Selected poetry of the Brontës: context links

Helpful material on:

Biographical background of the Brontës

• Jane Eyre
  • Timeline
  • Biographical background
    • Charlotte Brontë’s early years
    • Charlotte Brontë – fact and fiction
    • Charlotte Brontë’s adulthood and publication

Social / political context of the Brontës

• The world of Victorian writers 1837 -1901
  • Making sense of the tangible world
    • Characteristics of Victorian Britain

Religious / philosophical context of the Brontës

• The world of Victorian writers 1837 -1901
  • Making sense of the intangible world
    • Religion in Victorian England
    • Determinism and free will

Understanding poetry

• Recognising poetic form
  • Historical aspects
    • Pastoral poetry in brief
  • Stylistic aspects
    • Dramatic monologues
    • The hymn
    • The lyric
    • The ode
• How poetry works
  • Scansion
    • Syllables and stress
    • Metrical feet
    • Regular metre
    • Rhythm

Literary context of the Brontës

• Romanticism
  • Romanticism and beauty
    • Romanticism
    • Gothic and the medieval revival
    • Landscape and the picturesque
  • Romanticism and rebellion
    • Traditional view of the nature of humanity
    • Creativity and the imagination
• Wanderings of the outsider
  • Features of Victorian literatureThe role of fiction
    • Victorian perceptions of poetry

Further study on the Brontës

• Jane Eyre
  • Resources and further reading
    • Websites
    • Booklist
• Critical approaches to literature
  • Close reading (new criticism)
  • Contextual reading
  • New approaches since the 1970s
• Tips for successful study
  • How to…
    • Plan an essay
    • Approach passage based questions
    • Write a good English exam answer