eople thinking of the authors of these books as men, believing that no woman could write such things, even when rumors that they were women started circulating. Branwell died in September 1848, and Charlotte succumbed to her usual psychosomatic illnesses, not realizing that Emily was in fact truly ill. By October, the decline in Emily's health was obvious, though she frustrated the entire family by her refusal to answer any questions or take any advice about her health. Though it was clear she had consumption, she grew angry at even the suggestion of doctors or medicine. On 19 December 1848 she finally collapsed, saying, "If you will send for a doctor, I will see him now." She died early that afternoon, aged thirty. Charlotte called her sister a "baby god," and always mourned the loss of what Emily might have written had she lived. There is a chance that Charlotte did in fact destroy an uncompleted second novel of Emily's, perhaps feeling that the subject of the novel might do harm to Emily's reputation, of which Charlotte was extremely protective. Charlotte always felt that there were certain subjects which should not be handled in novels, and it's possible that Emily had started working with one of those subjects, causing Charlotte to fear even nastier reviews than the ones for Wuthering Heights. In my opinion, Charlotte should've minded her own business. Barker, Juliet. The Bronts. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994. She was the only one of the Bront children to be given a middle name. Apparently even then they realized she was different. This messed Emily up a little in the long run. She became WAY too attached to this world. Even when she was nearly 27 years old, she eagerly resorted to playing Gondal characters while on a trip to York with Anne. When she wrote about the trip later, she mentions almost nothing of the trip except for the Gondal fanatasies. Though she had a hard time relating to her pupils. One student recalled her t...
