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WonderLiterary fact

The Brontë sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne, first published as Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell, names most readers took to be men's. Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey all appeared under these names in 1847, and few people knew who had written them.

Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell, 1846

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The story behind the card

The sisters grew up in the parsonage at Haworth, a village on the Yorkshire moors. They chose the pen names for their first book, Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell (1846), keeping their own initials; it sold only two copies. In 1850 Charlotte explained that they had not wanted to take clearly male names, but did not want to be known as women either, because they sensed that critics judged women writers with prejudice. Guessing soon began, and some thought all the books were by one man. In July 1848 Charlotte and Anne travelled to London to show Charlotte's publisher, George Smith, that they were two different people; Emily refused to go. Within a year Emily and Anne had both died, and Charlotte later told their story under their real names.

Türkçe oku
Charlotte, Emily ve Anne Brontë kardeşler eserlerini önce Currer, Ellis ve Acton Bell adlarıyla yayımladı; okurların çoğu bunları erkek adı sandı. Jane Eyre, Uğultulu Tepeler ve Agnes Grey 1847'de bu adlarla çıktı ve kitapları kimin yazdığını pek az kişi biliyordu.
Currer, Ellis ve Acton Bell'in Şiirleri, 1846

Kardeşler, Yorkshire bozkırlarındaki Haworth köyünde, papaz evinde büyüdü. Takma adları ilk kitapları Currer, Ellis ve Acton Bell'in Şiirleri (1846) için seçtiler ve kendi adlarının baş harflerini korudular; kitaptan yalnızca iki tane satıldı. Charlotte 1850'de nedenini anlattı: Açıkça erkek adı almak istememişlerdi, ama kadın olduklarının bilinmesini de istememişlerdi; çünkü eleştirmenlerin kadın yazarlara önyargıyla baktığını sezmişlerdi. Çok geçmeden tahminler başladı; kimileri bütün kitapların tek bir erkeğin elinden çıktığını düşündü. Temmuz 1848'de Charlotte ile Anne, Charlotte'un yayıncısı George Smith'e iki ayrı kişi olduklarını göstermek için Londra'ya gitti; Emily gitmeyi reddetti. Bir yıl içinde Emily de Anne de öldü; Charlotte daha sonra kardeşlerinin hikâyesini gerçek adlarıyla anlattı.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Brontë family
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