salary

The worst off was Charlotte Brontë. Her written work, like Kafka's, was influenced by her work-for-pay. Unlucky for her, Brontë's job as a governess paid terribly -- her adjusted annual salary would be less than $2,000 today -- and while meals were free, her employers deducted petty fees such as clothes washing. Lucky for us, her resentments surfaced in "Villette" and "Jane Eyre." (Carolyn Kellogg)