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Charlotte Bronte was born at Thorton, Yorkshire to Rev. Patrick Bronte and Maria Bronte. She was the third of six children (Maria, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne).
*Charlotte had a very religious father which could have been a possible influence in her portrayal of strict religious characters in the book, like Brocklehurst and St. John -
Charlotte's mother died when she was only five years old.
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Charlotte and her sisters all attended this school for a year and received very harsh treatment and insufficient food.
*Charlotte's experiences at this school are VERY similar to Jane's experiences at Lowood! Sources:
http://www.haworth-village.org.uk/brontes/charlotte/charlotte.asp -
Charlotte's oldest sister, Maria, died of consumption (tuberculosis) probably due to the harsh treatment at Cowan Bridge.
*Death of close relatives and friends is a big theme in Jane Eyre. -
Only a month after Maria died, Elisabeth also died of the same thing.
In June, Charlotte and Emily left the school and came home. -
During the years of 1831-1832, Charlotte pursued her education at Roe Head. She left in June of 1832 to help with her sister's education at home.
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In July 1835, Charlotte returned to Roe Head to serve as a teacher for 3 years, until she again returned to Haworth.
*Jane also taught at the school she once attended. -
Charlotte served as a governess on and off between the years of 1839 and 1841.
*Just like Bronte, Jane also served as a governess. -
Emily and Charlotte enrolled at this school in February. However, their aunt's death in November brought them back home.
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Charlotte returned to Brussels to teach English, and remained there for a year before returning to Haworth again in 1844.
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Emily and Charlotte tried to start a school, but their attempt failed.
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Charlotte, along with her sisters Emily and Anne published a book of their poetry in May 1846. They published under the male pseudonyms of Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell. Currer Bell was Charlotte's pseudonym. Nineteen of the poems in the book were written by Charlotte.
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Charlotte tried to get her first novel (The Professor) published. However, despite multiple attempts at publication, her attempts were unsuccessful.
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Charlotte's most famous book (Jane Eyre) was published in October 1847 and has become extremely well known!
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Charlotte's brother Branwell died this year.
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Emily died this year.
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Rev. A.B. Nicholls proposed to Charlotte. However, her father did not approve and Charlotte didn't love him - so she refused.
*Jane rejected St. John's marriage proposal (also a religious man who she did not particularly love) -
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Eventually, Charlotte's father approved of Nicholls as a husband for her. So, the two of them got married, even though Charlotte still did not particularly love him.
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Charlotte died on March 31, 1855 from pneumonia. She was expecting her first child at the time.
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The Professor was finally published two years after Bronte's death.