THE LITERARY REPUTATION OF THE BRONTES: 1846-1951

302 Pages·018.523 MB·English

by  DUGAS, JOSEPH HENRY

COPYRIGHTED
BY
JOSEPH HENRY DUGAS
1952
THE LITERARY REPUTATION OF THE BRONTES:
1846-1951
BY
JOSEPH HENRY DUGAS
B.S. in Ed. University of Illinois, 1939
f
A.M., University of Illinois, 1947
THESIS
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ENGLISH
IN THE GRADUATE COLLEGE OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, I9B1
URBANA, ILLINOIS
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
THE GRADUATE COLLEGE
AUGUST 15, 1951 __
I HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY
SUPERVISION BY. JQSEPH HENRY DUGAS
ENTITLED. THE LITERARY REPUTATION OF THE
BRONTES: 13/.6-1951
BE ACCEPTED* AS FULFILLING THIS PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
THE DEGREE OF_
zO/7 .^ 67<JS J In C h s ^^ Thesis 1 \
lead of Department
Recommendation concurred tnf
ID.tU. Qj.^-tiK
Committee
on
Final Examinationf
* Subject to successful final examination in the case of the doctorate,
t Required for doctor's degree but not for master's.
6M—12-48—40199K
iii
PREFACE
In this thesis, I have attempted to account as best I
can for the fame of the fiction written by Charlotte and Emily
Bronte and for the effect which their writing has had on literary
critics and scholars since 1846. To do this, I have read every
thing in English dealing with the sisters1 fiction which I have
been able to lay my hands upon. A glance at the Bronte check
list at the end of this survey will give the reader an indication
of the extent of the labor involved in such an undertaking. Even
so, I have left many items out of the list because they add little
or nothing to our understanding of the sisters' writing.
A study such as this is, I believe, a valuable under
taking in three different ways: 1. it gives the student a chance
to read an important literary figure more carefully than he
might otherwise do; 2. it gives him an opportunity to study a
good deal of the criticism of this important writer; 5. it helps
the student to clarify his own thinking about some aspect of
literature by allowing him to note and evaluate the weaknesses
and strengths of those who have read and judged before him.
Admittedly, this survey could have been a much longer
piece of work. Evidence could have been piled upon evidence
until the weight of fact buried from sight any valid generali
zation about literary criticism or the temper of the time in
which the evidence was produced. My method, especially in the
later chapters, has been to Indicate through generalization in
iv
the text and through suggestion in the footnotes what I believe
are the main tendencies in the criticism of the novels of Char
lotte and Emily, meanwhile adding a few extra comments on Anne as
well. The whole process—the reading, the note-taking, and the
writing—has been one of the most absorbing tasks I have ever
begun. The possibilities for later investigations into the crit
icism of other Victorian novelists are apparent and inviting;
such studies would be highly valuable for the deeper understanding
which they would provide of Victorian fiction, of the time in
which the works were written, and of the critical thought of
following generations. Perhaps the future will allow me to
make such inquiries into this aspect of literary history. I
hope so.
In the meantime, I should like to thank Professor Royal
A. G-ettmann for his wise counsel and patient, unfailing courtesy
in his role as my adviser. It is indeed a privilege to have
worked under his direction.
V
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
PREFACE iii
Chapter
I. 1846-1855 THE CONTEMPORARY RECEPTION 1
II. 1856-1885 FROM MRS. GASKELL TO LESLIE STEPHEN:
3I0GRAPHICAL CRITICISM 48
III. 1884-1912 THE BEGINNING OF CRITICAL BIOGRAPHY 96
IV. 1913-1929 PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS AND THE RISE
OF THE CRITICISM OF TECHNIQUE 152
V. 1950-1950 THE FINAL APPRAISAL OF CHARLOTTE
BRONTE AND THE FULL RECOGNITION OF WUTHERING
REIGHTS 194
CONCLUSION
CHECK-LIST
1
CHAPTER I
1846-1855: THE CONTEMPORARY RECEPTION
The story of how the Bronte sisters got their earliest
book (Poems, by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell) Into print was
first told by Charlotte in her introduction to her 1850 edition
of Wuthering Heights and Agnes G-rey. Having accidentally dis
covered Emily1s poems in the autumn of 1845, Charlotte recog
nized their value (even though she did not completely understand
them) and tried to persuade Emily to edit them for publication.
Emily at first stubbornly refused, being, in Charlotte's under
statement, "not a person of demonstrative character."1 Never
theless, Charlotte was finally able to gain Emily's grudging oon-
sent, and the sisters spent the rest of the year selecting and
editing their poems (for all three had been writing poetry since
childhood), while Charlotte carried on a correspondence with pub
lishers. The firm of Aylott and Jones, London, agreed to issue
the poems if the sisters would pay the cost of printing and pub
lishing them.^ Because the sisters were afraid of personal pub-
^-Biographical Not ice of Ellis and Acton Bell, Haworth
Edition, V, withering Heights and Agnes Grey, xllil. All ref
erences to the Bronte* novels will be to this edition.
^Charlotte's negotiations, the handling of the proofs,
and the decisions as to general appearance of the volume were all
carried out through the mail. The Bronte side of the correspon
dence is published in full in Thomas James Wise and John Alexander
Symington, eds., The Shakespeare Head Bronte (Oxford, 1932),
Life and Letters. II, 79-94. All references to the letters of
the Bronte sisters will be to this edition.
, 3 |
licity and wanted to avoid the embarrassment of being subjected
to attack or flattery because of their sex, they assumed the
ambiguous names of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell for Charlotte,
Emily, and Anne Bronte, respectively. Their volume of poems
was published in May, 1846; and review copies were sent, at Char
lotte's direction, to the Athenaeum. Bentley's Miscellany.
Jerrold's Shilling Magazine. Blackwood's Magazine. Edinburgh
Review. Talt's Edinburgh Magazine. Dublin University Magazine.
The Critic, and a few others.3 Just two copies of the book were
sold, and it was reviewed by only three publications. The whole
affair was a dismal disappointment to Charlotte, but Emily did
not appear to be affected.
The notice in the Athenaeum was the first to appear.4
Of the three poets, said the reviewer, the "instinct of song"
is shared unequally. Emily is a "fine quaint spirit" who shows
real promise and a genuine originality. Anne's poetry, he found,
was least inspired, with Charlotte's somewhere in between. The
Critic (July, 1846) said that the poems, collectively, indicated
a presence of "more genius than it was supposed this utilitarian
age had devoted to the loftier exercises of the intellect."5
The problem of authorship worried the oritic of the Dublin Uni
versity Magazine. He finally decided that the poems could have
been written by only one person, for they all were "uniform" in
3Letter of May 7, 1846, Life and Letters. II, 93.
4(July 4, 1846),p.682.
5As quoted by Lawrence and E. M. Hanson, The Brontes
(London, 1949), note 3, p. 375.
3
containing "a sort of Cowperlan amiability and sweetness."
After quoting from Charlotte's "The Wife's Will" and Emily's
"Death Scene," both of which he called "touching," he went on
to say that their poems were full of "unoDtruslve feeling" and
an "unaffected and sincere" tone of thought,6
From October, 1846, until the publication of Jane Eyre
in October, 1847, no further notice was taken of the Bronte
poems. Because of the public neglect of their work, the sisters,
in June, 1847, decided to sell their remaining copies to the
trunkmaker. Before doing so, however, Charlotte sent complimen
tary copies to William Wordsworth, Alfred Tennyson, John Gibson
Lockhart, and Thomas DeQulncey.7 One wishes that these men of
high reputation had made public their opinions of the Bronte
poetry. Their comments might have been valuable as Judgments
on the sisters' poems and upon themselves as poets and critics.
With the publication of Jane Eyre and its great pop
ularity, a few critics turned back to the poems in their natural
curiosity for more information about the still unknown Currer
bell. The reviewer for the People's Journal was disappointed
in what the poems revealed about Charlotte Bronte as a creative
artist: "...they hardly afforded any sign of the vigorous lntel-
bXXVIII (OctoDer, 1846), 393. Charlotte read this re-
view carefully and dispatched a letter to the editor on October
6, 1846, thanking him not only for his "indulgeni; notice" of the
poems but also for the long essay on modern poetry and poetic
creation whloh preceded his remarks. His review, she says, "ful
fils tne right end of erlxiolsm"— that of inspiring the poet
"to do more and better things." Life and Letters. II, 112.
7Llfe and Letters. II, 136.
4
,lect, shrewd observation, and great, if undisciplined, powers,
unquestionably manifested in the story of Jane Eyre."6 This
writer's opinion found no second in the Judgment of the critic
in the Atlas. who believed that Charlotte's poems were of the
"highest order of merit."9 John Gibson Lockhart's opinion coin
cided witn the Atlas critic's evaluation of Charlotte's poetry.10
Again we have a long hiatus between the Atlas's criticism
and the next mention of the Bronte poetry. There was a great
deal of criticism of the Bronte novels in the period from 1847
to 1855, but the poems were badly neglected. After Charlotte's
death in 1855, the usual eulogies and memorials were written
about her, and, of course, some mention of the poetry was made.
The most extended discussion of the Bronte poetry appeared in
Hogg's Instructor. The reviewer found that Emily's poetry was
full of "strength and freshness," and Its "power of melody1*
appeared to him sure and strong. He was further convinced that
Emily's work was the best poetry written by the three sisters.
However, he continued, her poetry was to be avoided as "not
healthful." It is like'fe wild beauty gleaming on a hectic
cheek." He summarized:
8IV (November, 1847), 269.
9As quoted by Edith M. Weir, "Contemporary Reviews of
the First Bronte Novels," Transactions of the Bronte Society.
XI, part 57, (1947), 90. Weir's quotations, which will be refer
red to again later in this chapter, were taken from a set of
newspaper and magazine clippings found in Emily's desk. They
are undated but are presumed to have been written in early 1848.
The Transactions of the Bronte Society will hereinafter be refer
red to as BST.
lOLetter from Lockhart to Miss Rigby, November 13, 1848,
Journals and Correspondence of Lady Eastlake. C. E. Smith, ed.
(London, 1895), I, 221-23.