by Emily Bronte

Growing up in the isolated moors of northern England, young Emily Bronte and her siblings relied on their environment for entertainment and exploration. They also invented complex fantasy worlds, complete with imaginary histories. In the late 1840s Emily and her sisters Charlotte and Anne drew on their experiences to pen novels that focused on the relationships and particular qualities of their native home.

Events in History at the Time the Novel Takes Place

The Romantic period. For much of the 1700s, European society elevated reason and the intellect above feelings. Around the 1750s, however, people began to show renewed interest in earlier medieval romances, which focused on the emotions and exploits of individuals as well as strange and mysterious aspects of life. This interest in medieval romance grew, fanned in part by France's Revolutionary War of 1789, an event that inspired a sense of...