Anne Brontë and Lord Byron

This book explores the relationship between Anne Brontë’s work and the life and writings of Lord Byron. Byron’s influence on the other Brontë siblings is well-documented but absent in Anne’s history. Building on recent discourses of rich intertextuality in Anne’s work, Jessica Lewis reveals her relationship with the poet as significantly different from that of her siblings. Instead of trying to emulate Byron or derive inspiration from the concept of ‘mix’d essences’ or elemental affinity, Anne’s relationship with him is grounded in their shared Calvinistic upbringing and a rejection of its stringent principles, which propels both writers to positions of contemporary religious controversy. This volume reappraises Anne Brontë and her work in light of significant Byronic influence, and provides new readings of her novels and poetry. Dr Jessica Lewis works as a part-time lecturer in English Literature at the University of South Wales, UK. Her research interests broadly lie in Victorian fiction with particular emphasis on Brontë studies, but always include the more macabre elements of Victorian literature including disease, death, medicine and surgery and slum fiction. She is also interested in tales of the ecological, botanical and zoological Gothic.