How Did Charlotte Die?

I came across the most credible theory yet in Lyndall Gordon's CHARLOTTE BRONTE, A PASSIONATE LIFE. Gordon says that everyone so far has overlooked the obvious -- that Tabby, the aged servant at the Parsonage, came down with a fatal infection of the digestive tract. She died February, 1855; Charlotte died March, 1855. Charlotte didn't die of her pregnancy -- the cause of death was her unremitting vomitting, & coughing up blood. Gordon thinks that Tabby may have caught typhoid from Haworth's apallingly unsanitary conditions (average life expectancy was 25!!) & gave it to Charlotte. This sounds the most reasonable to me, unless Charlotte really had been infectd with consumption for some years - she -was- always in poor health. But her complaint wasn't coughing -- it was more digestive. What do you think?

It seems to me that a combination of all three diseases is the most likely cause. She was probably infected with TB (both her sisters had died of it)and the Parsonage isn't the largest of houses. The pregnancy further depressed her immune system. The gastric infection finished her off. I doubt it was typhoid,if that's what she had that's what Ingham the attending doctor would have written on the death certificate. I'll research this further though,

Thanks Andrew! There have been so many misconceptions over the years about Charlotte dying of "hysterical rejection of the fetus" etc. I'm sure you're right about her being a T.B. carrier -- she was never in the best of health, & lived in such close proximity to her sisters (didn't she & Anne share a bed almost until the last?)

I recently had a discussion on this subject with Kathryn White (curator at the Bronte Parsonage Museum). Here is what she told me: the recorded cause of death was 'Phthisis', which is a general, muscle wasting disease; however, from Charlotte's symptoms, medical experts now firmly believe that the cause was a condition known as 'Hyperemesis Gravidarum' which, in effect, is dehydration caused by excessive vomiting (can't keep any fluids down). Apparently, this occasionally happens to pregnant women, and ca certainly be life threatening if not treated, however, it is not generally regarded as serious today as treatment is quite simple - the patient is placed on a drip. What a shame they didn't have drips in those days! (someone said they did - Branwell! :-) ). Mick.

The 'cropped' line should read ' . . and can certainly be life threatening . . '. Don't know why this conference system always messes-up my text - it appears perfect in the 'message box' before I send it! Mick.

I recently had a discussion on this subject with Kathryn White (curator at the Bronte Parsonage Museum). Here is what she told me: the recorded cause of death was 'Phthisis', which is a general, muscle wasting disease; however, from Charlotte's symptoms, medical experts now firmly believe that the cause was a condition known as 'Hyperemesis Gravidarum' which, in effect, is dehydration caused by excessive vomiting (can't keep any fluids down). Apparently, this occasionally happens to pregnant women, and ca certainly be life threatening if not treated, however, it is not generally regarded as serious today as treatment is quite simple - the patient is placed on a drip. What a shame they didn't have drips in those days! (someone said they did - Branwell! :-) ). Mick.

Mick: The Yapp software on the Spring does have the unfortunate tendency to lose a letter here or there, so it's not you. Kathryn White is absolutely correct about the real reason for Charlotte's death -- whether this constant vomiting was caused by psychological factors or not is something we'll never know. Yes, it's a shame the Brontes didn't live in a time where medicine was more advanced. We could have held onto Anne and Emily far longer and possibly had many more wonderful novels. . .

There's something so haunting about your phrase "we could have held onto Anne and Emily far longer...". They elude us, flying just beyond our grasp. Especially Emily. If only they could have been anchored to the earth, just a little longer. It's like the small sharp pang of sorrow one gets when reading Emily's diary paper speculations about where the siblings would all be in fifty years' time. Dead and long in your graves, Emily...

Yes, that is very chilling, isn't it? All those hopes and such short lives. I wish Anne could have lived to get married & have children, which she obviously wanted very much based on her writings. And who knows where Emily could have gone after Wuthering Heights? It is just so sad. I do get a sense about Charlotte, though, that she had essentially finished her career by the time of her marriage. Writing wasn't making her happy (she was extremely miserable while writing VILLETTE) and she had turned o t four books to Anne's two & Emily's one. I understand that her last fragment, EMMA, shows tremendous promise, so perhaps this could have evolved into another great work. We'll never know.

If Charlotte had a negative blood type, (o-,a-,b-,ab-) and her husband had a positive blood type, it could cause complications in the pregnancy, mostly for the fetus. but with Charlotte's health compromised in so many ways already, it certainly wouldn't help.

anyone who says the treatment of HG is "simple" knows absolutely NOTHING about HG. Women and children still die from it today. If you would like to learn about it, please see hyperemesis.org or http://www.angelfire.com/nt/hugs/ or even hyperemesisgravidarum.com Please learn about diseases before posting extremely offensive assumptions.

P.S. HG is NOT a psychosomatic disease, and this has been proven in medical studies. However, since doctors still have no inkling of the etiology or how to treat it, so it must somehow be the patient's fault. (FYI, the antiemetics don't work and the iv saves lives but is NOT a cure for HG and IV's do NOT supply nutrition which is why so many must go on TPN or PEG/J.) Do you have any idea what it is like to be battling the most debilitating illness of your life and be told that you are causing it yourself through psychosomatic disorder? Talk about your secondary victimization! No one would tell a cancer patient that, and at least with cancer you get a break in between the vomiting. My parents both DIED of cancer, and I was sicker than they were in my first pregnancy. This is a rare disease, so the vast majority don't know about it, but do not underestimate the potential for suffering. It is unbelievable and is generally referred to as a sheep in wolf's clothing because it puts you through extraordinary su fering yet most manage to live if treated adequately. Bronte's death had NOTHING to do with her mental state. Give this woman credit. Do you know how many women DON'T want their babies? Yet HG only occurs in approximately 3 out of 1,000 pregnancies. Disproportionate! HG is physiological NOT psychological. Perhaps you will wonder if Charlotte caused her own death via mental problems, but I won't. There is absolutely no mystery to her death. She was among the unfortunate few, one of my HG sisters whose death is no fault of her own.

It would be perfectly understandable that she died from Hyperemesis Gravidarum. I suffered from it with my pregnancy. I was 5'6 1/2" tall and down to 95 lbs by my 8th week of pregnancy, due to the unrelenting vomiting. I couldn't move without vomiting. My condition was so bad due to improper treatment by ignorant doctors. I knew full well that without my ER visits to restore nourishing fluids, I could have easily died. HG left untreated can lead to wiernecke's encephathology, coma, Mallory-Weiss tears(causing you to vomit blood, which I PERSONALLY experienced), blindness due to extremely low thiamine levels, and many other problems. Patients on the mend can even die from "refeeding syndrome", due to phosphates being introduced into their system too quickly. It happens so fast, it can't be stopped. Check out medical libraries and databases. You'll find women still die to this day from improper treatment of HG. In Charlotte's time I doubt they could have treated it. I've read your only alternative back then was abortion. Pregnancy is, for lack of a better word, a "parasitic" relationship The baby will take everything from your body for survival, even if that means maternal death. You have no control over HG. If you try to fight it. It kicks your a** more. I could not even sit up to research it until I was 17 weeks pregnant. You see I had the severe form of HG. You can read a well researched, sourced, and up to date report on HG by a doctor of statistics at: http://web.stat.ucla.edu/~frederic/papers/hg.html To know more you could go to: Helpher.org To know the pain go to: http://www.angelfire.com/nt/hugs/ But your most interesting info will be through searching medical articles and databases at your library. Even most obstetricians won't tell you or don't know how HG is still taking lives to this day. You'll be quite interested to read these articles and find out for yourselves! You'll no longer question the probability that Charlotte died of Hyperemesis Gravidarum. You will KNOW it! P.S. HG has never been proven to be psychological. Even the wacks who suggested it also stated they couldn't back it up. Remember, menopause was also thought of as a "psychological" disorder until more research was done.