In Awe of Inspiration
We’ve all heard ‘write what you know.’ If that’s true, why are there such spectacular successes of people writing things they know nothing about?
I’m thinking specifically of the Bronte sisters. Charlotte, Anne, and Emily, sheltered and secluded, with no taste of romance or adventure, penning some of the darkest, most passionate, untamed novels in all of literature.
Charlotte’s Jane Eyre, with unrequited love and a murderous monster-woman hiding in the attic. Anne’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, so full of histrionics and double-crossing, it would put any modern day soap opera to shame. And of course, Emily’s Wuthering Heights, the breeding ground for all dark love affairs and deathly devotion.
How did these young women, closer to girls in social maturity, pen these magnificent works?
After a childhood in seclusion in their father’s parish, Charlotte and Emily briefly attended school and worked as governesses, but returned home, because of homesickness, at least in Emily’s case. They, along with Anne, spent their day in a favorite room off the kitchen, complete with a large, rectangular table piled with the pages and ink stains of their writing.
I remember a delightful anecdote from a lecture I attended on these sisters: For inspiration, the sisters would line up, hand on the shoulder of the sister in front, and walk round and round the table, round and round until the cobwebs cleared and glorious images and ideas filled their heads. Can you just imagine them, with their high-piled dark hair and stiff dresses, circling around for hours, almost like a child’s game? How in the world did they go from that to writing about Heathcliff’s desperate caresses, and Jane’s near-death experiences at the hands of a madwoman?
These same women, who filled their days imagining fairy lands and fantastical worlds they would draw colored pictures of, would write stories of such strength and passion that critics accused them of having male ghost writers.
It’s something to think about, but I suppose it may be because they wrote about what we all experience inside, if not on the outside. The desperation of wanting things, of needing love and yearning to give it, of wanting to be respected and remembered and admired. The same shadows and light that exist in all of us, if we’re quiet long enough, or walk around enough tables, to truly experience.
8 Comments
Circling around a table for hours! Now why didn’t I think of that?
How did Jane Austen get her inspiration, do you know?
I wonder how much of their inspiration came from, or was influenced by, the books they read, or the things they saw, observed or heard of within the parish.
I’ve also always wondered how we are somehow able to instinctively grasp feelings or understand emotions, even when we’ve never felt them.
Thanks for the anecdote, it does paint a funny picture
Excellent point, Karine!!! In fact, that’s a great topic for another post.
Ingrid–I’m not sure, but I’ll look into it.
Yeah, I do think there’s a lot for a writer to mine that is right inside them. They might not have experienced the things they wrote about, but they drew on empathy to know how their characters felt.
Okay, I’ll submit. Some time in the coming year I’ll read some of their works.
Exactly, Heather!! And it looks like you’ll be a reading maniac.
hi all,
interesting discussion going on
here!
just look at Jane Eyre:
Mr Brocklehurst = Rev Carus
Wilson and his Clergy Daughter`s
School. That part of the book is
autobiographical! Her oldest
sisters, Elizabeth and Maria, died
because of the miserable
treatment at Wilson´s school.
Mr Rochester = Monsieur Heger,
her belgian teacher she fell in love
with. a married man, an
unrequited love…
Bertha = Mrs. Heger (Charlotte`s
, the woman
wishful thinking
was not mad) Or she also could
have been Agnes Ashurst, who
resided at North Lees Hall (the
house that could have been the
model for Thornfield Hall in the
book!) Ashurst was reputed to
have been demented, and she
also died in a fire! Charlotte knew
Hathersage (where North Lees
Hall is located) and it is very likely
she also knew that story.
St John Rivers = could have been
John Taylor, a publicist who
proposed to her. She rejected.
He went to India – just like
Rivers in the book.
I am absolutely fascinated by
all things Bronte… and therefore,
I have created a huge list of links
regarding the Bronte Sisters
(1260 links) and the Victorian
Era (640 links). It´s freely
accessible and non-commercial,
of course.
If you´re interested, visit this site:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BronteSistersLinks/
bye:-),
Miss Eyre
Hi Miss Eyre! Great post and fantastic site, thanks for sharing!
thanks
and: you´re welcome! 
bye:-),
Miss Eyre