The Bronte family is considered one of the most influential in literary history. The success of the sisters and the class and quality of their work is unmatched. I have the greatest respect for the sisters and how in any situation they still wrote. ¿Gothic was one of a number of aesthetic developments, where served to breach the ¿classical¿ and ¿rational¿ order of life.¿ (377) Addressing Charlotte Bronte¿s ¿New Gothic¿ I was most taken with how ¿¿it released her from the patterns of the novel of society and therefore permitted the flowering of her real talent.¿ (379) Society then and now differ greatly as does the perception of women. For her to write such intelligent, strong literature at that time is unparalleled, except, of course, by her sisters. Charlotte went to school with her older sisters, but returned home after they died. Eventually she returned to be a school teacher at Roe Head School and Emily received her little formal education at that time. Anne also attended for a while but was mostly educated at home. Overall the three sisters spent their free time writing and expressing themselves.

In our world this seems like such an incredible feat, especially considering what each of us do in our spare time. Video games, shopping, surfing the internet, are all high on our lists, but writing great literature? I wish! I dream of such feats and often am convinced that I do not have it in me. Earlier this semester I was talking with a few friends about how it takes a special kind of person to write a novel and how we were not sure if any one of us could be that person. Often, I believe, in our time period we question too much, and believe too little. Perhaps to become stronger in this aspect we can improve our ¿emotional literacy,¿ that is our ¿ability to identify and communicate emotion as in ¿I felt [emotion] when I read [passage].¿ (388) When we feel part of the literature it easier to connect to both the characters and the writers. For the Brontes, I assume it was a simple task, and perhaps it was even innate. Maybe, in our world full of distractions we are still capable of reaching these heights, but it takes far greater dedication and motivation to succeed. The way we read has an effect on this, and as Professor Bump states, ¿a new reader-centered psychological approach to literature¿.has made reading Jane Eyre a powerful, deeply relevant personal experience.¿ (388) With this personal experience we can only hope to achieve the great creative heights that the Bronte sisters did.