Charlotte Bronte

Shirley annotated Charlotte Bronte

Shirley is a classic historical novel by Charlotte Brontë. Written in 1849 after the overwhelming success of Jane Eyre, the book follows two women from very different social circles who show their communities what women are capable of. The book is generally regarded as Brontë's most feminist novel, and it is still widely read today. Her biographer called it a "revolutionary" text. Charlotte Brontë was the eldest of the famous Brontë sisters, whose novels are among the highest-regarded in English literature. She was not in good health and died at only thirty-eight while carrying her unborn child. There are two heroes in Shirley, Caroline Helstone and Shirley Keeldar. They both live in early nineteenth-century England during the Industrial Revolution, but they lead very different lives. Caroline is a poor single woman who lives in Yorkshire with her uncle, as her parents are dead. She loves a mill owner, Robert, of whom her uncle doesn't approve. She assumes that her life will never amount to anything and that she will never be anything more than a burden on her uncle. Shirley, on the other hand, enjoys her life. The only child of a middle-class family, her parents also dead, she inherits their estate and the wealth that goes along with it. Although she is still under the care of a governess, Mrs. Pryor, she has the freedom to make her own decisions. Not knowing what it's like to be trapped by circumstances, she's always looking for ways to become more involved in decisions that women don't typically have any say in, such as business and investment decisions. When Shirley opens, Robert is awaiting new tools for the mill. The tools are replacing the men he has paid off because he is struggling financially. He loves Caroline as she loves him, but he avoids her because he can't afford to marry her. When they see each other, he keeps his distance, and Caroline assumes that he doesn't like her. This always upsets her, but she has no one to talk to about it since her uncle doesn't care. One day, Caroline meets Shirley. She finds out that Shirley has business interests in Robert's sawmill. Shirley plans to do whatever it takes to keep the mill operational, even if that does mean losing staff in the short term. Caroline is impressed by Shirley's tenacity and her ability to make professional decisions. She wishes she had that kind of freedom, too. Caroline asks her uncle if she can get a job. She wants to work as a governess. Her uncle won't let her because he insists that her place is in the home. She doesn't need to work. Caroline argues that if she works then she'll find someone to marry, namely Robert, because she'll be able to support herself financially. Her uncle dismisses her pleas and her resentment grows..................