Details

Title

The Brontës and Their Circle

Author

Shorter, Clement K.

Publication Date

1914

Publisher

J.M. Dent & Sons

Place of Publication

London

Physical Description

print

Collection

L.M. Montgomery Institute.

Donor

Donated by Emily Woster

Note

Clement Shorter (1857-1926) was an English journalist and literary critic. Particularly fascinated by the work of the Brontë's, he edited this collection of Brontë texts as well as a collection of their letters and a later edition of Elizabeth Gaskell's 'The Life of Charlotte Brontë' (originally published in 1857). Montgomery read the Brontës, and Gaskell's biography, multiple times. Notes in her journal show her admiration for the sisters and their literary talent and sympathy, if not pity, for their short lives. Shorter's collection includes a variety of narratives and letters, divided by topic and by family member. It serves as a kind of archive, a complement to Gaskell's thorough biography, that provides glimpses into the daily lives of Anne, Emily, Charlotte, and others of their acquaintance. Montgomery discusses reading the collection in her journal on 22 September 1925: "This evening I have finished reading 'Charlotte Brontë and Her Circle' [Note: Montgomery has the title wrong] by Shorter. Hitherto I have thought that the fascination Charlotte Brontë's life and personality held for me was largely due to the literary charm of Mrs. Gaskell’s biography. But it is just as strong in this book so I have concluded that it is inherent in her. Charlotte Brontë made only about seven thousand by her books—not a tenth of what one of the flimsy and ephemeral 'best sellers' of today would bring in. It seems unfair and unjust. What I admire most in Charlotte Brontë is her absolute clear-sightedness regarding shams and sentimentalities. Nothing of the sort could impose on her. And she always hewed straight to the line. I have been asking myself 'If I had known Charlotte Brontë in life how would we have reacted upon each other? Would I have liked her? Would she have liked me?' I answer 'no.' She was absolutely without a sense of humor. I could never find a kindred spirit in a woman without a sense of humor. And for the same reason she would not have approved of me at all. All the same, had she been compelled to live with me for awhile I could have done her whole heaps of good. A few jokes would have leavened the gloom and tragedy of that Haworth parsonage amazingly. Charlotte would have been thirty per cent better for it. But she would have written most scathing things about me to Miss Nussey and Mrs. Gaskell. ... People have spoken of Charlotte Brontë's 'creative genius.' Charlotte Brontë had no creative genius. Her genius was one of amazing ability to describe and interpret the people and surroundings she knew. All the people in her books who impress us with such a wonderful sense of reality were drawn from life. She herself is 'Jane Eyre' and 'Lucy Snowe.' Emily was 'Shirley.' 'Rochester,' whom she did 'create' was unnatural and unreal. 'Blanche Ingram' was unreal. 'St. John' was unreal. Most of her men are unreal. She knew nothing of men except her father and brother and the Belgian professor of her intense and unhappy love. 'Emmanuel' was drawn from him and therefore is one of the few men, if not the only man, in her books who is 'real'." (‘L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years, 1922-1925)

Genre

nonfiction book

Type of Item

association