, 138.

  either the kind or the degree: Harriet Martineau recalling, for ECG, what she wrote to CB in 1853, Life, 425.

  I know what love is: CB to Harriet Martineau, ?February 1853, LCB 3, 118.

  the writer’s mind contains nothing but hunger: Matthew Arnold to Mrs. Forster, 14 April 1853, quoted in Critical Heritage, 201.

  a still more wonderful book than Jane Eyre…Villette—Villette: George Eliot to Mrs. Bray, 15 February and 12 March 1853, Critical Heritage, 192.

  dangerous designs…His conduct might have been excus’d: PB to CB, January 1853, LPB, 212.

  I see people cheating one another…Ah! My dear Mistress: PB to CB, January 1853, LPB, 213–14.

  some doubts have occurred to me: ABN to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, quoted in “Romance in the Parsonage: New Nicholls Letters,” The Daily Telegraph, 10 January 1936.

  that dark gloom of his: CB to EN, 4 March 1853, LCB 3, 130.

  flaysome: CB to EN, 4 March 1853, LCB 3, 129.

  I own I respect him for this…I pity him inexpressibly: CB to EN, 6 April 1853, LCB 3, 149.

  [He] stood before my eyes: CB to EN, 16 May 1853, LCB 3, 165.

  unmanly driveller…Compassion or relenting: CB to EN, 16 May 1853, LCB 3, 166.

  never…forget or forgive…I am afraid: CB to EN, 19 May 1853, LCB 3, 167.

  remembering his long grief: CB to EN, 27 May 1853, LCB 3, 168–9.

  implacable: CB to EN, 27 May 1853, LCB 3, 169.

  weak and bewildered: CB to EN, ?13 June 1853, LCB 3, 175.

  strangely arrested…it seemed as if a thick curtain: CB to ECG, 18
June 1853, LCB 3, 177.

  very miserable: “He wrote to her very miserably; wrote six times, and then she answered him, a letter exhorting him to heroic submission to his lot, &c.,” Catherine Winkworth to Emma Shaen, 8 May 1854, LCB 3, 258.

  bearing her position…enduring to the end…You talk wonderful nonsense: Mary Taylor to EN, 24 February to 3 March 1854, LCB 3, 228.

  when you turn with distaste: CB to GS, 3 July 1853, LCB 3, 181.

  not going to write again: ECG to John Forster, 3 May 1853, LCB 3, 160.

  Do you…find it easy: CB to ECG, 9 July 1853, LCB 3, 182.

  Papa and Mamma: CB to MW, 30 August 1853, LCB 3, 189.

  piping & wailing and sobbing…(fancy it! only they two left): ECG to ?John Forster, ?after 29 September 1853, LCB 3, 197.

  just as regularly as he puts on his watch: ECG to ?John Forster, ?after 29 September 1853, LCB 3, 199.

  Before tea we had a long, delicious walk: ECG to ?John Forster, ?after 29 September 1853, LCB 3, 197–8.

  wild tales of the ungovernable families: ECG to ?John Forster, ?after 29 September 1853, LCB 3, 198.

  Tabby says: ECG to ?John Forster, ?after 29 September 1853, LCB 3, 200.

  a strong-built, somewhat hard-featured man…sadly broken: Richard Monckton Milnes to ECG, 30 January 1854, LCB 3, 223.

  My dear Sir: CB to GS, 10 December 1853, LCB 3, 213.

  These courtesies: CB to ?WSW, 6 December 1853, LCB 3, 212.

  afterwards wrote more at length: George Smith, “Charlotte Brontë,” The Cornhill Magazine, December 1900, Interviews, 102.

  really fine…She said “Father I am not a young girl[”]: ECG to John Forster, ?17 May 1854, LCB 3, 261.

  I must marry a curate…another man in this house…if he wished to kill his daughter?: ECG to John Forster, ?17 May 1854, LCB 3, 261–2.

  for Mr. Nicholls has in all things proved himself: CB to EN, 11 April 1854, LCB 3, 240.

  [I]t has cost me a good deal…I cannot conceal from myself…such a character…do the fickleness: Catherine Winkworth to Emma Shaen, 8 May 1854, LCB 3, 257.

  I am still very calm…Providence offers me this destiny: CB to EN, 11 April 1854, LCB 3, 240.

  a marriage settlement: for a transcription and discussion of the settlement see Juliet R. V. Barker, “Subdued Expectations: Charlotte Brontë’s Marriage Settlement,” BST, 19:1–2 (1986). The original is in BPM.