To celebrate legendary author Charlotte Bronte’s 204th birthday earlier this week, we look back on some of the most influential female literature of all time.
It has been 204 years since Charlotte Bronte was born and now the world and our lives have come to a halt. In these times of anxiety, when we think our world is crumbling and everything has seemingly become an inconvenience, the trajectory of women’s literature can maybe teach us all again how to be humble in our own comforts.
The rights we have today to education and work, the choice to be independent from a partner or our families would’ve not been possible today without the women who went against social norms to earn their rights. Our rights.
Charlotte Bronte was a pioneer of women’s education and wanted to establish herself as a writer. Bronte knew the “womanly” social norms of her times, but also understood how business worked within the publishing industry: she had no chance in receiving fair reviews and notoriety in the literary world as a woman.
Fearing not to be treated lightly by critics, Bronte adopted a male pseudonym and published her first novel in 1847, Jane Eyre, which was a success and remains to this day an important an beloved novel.
Independence is a clear personality trait in Bronte’s female lead characters. This isn’t a surprise as she was kept busy in her daily life, dealing with publishers and even working towards establishing her own school.
“She and her sister Emily dealt with women in their life and strong emotions that they had to hold back in order to fit in within social expectations”, said Stephanie Palmer, Course Leader for Joint Honours Humanities.
Charlotte Bronte represented one of the leading authors in women’s literature and Jane Eyre (as well as Vilette, Shirley and The Professor) influenced the writings of female American authors.
“Women writers considered themselves comrades. And American writers saw themselves as sisters to the European writers”, added Ms Palmer.
Louisa May Alcott took inspiration from Charlotte Bronte when writing Little Women – a book about women striving for different types of independence and freedom, be it financial or of thought.
Image credit: National review
Women’s American literature was blossoming in the 19th Century and male authors started to feel the competition. Ms Palmer said that Nathaniel Hawthorne (author of Scarlet Letter) complained about the emergence of women’s literature.
Hawthorne said: “ America is now wholly given over to a damned mob of scribbling women, and I should have no chance of success while the public taste is occupied with their trash-and should be ashamed of myself if I did succeed.”
But female authors were not going anywhere. And as we are approaching the 20th Century, the theme of romance is hardly mentioned. Instead, political issues are being raised by women.
“E. M. Delafield makes a nod at Jane Eyre with The Diary of a Provincial Lady and Jean Rhys writes Wide Sargasso Sea which retells Jane Eyre form another perspective, touching on other themes: race and imperialism”, said Ms Palmer.
Towards the end of the 20th Century, women’s rights and race are the main topics explored. Tillie Olsen was part of the first generation of feminist American women, having published important titles such as Tell Me a Riddle and I Stand Here Ironing.
Image credit: The New York Times
But American literature was not the only one influenced by British female literature and feminism. Anna Ball, Associate Professor of Postcolonial Feminisms, Literatures and Cultures at Nottingham Trent University, said that women from the Middle East were influenced by the Suffragettes movement.
But female authors from the Middle East did not condemn their society as much as British women “because they were resisting western oppression, colonialism and imperialism”, said Ms Ball.
“One constant feature in their work was that they had to balance their desire for rights in a patriarchal community and adhering to national freedom. Feminism was a complicated thing”, added Ms Ball.
Palestinian poet Fadwa Tuqan placed importance on women’s education and worked on seeing “the female voice” published. Her main book, A mountainous journey describes women as caged birds, wanting to fly. The same motive can be found in Bronte’s Jane Eyre 138 years earlier.
Image credit: Palestine Image Bank
Other important names who need a mention include Egyptian activist and feminist writer Nawal El Saadawi, as well as Ahdaf Soueif, Egyptian novelist and the Guardian’s Correspondent during the events of the Arab Spring.
But the battle for women’s rights and independence does not stop here. With a serious tone, Ms Ball said: “Contemporary women are battling against extreme limitations that are invisible.”
She talks about the refugee women of Nottingham, who seem to be the real-life picture of some of Bronte’s female characters.
“They have interesting things to say about being orphaned and abandoned, having to fight the system, being poor”, said Ms Ball with her eyes twinkling.
And don’t we all have interesting things to say? The journey to women’s rights continues in most parts of the world and regardless at what level each of us is, we can give up on the comfort of settling and take it a step further.
If you want to hear about the stories refugee women from Nottingham want to share, have a look at The World is for Everyone, a collection of written or spoken stories and creative contributions by the PAMOJA Women Together Group edited by Anna Ball and Camilla Reeve.
By Emilia Roman
Feature image: Historic UK