Charlotte Bronte

Shirley Illustrated Charlotte Bronte

Shirley is the story of two contrasting heroines. One is the shy Caroline Helstone, who is trapped in the oppressive atmosphere of a Yorkshire rectory and whose bare life symbolizes the plight of single women in the nineteenth century. The other is the vivacious Shirley Keeldar, who inherits a local estate and whose wealth liberates her from the convention. Shirley demonstrates the full range of Brontë's literary talent. "Shirley is a revolutionary novel." Shirley is Brontë's most feminist novel."