We took a close look at the literary life of Emily Bronte, the author of 'Wuthering Heights', which is known as the most important novel of English literature.
The author, who had trouble existing in the period she lived, had problems in publishing her works and bringing them together with the readers due to the prohibitions brought by the period. Brontë wrote poems first, but due to the strict Victorian rules and the secondary position of women, she had to publish her poetry book under a pseudonym (Ellis Bell) rather than under her own name.
Emily Jane Brontë (30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet who is best known for her only novel, Wuthering Heights, now considered a classic of English literature. She also published a book of poetry with her sisters Charlotte and Anne titled Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell with her own poems finding regard as poetic genius. Emily was the second-youngest of the four surviving Brontë siblings, between the youngest Anne and her brother Branwell. She published under the pen name Ellis Bell.
Emily Brontë was born in 1811 as the fifth child of a poor family. She has three sisters (Charlotte, Emily, and Anne) and a brother (Branwell). The author studied at Patchett's Girls' Academy and soon attended a private school with her brother. The writer, who lost her mother at a young age, suffered from physical and mental problems in the following years. The desire to take refuge in the dream world that comes with the feeling of mourning has led to dreaming of imaginary places with her siblings. The names of the worlds they built are included in their stories.
The poet's talent in poetry was discovered by her family at a young age, and she published a joint poetry book with her sisters. Our author, who has developed a unique world with the feeling of loneliness given by the environment she lives in, has also dealt with a novel in a quite different style. We can get many clues about her life through the novel she wrote. It has a different structure compared to the novels of the period, so it is among the classics of English literature.
Although she is very talented in poetry, Emily Brontë's novel was first published in 1847, which achieved great success with her only novel, Wuthering Heights, which she left to the literary world. The oppressive aspects of the period and the woman's secondary position in society caused the author to use a pseudonym, so she published the first edition of the novel with the name "Ellis Bell". After the author's death, her sister made the work ready again, but this time with Emily's real name. The second edition was published. The name "Wuthering Heights" comes from a mansion that is one of the figures of the story it is about.
The novel, which is considered one of the classics of English literature, has faced many positive and negative reactions from the critics of the period from the moment it was published. Since the author has lived in a village house since her childhood and her human relations are very limited, we see that she uses her imagination as much as possible in her novel and chooses characters that are far from society and have weak relations with society, such as her own environment. The author, who cannot deal with the love between the characters in a normal way, is quite ignorant about human life and character elaboration. In the novel, we can see a structure full of mysterious and supernatural beings in romantic period features or mansions far from civilization.
The novel consists of three volumes. The last volume is the novel "Agnes Grey", written by Anne, the sister of our author. With the popularity of the work over the years, it has been exhibited in several films and musicals, as radio, and television plays.