but she had been in love
Posted by Kate on October 12, 1997 at 20:54:06:
In response to how in the world did charlotte bronte know?, written by greg on October 12, 1997 at 01:16:02
] something that has amazed readers of jane eyre over the generations, and fascinates me, is how bronte was able to describe one of the most passionate love affairs in fiction, when she apparently was so inexperienced herself. she's the daughter of a country clergyman, poor and plain like jane eyre, and married an apparently pedestrian man late in life(after writing the novel). she had experiences of her own similar to lowood school, but how did she come to describe her abuse at the hands of john reed so compellingly? seems to me one can't get those experiences from a book. does anyone know or have any ideas? i'm reviewing elizabeth gaskell's "life of charlotte bronte", but haven't come upon any good explanations for this yet.
But she was in love before she wrote JE - quite desperately, in fact, with the professor at the school she and Emily went to in Brussels. He was married, and did not, apparently, return her feelings, but there is know doubt that she knew what being in love was like - even if she had not actually experienced love's return.
Posting followups to old messages is disabled; instead go to the main index and post a new message which mentions this one.
