tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7074545955842912793.post1347876248809498844..comments2024-03-26T23:35:38.726+01:00Comments on the Brontë Sisters: The Secret of Charlotte BrontëGeri Meftah Arthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00596915249757782612noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7074545955842912793.post-70591708429444201042013-08-25T17:16:04.598+02:002013-08-25T17:16:04.598+02:00Charlotte Bronte had never experienced anyone lik...Charlotte Bronte had never experienced anyone like M. Heger before she and Emily walked into Zoe Heger's school.<br /><br />When she met him , for Charlotte it was like a drought dry forest contacting an open flame.....towering conflagration lay straight ahead. <br /><br />Charlotte's desperate clinging to M. Heger is also explained when one reflects no one near his quality of mind, learning and intellectual inquiring was in her life before and well after .<br /><br />Her letters are quite truthful when she says she must cling to her life, that is, his friendship. It was that much a case life or death for this woman of genius when you know her Haworth life before fame .<br /><br />Without him, she was back in a mentally void landscape ( save for her own family, and even they could not compare with his knowledge ) However it was this terrible desperation for his letters that cut them off just, as her desperation for his regard ruined life at the school . Her very need killed off the supply<br /><br />For Constantin Heger , he was simply being his kind , brilliant self . But for Charlotte ,he was a revelation she could not give up easily ...only when seen in these terms can her outrageous demands ( what else would you call them ? ) be seen in a piteous light .<br /><br />Charlotte and Branwell were twins still. But she kept her love crisis hidden and was eventually able to surmount it .<br /><br />This was due to her amazing fortitude...but also to society's expectations . It simply would not permit a woman to indulge in the public wallow Branwell was allowed without far graver consequences than a hang over . <br /><br />Charlotte was also lucky the object of her love and his long suffering spouse were people of great integrity. ...though she would not believe that of Madame Heger . <br /><br />Because in order to ease her guilt for loving a married man, Charlotte had to make his wife a dragon Bertha figure ...and we see this being in most of the novels <br /><br />It is interesting to look at Charlotte's relationship with George Smith later as a reenactment of Brussels in a minor key ...with Mama Smith cast in the role of a lesser Madame Beck...an older female who is keeping our heroine from the love object. <br /><br /> When in fact the love object sought protection behind the lady dragon when Charlotte's demands grew too great,<br /><br />In Mr. Smith's case, Charlotte did not produce novels at a rate fast enough to warrant the interest he showed early on to stay at that level . Both he and M. Hager had no idea the fire they were contending with...but they learned. <br /><br />Her emotional volume was set much higher than most people's . It was a source of pain for her , but also an important part of her genius . <br /><br />However by the time Charlotte knew Smith , she could control herself far better . She had learned as well . <br /><br />We are lucky it was Frederika MacDonald who first used Charlotte's letters to M. Heger in a book, as she had a marvelous and vital perspective : She knew the real Hegers. I'm glad someone stood up for them <br />Annehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05033117202223821117noreply@blogger.com