By all accounts, the Brontë novels marked a dramatic turn in the writing of British domestic fiction. This course explores the Brontës’ enduring allure by reading Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Villette, along with selections from the Brontës’ poems, reviews and childhood writings. Why were the works of Charlotte, Emily and Anne so “revolting” and yet so compelling to their Victorian contemporaries? How have they become central to feminist criticism in our own age? How did they address political upheaval in their time? And how did a life of illness and isolation foster the imaginative powers of Britain’s most famous literary family?