Emily Bronte, right? More than likely, but how much of the book did he write? Assuming he wrote in a linear structure, once he killed Cathy Linton (nee Earnshaw), he was left with a male lead; Heathcliff. And writing from a man’s point of view, even when the man in question is your own creation, is difficult to convey with any degree of integrity. Particularly when you, as a writer, pose as Mr. Ellis Bell. Content needs that ring of truth, that sense of authenticity. Writing from experience, from the heart, opens up the potential for that unique writer-to-reader connection that we long to achieve.
I believe that Patrick Branwell Bronte, the much maligned brother of the wickedly talented Emily, Charlotte, and Anne, wrote most of the second half of the novel, taking control of Emily’s story after Cathy Linton’s death (page 203 , Wordsworth Classics, 1992 edition). If we accept that much of the information received after this point was from Branwell, then isn’t it fair to claim co-authorship on his behalf? That is the basis of my argument.
Branwell may not have been published, like his sisters, but he was a writer; he contributed to the stories of Gondol and Angria along with his sisters and, as with Emily, wrote poetry. How much did you contribute to Wuthering Heights? They were both at Haworth at the time the novel was written (between 1845 and 1846), so their contribution was always a possibility. The question is, how much did you contribute?
Emily knew a man who was like Heathcliff and he certainly would, at least physically. based on his brother. Patrick Branwell Bronte, for his rare portraits, could be described as Emily described Heathcliff; dark, wild hair, lowered brow, piercing eyes. He also had an affair with a married woman, he was dissolute and wild, he drank too much, gambled, and had even tried to go abroad after their romance failed. Emily’s brother, Patrick Branwell Bronte, was Heathcliff.
It is interesting to ponder how much influence he exerted on his sister when she sat in his kitchen in Haworth, creating Wuthering Heights. Certainly, the coinciding evidence is accumulating; Heathcliff had an affair (or at least a relationship so uncomfortably close that Cathy’s husband Edgar banned Heathcliff from Thrushcross Grange); Branwell had an affair with his employer’s wife, Ms. Robinson of Throp Green and was evicted from the property. Heathcliff went abroad for three years; Branwell posted an ad with the Halifax Guardian for a position that would take him overseas. Heathcliff drank heavily and gambled, winning the Wuthering Heights deeds as a result; Branwell drank and played; although he was going to get into debt a lot. Heathcliff could roam the moors all day; Branwell undoubtedly enjoyed the freedom of the moors at his doorstep that his sisters could only savor within the confines of the common carbine restriction for women of the day.
If Emily chose a collaborator for Wuthering Heights, who better than the main character? He would need someone who could take on Heathcliff’s persona and run with him, especially after Cathy’s death. This was Emily’s first novel, she was not an experienced writer like Charlotte was. However, her sister’s style was completely different: more tame, more spiritual. Charlotte might have preferred a romantic ending and that was not what the book was about. Cathy, wild, tempestuous, and utterly selfish, was not meek Jane Eyre. And as for Heathcliff, the remaining character, now central; He was certainly not a fluctuating professor and had a much darker personality than Rochester, whose motives could at least be traced to logic and reason, albeit with skewed logic and vague reasoning. Heathcliff was not based on the character of a knight, but was as wild as the moor, as wild as a wolf and as dangerous as a panther. Emily had created a unique character in literature, an unruly man except for Cathy,
Also, consider this; Emily has created a group of characters, the main ones being Cathy and Heathcliff, and most of the story is provided through the narrative of the housekeeper, Nelly. This motto provides the writer with the feminine perspective necessary to convey real and truthful women, under the drama, with whom other women, the readers, can relate. However, when it comes to getting under Heathcliff’s skin, his degenerative physical and mental health, his heavy drinking, his affair with a married woman (although Emily was not specific about this aspect of the relationship of Cathy and Heathcliff) Who could be more skilled than his own brother, Branwell? Considering also the assumed masculine personality of the writer, Ellis Bell, this would be a necessary consideration for reasons of more than just the integrity of the book. If it was supposed to have been written by a man, as it was when it was published in 1847, then the male perspective becomes necessary or the voice of the writer becomes confused, confused.
To bring another argument, although this is just an aside, we know that the Brontes, as a family, knew the value of a shilling. Charlotte’s friend, Mrs. Elizabeth Gaskell reported how, after Charlotte’s death in 1854, Charlotte’s father cut his daughters’ letters into strips to sell to the interested public. The idea of keeping the concept of three brilliant sisters who wrote novels is perhaps more of a money spinner than two brilliant authors and Emily, who he co-wrote with her brother. It just doesn’t have the same ‘kerching’. Perhaps this is too cynical; but it is worth considering. Art for art’s sake, money … Charlotte and Ann had revealed the true identities of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell to their publisher, going to London for that purpose, in 1848.
Branwell Bronte was only 31 when he died of chronic bronchitis / phthisis on September 28, 1848, at his home in Haworth. A few months later, on December 19 of the same year, when she was just 30 years old, Emily also died in Haworth. Heathcliff and Wuthering Heights live on.