Charlotte Bronte's education

Charlotte Brontë enjoyed three periods of formal or semi-formal education:

• 1824-25 at Cowan Bridge School
• 1831-32 at Roe Head School
• 1842-44 at the Pensionnat Heger in Brussels.

At the first two of these schools, she would have learnt mathematics, grammar, history, geography, drawing, needlework and some French. At the Pensionnat Heger, she studied French to an advanced level.

The most important part of her education, however, took place at Haworth Parsonage:

• Her father was well-educated and well-read and allowed her the free run of his library – here, she could read history, philosophy, and theology as well as fiction, poetry and drama
• She and her sisters were able to borrow further books from local libraries and institutions
• She benefited not only from her father's conversation but also from the company of two sisters and a brother who were equally enthusiastic about reading and writing.

The range of literary allusion in Jane Eyre (see Jane Eyre synopses) is some indication of at least part of its author's wide reading.

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