Patrick Bront�

The widely varying views of Mr. Bronte are puzzling, aren't they? Some portray him as an autocratic tyrant; others as a beneveloent social-minded vicar who struggled to bring up six little children on his own. I'm not sure I know what the truth is. He was certainly eccentric, and rather than being a stiff-backed Tory, he did support some of the more liberal/Radical social trends of the time. What I don't particularly like about him was his failure to show up to Charlotte's wedding at the last minute -- seems pretty mean-spirited. Or maybe he sensed that marriage & childbirth would kill her. Who knows? For a very sympathetic view, you might want to read Juliet Barker's massive bio THE BONTES.

I tend to go with the Barker view on Patrick more than anything else. Because I've grown up in an era that has been more sympathetic to Patrick than any previous, my ideas of him have been formulated by more positive bios. He himself pointed out that he was an eccentric, but that his very eccentricity contributed to the emotional makeup of the very remarkable children he had.

I never really viewed him as a Victorian tyrant along the lines of a Mr. Barrett, father of Elizabeth. I think we can all agree he was a bit eccentric, but he had a pretty heavy load to tote: raising 6 small children by himself; working a large parish essentially by himself and having to walk massive distances all day; coping with the loneliness after his wife's death & being turned down by every other woman in sight; watching all of his children die in succession before him. I also like the fact that e supported Catholic voting rights despite his being a Tory and an Anglican clergyman! Plus he gave the love of literature to his children, and allowed them to read "forbidden" material like Milton, Byron, and Shelley. The girls might have turned out quite conventional if he hadn't allowed them to indulge their love of the arts as children.

oh I HAVE to read Barker. I don't think Patrick Bronte was any more nutty than most people with big ideas and large personalities. Reading Fraser's book, I admired him for the way he encouraged the writing and publiciation of Mrs. Gaskell's book, even though it was pretty clear that he was being turned into a fairy tale ogre by it. He just didn't care, prefering that his daughter receive a tribute by a talented author. That's pretty generous. Of course, I don't know about leading the family prayers w th your pistols strapped on! Does Barker talk about that?

Yes, I believe she does, but he didn't lead prayers with the pistol on! He just discharged it every morning against the Church tower and left it by his bedside. I tend to the think the most eccentric thing he did was refusing to show up at Charlotte's wedding at the last minute, so that Miss Wooler had to give her away. As someone who is getting married myself in 2.5 weeks, I can sympathize with how devasted Charlotte must have felt. . .

Amy, congratulations on your wedding. I hope it's wonderful, & wish you the best. Also, I hope your courtship wasn't as agonizing as Charlotte's, nor with as many impediments. (Patrick Bronte certainly figures in there!) I've started reading the Barker book...at lunch today Charlotte was finally born. I'm enjoying all the little details, like the Luddite rebellions and the celebrations of events in the War of 1812 and the eclipse in 1819. She really throws in the kitchen sink, doesn't she? It's so far very interesting about Patrick. I hadn't realized that he had published so many stories and poems. There's also a bit about an article his wife Maria had written about poverty. It really shows that the Bronte children had a context for wanting to write and be published.

Yes, they did come from a writing tradition. Maria Branwell's essay on the virtues of being poor doesn't seem to be based on first-hand experience, though. Barker does throw in everything, though I confess that Church Rates isn't a topic to particularly stir my blood. I do find her a bit dry, though extremely informative, esp. about Patrick & Branwell, clearly the 2 members of the family she is trying to defend in the book.