Tuesday, July 27, 2010

"Look life in its iron face" - Charlotte Bronte

"I approve nothing Utopian. Look life in its iron face - stare reality out of its brassy countenance" - Shirley (Charlotte Bronte)

Day 14

This was essentially a travel day for me. It took me nearly all day to reach Haworth, home of the Bronte family. I reached a town nearby called Keighley (pronounced Keithley), and rode an old-fashioned steam engine train into Haworth. It couldn't have been more fitting, because stepping into Haworth is stepping into the past.

Haworth is a beautiful hilltop town, first settled centuries ago. Much of the architecture has remained the same throughout the years. It is lush with gigantic trees and blooming flowers - exquisitely quaint! It was love at first sight. I stayed at a bed and breakfast/restaurant that is positioned at the top of one these hills and overlooks the town. Haworth is so tiny that you can't even find it on Weather.com. It did make my guide book, probably mostly due to the pilgrimages people make there to see the hometown of the Brontes. Besides Stratford-Upon-Avon (Shakespeare's birthplace), it is the most visited literary landmark.

Because of Haworth's tininess, it was incredibly quiet by the time I settled in at 4:30 or so. I walked through the town and found a beautiful park in the center of town (literally called Central Park). There I sat down to read Jane Eyre for a little while, and then I headed back to my hotel, where I feasted on lamb and mashed potatoes. England is pretty much a meat and potatoes kind of country, but the meal was delicious nonetheless.

Day 15

I was able to sort of ease into this day (really I didn't have much of choice because the town doesn't get moving until 10:00 a.m.). I headed for the Parsonage Museum first. It is creepily located behind a cemetery hooded with gigantic trees and tons of gravestones. From the house, you can see the original tower to the church where Emily and Charlotte's father used to preach (the church was moved from its original location).

As a quick aside, I have to admit that I wasn't as excited to visit the home of the Brontes as I was to see Jane Austen's home. My preference is for Jane Austen, but I appreciate and enjoy the works of the Brontes as well. I can say now retrospectively that both experiences were amazing and enlightening in entirely different ways.

The museum is in the house where the Brontes lived for many years. There were six children altogether, and two died in their infancy, leaving Charlotte, Emily, Anne, and Branwell. All of the children died before reaching the age of 40, while their father outlived all of them.

It became clear to me pretty quickly why the works of the sisters are so grave and morose. Theirs was not a happy childhood, as they lost their mother and their siblings at very young ages. Poor Charlotte outlived all of her siblings, who all died around the age of 30. Anne and Emily died of illness, while Branwell self-destructed in alcoholism and drug addiction. Charlotte died of illness while in the early stages of pregnancy (she was the only one to marry).

I couldn't help but feel incredibly sorry for Branwell, who was initially thought to be the genius of the family. He tried to be a portrait artist for a while, but he just didn't really have any direction. There is a portrait he did of the three sisters that I saw while in London; sadly, he painted himself out of the portrait. A lot of the artwork that he did later in life predicts his own untimely death. Once his alcoholism was out of control, he was locked in an upstairs bedroom to prevent him from hurting himself or family members.

After finding out more about the family history, it certainly became clearer why the characters in their works are so eccentric. The brooding and tortured characters of Heathcliff and Rochester have more than one thing in common with Branwell. You also have to consider the fact that all these people knew was their home life; it wasn't exactly easy to go out. It makes me that much more impressed with what Charlotte in particular was able to accomplish. In spite of all of the tragedy she faced, she still persevered in her art, and clearly she must have used writing as an outlet for her pain. It is so sad again to think about her finally finding happiness only to die six months later (and pregnant!).

The entire family certainly seemed ahead of their time. Patrick Bronte, their father, worked hard to improve the sanitation and education of Haworth citizens. He was able to work his way up in society through his own education, and his example of a solid work ethic seemed to greatly influence his children. The Bronte heroines were more independent and even feistier than an Elizabeth Bennett for example. They didn't rest on what was expected of them, but made their own decisions. Wuthering Heights borders on irreverent at times, while Jane Eyre finds her strength in religion. Branwell, through tragically fated, had an extremely modern sense of art - depicting images of sex and death. The controversy that came to fruition in the works of the Brontes made them that much more alluring for their Victorian readers (and still to us today).

After leaving the museum, I decided to take a seven mile hike to see Top Withens, the sight of what was allegedly Emily's inspiration for the location of Wuthering Heights (not really the building). While I have always enjoyed walking, I came to enjoy it that much more throughout my trip, because I'm just not used to having the opportunity to walk places - most places are too far or it's too hot to walk. Anyway, I know that seven miles is a long distance, particularly when you are walking up and down hills. I purchased a little pamphlet that provided fairly detailed directions as to how to get to Top Withens.

I set off on my walk, cheerily romping through fields of goats and sheep. There were gorgeous views of farmland in every direction. At one point, I did go off course, and luckily ran into a man who helped to steer me back in the right direction. The first destination was the Bronte bridge and waterfall. The sisters walked here and would sit and relax by the water. There is a stone in the shape of a chair where Charlotte supposedly sat for repose and inspiration. I of course sat there for a few minutes (I have to admit I was already feeling tired from the walk).

Eventually I continued on for what seemed like the longest and most obscure part of the walk. My directions were to "follow the path as it undulates through the moors". What choice did I have but to follow the path? There were no landmarks at this point - it was just me and the goats. Then came the uphill climb. Eventually I made it Top Withens, and the view is spectacular from there. The countryside goes on forever.

Fittingly, as soon as I reached that spot the clouds rolled in. If you haven't read Wuthering Heights, you should know that it is an incredibly creepy and sad story full of deeply conflicted characters. So, of course the source of its inspiration should be doubly creepy. The only room that remains in tact looks like it may as well be a prison cell. I continued on through a tiny little village to return to Haworth.

I so appreciated the fact that the only way you can see these spots is to walk there. No one has paved roads through the area to take tourists. It seems that the way I saw Jane Austen country compared with Bronte country was appropriate for the different kinds of writers they were. Jane Austen country is more easily navigated and frankly - more inviting, while Bronte country is almost reclusive and private.

I am really glad that I had the opportunity to see both areas and consider the differences between the writers. They all wrote about what they knew in their own personal lives. Jane Austen was probably more social and therefore more able to write about realistic relationships between "average neighborhood people". The Brontes wrote about isolated small groups of people who had impassioned and dramatic relationships with each other that were full of death and destruction.

One isn't necessarily better than the other, even though Charlotte thought that she was much better than Jane Austen. After someone advised her to write like Jane Austen, she insinuated that Jane's work was full of boring accounts of average people (but still admitted that she was a skilled writer). I still think that my personal preference is for the works of Jane Austen, but I have a newfound appreciation for the Brontes, specifically Charlotte.

What I'm reading: Jane Eyre. I really and truly do love this book. Jane is a bundle full of contradictions and complications, and her relationship with Mr. Rochester seems both plausible and enticing. In my opinion, her understated perseverance through her trials and tribulations must mirror Charlotte's own efforts to stay afloat. Jane was able to say that she cared more about herself than anyone else, even the man she loved; what courage that would've required during that time! She also admits her feelings to Mr. Rochester before he admits his - another act of bravery during a time where men ALWAYS intiated relationships.

Other observations:
-People in small towns are quicker to befriend and chat with you than people in bigger cities.
-Beware suspicious plants that "bite" you when you brush up against them
-Even sheep seem scary when you're walking through the moors
-The Yorkshire accent is a very tricky one to understand - I had to do a lot of vague smiling and nodding in response to things people said.

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