The Brontës were a 19th century literary family associated with Haworth in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. The sisters, Charlotte (born 21 April 1816), Emily (born 30 July 1818), and Anne (born 17 January 1820), are well known as a trio of sibling poets and novelists. They originally published their poems and novels under masculine pseudonyms, following the custom of the times practised by female writers. Their stories immediately attracted attention, although not always the best, for their passion and originality. Charlotte's Jane Eyre was the first to know success, while Emily's Wuthering Heights, Anne's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and other works were later to be accepted as masterpieces of literature.
The three sisters and their brother, Branwell, were very close and they developed their childhood imaginations through the collaborative writing of increasingly complex stories. The confrontation with the deaths first of their mother then of their two older sisters marked them profoundly and influenced their writing.
Their fame was due as much to their own tragic destinies as to their precociousness. Since their early deaths, and then the death of their father in 1861, they were subject to a following that did not cease to grow. Their home, the parsonage at Haworth in Yorkshire, now the Brontë Parsonage Museum has become a place of pilgrimage for hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.
夏洛蒂·勃朗特1816年生于英国北部约克郡的豪渥斯的一个乡村牧师家庭。母亲早逝,八岁的夏洛蒂被送进一所专收神职人员孤女的慈善性机构——柯文桥女子寄宿学校。在那里,她的两个姐姐玛丽亚和伊丽莎白因染上肺病而先后死去。于是夏洛蒂和妹妹艾米利回到家乡,15岁时她进了伍勒小姐办的学校读书,几年后又在这个学校当教师。后来她曾作家庭教师,最终她投身于文学创作的道路。
艾米莉·勃朗特,Emily Bronte.(1818.7.30~1848)英国女作家。她的祖先是凯尔特人和摩尔人的后代,所以从情感上更亲近苏格兰人。夏洛蒂·勃朗特之妹,安妮·勃朗特之姐。出生于贫苦的牧师之家,曾在生活条件恶劣的寄宿学校求学,也曾随姐姐去比利时的布鲁塞尔学习法语、德语和法国文学,准备将来自办学校,但未如愿。艾米莉性格内向,娴静文雅,从童年时代起就酷爱写诗。1846年,她们三姐妹曾自费出过一本诗集。《呼啸山庄》是她唯一的一部小说,发表于1847年12月。她们三姐妹的三部小说——夏洛蒂的《简·爱》、艾米莉的《呼啸山庄》和她们的小妹妹安妮的《艾格尼斯·格雷》是同一年问世的。除《呼啸山庄》外,艾米莉还创作了193首诗,被认为是英国一位天才的女作家。
安妮·勃朗特1820年出生于英格兰北部约克郡的一个教区牧师家庭,是勃朗特姐妹中的小妹妹,她比夏洛蒂·勃朗特小四岁,比艾米莉·勃朗特小两岁。两位姐姐夏洛特和艾米莉分别以《简·爱》和《呼啸山庄》享有盛誉。安妮·勃朗特十九岁时到米尔菲尔德的英汉姆家任了八个月的家庭教师,1840至1845年间又在梭普格林的罗宾逊家任家庭教师。两次的家庭教师生涯使她积累了丰富的生活素材,成为她日后文学创作的基础。1847年艾米莉的《呼啸山庄》和安妮的第一部带有自传色彩的长篇小说《艾格尼斯·格雷》同时出版。1848年,安妮又出版了她的第二部长篇小说《怀尔德菲尔府的房客》。正当安妮的小说艺术日趋成熟时,不幸因结核病恶化而去世,年仅二十九岁。安妮·勃朗特的小说风格与她的两位姐姐不同,文风与奥斯丁颇为相似。