Presently the door opened, and in came a superannuated mastiff, followed by an old gentleman very like Miss Bronte, who shook hands with us, and then went to call his daughter. A long interval, during which we coaxed the old dog, and looked at a picture of Miss Bronte, by Richmond, the solitary ornament of the room, looking strangely out of place on the bare walls, and at the books on the little shelves, most of them evidently the gift of the authors since Miss Bronte's celebrity. Presently she came in, and welcomed us very kindly, and took me upstairs to take off my bonnet, and herself brought me water and towels. The uncarpeted stone stairs and floors, the old drawers propped on wood, were all scrupulously clean and neat. When we went into the parlour again, we began talking very comfortably, when the door opened and Mr. Bronte looked in; seeing his daughter there, I suppose he thought it was all right, and he retreated to his study on the opposite side of the passage; presently emerging again to bring W---- a country newspaper. This was his last appearance till we went. Miss Bronte spoke with the greatest warmth of Miss Martineau, and of the good she had gained from her. Well! we talked about various things; the character of the people, - about her solitude, etc., till she left the room to help about dinner, I suppose, for she did not return for an age. The old dog had vanished; a fat curly-haired dog honoured us with his company for some time, but finally manifested a wish to get out, so we were left alone. At last she returned, followed by the maid and dinner, which made us all more comfortable; and we had some very pleasant conversation, in the midst of which time passed quicker than we supposed, for at last W---- found that it was half-past three, and we had fourteen or fifteen miles before us. So we hurried off, having obtained from her a promise to pay us a visit in the spring... ------------------- "She cannot see well, and does little beside knitting. The way she weakened her eyesight was this: When she was sixteen or seventeen, she wanted much to draw; and she copied nimini-pimini copper-plate engravings out of annuals, ('stippling,' don't the artists call it?) every little point put in, till at the end of six months she had produced an exquisitely faithful copy of the engraving. She wanted to learn to express her ideas by drawing. After she had tried to draw stories, and not succeeded, she took the better mode of writing; but in so small a hand, that it is almost impossible to decipher what she wrote at this time.
I asked her whether she had ever taken opium, as the description given of its effects in Villette was so exactly like what I had experienced, - vivid and exaggerated presence of objects, of which the outlines were indistinct, or lost in golden mist, etc. She replied, that she had never, to her knowledge, taken a grain of it in any shape, but that she had followed the process she always adopted when she had to describe anything which had not fallen within her own experience; she had thought intently on it for many and many a night before falling to sleep, - wondering what it was like, or how it would be, - till at length, sometimes after the progress of her story had been arrested at this one point for weeks, she wakened up in the morning with all clear before her, as if she had in reality gone through the experience, and then could describe it, word for word, as it had happened. I cannot account for this psychologically; I only am sure that it was so, because she said it. ----------------------She thought much of her duty, and had loftier and clearer notions of it than most people, and held fast to them with more success. It was done, it seems to me, with much more difficulty than people have of stronger nerves, and better fortunes. All her life was but labour and pain; and she never threw down the burden for the sake of present pleasure. I don't know what use you can make of all I have said. I have written it with the strong desire to obtain appreciation for her. Yet, what does it matter? She herself appealed to the world's judgement for her use of some of the faculties she had, - not the best, - but still the only ones she could turn to strangers' benefit. They heartily, greedily enjoyed the fruits of her labours, and then found out she was much to be blamed for possessing such faculties. Why ask for a judgement on her from such a world?"
elizabeth gaskell/charlotte bronte
Speaking as an artist, I approve of everything but that brow. It's been over done imo and ruins the effect. She looks like she has water on the brain! The hair profile is too altered as well.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenRichmond was known for making people look better. But clever fellow, he never tried to alter them completely. The secret is he put everything in , but he softened the definition of what was considered the less lovely aspects . Charlotte's large nose is in his picture, he just softened the line on one side etc.
In this new picture, the artist actually took brow away from the side and then added too much brow hight .
Extra brow should have been added on the side ,over and around the eyes, (where Richmond put it) and then add just a little more. One must listen to Richmond as well as Mary.
If I read the way people describe Charlotte I think Louise Sanfaçon did it rather well.The forehead square, broad and rather overhanging, a square face, a large nose, eyes near to each other. George Smith impressed by the brows. Maybe the eyes had to be a little nearer to each other.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenI was always surprised that Charlotte thought she was ugly. The portraits of her don't show the most beautiful woman of the earth, but certainly not an ugly woman.
if I see the portrait Louise Sanfaçon i start to understand what Charlotte might have looked. Ruth Wilson in Jane Eyre looks a lot like this.
I once saw a strip of Jane Eyre. Jane was very, very ugly and angry. A little bit like the caricature of herself she sent to Ellen Nussey. I thought maybe Charlotte was looking like this. I will search for it again.
Indeed" brow over hanging" , that is ; some what wider ( broader) than Richmond made it...but not straight up, and so much taller as we see here.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenImo he would not make her so different as to be this noticeable. Then the point of his craft is lost. I believe Smith choose him because he was known to flatter, but flatter convincingly. The rest as I say, I like.
Was this done digitally using a file of Richmond's drawing ? I would think so.
In Branwell's portrait, her brow is more square than in Richmond's drawing. But her hair was not hiding it as it was later, in 1850.
Charlotte had such a keen sense of beauty, she was hard on everyone about it .... Poor James Taylor! Among others lol And being such a honest person, she included herself in that judgment just as serverly if not more so.. If Mary is our guide, it's to be remembered she told Charlotte she was ugly.
Charlotte started to cry when she saw the finished portrait Richmond made. She told, it was like seeing her sister. So, there must be a resemblance in it.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenBut not only Mary told Charlotte is ugly. She told it in the hardest words. But Gaskell and George Smith did mention it to. But much more polite. Gaskell gossiping about everything. In fact brought the gossiping into the world. And George, everytime I read his words I don't like him at all.
Yes it's said she thought it looked like Anne, and one can see that when looking at Branwell's painting. The older George got, the colder he seem to become. He could be quite ruthless later in life. He knew how distressing a check without a personal note would be to Charlotte...far more upsetting than the low payment. It was payment for putting him and his mother in a book! lol. But you are right, his description of her looks seems cold,dismissive. I forget who reported CB had missing teeth! Yet to Arthur, Charlotte Bronte was the most alluring woman in the world. Love sees inside a person and then the outside.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenI'm about to start my own portrait of Charlotte based on Richmond's drawing and I find I agree heartily with my earlier assessment of this rendition. In fact, it makes me laugh. Did the artist ever see the original? With all our technology, I have never seen a print that does justice to Richmond's portrait. If one used as a model a print and the words of others, I believe it would greatly lessen the chance of a successful portrait. One must see Richmond's original and study it. Luckily I was able to do so in 2016
BeantwoordenVerwijderen"But not only Mary told Charlotte is ugly. She told it in the hardest words."
That was Mary's way. A complement from her was rare! lol. I doubt Mary ever saw the original drawing. Her opinion might have been different if she had. What is so startling about the original is its beautiful expression. In prints CB looks cross.....nothing could further from the original