First examples of fan fiction

First examples of fan fiction

“The worlds of Glass Town, Angria and Gondal might be considered alternative universes but there is nothing futuristic or scientific about them,” Juliet Barker says. “Charlotte and Branwell’s tales of Glass Town and Angria are youthful literary experiments in imitation and parody, wild romance and realistic journalism.” The writings have long divided critical opinion. To Elizabeth Gaskell, Charlotte’s friend and biographer, the Brontës’ early work was “wild weird writing”, of interest only to “the bright little minds for whom it was intended”.Andy Sawyer, on the other hand, says: “I find a lot of the stories quite enjoyable, especially The Green Dwarf by Charlotte. It’s clearly kids and teenagers having literary fun; they’re not meant for publication or detailed analysis.“the writing can be crude but reading Charlotte’s poem The Foundling and her short story The Green Dwarf, you’d say that person had the potential to become a great writer.”Juliet Barker agrees: “You can see where the brilliance of Charlotte as a writer came from. The stories suck you in. They can be hard work at times, though.”She also draws attention to the way in which the early works informed the sisters’ published novels. “They’re obsessed with strong male characters and young children, especially Charlotte, while there’s an outlaw called Douglas in Emily’s early stories who is very much like Heathcliff.”Christine Alexander says of one of Charlotte’s Glass Town characters: “Lord Charles Wellesley plays the same cat-and-mouse games with his readers as the narrator Lucy Snowe does in Charlotte’s last novel Villette. It’s a very sophisticated imaginary world.”Elizabeth Gaskell described Branwell Brontë as “to begin with, the greatest genius in this rare family” but bitter disappointments in his work and love life saw him turn to alcohol and laudanum. He died of tuberculosis aged 31. While we can only speculate about what Branwell might have written had he harnessed his early promise, the Brontës’ youthful writings undoubtedly laid the groundwork for some of the most powerful and enduring novels in the English language. As Christine Alexander says: “The stories reveal the Brontë children to be young artists of extraordinary energy, tenacity and vision.” (Charlotte Heathcote)