The Brontës

This course will offer a deep dive into the work of Anne, Emily and Charlotte Brontë. We will read three complete novels (Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall) along with other extracts from the sisters' prose and poetry. This is a 10 session course and must be taken with W410Am02 in week 4.

Aims of the course

This course aims to:
1. Introduce you to key works in the oeuvre of the Brontë sisters.
2. Explore the literary, social and historical contexts from which their writing emerged.
3. Develop your critical and close-reading skills more generally.

Content

The Brontë sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne, lived sadly brief lives but in their short writing careers they produced luminous works which have been continuously read, loved and much analysed all over the world. While each of the sisters deserves critical attention in their own right, it is fascinating to look at their novels together, in order to trace their shared literary influences and to see the ways in which their local context finds its way into their writing, but also to consider the very different personality of their individual works. In our ten days devoted to their work, we will explore the literary, social and historical contexts in which the Brontës’ novels and poetry first appeared, as well as considering their afterlives in adaptation and the extensive creative responses to their work. We will devote two days to intensive study of a novel by each sister, focusing on the works which appeared between 1847-8 and we will also spend some time with their poetry.

Presentation of the course

Classes will be conducted as a mix of informal talk/lectures followed by structured discussion and close-reading of selected passages and poems. Students are asked to read all the novels on the reading list before the classes and discussions will be conducted with the expectation that students are familiar with the plots of the novels.

Class sessions

Session One: Haworth and Beyond: an introduction to the course and the Brontës.

Session Two: Early writing, poetry and literary influences

Session Three: Anne Brontë, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Session Four: Anne Brontë, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Session Five: Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights

Session Six: Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights

Session Seven: Emily Brontë, selected poems (provided)

Session Eight: Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

Session Nine: Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

Session Ten: The Afterlives of the Brontës: adaptations and creative responses

Learning outcomes

The learning outcomes for this course are:
1. To develop greater understanding of the life and work of the Brontës.
2. To understand the Brontës’ work in the context of its historical period, and to show an awareness of the major themes addressed in their writing.
3. To be able to employ appropriate critical vocabulary to describe the style and form of the selected novels and to be able critically analyse their language, imagery and form.

Required reading

Please read all three novels in full and bring a copy with you to class (E-readers are fine)

Anne Brontë, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848) *
Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights (1848)*
Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (1847) *

Any scholarly unabridged edition of the novels will do. Recommended texts are any from Oxford University Press or the Norton editions. (The tutor will be using Oxford University Press editions).

Selected poetry will be supplied via the VLE.

Typical week: Monday to Friday

Courses run from Monday to Friday. For each week of study, you select a morning (Am) course and an afternoon (Pm) course. The maximum class size is 25 students. 

Courses are complemented by a series of daily plenary lectures, exploring new ideas in a wide range of disciplines. To add to the learning experience, we are also planning additional evening talks and events.

Evaluation and Academic Credit 

If you are seeking to enhance your own study experience, or earn academic credit from your Cambridge Summer Programme studies at your home institution, you can submit written work for assessment for one or more of your courses. 

Essay questions are set and assessed against the University of Cambridge standard by your Course Director, a list of essay questions can be found in the Course Materials. Essays are submitted two weeks after the end of each course, so those studying for multiple weeks need to plan their time accordingly. There is an evaluation fee of £75 per essay.

For more information about writing essays see Evaluation and Academic Credit.

Certificate of attendance

A certificate of attendance will be sent to you electronically after the programme.