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Essay / The Brontë Sisters - 1751
Chaucer. Shakespeare. Milton. The Brontë sisters. All are authors who helped usher in new periods in English literature. For Chaucer it was Middle English, for Shakespeare the Elizabethan period, for Milton the Commonwealth period and for the Brontë sisters it was Romanticism and the Gothic novel (Gottlieb). Although Gothic novels were written before the Brontë sisters' works were published, they changed the Gothic style and caused it to become more mainstream. For this reason, Charlotte, Emily and, to a lesser extent, Anne Brontë are known as the mothers of the modern Gothic novel. Although various factors shaped the Brontë sisters' writing style, perhaps the most important influence was that of their upbringing and the times in which they lived. There were six children in the Brontë family, five daughters: Maria, Elizabeth, Charlotte. , Emily and Anne, and a boy named Patrick Branwell. Shortly after the birth of the youngest child, Anne, the children's mother died, leaving them to be raised on the Yorkshire moors by their father, the Reverend Patrick Brontë (Parton). Fortunately, the children's mother's single sister, Elizabeth Branwell, soon moved in with the Brontës in order to help take care of them and the house (Sellars). Thanks to the kindness of their aunt, the Brontë children not only had a caring father, but also a surrogate mother. As a poor minister, Patrick Brontë's main concern for his children was education. He knew that his five daughters would not have many opportunities if they were not properly educated. It was for this reason that he sent his four eldest daughters to a boarding school not far from their home. Shortly after their stay at the M boarding school...... middle of paper ......concept. Works CitedAlexander, Christine. Charlotte Brontë at Roe Head. By Charlotte Brontë. Jane Eyre. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Norton & Company, 1987. 407-427. Print. Davies, Stevie. Introduction. By Anne Brontë. The tenant of Wildfell Hall. London, England: Penguin, 1996. vii-xxix. Print.Eddy, Steve. The Brontës: A Beginner's Guide. London, England: Hodder & Stoughton, 2003. 1-79. Print. Gottlieb, Stephen. “Periods of English Literature.” January 12, 2000. The web. February 3, 2010..Parton, James. “The Brontë Sisters.” Female ancestors. Internet. February 3, 2010. .Sellars, Jane. Charlotte Brontë. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1997. 9-112. Print.Sherry, Norman. Charlotte and Emily Brontë. New York, NY: Arco Publishing Company, 1970. 9-138. Print.