This past Sunday the PBS TV channel broadcasted this movie about the Bronte sisters. I didn't know much about them, but that one wrote Jane Eyre, one of my most favorite novels, and another sister who wrote Wuthering Heights, which I did not like so much.
The three sisters never married, and lived at home with their reverend father and alcoholic brother. The brother tried to make it as a writer but failed. The sisters, ever mindful of their brother, used gender neutral nom de plumes partly not to upset their brother, but also partly because they lived in a place and time where women generally were not encouraged to work, and publishers didn't believe they could write.
My favorite sister is Charlotte, the short one, who wrote Jane Eyre. She was a feisty and independent spirit, who expected a lot of herself and others. She knew full well what people thought of her, short and homely and not capable of not much of anything, but her book was the most successful of all the sisters, and is still widely read today.
She reminded me of me. I think when people look at me and listen to me, they don't think much. But I know I am capable of so much more than they think. I may not have a book widely published, but I do have a Master's degree, and I still write, even though I will probably not ever be famous. Even so, I still have a voice, and still plan to use it, like these sisters.
No comments:
Post a Comment