Cultural Reflections of Time and Space that Contradict a Legacy in Anne Brontë’s Poetry

Abstract

This article looks at Anne Brontë’s poetic development within a span of 11 years from 1838 to 1849. The selected six poems – The North Wind (1838), Bluebell (1840), To… (1842), Night (1845), The Narrow Way (1848), and Last Lines (1849) – highlight different stages of artistic development and personal reflection which Anne called the “pillars of witness.” The aim of this article is to present arguments that perplex the myth that was created around her persona after her early death. The article will focus on a close analysis of the above-selected poems aimed at exploring the ways in which the legacy created around Anne Brontë distorts the author’s insightful cultural reflections about her era.

Keywords

• anne brontë
• english romanticism
• victorian era
• cultural misconceptions
• elizabeth gaskell
• gondal poems