Emily+Brontë's+Romanticism

While all three Brontë sisters are famous for their romantic writing style, they are all somewhat unique of each other. Emily Brontë is best known for her “passionate and, at times, violent gothic sensibility” in her writing (Brontë). This use of romanticism was uncommon in the Victorian era; Emily’s writing is seen as using an “astonishing mixture of romantic commonplace and personal inspiration, primitive feeling and spiritual exaltation, which corresponds to potentialities otherwise largely concealed during this period” (Traversi 25 11 2004). Because of this unusual use of Romanticism, the Brontë’s have been called “Romantic Rebels.” This perceived rebellion is part of their adoption of the Romantic style. It also reveals how similar their writing styles were seen to be. The footnote for “stanza’s – often rebuked, yet always back returning” tells us how this poem could belong to either Charlotte or Emily; this confusion may also be due to the fact that Charlotte had it published two years after Emily’s death and critics wonder if it was Charlotte’s poem.

Romanticism is the theory, practice, and style of the romantic art, music, and literature of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Romanticism is usually in opposition of Classicism. Classicism is essentially the pursuit of rationality and intellectuality. Victorian era generally shifted away from Romanticism and towards Classicism. This shift was aided by the many scientific advances during the period. However, Emily Brontë does not strictly follow traditional romantic ideals; she is also influenced by the rise of women in the Victorian era. Some common Romantic topics include idealized nature and religious belief.

Emily’s sheltered and religious upbringing is directly reflected in her writing. Emily’s father was a strict Evangelical minister which influenced her poetry; “the symbolism in her poetry frequently reflects the processes of doubt [of religion] permeating Victorian society” (Wiseman 04 11 2007). “Evangelicalism stressed the reality of the ‘inner life’" which helps explain Emily’s focus on the individual in “Stanza’s – ‘Often Rebuked, Yet Always Back Returning’” (Cody 2006). The focus on the self also reflects the Evangelical belief “on the importance of the individual's personal relationship with God and Savior” as well as the “[insistance] on the total depravity of humanity (a consequence of the Fall)” (Cody 05 13 2006). This societal shift away from religion and towards a belief in science would have been a significant shift being the daughter of a minister. With this religious upbringing, the importance of religion would have been instilled during childhood.

One example of Emily Brontë’s use of romanticism appears in her lyrical poem “Stanza’s – ‘Often Rebuked, Yet Always Returning.’” “Stanza’s – ‘Often Rebuked, Yet Always Returning’” was published in 1850 and is one of the poems Charlotte published two years after Emily’s death. The poem’s speaker is focused on himself/herself. The speaker has no concern for “busy chase of wealth and learning” (Brontë, line 3), but instead desires chasing “idle dreams of things which cannot be” (4) as you do in childhood. In the second and third stanzas the speaker maintains a romanticized view of life and death. The speaker chooses “not to seek the shadowy region,” as though the speaker controls when he/she will meet death (5). This belief of control over life and death is romanticized as the concept of the ideal death; the ideal death is a romantic idea that stresses the importance of dying in a certain way to maintain image and dignity. Following the tradition of romanticism, the speaker discusses an idealized view of nature. On the speaker’s journey, he/she lets nature lead as “it vexes [him/her] to choose another guide” (14). Extending the romanticized view of nature is nature as a living force. Nature is personified as the mountains have their own story with “more glory and more grief than I can tell” (18). Finally, the use of religious imagery is a romantic view that is also influenced by her father’s Evangelical beliefs. As stated earlier, Evangelicals are concerned with an individual’s personal relationship with God. The speaker is concerned with spirituality that “wakes //one // human heart to feeling” rather than trying to affect the masses (19). Finally, there is also use of romantic imagery in “Stanzas – ‘Often rebuked, yet always back returning.’” Beginning in the first stanza, the speaker “returns to those first feelings” that he/she was born with about an idyllic existence not concerned with wealth (2). Then, the speaker sees “visions rising” (7) before walking “where [his/her] own nature would be leading” (13). Finally, the speaker reveals how earth and the individuals on it are the “center [between] both the worlds of Heaven and Hell” (20). centre both the worlds of Heaven and Hell. centre both the worlds of Heaven and Hell.centre both the worlds of Heaven and Hell. -- AML, UVic Engl 386/2012W **Works Consulted:** Cody, David. The Victorian Web, "Evangelicalism." Last modified 05 13 2006. Accessed March 12, 2012. http://www.victorianweb.org/religion/evangel1.html. Wiseman, Sharon. The Victorian Web, "Emily Brontë's Muse and Symbolism." Last modified 04 11 2007. Accessed March 12, 2012. http://www.victorianweb.org/religion/evangel1.html. Traversi, Derek. The Victorian Web, "Charlotte and Emily Brontë — Imaginations Apart." Last modified 25 11 2004. Accessed March 12, 2012. http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/bronte/ebronte/comparison.html. Brontë, Emily. "Stanza's - "Often Rebuked, Yet Always Back Returning" in //The Broadview Anthology of Victorian Literature, //ed. Thomas J. Collins and Vivienne Rundle. (Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 2000), 545.