Glass Town: Isabel Greenberg

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Occasionally these worlds would also cross over with characters appearing in Glass Town, Angria, and Gondal narratives. The Introduction explores the rich imaginative lives of the Brontës, and the tension between their maturing authorship and creative freedom.

He is also the father of the illegitimate Caroline Vernon, whose mother is Percy’s former mistress, Louisa Vernon. He is initiated into a secret society named Elysium by Rogue and Hector Montmorency whose real intention is to rob him of his fortune.Is it better sometimes to live in our own imaginary kingdoms rather than face what can be sad, painful realities? The earliest incarnation of the, by then, four Brontë siblings’ creative world was Glass Town, which later expanded into the world of Angria. He later develops into a libertine and political and military leader under the guidance of his eventual father-in-law, the despot Alexander Percy. It is simply beautiful, and I found that it had a very cinematic quality too, particularly when Greenberg utilises moments of silence, and lets the emotion so inherent in the pictures do the talking.

It was initiated by Charlotte and her brother Branwell; Emily and Anne Brontë later participated in further developing the stories and geography of its world, although they also broke away to conceptualize Gondal, while Charlotte conceptualized Angria.

As the name suggests it tells the story of the Brontë juvenilia, but it does so much more than this too. Originally a creation of Branwell Brontë, Percy began life as a pirate named Rogue (Rougue) and in addition to becoming a favourite character and pseudonym of Branwell, he was incorporated into Charlotte Brontë’s work, becoming one of the primary antagonists of her narratives.

The Brontës filled this imaginative space with their own version of early nineteenth-century society with its international relations and domestic affairs [. Following Mina’s rejection, Hartford drunkenly duels with Zamorna, and sustains injuries he is still recovering from during the events of Stancliffe’s Hotel (1838).One glaring omission from this is the character of Charles Wellesley (Charlotte’s favourite pseudonym, originally named Lord Charles Wellesley) who features prominently in Charlotte’s stories and in this text, but who isn’t given his own introduction by Greenberg. Despite Percy’s best efforts to check her feelings, Caroline finds her way back to Zamorna, possibly becoming another of his mistresses and pawn in the ongoing battle for power between Percy and Zamorna.