The role sexism played in the lives of the Bronte sisters.
The Bronte family was functionally a matriarchy. Run by the sisters and their aunt Elizabeth. But in the wider world, women were expected to be docile and domestic.
When the sisters yearned for a literary life they confronted this sexism. Charlotte wrote the poet Robert Southey about her work and received an indulgent letter in reply. “Literature cannot be the business of a woman’s life: & it ought not to be.” He kindly explained that once married no woman would ever feel inclined to write again.
Heeding this warning, the girls published under male pseudonyms: Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. Only later, when rumors claimed all three authors were one person, did they reveal themselves. Ironically, losing this ability to “walk invisible” exposed them to storms of outrage when it was discovered that women had written such bold books.
