Ranking the Brontë Sisters' Novels: A Definitive Literary Guide
As Emerald Fennell's film adaptation ignites fresh discussions, we celebrate the pioneering brilliance of the Brontë siblings' work. From Charlotte's psychological depth to Emily's raw intensity and Anne's social critique, their novels continue to captivate readers. Here, we rank their major works, delving into the stories behind each book and their enduring impact on literature.
7. The Professor (written 1846; published 1857) by Charlotte Brontë
This was the first novel that Charlotte Brontë completed, yet it faced rejection from publishers nine times. Written in the voice of a male narrator, William Crimsworth, it presents a downbeat tale of middle-class striving as he travels to Brussels to build a teaching career. The last publisher to review it noted promise but deemed it too short and insufficiently "striking and exciting." Fortunately, Jane Eyre—which amply addressed these deficiencies—was already in progress and was swiftly accepted. Although The Professor remained unpublished in Charlotte's lifetime, she believed it was "as good as I can write," with its subtly ironized male voice showcasing her underlying literary sophistication.
6. Agnes Grey (1847) by Anne Brontë
In 1846, the three Brontë sisters published a joint poetry collection under pseudonyms, selling just two copies. Recognizing fiction's greater marketability, they each embarked on novels. While Charlotte worked on The Professor, Anne crafted Agnes Grey, drawing directly from her experiences as a governess in affluent families. The first-person heroine initially embraces independence but faces underpayment and disdain from snobbish parents, with charges including a cruel boy who tortures sparrows. Overshadowed by Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights upon its 1847 release, it might have stirred more attention as a Nanny Diaries-style exposé.
5. Shirley (1849) by Charlotte Brontë
This flawed follow-up to Jane Eyre was written under tragic circumstances, as Charlotte's brother Branwell and both sisters died during its composition. Abandoned briefly, it was resumed by the grieving author. Beyond personal loss, this "condition of England" novel—declared "unromantic as Monday morning"—fails to enchant like its predecessor due to a diffuse third-person narrative lacking a central hero. Set during the Luddite riots of 1811-12, it explores social unrest, capitalism, and the "woman question." Despite proto-feminist themes, Charlotte's political stance was conservative, adding complexity to her legacy.
4. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë (1848)
In feminist terms, Anne's second novel stands as the most radical and socially engaged of the sisters' works. The eponymous tenant, Helen Huntingdon, hides at Wildfell Hall with her son after fleeing an abusive husband, highlighting harsh Victorian marriage laws that denied women divorce and custody rights. In response to Charlotte's romanticized Mr. Rochester, Anne exposes toxic masculinity behind the Byronic rake archetype. Its unvarnished portrayal of addiction and adultery shocked readers more than other Brontë books, rooted in Anne's observations of her brother Branwell's chaotic behavior.
3. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (1847)
The first Brontë novel published, Charlotte's melodramatic tale of a plain governess and a madwoman in the attic became an instant bestseller. Its genius lies not in plot but in what reviewer GH Lewes called its "strange power of subjective representation." Abandoning a male narrator for a female voice allowed unprecedented first-person intensity, revolutionizing the novel form. Yet, sexist critics decried it as "coarse" and the heroine too assertive, correctly guessing "Currer Bell" was a woman. This controversy only cemented its status as a literary landmark.
2. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (1847)
It is mind-boggling that Wuthering Heights was written alongside The Professor and Agnes Grey at the same Haworth Parsonage table. Emily's masterpiece was called "a strange book baffling all regular criticism" upon release, remaining enigmatic and sui generis outside Victorian norms. Far from a clichéd love story, it is grisly with violence yet oddly devoid of sex, with astonishingly sparse prose. Victorian poet Swinburne aptly compared it to Greek tragedy, solidifying its place in the western canon.
1. Villette by Charlotte Brontë (1853)
Less famous than Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights, Villette is Charlotte Brontë's masterpiece and deserves broader recognition. Returning to Brussels material from The Professor, rooted in her 1842-4 experiences studying and teaching there, she reworked memories from a first-person female perspective, incorporating her unrequited love for tutor Constantin Heger. The result is not naïve autobiography but an artistically experimental novel pushing Victorian realism into new directions. With unreliable narrator Lucy Snowe exploring repression and the unconscious, it blends naturalism, gothic, and autofiction, revealing its depth only posthumously through biographers.
