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The Parsonage, which was the family home, now houses the Brontë museum
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Sex, Drugs, Poetry and Prose |
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Here’s to you Mrs Robinson
The incident occurred when Branwell was employed as tutor to the sons of Mr and Mrs Robinson, a well-to-do family living in Thorp Green. Something, and there are many versions as to what exactly, occurred and Branwell was released from his position; Mr Robinson, who had been ill for sometime, died and Branwell returned to Howarth and died 3 years later. From this short tale come stories galore.
The most succinct version of the story is told by Juliet Barker, in her biography, '_The Brontës_', where she paints a picture which blames neither party,
“in July of 1845 he was abruptly dismissed, probably for having had an affair with the lady of the house, an older woman who is often labelled as a wicked temptress, though there's really no way of telling who seduced who.”
Branwell himself writes about the incident, claiming that Mrs Robinson was so overwhelmed with passion for him that she was tempted to enter a nunnery if she couldn’t have him. A far cry from the fact that, following the death of her husband, she pursued and married Sir Edward Scott, a rung up the social ladder from her and a leap onto an altogether different ladder from Branwell.
Branwell himself promoted the myth that Mr Robinson had threatened to cut off Mrs Robinson’s inheritance if she had any more to do with Branwell. The truth is there was nothing of this sort in the will, but, it makes for a much better story if this were true. Branwell himself was a great story teller, but did he tell these stories to save face, or because he liked to sound more interesting than he was.
Mrs Gaskell very nearly landed herself in court with her claims that Mrs Robinson was “a depraved woman” making “criminal advances”. Daphne du Maurier claims that Mrs Gaskell wrote about the affair with gusto and implies that she spiced it up. Her motive for writing this may have been to show the world just how much Charlotte had had to put up with, a woman who fought against hardships to succeed. On the other hand, a bit of scandal never hurt book sales, and seeing as she was very fond of Charlotte she had decided to play down Charlotte’s failed ‘love affair’ with her tutor Monsieur Heger, but all books need something to intrigue the reader. Could book sales be partially responsible for the negative portraits and rumours about Branwell?
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Look back into the past using the Legacies' archives. Find nearly 200 tales from around the country in our collection.
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