The Life of Charlotte Brontë by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
Volume 2
by ELIZABETH CLEGHORN GASKELL
CONTENTS OF VOLUME TWO
CHAPTER I.
Mr. Brontë afflicted with blindness, and relieved by a successful operation for cataract—Charlotte Brontë's first work of fiction, "The Professor"—She commences "Jane Eyre"—Circumstances attending its composition—Her ideas of a heroine—Her attachment to home—Haworth in December—A letter of confession and counsel.
CHAPTER II.
State of Charlotte Brontë's health at the commencement of 1847—Family trials—"Wuthering Heights" and "Agnes Grey" accepted by a publisher—"The Professor" rejected—Completion of "Jane Eyre", its reception and publication—The reviews of "Jane Eyre", and the author's comments on them—Her father's reception of the book—Public interest excited by "Jane Eyre"—Dedication of the second edition to Mr. Thackeray—Correspondence of Currer Bell with Mr. Lewes on "Jane Eyre"—Publication of "Wuthering Heights" and "Agnes Grey"—Miss Brontë's account of the authoress of "Wuthering Heights"—Domestic anxieties of the Brontë sisters—Currer Bell's correspondence with Mr. Lewes—Unhealthy state of Haworth—Charlotte Brontë on the revolutions of 1848—Her repudiation of authorship—Anne Brontë's second tale, "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall"—Misunderstanding as to the individuality of the three Bells, and its results—Currer and Acton Bell visit London—Charlotte Brontë's account of her visit—The Chapter Coffee House—The Clergy Daughters' School at Casterton—Death of Branwell Brontë—Illness and death of Emily Brontë.
CHAPTER III.
The Quarterly Review on "Jane Eyre"—Severe illness of Anne Brontë—Her last verses—She is removed to Scarborough—Her last hours, and death and burial there—Charlotte's return to Haworth, and her loneliness.