Bronte Sisters Trivia

1. "Shirley" is set in North Yorkshire, and its backdrop is the milling industry, but in which wartime period?

From Quiz Charlotte Brontë's "Shirley"

Answer: Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars are ongoing during the novel, but more or less kept in the background, while the events of Briarfield village take centre stage. At the time, new machinery is being invented, making the milling process much easier, but it creates a lot of contention among the workers who have been ousted, their positions no longer needed. These unemployed men are desperate to have money to feed their families, and as such the war in Europe is very much at the back of their minds.

From Quiz Charlotte Bronte's 'The Professor'

Answer: Eton

William's father was a bankrupt manufacturer but his mother was the daughter of a lord. His father had died before he was born and his mother died shortly afterwards. It was his mother's brothers, Lord Tynedale and the Hon. John Seacombe, who paid for his education. Eton (or Eton College as it is more properly known) was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI, so had been around for 400 years before Charlotte Bronte wrote 'The Professor' in the 1840s. In England, a public school is actually a fee paying, private school. The term 'public' originates from the idea that any pupil could be enrolled regardless of factors such as religion, and because the schools were initially subject to public control. Some famous 'Old Etonians' include Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge; the author George Orwell; and the actor Damian Lewis.

From Quiz Withering Heights

Answer: Emily

Although this was Emily's solitary novel, it is believed by many to be one of the greatest works of fiction ever written. The novel was published in 1847, just one year before Emily's death from tuberculosis.

From Quiz "The Other One": The Youngest Bronte Sister, Anne

Answer: Twenty-Nine

She contracted tuberculosis shortly after the publication of "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall," her second, most ambitious, novel and died of it in the spring of 1849. Many famous artists in the 19th century also had tuberculosis, including Frederick Chopin, Anton Chekov, Robert Louis Stevenson, Emily Bronte, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and John Keats among others. Tuberculosis was also called "consumption," "the wasting disease," or, simply, TB.

From Quiz The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Answer: Helen Huntingdon

Helen Huntingdon, with her small son Arthur, moves into Wildfell Hall at the start of the novel, precipitating lots of local gossip and speculation. Most people assume that she is a widow and she goes by the name 'Mrs Graham'.

From Quiz Charlotte Brontë's "Shirley"

Answer: Robert is her cousin.

Yes, they are cousins, although distantly and not by blood. Caroline visits Robert and his sister Hortense every morning for French lessons, and falls in love with Robert. He, too, becomes fond of her, but he keeps it to himself, considering a marriage for love to be impossible as he needs money to keep his mill running. Caroline keeps her love for him a secret too, but is desperate for him to make a move and reciprocate.

From Quiz Charlotte Bronte's 'The Professor'

Answer: Edward

Edward Crimsworth is a bully, who refuses to treat William as a brother and constantly searches for faults with his work and his character. Bronte suggests in the novel that this is because of his hatred for his mother's family coupled with jealousy of the good education that only William received from them. William only lasts three months working for his brother before resigning - one of their final interactions is his brother attempting to hit him over the head with a horse whip! Edward gets his comeuppance when he loses all his money and is forced to sell his mansion, Crimsworth Hall. Unfortunately, he manages to regain his wealthy position through "railway speculations".

From Quiz Withering Heights

Answer: Hindley

Hindley, who is Catherine's elder brother, quickly develops a hatred for the young Heathcliff due to his father's depth of feeling for the adopted boy. He ultimately descends into drunkenness and gambling following the death of his wife.

From Quiz "The Other One": The Youngest Bronte Sister, Anne

Answer: Acton Bell

The three sisters used these names when publishing a collection of their poems. Charlotte Bronte explains their choice to be motivated by the antipathy many of the time felt toward "authoresses." Charlotte Bronte is well aware that they chose Christian names which they called "positively masculine." Charlotte Bronte edited a volume called "Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell" which was published in 1846 by Aylott and Jones of London. Their family paid for its publication. In spite of the sisters' attempt to disguise their gender, it is reported that the volume sold only two copies.

From Quiz The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Answer: Sancho

Gilbert gives one of Sancho's puppies to little Arthur Huntingdon who names him Rover.

From Quiz Lesser Bronte Novels

Answer: was narrated by a male protagonist.

"Jane Eyre" was narrated first-person female, and so was "Villette." "Shirley" was written in third person.

From Quiz Charlotte Bronte's 'The Professor'

Answer: Brussels

Brussels is the capital city of Belgium, which was only officially recognised as an independent nation in 1839, shortly before 'The Professor' was written. Charlotte Bronte called upon her own knowledge of living and working in Brussels in order to write the novel. She and her sister Emily taught at a boarding school in Brussels in 1842 before having to return home on the death of their aunt. Charlotte returned to Brussels in 1843 before finally moving back to her home in Haworth, Yorkshire early in 1844. Charlotte also worked her experiences in Brussels into her third published novel, 'Villette', which also deals with working in a foreign boarding school but has a female protagonist.

From Quiz Withering Heights

Answer: Earnshaw

The young Heathcliff is adopted and brought home by Mr Earnshaw to live as a member of the family at "Wuthering Heights". Mr Earnshaw takes pity on the starving boy whom he finds on a journey to Liverpool.

From Quiz The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Answer: Mr Lawrence

Mr Markham notices Helen's intimacy with Mr Lawrence and is jealous of it to the extent that he attacks Mr Lawrence with his horse whip, though he goes back to offer him help to recover. Only later does he discover that Mr Lawrence is actually Helen's brother.

From Quiz Lesser Bronte Novels

Answer: Frances Henri, his student

Charlotte fell in love with her (married) French instructor while she was in Belgium, so I guess she didn't think this was inappropriate.

From Quiz Charlotte Brontë's "Shirley"

Answer: Shirley was a male name at the time.

Shirley's parents wanted to have a boy, and Shirley was the intended name. When they have a baby girl, they don't bother changing their choice of name and thus Shirley is left with a male moniker. This seems to suit her independent personality, and as lady of the manor, she requests to be jokingly named "Lord" and "Captain Keeldar", as there is no lord of the manor - Shirley has her own property. The name Shirley become popular for girls after the publication of this novel, and remains almost solely a female name to this day, although it still exists as a rare male name. The incorrect answer of Shirley's (non-existent) older sister bearing the name before her actually refers to the painter Salvador Dalí, whose parents considered him to be the reincarnation of his dead brother, also named Salvador, who died nine months before his birth.

From Quiz Charlotte Bronte's 'The Professor'

Answer: English

William is given the position of professor of English and Latin at the school, although he is at first worried about the title of 'professor' until told that it simply meant 'teacher'. In England, the term 'professor' would normally be used to describe a senior university academic. The terms of the job also allow him to take up an additional role as the English teacher at a neighbouring boarding school for girls run by Mademoiselle Reuter.

From Quiz Withering Heights

Answer: Adele Varens

Orphan Jane takes up the post of Governess at Thornfield, where she teaches the young Adele. At first Jane finds Adele to be a spoilt child. However, by the end of the novel they have become good companions.

From Quiz "The Other One": The Youngest Bronte Sister, Anne

Answer: Agnes Grey

Agnes decides at the age of 18 to leave home and become a governess. She recognizes a dependence and lack of respect in herself that she wants to overcome, "Though a woman in my own estimation, I was still a child in theirs."

From Quiz The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Answer: Gilbert Markham

The book is written as if a (very long!) letter from Gilbert Markham to his friend, Mr Halford.

From Quiz Lesser Bronte Novels

Answer: a boarded up window.

Crimsworth says, "Not only then, but many a time after, especially in moments of weariness and low spirits, did I look with dissatisfied eyes on that most tantalizing board, longing to tear it away and get a glimpse of the green region which I imagined to lie beyond." Like the entire novel, the entire window passage is brilliant, insightful, and a little disturbing.

From Quiz Charlotte Brontë's "Shirley"

Answer: Caroline

Caroline's father, James Helstone, was an alcoholic and mistreated his wife. When Caroline was born, Mrs Helstone couldn't bear to look at her because she simply saw her husband in the baby, so she left the family. Caroline, at the age of eighteen, does not recognize her mother, who has arrived in town in the form of Shirley's governess, but the two strike up a caring friendship. It is only when Caroline is gravely ill and could die that Mrs Pryor decides to tell her the truth. Caroline embraces her "mamma" and the two are very happy to be reunited.

From Quiz Charlotte Bronte's 'The Professor'

Answer: Lace mending

Frances Henri is a nineteen year old Swiss orphan. She is using the income from lace mending to pay for lessons in a wider range of subjects, in order to qualify her to be a governess or a teacher of more mainstream subjects such as history and geography. She and William meet when she joins his class to improve her English. When a jealous Mademoiselle Reuter discovers William and Frances's developing relationship, Frances is dismissed, and Mademoiselle Reuter refuses to tell William her address. He is forced to resort to walking around Brussels with the hope of bumping into her! He finally meets her again at her aunt's graveside and their relationship is able to continue.

From Quiz Withering Heights

Answer: Rochester

Jane and Rochester fall in love, only for their wedding to be halted when it is revealed that Rochester is already married.

From Quiz "The Other One": The Youngest Bronte Sister, Anne

Answer: Vanitas, Vanitis

The reference is to Samuel Johnson's famous 'The Vanity of Human Wishes.' Anne Bronte's poetry is a hybrid of Biblical influences, profound reading, and what many have called sheer "technical mastery." Her scriptural understanding combine with a focus on reason and thoughtfulness to allow her to reach for a big picture--whether this be of the Victorian environment, the roles of memory, the place for artifice, disguise and disclosure.

From Quiz The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Answer: Helen Huntingdon

Helen gives Gilbert her diary to read and he includes this in his account. The diary takes up more than half the book and explains all the circumstances which led to Helen's mysterious arrival at Wildfell. It also explains to Gilbert why Helen is not free to marry him.

From Quiz Lesser Bronte Novels

Answer: Belgium.

There is a strange phenomenon of people I know who have read the entire book under the impression that he is in France. He's not.

From Quiz Charlotte Brontë's "Shirley"

Answer: Lina

Other characters, particularly Shirley and Mr. Helstone, Caroline's uncle, call her "Cary", though at least once Shirley calls her "Lina" and Robert calls her "Cary"! (I tend to attribute this to an error on Charlotte Brontë's part, but I could be wrong.) Robert's nickname of "Lina" is said to be because he is from Belgium. "Rolli" and "Lee" are never used by any character.

From Quiz Charlotte Bronte's 'The Professor'

Answer: Monsieur Pelet and Mademoiselle Reuter are getting married

During the course of the novel, Mademoiselle Reuter appears to fall in love with William. He had begun to return her feelings, but was put off when he realised she was engaged to Pelet. When Mademoiselle Reuter appears to break off her engagement, and gives away the fact that she prefers William, Pelet attacks William in a drunken rage. However, he had no memory of it the next morning and William doesn't resign from his job over the incident. Eventually Mademoiselle Reuter decides that rich Monsieur Pelet is better husband material than William and they set a date to get married. Despite his love for Frances, William fears that he may be lured into having an affair with Mademoiselle Reuter if they were living in the same house, so quits his job and moves out.

From Quiz Withering Heights

Answer: Haworth

The Brontes grew up in the Vicarage situated in the small town of Haworth, which is located in Yorkshire's West Riding. This Parsonage is now the Bronte museum.

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