Profile of the Day: Emily Brontë

On this day in 1818, author Emily Brontë was born.

Image: Emily Brontë / Wikimedia Commons

She was born on July 30 1818 in Thornton, Yorkshire, England and was the fifth of six children born to Patrick Brontë and Maria Branwell. When she was three, her mother died of cancer shortly after the birth of her younger sister, Anne. Four years later, her older sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, died of tuberculosis after contracting the illness at school. The three remaining sisters (Charlotte, Emily, and Anne) and their brother Branwell were then educated at home by their father and aunt. Inspired by a box of toy soldiers Branwell received as a gift, the children began to write stories of imaginative worlds populated by the toy soldiers. The siblings would remain very close throughout their lives. Their interest in writing continued as they grew older, with the sisters each publishing poetry and novels under pen names.

In 1847, Emily published her novel Wuthering Heights under the pen name Ellis Bell. It would be her first and only published novel. A year after its publication on December 19, 1848, Emily died of tuberculosis at the age of 30. The family had suffered terrible loss during this time. Her brother had died suddenly only two months earlier and then eight months after Emily’s death, her sister Anne also died of tuberculosis.

Although Emily was almost unknown during her lifetime, today her novel is considered to be a classic of English literature.

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