Vilette

CHARLOTTE BRONTË (1816-1855), daughter of Patrick Brontë, an Irishman, perpetual curate of Haworth, Yorkshire. Charlotte´s mother died in 1821. Leaving five daughters and a son to the care of their aunt, Elizabeth Branwell. Four of the daughters were sent to a Clergy Daughters´School at Cowan Bridge, which Charlotte portrayed as Lowood in “Jane Eyre”. In 1825 her two elder sisters died. The surviving children pursued their education at home; they read widely, and became involved in a rich fantasy life that owes much to their admiration of Byron, Sir Walter Scott, the “Arabian Nights”, the “Tales of the Genii” and the engravings of J. Martin. They began to write stories, to produce magazines. Charlotte and Branwell collaborate in the elaborate invention of the imaginary kingdom of “Angria” and Emily and Anne in the invention of “Gondal”. “Villette” is an 1853 novel by Charlotte Brontë. After an unspecified family disaster, the protagonist Lucy Snowe travels from England to the fictional French-speaking city of Villette to teach at a girls' school, where she is drawn into adventure and romance.