夏洛蒂?勃朗特：從默默無聞到無人不曉

《簡·愛》、夏洛蒂·勃朗特、勃朗特三姐妹，這三個關(guān)鍵詞對喜歡英國文學(xué)的人來說再熟悉不過。其中，夏洛蒂的《簡·愛》更是廣為人知、廣受歡迎。今年恰逢夏洛蒂200周年誕辰。在這特殊的時刻，讓我們再次回顧這位女作家的不凡人生，重溫其作品帶給人們的影響和感動。

◎ By Becca Challis 譯 / 崔丞

Last month brought the 200-year anniversary of the birth of Charlotte Bront?， one of the most prominent figures in English Literature and the author of such revered1） works as Jane Eyre and Villette. The Bront?s are one of the most prominent families in literature and the next five years bring three more Bront? bicentenaries. Next year will see Charlottes brother Branwells celebrations， followed by those of her sisters， Emily and Anne， in 2018 and 2020 respectively.

The Bront? sisters remain staple2） authors on the bookshelves of libraries and shops everywhere. Charlottes Jane Eyre， Villette and Shirley continue to influence the world today； for example， Shirley was the first instance of the name being given to a woman， as prior to the novel， “Shirley” was a name for a man. Charlottes works also make the first known references to the “Wild West，” the “cottage-garden” and a “raised eyebrow， ” plus 150 other well-known phrases.

The Bront?s attachment to literature began at an early age； the children created imaginary worlds named “Angria” and “Gondal，” displaying some of the earliest forms of fantasy writing. Charlottes sisters Emily and Anne were also successful authors in their own right； Emily is famed for Wuthering Heights and Anne for Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. All three women used pseudonyms， publishing their works as Currer， Ellis and Acton Bell， male names which preserved their original initials. They took the decision to hide their female identities in order to be taken more seriously， alongside George Eliot3） and many other Victorian women writers.

Despite their successes， the lives of the Bront?s were filled with sadness. Charlotte was born in Thornton in 1816 and was the third of six children. Her father Patrick was an Irish Anglican clergyman， who moved the family to Haworth4） in 1820 to become the priest of St Michael and All Angels Church. In 1821 the first tragedy hit the Bront? family when Charlottes mother Maria died of cancer， and the children were then looked after by their father and their aunt Elizabeth.

In 1824 Patrick sent his four daughters away to school at Cowan Bridge in Lancashire， but the poor conditions there are often blamed as the cause of the tuberculosis which caused the deaths of Charlottes sisters Maria and Elizabeth in 1825. After returning home， Charlotte looked after her younger siblings Branwell， Emily， and Anne. Here began the literary ambitions of the Bront? family， as the children passed the time by writing stories and articles together.

Charlotte later attended Roe Head School in Mirfield before becoming a teacher there. She then became a governess and worked for many families. Charlotte and Emily moved to Brussels in 1842 to enrol in a boarding school where Charlotte taught English， and Emily music. They returned home prematurely after their Aunt Elizabeths death， but Charlotte travelled back to Brussels alone three months later. She fell hopelessly in love with the founder of the school Constantin Héger， an unrequited5） love story which would heavily influence her novel Villette.

A year later she returned to Haworth for good but wrote heartbreaking love letters to Héger， sometimes as often as twice a week. Eventually Hégers wife stepped in and instructed Charlotte to write once every six months at most. Héger attempted to destroy the letters before his death， but his wife reconstructed the torn pieces of paper and left them to their children. The general public did not know of Charlottes attachment until 1913， when Hégers children donated the letters to the British library. This knowledge swiftly altered public opinion of her as a saintly and innocent Victorian woman.

In May 1836 Charlotte， Emily and Anne self-published a collection of poems using their pseudonyms， however only two copies of the collection were actually sold. Charlotte then wrote The Professor which was not successfully published， but Smith， Elder & Co. expressed an interest in a longer work by “Currer Bell.” She sent her second manuscript and Jane Eyre was published in 1847 within six weeks. The work was a huge success， however some controversy arose around its second edition dedication to William Thackeray， author of Vanity Fair. At the time this was seen as insensitive by some， as Jane Eyre features a man with a mentally disturbed wife， and Thackeray himself had his own wife declared “insane.” However， Thackeray thought it was “the greatest compliment I have ever received” and has famously praised Bront?s work. Charlotte also received criticism from her former schoolmaster， Reverend6） Wilson， who saw himself in the character of Mr Brocklehurst and threatened to sue Bront?—something she managed to avoid by writing him an apology.

In 1848 Charlotte began work on her second novel Shirley， but before completion Branwell， Emily and Anne all died within eight months of each other. The girls both died of tuberculosis and Branwell died of a lung condition.

Charlotte wrote as a way of dealing with her grief， leading to the publication of her second novel. Villette was then published in 1853 and was the last work published during her lifetime. A year after the deaths of her sisters， Charlotte revealed the identities of Currer， Ellis and Acton in the preface to the combined edition of Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey.

The world had been speculating on their identities for years and was shocked to find the authors of these popular works to be three country girls—even Charlottes editor was unaware of her identity. After her confession Charlotte was whisked7） into London society， befriending high profile women such as Elizabeth Gaskell8）， author of North and South.

Shortly before this， Charlotte received a proposal from Arthur Bell Nicholls， her fathers curate and the man from whom part of her pseudonym originated. She initially turned down his offer， and her father also objected to the union partly due to Nicholls financial situation. Gaskell encouraged the match and after many secret meetings with Nicholls， Charlotte agreed. Her father， however， refused to give her away at the wedding despite eventually giving his consent. Charlotte became pregnant soon after the wedding but died with her unborn child on 31 March 1855， just three weeks before her 39th birthday.

Charlotte Bront? was an incredibly talented author， proof of which is the continuing popularity of her novels. In 2003， Jane Eyre was voted number 10 in the BBCs Big Read Survey to find Britains best-loved novel of all time. However， at the time of publication Charlotte was met with criticism； Elizabeth Rigby9） wrote in the Quarterly Review of 1848 that she found Jane Eyre to be “pre-eminently10） an anti-Christian composition.” Since then many successful film， television， radio and literary adaptations of the novel have instead helped ensure Bront?s popularity. Famous novels including Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys11） were inspired by Jane Eyre.

At the helm of the events organised to commemorate the bicentenary is the Bront? Society， which was founded in 1893. The Society has also published its own journal since 1895 which is solely dedicated to Bront? research， making it the centre of “Bront? Studies” worldwide. Their events are incredibly varied and often centred at The Parsonage in Haworth， the home of the Bront? family which today is a museum dedicated to them.

The Bront?s are also of great significance to people in the county of Yorkshire. The landscape features heavily in all of the sisters novels and is famous the world over as a result. “Bront? Country” is used to describe the area in which they lived， in the West Yorkshire Pennines.

In celebrating the bicentenaries of the Bront?s， tourists are flocking to the places which inspired these literary women. Cowan Bridge is said to be the inspiration for Lowood School which Jane attends in her youth， and Roe Head is the school in which Charlotte Bront? took up her first teaching post. Norton Conyers in Wensleydale fits the description of Mr Rochesters Thornfield Hall. Finally， “Bront? Walk” is a two-and-a-half mile walk from Haworth to Bront? Falls， a waterfall mentioned in Charlottes letters. This walk was frequented by the Bront?s and there can be no better way to commemorate them and their legacy—apart from curling up with a copy of Jane Eyre.

上個月（編著：原文發(fā)表于2016年5月）迎來了夏洛蒂·勃朗特200周年誕辰紀(jì)念日。夏洛蒂是英國文學(xué)史上最杰出的人物之一，也是備受尊崇的兩部作品《簡·愛》和《維萊特》的作者。勃朗特一家是文學(xué)界最杰出的家庭之一，今后五年將陸續(xù)迎來勃朗特一家另外三個人的200周年紀(jì)念日。明年是夏洛蒂的弟弟布蘭韋爾的紀(jì)念日，接著2018年和2020年分別是她兩個妹妹艾米莉和安妮的紀(jì)念日。

在各地的圖書館和書店的書架上，勃朗特三姐妹仍居主要作家之列。如今，夏洛蒂的《簡·愛》《維萊特》和《雪莉》依舊影響著世界；比如，Shirley （編著：作女性名，譯為雪莉）第一次成為女性的名字就是在小說《雪莉》中，因?yàn)樵谶@本小說問世之前，Shirley （編著：作男性名，譯為雪利）是男性的名字。夏洛蒂的作品還首次提及“蠻荒西部”“鄉(xiāng)舍花園”“揚(yáng)起的眉毛”以及其他150多個眾所周知的詞組。

勃朗特姐妹對文學(xué)的喜愛萌生于幼年。孩子們幻想出名為“安格里亞”和“岡德爾”的虛幻世界，展現(xiàn)了奇幻文學(xué)某些最早的形式。夏洛蒂的妹妹艾米莉和安妮也是成功的作家：艾米莉以《呼嘯山莊》聞名，安妮則憑借《阿格尼斯·格雷》和《女房客》著稱。這三位女性用的都是筆名，分別以柯勒·貝爾、埃利斯·貝爾、阿克頓·貝爾這樣的男性名字出版著作，筆名中保留了他們本名的首字母。她們當(dāng)時做出隱匿女性身份的決定是為了引起更多的重視，采取同樣做法的還有喬治·艾略特等諸多維多利亞時代的女性作家們。

盡管勃朗特姐妹很成功，但其生活卻很不幸。1816年，夏洛蒂出生于桑頓，在六個孩子中排行第三。父親帕特里克是一位愛爾蘭國教的牧師，1820年他舉家搬到霍沃斯，成為圣米迦勒與諸天使教堂的牧師。1821年勃朗特一家經(jīng)歷了第一場悲劇。那一年，夏洛蒂的母親瑪麗亞死于癌癥，之后孩子們由父親和姨媽伊麗莎白照顧。

1824年，帕特里克把四個女兒送去位于蘭開夏郡的考恩橋寄宿學(xué)校，但學(xué)校的條件惡劣，人們認(rèn)為正是那里的惡劣條件讓夏洛蒂的兩個姐姐瑪麗亞和伊麗莎白染上了肺結(jié)核，導(dǎo)致兩人于1825年去世。夏洛蒂從學(xué)?；氐郊依铮?fù)責(zé)照料她年幼的弟弟妹妹：布蘭韋爾、艾米莉和安妮。自此，勃朗特一家的文學(xué)抱負(fù)便開始了，孩子們一起撰文創(chuàng)作打發(fā)時光。

之后，夏洛蒂去了米菲爾德的羅海德學(xué)校讀書，隨后又在那里任教。后來她成了一名家庭教師，為許多家庭工作過。1842年，夏洛蒂和艾米莉一起到了布魯塞爾，被當(dāng)?shù)氐囊凰乃迣W(xué)校錄取。在那里，夏洛蒂教英語，艾米莉教音樂。姨媽伊麗莎白去世后，兩人提前回家了，但是三個月后夏洛蒂又孤身一人回到了布魯塞爾。她無可救藥地愛上了學(xué)校的創(chuàng)辦人康斯坦丁·黑格爾。這個單戀的愛情故事對她的小說《維萊特》產(chǎn)生了巨大的影響。

一年后她回到了霍沃斯，沒再離開。但她給黑格爾寫令人心碎的情書，有時每周寫兩封。最終黑格爾的妻子介入了此事，要求夏洛蒂最多每六個月寫一次信。黑格爾去世之前試圖毀掉這些信件，但他的妻子把撕碎的信紙重新拼接了起來，并把信留給了他們的孩子。直到1913年黑格爾的孩子們把信件捐贈給大英圖書館，公眾才獲悉夏洛蒂的這份戀情。這個消息迅速改變了公眾對于她作為純真圣潔的維多利亞時代女性的看法。

1836年5月，夏洛蒂、艾米莉和安妮用筆名自行合出了一本詩集，但最終只售出了兩本。隨后夏洛蒂寫了《教師》一書，雖未成功出版，但是出版公司Smith， Elder & Co.卻表示對她署名為“柯勒·貝爾”的長一些的作品感興趣。她寄去了這第二部手稿。1847年，《簡·愛》在六周內(nèi)就出版了。這部作品雖然取得了巨大的成功，但是此書第二版上獻(xiàn)給《名利場》的作者威廉·薩克雷的題詞卻引發(fā)了一些爭議。在當(dāng)時某些人看來，這一做法未顧及他人的感受，因?yàn)椤逗啞邸房坍嫷哪兄魅斯幸粋€精神失常的妻子，而薩克雷本人就曾讓人宣布自己的妻子“精神錯亂”。但是薩克雷卻認(rèn)為這是“我受到的最高褒獎”，眾所周知，他還曾盛贊過勃朗特的作品。除此之外，夏洛蒂也遭到以前的校長威爾遜牧師的非議，因?yàn)樗麖牟剂_克赫斯特先生這一人物形象中看到了自己的影子，并威脅說要起訴勃朗特。不過她給牧師寫了一封道歉信，此事才得以避免。

1848年夏洛蒂開始創(chuàng)作她的第二部小說《雪莉》，但是還沒寫完，布蘭韋爾、艾米莉和安妮就在八個月內(nèi)相繼去世。兩個妹妹死于肺結(jié)核，弟弟布蘭韋爾死于肺病。

夏洛蒂以寫作來舒緩悲傷，這也促成了她第二部小說的出版?！毒S萊特》出版于1853年，這部小說也成了她有生之年出版的最后一部作品。妹妹們死后一年，夏洛蒂在《呼嘯山莊》和《阿格尼斯·格雷》合集的前言里透露了柯勒、埃利斯、阿克頓的真實(shí)身份。

多年來，世人一直在推測她們的真實(shí)身份，但沒想到這幾部暢銷書的作者居然是三位鄉(xiāng)下姑娘——即便是夏洛蒂的編輯也未察覺到她的身份。夏洛蒂透露了三人的身份之后，被迅即帶入了倫敦的社交界，結(jié)交了一些引人注目的女性朋友，比如《北與南》的作者伊麗莎白·蓋斯凱爾。

在此之前不久，夏洛蒂收到了阿瑟·貝爾·尼科爾斯的求婚。貝爾是她父親的助理牧師，她的筆名的一部分就源于這個人的名字。起初她拒絕了求婚，她的父親也不贊成兩人的結(jié)合，部分是因?yàn)槟峥茽査沟慕?jīng)濟(jì)狀況。但蓋斯凱爾促成了這樁婚事。跟尼科爾斯秘密約會多次以后，夏洛蒂答應(yīng)嫁給他。但她的父親卻拒絕在結(jié)婚典禮上把她交給新郎，盡管他最終還是答應(yīng)了這門親事。婚后不久夏洛蒂就懷孕了，但卻在1855年3月31日和她那未出世的孩子一起離開了人世，此時離她39歲生日只差三周。

夏洛蒂·勃朗特是個極具天賦的作家，她的小說持續(xù)受到歡迎即可證明這一點(diǎn)。2003年，BBC舉辦讀書大調(diào)查，尋找一直以來最受英國人喜愛的小說，《簡·愛》名列第十。然而，當(dāng)年該書出版時，夏洛蒂卻飽受非議。伊麗莎白·里格比在1848年的《評論季刊》里寫道，她覺得《簡·愛》“在很大程度上是一部反基督作品”。但自那以后，這部小說被成功地改編成許多電影、電視劇、廣播劇和文學(xué)作品，這反而有助于使夏洛蒂深得人心。一些著名的小說，像達(dá)夫妮·杜穆里埃的《蝴蝶夢》、瓊·里斯的《茫茫藻?！罚蜕钍堋逗啞邸返膯l(fā)。

負(fù)責(zé)200周年慶事宜的組織者是勃朗特學(xué)會，該學(xué)會成立于1893年，從1895年開始還出版自己的刊物，專門發(fā)表勃朗特研究方面的文章，學(xué)會也因此成為全球范圍內(nèi)“勃朗特研究”的中心。慶?；顒赢惓ＸS富，經(jīng)常集中在位于霍沃斯的牧師住所，也就是勃朗特姐妹的家，如今那里已成了紀(jì)念他們的博物館。

勃朗特姐妹對于住在約克郡的人來說同樣意義非凡。這里的風(fēng)景特征在姊妹三人所有的小說中經(jīng)常出現(xiàn)，也因此而世界聞名?！安侍氐泥l(xiāng)村”一詞用來形容其居住過的地方，位于約克郡西部的奔寧山區(qū)。

為了慶祝勃朗特姐妹的200周年紀(jì)念日，游客們紛紛來到那些賦予這幾位女作家靈感的地方。簡年輕時就讀的洛伍德學(xué)校的靈感據(jù)說就源自考恩橋寄宿學(xué)校，羅海德學(xué)校則是夏洛蒂·勃朗特第一次教書的地方。位于溫斯利代爾的諾頓科尼爾斯莊園則與小說描述的羅切斯特先生的桑菲爾德莊園吻合。最后，還有“勃朗特小路”，那是從霍沃斯到勃朗特瀑布的一段2.5英里的小路，夏洛蒂曾在信中提到過那個瀑布。勃朗特姐妹常常在那條小路上散步，而紀(jì)念她們和她們的遺產(chǎn)的最好方式應(yīng)該是手捧一本《簡·愛》，蜷坐著，靜靜品讀吧。