At the end of February, Queenswood’s A-level English Literature students visited the home of the Brontës in Haworth, Yorkshire. We enjoyed a fascinating talk about the Brontës’ life, as well as some of the context of Victorian women writers during the 19th Century.  We then had a walk on the moors, which brought home the isolation that the Brontë sisters experienced in their daily lives.  They were big walkers (sometimes walking up to 20 miles a day) and the house they lived in fronted onto a graveyard and backed onto the moors.

We then went around the museum, looking at the rooms and the original furniture.  The sitting room is where many of their works were written, including Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.  We also saw the sofa that Emily Brontë died on.  Apparently, she was so stubborn that she insisted on getting up on her final morning and going about her day as normal; her siblings were too intimidated by her to force her to stay in bed.  We were struck by how much death was a part of their lives; this was exacerbated by living in Haworth where 41 percent of children didn’t reach their sixth birthday and the average life expectancy was just 24 years.

After spending the night in Haworth, we set off for Manchester.  The drive through rolling hills (the edges of the Pennines) was beautiful but desolate.

In Manchester, we had a private tour of Elizabeth Gaskell’s home.  The house has recently been opened to the public and it was fascinating to see a very different way of life that another well-known Victorian female novelist lived.  Charlotte Brontë was very good friends with Elizabeth Gaskell (Charlotte’s father asked Elizabeth to write the first biography of Charlotte’s life and that book is still widely referred to today) and she visited Mrs Gaskell’s  house on several occasions, staying for lengthy periods.  We heard about Charlotte Brontë’s shyness: she hid behind the curtains when visitors came and also walked around an acquaintance’s house because she couldn’t summon up the courage to go in.

Unlike Charlotte Brontë, Elizabeth Gaskell lived in the busy metropolis of Manchester and was very involved in charity work, visiting prisons, entertaining and bringing up her four daughters.  It was fascinating to hear about her life, as well as contrasting this with the much more reclusive lifestyle of the Brontës.  Overall, we learned about the authors, their works and their lifestyles and this was enlightening, as well as extremely helpful for A-Level studies.

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