Branwell Bronte

Biography

Patrick Branwell Bronte was born June 26, 1817, the fourth child and only son of Reverend Patrick Bronte and Maria Branwell. By the time Branwell was eight years old, he had lost his mother Maria, lost his sisters Maria and Elizabeth, and he had been kicked out of Grammar school for bad behavior, because he would not listen to "reason." His active imagination had a "dangerous hold" on him. He had a lust for life and his "excitement, hilarity, and extravagance knew no bounds, he would see everything and try everything," which may have been his downfall (Gerin 22).

As a child, he learned Latin, how to write with both hands, and tried to become a "replica" of his father. Branwell was closest to his sisters Maria and Charlotte. Their aunt Elizabeth Branwell and Reverend Bronte sent Charlotte back to boarding school, so that Charlotte and Bronte would stop being silly in their friendship and writings, and grow up. Branwell idolized the writings of Lord Byron and his own father who taught him with military and heroic examples.

By the time he was fifteen, he had started three magazines, including Blackwood's (his "Mecca"), which he would write stories and poem for as well as edit. He was troubled by Calvinism and was always trying to change his predestined fate, including teaching Sunday School with having no patience. After his Aunt Elizabeth Branwell died when he was twenty five, he wouldn't step foot inside the church until they had his funeral there six years later. Aunt Elizabeth left all her money to the sisters, having confidence in Branwell to provide for himself.

In his twenties, he became addicted to alcohol, opium, and gambling which caused him to be in severe debt to his friend John Brown. He had a phobia of being alone and ending up alone. He hated criticism "of any sort" of his writings and couldn't handle them (Gerin 130). When his writings was received poorly by critics, he would turn his attention to painting watercolors and portraits of his friends and people he admired.

Branwell's heart would eventually belong to Lydia Robinson. Branwell fell in love with Mrs. Lydia Robinson, while working as a tutor for her son Edmund for three years. Lydia's children threatened "to tell Papa" about Branwell, while Mr. Robinson was suffering from dyspepsia and phthisis. Branwell hoped to marry Lydia after her husband died. When Mr. Robinson found out about the affair, he wrote a letter to Branwell terminating his employment and "threatening to shoot" him if he ever returned to Thorp Green (Gerin 242).

During his separation from Lydia, Branwell became suicidal due to "grief and opium," not being able to live without her. Charlotte wrote to her friend Ellen, saying, "Branwell offers no prospect of hope - he professes to be to ill to think of seeking for employment - he makes comfort scant at home." When Mr. Robinson died in 1846 at age 46, Branwell hoped his death would reunite him with Lydia. Lydia eventually rejected Branwell, claiming devotion to her "angel" of a dead husband (Du Maurier 245). After this rejection, Branwell "gave up all talk of writing and publishing forever" outside of Blackwood's and described his time spent with Lydia as an "utter wreck" (Du Maurier 264).

Branwell died at age 31 of "Chronic Bronchitis and Marasmus." His last words to his friend John Brown were "Oh, John, I'm dying." Charlotte, Emily, and Anne "blamed the eventual failure of his life on the over-indulgent up bringing and the mistaken confidence placed in his moral judgment by his doting elders" (Gerin 24). Six weeks after Branwell's death, Lydia Robinson married Sir Edward Scott (Gerin 288). Branwell was considered "the only Bronte to die of love" (Gerin 301).

Writing Theory

Branwell Bronte grew up surrounded by writers, which influenced him to write poetry and long epic tales. Though he only lived a short time, he managed to express himself through art and writing with every ounce of his being, about many things. Branwell wrote about many things including his own experiences, death, life, love, depression, his surroundings, and historical figures.

Branwell Bronte wrote "Caroline" (1838), which is included in a series of poems about the stages of death of his eldest sister Maria, this one being about the funeral. He also wrote poems called "Misery I & II" and "Harriet" about Maria as well, with Maria on her death bed and after the funeral. He writes in "Misery II," about how "there was a light, but it is gone" and "Where, Maria, where art thou?" He never go over her death. By repressing Maria's death at a young age, it caused him to be mentally ill, because Maria took care of Branwell after their mother died and was the only mother he vaguely remembered. Her death was clearly a traumatic experience much more than the death of his mother or other sister Elizabeth.

In "Caroline," he feels death "for ever hid/ My sister's face from mine!," knowing death is his enemy who took his sister away and who only brings him pain. Winifred Gerin believes Branwell "repressed" the deaths of his mother, Maria, and Elizabeth, and that is why he writes about it frequently so many years after the fact (27). For someone so young to have seen so many death really messed him up emotionally and was a trigger for his recklessness and depression.

Branwell wrote "Sir Henry Tunstall" about his fascination for adventure and history. Like "Sir Henry Tunstall," several of his poems are inspired by his childhood heroes and the military examples his father taught him. As for actual figures this poem could be based on, there is a John Henry Tunstall, but there is no evidence of a possible connection beside the name, except for the fact Tunstall did live around the same time as Branwell. Branwell had a love of reading, studying, and writing about historical events. His father also brought him a box of 12 soldiers, when he was young and he and his sister Charlotte would make up exciting stories about the soldiers living in Angria. I think Branwell was very adventurous imagining himself on daring missions, but not able to transform that energy into something other than wrecking himself.

Bronte wrote "Thorp Green" (1843) about The Robinson's house, while being employed there and being infatuated with Lydia Robinson, the matriarch of the boy he tutored. He wrote, "I SIT, this evening, far away,/ From all I used to know," while he was on break from his employment and was wishing he could return to the only thing that felt right in his entire life. "I seek for suns of former years/ But clouds o'ercast my skies" is a reference to his ongoing battle with depression, wanting to get to his carefree life and childhood before he found sorrow and being tormented with the struggle of loving Lydia. He feels the need to hear her say "remember" to keep himself from breaking down completely and to remember the hold she has on him.

Bronte also wrote "Penmaenmawr" (1845) about his breakup with Lydia Robinson. He calls Lydia "A flower on which my mind would wish to shine" who now brings him "grief," clearly still in love with her, expressing the pain he feels being without her, and his crushed dreams about them getting married after her husband dies. He describes Lydia as a "never blooming and yet living leaf," making it seem like she won't ever live life to the fullest because she is trapped in her marriage out of duty and doesn't want to tarnish her dead husband's memory.

He refers to Lydia as an "Angel" like Lydia described her husband after his death, when she is more like an evil creature for leading Branwell on, manipulating until the very end. I don't think Lydia ever meant to leave her husband and I think Branwell didn't realize that until she rejected him after Mr. Robinson's death. Branwell makes references to "Ouse" and "Menai," which are bridges in the United Kingdom, leading me to believe they are two other things separating them.

"Peaceful Death and Painful Life" was one of Branwell's last poems before his death. When he is writing, "Why dost thou sorrow for the happy dead?/ For if their life be lost, their toils are o'er," it sounds like he is asking himself why he let death interfere so much in his attitude and wonders if his suffering will be done. Knowing that he had strong resentments and fears of Calvinism, I wonder if he finally accepted that he had no control over his fate and finally just let go when he was wasting away.

He refers to the dead as "So sound as now they sleep while, dreamless, laid," envying his mother and sisters for the peace they have had for the last 25 years and how they are lucky not to feel anything as horrible as he does. He imagines the afterlife as "Where Night and Silence seal each guarded door," wondering if when he dies, he will finally have peace and quiet to rest his obsessive mind or he is afraid that he will be all alone and confined.

While looking for Branwell's poems in books and on the internet, there were very few of the poems referenced or displayed in full text, so I had to base my critique on some of the excerpts. It is frustrating and sad to read about the life of an author who struggled with so much effort to put his feelings into his work and then not to be able to find his poems in entirety. Based on the poems I did find, I think Branwell Bronte was a very imaginative and expressive author.

Annotated Bibliography

Collins, Robert G. "Introduction." The Hand of the Arch-Sinner: Two Angrian Chronicles of Branwell Brontë. Ed. Robert G. Collins. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993. ix-xliii. Rpt. in Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Edna Hedblad and Russel Whitaker. Vol. 109. Detroit: Gale Group, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 17 July 2010. Collins describes Charlotte as writing tales and novels, while Branwell as writing histories and "brutal" fictional chronicles. He believes Branwell's writings lack "traditional structure" with "no resolution, only a succession of encounters," and were full of pirates like Byron and heroes like "Lucifer" with nowhere to go." Collins reveals that while Charlotte and Bronte were creating their fictional world of Angria, Emily and Anne were creating the world of Gondal.

Collins, Robert G. "The Fourth Brontë: Branwell as Poet." Victorian Poetry 23.2 (Summer 1985): 202-219. Rpt. in Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Edna Hedblad and Russel Whitaker. Vol. 109. Detroit: Gale Group, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 17 July 2010. Collins reveals Branwell was the "first Bronte other than his father to appear in print." Collins believes Branwell's philosophy in life was "Evil, be thou my good" and wonders how Branwell feels about struggling for thirty years for his devotion to writing, when he remains "utterly unread."

Drinkwater, John. "Patrick Branwell Brontë and His 'Horace'." A Book for Bookmen: Being Edited Manuscripts and Marginalia with Essays on Several Occasions. London: Dulau & Company, Ltd., 1926. 43-59. Rpt. in Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Edna Hedblad and Russel Whitaker. Vol. 109. Detroit: Gale Group, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 17 July 2010. Drinkwater provides a short biography and dissects two of Branwell's poems in two separate parts. He believes Branwell's life was a "failure of character" and "he a cause of great suffering" to his sisters. Drinkwater also believes Horace's Odes was "his finest accomplishment."

Du Maurier, Daphne. The Infernal World of Branwell Bronte. New York: Doubleday & Company,1961. Du Maurier describes his work environment outside of writing in much more detail than the others. She also believes Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, and Agnes Grey wouldn't "have come into being had not their creators lived, during childhood, in this fantasy world, which was largely inspired and directed by their only brother." Du Maurier also includes quotes from Branwell's friend, Grundy who said, "Patrick Bronte declared to me and what his sister bore out of the assertion, that he wrote a great portion of Wuthering Heights himself" in 1879.

Gerin, Winifred. Branwell Bronte. London: Thomas Nelsons and Sons LTD., 1961. Gerin describes Branwell's childhood, his relationship with his sister, and his ongoing depression and addictions which he transformed in works of art and writings. She also discloses her research about the true authorship of Wuthering Heights and the mystery about whether it was Emily or Branwell who truly wrote the novel. In her book she includes pictures of houses Branwell lived at, where he played, and some of his watercolors and painted portraits.

Hopkins, Annette B. The Father of the Brontes. Baltimore: The John Hopkins Press, 1958. Hopkins describes Branwell's and Charlotte's relationship with their father. She quotes Charlotte writing to her friend Ellen about Branwell's death, "My poor father naturally thought more of his only son than of his daughters, and much and long as he had suffered on his account, he cried out for his loss like David for that of Absalom- 'My son! My son!' and refused to be comforted."

Knapp, Bettina L. "Patrick Branwell Brontë: Eternal Adolescent." The Brontës: Branwell, Anne, Emily, Charlotte. New York: Continuum Publishing Company, 1991. 57-72. Rpt. in Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Edna Hedblad and Russel Whitaker. Vol. 109. Detroit: Gale Group, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 17 July 2010. Knapp describes Branwell as "hypersensitive, physically small, and emotionally frail." She believes Branwell blamed "Jesus" for his family's suffering and deaths. Knapp criticizes Branwell's writing because he killed off his heroes "instead of expending the energy necessary to think of ways of extracting them from their dilemma."

Law, Alice. "Wuthering Heights--by Branwell?" Patrick Branwell Brontë. London: A. M. Philpot, Ltd., 1923. 141-184. Rpt. in Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Edna Hedblad and Russel Whitaker. Vol. 109. Detroit: Gale Group, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 17 July 2010. Law goes through her evidences for believing Branwell was the true author of Wuthering Heights. She claims quotes from letters from Branwell where he describes a great novel he was writing before his death, his own personal experiences, Thorp Green (where Branwell worked) is similar in description to Thrush Cross Grange in the novel, and the use of Latin words (which Emily did not know) in the story are proof that Branwell wrote it. However, Law also indicates Charlotte Bronte wrote a forward to Emily's 1850 edition, claiming it was Emily who wrote it.

Leyland, Francis A. "Branwell's Character." The Brontë Family, with Special Reference to Patrick Branwell Brontë. Vol. 2. New York: Haskell House Publishers Ltd., 1971. 287-302. Rpt. in Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Edna Hedblad and Russel Whitaker. Vol. 109. Detroit: Gale Group, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 17 July 2010. Leyland dissects the themes and symbols of several of Branwell poems in order to understand Branwell's message he wanted to convey to the world. He believes Branwell "wrote in the true artistic spirit of having something to say" instead of just writing about his life and experiences.

Winnifrith, Tom. The Brontes. New York: Macmillan, 1977. Winnifrith focuses more on the Bronte sisters instead of Branwell in this biography. He claims Branwell's romance with Lydia Robinson was the basis for the novel Agnes Grey, though Branwell was still alive when it was published and the characters and Branwell have different outcomes to their stories.