The Brontës III

In 1825, at the time of Maria and Elizabeth's illness at the Cowan Bridge School, besides Charlotte, Emily had just started. Patrick withdrew Charlotte and Emily, and they were homeschooled by Patrick and their aunt, Elizabeth Branwell. In 1831, Charlotte left home at the age of 14 for Roe Head School and completed her formal education in 1832. At Roe Head, Charlotte had been a top student and developed lifelong friendships with Ellen Nussey and Mary Taylor. From 1832 to 1835, Charlotte tutored Emily and Anne at home. This was also a continuation of the period during which Branwell and Charlotte wrote about the fictional Glass Town, which eventually became Angria. Emily and Anne had been involved initially, but they started their own imaginary world of Gondal at about this time. The parsonage overlooked the moors, and the children went on walks there. 

When the four children were all at home, their behavior seemed insular. There seems to have been somewhat of a family trauma created by the deaths of the two eldest sisters. At the age of 16, Charlotte already stands out as being more worldly than her siblings. This is probably the result of having spent more time away from home than the others. Charlotte was short, nearsighted and not pretty, but she was quite intelligent and often privately thought that people were stupid. Judging from her behavior, she seems to have been far more ambitious in developing some sort of career plan for herself than her siblings. Not much has been said so far about Emily and Anne, perhaps because they are still quite young.

Branwell, who was a year younger than Charlotte, is a different story. Because he was male, he was educated entirely at home by Patrick in order to receive instruction in Latin and Greek. I am still a little perplexed by how Latin and Greek became core elements of the academic curriculum. I know that Latin is thought to be more precise than English and may be more suitable for certain documents. But Latin hardly seems essential now. My best guess is that this situation exists because of the Roman influence on England. It was part of the Roman Empire from 43 AD to 410 AD, and then the Roman Catholic Church swept in and controlled the religion from 597 AD to 1534 AD. Oxford and Cambridge were founded in 1096 and 1209, so it would appear that there is still a link between the Roman Catholic Church and education in the English-speaking world. Note that Charles Darwin was forced to learn Latin and Greek in order to enter Cambridge. It had little relation to his scientific career. Many scientists, such as E.O. Wilson and Richard Feynman, did perfectly well without it. The Roman Catholic Church made Latin the language of the church, and through much of its time in England services were entirely in Latin, making them unintelligible to those attending church. It was the language of the elite.

As far as I've read, Branwell is only 18, and is already showing signs of future failure. This was a very arts-intensive household. All of the children could write well; they could all draw or paint well; they could all play the piano. Branwell played the organ at the church and also the flute. Charlotte's poor eyesight caused her to give up the piano. Branwell's lack of early exposure to the outside world may possibly have interfered with his attempts to develop a career. Apparently he wanted to be an artist and wrote a letter to the Royal Academy of Arts but didn't send it. He was also considering being a poet and wrote to Blackwood's Magazine, which was very popular in the Brontë household, but that didn't lead anywhere. It may be that the girls were being directed by Patrick to become governesses or teachers, which had inexpensive preparations, whereas Branwell was underfunded for a loftier career. He did have an art teacher for a while, but the teacher wasn't very proficient, and, as a result, neither was Branwell. In 1835, Charlotte returned to Roe Head as a teacher, at least in part to help fund Branwell's art education. Patrick was a Tory, and, in modern terms, a sexist. He encouraged Charlotte to write only for recreation and to enjoy her traditional female duties, which she often didn't.