The Key to the Brontë Works / The Key to Charlotte Brontë's 'Wuthering Heights,' 'Jane Eyre,' and her other works.

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

40655

Title

The Key to the Brontë Works / The Key to Charlotte Brontë's 'Wuthering Heights,' 'Jane Eyre,' and her other works.

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

This volume asserts that Charlotte Brontë, not Emily, authored 'Wuthering Heights,' arguing both novels are autobiographical works by the same author. It decodes characters like Heathcliff and Catherine as representations of M. Hégér and Brontë herself, revealing the personal origins behind the Brontës' fiction.

Summary up to 500 words

John Malham-Dembleby's *The Key to the Brontë Works* presents a radical thesis: Charlotte Brontë is the sole author of both *Wuthering Heights* and *Jane Eyre*, and these novels are essentially the same story told from different perspectives. Dembleby argues that the works are not dissimilar creations by different authors but are autobiographical recreations of Brontë's own life, with Charlotte herself serving as the heroine in both narratives. In *Wuthering Heights*, she portrays herself as the elder Catherine Earnshaw, while in *Jane Eyre*, she depicts her younger self. The male protagonists, Heathcliff and Rochester, are identified as representations of her former lover, M. Hégér, whom she met in Brussels. Dembleby identifies specific real-life figures as the originals for the novels' characters. The tyrannical Hindley Earnshaw and John Reed are revealed to be portrayals of her brother, Branwell Brontë, reflecting her harsh private letters regarding his moral deterioration. Conversely, the loyal servant Mrs. Dean and Bessie represent Tabitha Aykroyd, the Brontës' long-serving housekeeper, who acted as a mother and friend to the family. Dembleby details verbatim parallels between the two books, such as a rainy day in Haworth where the heroine hides from a brother's tyranny, an incident drawn directly from Brontë's childhood diary. The text explores the influence of Eugène Sue and Brontë's time in Brussels, suggesting that *Wuthering Heights* was a deliberate artistic recreation of her feelings regarding M. Hégér. Dembleby aims to strip away the romantic halo of fiction to reveal the 'real' Currer Bell, asserting that the works stand as a signal testimony to the divine origin of her inspiration. By applying his discovered 'Methods' of construction, Dembleby claims to prove that the stylistic differences between the novels are merely variations in perspective, ultimately showing that the world cannot be convinced that Charlotte Brontë did not write *Wuthering Heights*.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

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Categories

• Classics
• Biography