The last of these had not been a week at the institution. She was a
girl of fourteen, very dark, ... with a fine tinge of the Creole in
her face. How well I thought did Isabella Hutchinson, with her
dark, West Indian head, look by the side of the fair Yorkshire
girl, Sophia Leigh, whose pale, straw-coloured locks, looked paler
still by the side of that dark heap of hair, blacker than a raven's
wing...[!]
We have seen in the chapter on "The Rivers or Brontë Family in _Jane
Eyre_" that Charlotte Brontë portrayed in the character Julia Severn,
who is first mentioned in connection with the hair-cutting incident, her
sister Elizabeth, and it is most significant that M. Sue made play upon
the name Elizabeth in the connection. In regard to the mention of a West
Indian girl at the Lowood school and her being coupled with a
fair-haired Yorkshire girl, it is important to note that no reference is
made in _Jane Eyre_ to a West Indian girl at this school. It is indeed
astonishing how much M. Sue knew of Charlotte Brontë's private life.
Here we find him telling the world in 1850 of a West Indian girl being
with Charlotte Brontë at the Clergy Daughters' School, and not till
seven years later did Mrs. Gaskell learn of the Rev. Patrick
Brontë--Charlotte Brontë was then dead--that a girl from the West Indies
had been Charlotte's friend at this school. Her name, he thought, was
Mellany Hane, so far as he could remember to pronounce it. Mysteriously
enough, the words "West Indies" or "West Indian" in this connection have
been deleted from the later editions of Mrs. Gaskell's _Life of
Charlotte Brontë_. See the Second Edition.
"Lagrange's Manuscript" is of considerable length and interest, and can
be drawn upon in future editions of _The Key to the Brontë Works_.
Frequently it follows in parallel to _Jane Eyre_, but as parody
interspersed with biographical details which must have been intended
chiefly for Charlotte Brontë herself, as scarcely any one else could at
that day have understood the pertinence of the references.[58] Take a
Helen Burns incident whereby M. Sue shows he is aware she was a Brontë
sister, older than Charlotte--Maria Brontë who died of consumption:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account