Charlotte Brontë （1816-1855）

      Charlotte Brontë was an English 19th-century writer whose novel 'Jane Eyre' is considered a classic of Western literature.

     Charlotte Brontë was born in 1816, the third daughter of the Rev. Patrick Brontë and his wife Maria. Her brother Patrick Branwell was born in 1817, and her sisters Emily and Anne in 1818 and 1820. In 1820, too, the Brontë family moved to Haworth, Mrs. Brontë dying the following year.

In 1824 the four eldest Brontë daughters were enrolled as pupils at the Clergy Daughter's School at Cowan Bridge. The following year Maria and Elizabeth, the two eldest daughters, became ill, left the school and died: Charlotte and Emily, understandably, were brought home.

In 1826 Mr. Brontë brought home a box of wooden soldiers for Branwell to play with. Charlotte, Emily, Branwell, and Ann, playing with the soldiers, conceived of and began to write in great detail about an imaginary world which they called Angria.

In 1831 Charlotte became a pupil at the school at Roe Head, but she left school the following year to teach her sisters at home. She returned returns to Roe Head School in 1835 as a governess: for a time her sister Emily attended the same school as a pupil, but became homesick and returned to Haworth. Ann took her place from 1836 to 1837.

In 1838, Charlotte left Roe Head School. In 1839 she accepted a position as governess in the Sidgewick family, but left after three months and returned to Haworth. In 1841 she became governess in the White family, but left, once again, after nine months.

Upon her return to Haworth the three sisters, led by Charlotte, decided to open their own school after the necessary preparations had been completed. In 1842 Charlotte and Emily went to Brussels to complete their studies. After a trip home to Haworth, Charlotte returned alone to Brussels, where she remained until 1844.

Upon her return home the sisters embarked upon their project for founding a school, which proved to be an abject failure: their advertisements did not elicit a single response from the public. The following year Charlotte discovered Emily's poems, and decided to publish a selection of the poems of all three sisters: 1846 brought the publication of their Poems, written under the pseudonyms of Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell. Charlotte also completed The Professor, which was rejected for publication. The following year, however, Charlotte's Jane Eyre, Emily's Wuthering Heights, and Ann's Agnes Grey were all published, still under the Bell pseudonyms.

In 1848 Charlotte and Ann visited their publishers in London, and revealed the true identities of the "Bells." In the same year Branwell Brontë, by now an alcoholic and a drug addict, died, and Emily died shortly thereafter. Ann died the following year.

In 1849 Charlotte, visiting London, began to move in literary circles, making the acquaintance, for example, of Thackeray. In 1850 Charlotte edited her sister's various works, and met Mrs. Gaskell. In 1851she visited the Great Exhibition in London, and attended a series of lectures given by Thackeray.

The Rev. A. B. Nicholls, curate of Haworth since 1845, proposed marriage to Charlotte in 1852. The Rev. Mr. Brontë objected violently, and Charlotte, who, though she may have pitied him, was in any case not in love with him, refused him. Nicholls left Haworth in the following year, the same in which Charlotte's Villette was published. By 1854, however, Mr. Brontë's opposition to the proposed marriage had weakened, and Charlotte and Nicholls became engaged. Nicholls returned as curate at Haworth, and they were married, though it seems clear that Charlotte, though she admired him, still did not love him.

In 1854 Charlotte, expecting a child, caught pneumonia. It was an illness which could have been cured, but she seems to have seized upon it (consciously or unconsciously) as an opportunity of ending her life, and after a lengthy and painful illness, she died, probably of dehydration.

1857 saw the postumous publication of The Professor, which had been written in 1845-46, and in that same year Mrs. Gaskell's Life of Charlotte Brontë was published.

  夏洛蒂·勃朗特（Charlotte Brontë，1816年4月21日～1855年3月31日），英国女作家。她与两个妹妹，即艾米莉·勃朗特和安妮·勃朗特，在英国文学史上有“勃朗特三姐妹”之称。

夏洛蒂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。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。后来她曾做家庭教师，最终她投身于文学创作的道路。于1847年，夏洛蒂·勃朗特出版长篇小说《简·爱》，轰动文坛。1848年秋到1849年她的弟弟和两个妹妹相继去世。在死亡的阴影和困惑下，她坚持完成了《谢利》一书，寄托了她对妹妹艾米莉的哀思，并描写了英国早期自发的工人运动。她另有作品《维莱特》（1853）和《教师》（1857），这两部作品均根据其本人生活经历写成。

  夏洛蒂是19世纪批判现实主义小说家的代表。她写作的宗旨不是为艺术而艺术，不为自娱或取悦于少数有闲者。她坚持作家的社会职责，坚持文学的社会功能。她强烈反对不道德的文学艺术，在这种宗旨下夏洛蒂恪守现实主义的创作方法。

  夏洛蒂·勃朗特善于利用当时现实生活中所提供的题材与人物，正确表现了那个时代的大事件，作品富有时代的新气息，新色彩，既发议论又抒了情，写活了人；有些章节时而沉郁悲凉，时而激昂慷慨，说明这些都是作者的真情流露，都是她所强烈感受过、感动过的，也是她深刻观察到了的真情。 

  夏洛蒂擅长描写景物，擅长刻画人物肖像和心理活动。写景写人总是互相结合，互相衬托，情景交融，相映成趣。

  对于艺术创造，夏洛蒂有自己的独到见解，她认为文学需要内在的激情和创造性，艺术不是机械的技巧模仿。她崇尚内心燃烧着精神火焰的人，并将其引为同类。夏洛蒂的小说作品表现的是孤独、卑微的个人在现实中的痛苦和挣扎，但是她的内心始终洋溢着入世的、酷爱生活的人文精神。

Jane Eyre《简 爱》

Jane Eyre, novel by Charlotte Brontë, first published in 1847 as Jane Eyre: An Autobiography, with Currer Bell listed as the editor. Widely considered a classic, it gave new truthfulness to the Victorian novel with its realistic portrayal of the inner life of a woman, noting her struggles with her natural desires and social condition.

       When the novel begins, the title character is a 10-year-old orphan who lives with her uncle’s family; her parents had died of typhus. Other than the nursemaid, the family ostracizes Jane. She is later sent to the austere Lowood Institution, a charity school, where she and the other girls are mistreated; “Lowood,” as the name suggests, is the “low” point in Jane’s young life. In the face of such adversity, however, she gathers strength and confidence.

       In early adulthood, after several years as a student and then teacher at Lowood, Jane musters the courage to leave. She finds work as a governess at Thornfield Hall, where she meets her dashing and Byronic employer, the wealthy and impetuous Edward Rochester. At Thornfield Jane looks after young Adèle, the daughter of a French dancer who was one of Rochester’s mistresses, and is befriended by the kindly housekeeper Mrs. Alice Fairfax. Jane falls in love with Rochester, though he is expected to marry the snobbish and socially prominent Blanche Ingram. Rochester eventually reciprocates Jane’s feelings and proposes marriage. However, on their wedding day, Jane discovers that Rochester cannot legally marry her, because he already has a wife, Bertha Mason, who has gone mad and is locked away on the third floor because of her violent behaviour; her presence explains the strange noises Jane has heard in the mansion. Believing that he was tricked into that marriage, Rochester feels justified in pursuing his relationship with Jane. He pleads with her to join him in France, where they can live as husband and wife despite the legal prohibitions, but Jane refuses on principle and flees Thornfield.

Jane is taken in by people she later discovers are her cousins. One of them is St. John, a principled clergyman. He gives her a job and soon proposes marriage, suggesting that she join him as a missionary in India. Jane initially agrees to leave with him but not as his wife. However, St. John pressures her to reconsider his proposal, and a wavering Jane finally appeals to Heaven to show her what to do. Just then, she hears a mesmeric call from Rochester. Jane returns to Thornfield to find the estate burned, set on fire by Rochester’s wife, who then jumped to her death. Rochester, in an attempt to save her, was blinded. Reunited, Jane and Rochester marry. Rochester later regains some of his sight, and the couple have a son.

    

      《简·爱》（Jane Eyre）是英国女作家夏洛蒂·勃朗特创作的长篇小说，是一部具有自传色彩的作品。

      作品讲述一位从小变成孤儿的英国女子在各种磨难中不断追求自由与尊严，坚持自我，最终获得幸福的故事。小说引人入胜地展示了男女主人公曲折起伏的爱情经历，歌颂了摆脱一切旧习俗和偏见，成功塑造了一个敢于反抗，敢于争取自由和平等地位的妇女形象。

      简·爱是个孤女，她出生于一个穷牧师家庭。不久父母相继去世。幼小的简·爱寄养在舅父母家里。舅父里德先生去世后，简·爱过了10年倍受尽歧视和虐待的生活。舅母把她视作眼中钉，并把她和自己的孩子隔离开来，从此，她与舅母的对抗更加公开和坚决了，简被送进了罗沃德孤儿院。

     孤儿院教规严厉，生活艰苦，院长是个冷酷的伪君子。简·爱在孤儿院继续受到精神和肉体上的摧残。由于恶劣的生活条件，孤儿院经常有孩子病死，她最好的朋友海伦患肺结核去世。海伦去世后，孤儿院有了大的改善。简·爱在新的环境下接受了六年的教育，并在这所学校任教两年。由于谭波尔儿小姐的离开，简·爱厌倦了孤儿院里的生活，登广告谋求家庭教师的职业。桑菲尔德庄园的女管家聘用了她。庄园的男主人罗切斯特经常在外旅行，她的学生是一个不到10岁的女孩阿黛拉·瓦朗，罗切斯特是她的保护人。

     一天黄昏，简·爱外出散步，邂逅刚从国外归来的主人，这是他们第一次见面。以后她发现她的主人是个性格忧郁、喜怒无常的人，对她的态度也是时好时坏。整幢房子沉郁空旷，有时还会听到一种令人毛骨悚然的奇怪笑声。一天，简·爱在睡梦中被这种笑声惊醒，发现罗切斯特的房间着了火，简·爱叫醒他并帮助他扑灭了火。

     罗切斯特回来后经常举行家宴。在一次家宴上向一位名叫英格拉姆的漂亮小姐大献殷勤，简·爱被召进客厅，却受到布兰奇母女的冷遇，她忍受屈辱，离开客厅。此时，她已经爱上了罗切斯特。其实罗切斯特也已爱上简·爱，他只是想试探简·爱对自己的爱情。当他向简·爱求婚时，她答应了他。

    在婚礼前夜，简·爱在朦胧中看到一个面目可憎的女人，在镜前披戴她的婚纱。第二天，当婚礼在教堂悄然进行时，突然有人出证：罗切斯特先生15年前已经结婚。他的妻子原来就是那个被关在三楼密室里的疯女人。法律阻碍了他们的爱情，使两人陷入深深的痛苦之中。在一个凄风苦雨之夜，简·爱离开了罗切斯特。在寻找新的生活出路的途中，简·爱风餐露宿，沿途乞讨，历尽磨难，最后在泽地房被牧师圣·约翰收留，并在当地一所小学校任教。不久，简·爱得知叔父去世并给她留下一笔遗产，同时还发现圣·约翰是她的表兄，简·爱决定将财产平分。圣·约翰是个狂热的教徒，打算去印度传教。他请求简·爱嫁给他并和他同去印度，但理由只是简·爱适合做一位传教士的妻子。简·爱拒绝了他，并决定再看看罗切斯特。她回到桑菲尔德庄园，那座宅子已成废墟，疯女人放火后坠楼身亡，罗切斯特也受伤致残。简·爱找到他并大受震动，最终和他结了婚，得到了自己理想的幸福生活。