Branwell Bronte as the Byronic Hero in His Sisters’ Novels

Branwell Bronte as the Byronic Hero in His Sisters’ Novels

Tragic events such as Charlotte and Emily Bronte’s mother dying before either child had reached the age of five, followed barely three years later by the passing of their two eldest siblings, Maria and Elizabeth, shaped both Bronte sisters’ lives drastically. Because of these tragic events, both canonical authors became known for their depictions of a chronically lonely, tragic and devilish character known as a Byronic hero. In Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre” the part of Byronic hero is played by Rochester and in “Wuthering Heights,” Emily’s literary work, Heathcliff is nearly the definition of the Byronic hero. At one point in “Jane Eyre,” Blanche Ingram even references a song from one of Lord Byron’s famous poems Corsair. This particular poem is about a corsair, or pirate, named Conrad who is one Lord Byron’s own Byronic heroes. Many critics have tried to figure out who in the Bronte sisters’ lives, could be the motivation behind their Byronic heroes. This essay will attempt to prove that the influence for the Bronte’s depictions of the Byronic hero is their brother Branwell by showing common Byronic characteristics shared by both fictional characters and Branwell using psychoanalytic and postcolonial lenses. The three Byronic characteristics that Branwell, Rochester and Heathcliff share are their want for a woman they can’t have, their proneness to being moody and their dark secrets that have occurred because of their isolated travels.

In order to prove the legitimacy of the Bronte sisters life experiences shining through into their writing’s it is important to show not just characteristics of the characters and Branwell but also other instances from their books and life. The most obvious example of a childhood experience coming out in a Bronte writing is Charlotte’s representation of the Lowood School in Jane Eyre compared to her experiences at Cowan Bridge. While attending Cowan Bridge as a young child, both of Charlotte’s older sisters passed away from tuberculosis, the same disease that killed her mother just three years earlier. (Bloom, 61) This left Charlotte as the eldest Bronte sibling without a mother causing a lot of the maternal responsibilities to fall to her. In “Jane Eyre” while at Lowood, Helen Burns becomes a good friend and even a mother type figure to Jane even though they are close to the same age. Helen’s death left Jane; much like Charlotte’s sister’s deaths left Charlotte, many more responsibilities with no mothering figure to lean on. This example shows that in all aspects of the Bronte sister’s writings there are influences from their actual lives.

One Byronic characteristic Rochester, Heathcliff and Branwell share is their love for a woman they can’t have. Douglas A. Martin explains in his book “Branwell” that after his art career slowly failed, his youngest sister Anne was able to get Branwell a job with a wealthy family named the Robinsons. Branwell was fired from his position within just a few months for having an affair with Mrs. Robinson. Several years later, Mr. Robinson would pass away and Branwell began courting his newly widowed love again. He assumed that after a short courtship, Mrs. Robinson would agree to marry him and they would live happily ever after. Instead, Mrs. Robinson denied his proposal and Branwell’s life quickly declined into alcoholism and an opiate addiction leading to his death at 31. The obvious comparison between Branwell and Heathcliff can be seen here. Both men were doomed to die without the love they so desired. Heathcliff refusing food and slowly dying while Branwell wasted himself away numbing his pain with drugs and alcohol. Although Rochester’s forbidden love doesn’t end in death he is completely helpless when Jane flees Thornwood because of his secret marriage to Bertha. When talking of Jane leaving him because of his hidden marriage to Bertha, Rochester replies, “Then you condemn me wretched, and to die accursed?” (Bronte, C 338) He is trying to convince her how miserable he will be if she leaves and although “her very Conscience and Reason” tell her to “love him and be his” (Bronte, C 338-339) Rochester’s “othering” of Bertha as “beast or human being, one could not, at first sight, tell,” (Bronte, C 295) is the only reason he is able to recapture the love of Jane that he thought he had lost.

Both Bronte sisters romanticize the alcoholic and abruptly violent mood changes found in their brother to give their Byronic characters an even darker quality. Along with this sometimes-violent moodiness, a dark physical representation of both characters classifies as characteristically Byronic. This can be found in both Rochester and Heathcliff in the way their appearances don’t sound overly attractive but their charismatic charm seclusion from societal norms attracts both Jane and Catherine to their ill-fated lovers. Emily even describes Heathcliff as both “a gift from God” and “as dark almost as if it came from the devil.” (Bronte, E 37) In Jane’s first meeting with Rochester in which she knows he is the owner of the house she is going to be working in, she describes Rochester’s appearance as having “broad and jetty eyebrows; his square forehead, made squarer by the horizontal sweep of his black hair…more remarkable for character than beauty.” (Bronte, C 230) Before Jane is even introduced to Rochester Mrs. Fairfax describes him as “rather peculiar….I dare say he is clever.” With both their arrogance and independence Rochester and Heathcliff begin to show even more main qualities of a Byronic hero. Over the final two and a half to three years of his life Branwell also represents these characteristics by secluding himself from the world with his alcohol and opiate addiction. Although it is said Charlotte wrote to him every week, there is no record of even a single returned letter in the last two plus years of Branwell’s life. This seclusion from society is a very common characteristic found in a Byronic hero. Raymond Williams points out in “Charlotte and Emily Bronte” that because they were closer in age or maybe because Ann and Emily took to each other while still so young that Charlotte always felt closer to Branwell than her other surviving sisters.