Catching Up with the Classics Discussion

The youngest sister may have been the most radical of the three. Her works have feminist themes and are known for their hard-hitting truths.

• Born to parents Patrick and Maria Branwell Brontë, the youngest of 6 children. Maria passed away when Anne was one year old.
• The two oldest sisters died of consumption while away at school, and Charlotte and Emily were brought home from school after that.
• The three remaining sisters and their brother, Branwell, were mostly educated at home and were each other’s closest playmates and friends.
• The girls originally published their works under male pseudonyms, and Anne’s was Acton Bell.
• She also wrote the novel, Agnes Grey, based on her first job as a governess, which did not go well.
• Her second governess position was a success until she got Branwell a job with the same family, and he had an affair with the mother of the children there.
• The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is considered one of the first feminist novels ever written.