English Rose: Bronte Parsonage Museum

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Bronte Parsonage Museum

The Bronte Parsonage Museum

The spirit of the Bronte sisters were ever present on my visit to the Bronte Parsonage Museum in the summer of 2008. Upon entering the parsonage house I was surprised to find the home as beautiful and even cozy. This surprised me after reading a biography of Emily Bronte, in which the author describes the despair and isolation the house embodied. Most certainly the home was surrounded by sickness and death, making the home itself somewhat of a safe haven for the Bronte sisters.

The graveyard in front and to the side of the house is particularly striking, and creepy to say the least. The cemetery presents an overbearingly constant reminder of death.

After spending some time at the museum and wandering through the graveyard, we headed out to the moors, which presented a refreshing contrast to the dreariness of the parsonage. To walk in the footsteps of the Brontes, along the moors that Emily Bronte was so inspired by, was a dream come true. I channeled my inner Catherine as I wandered the moors looking for solace in the arms of Heathcliffe. Standing in a sea of purple heather I felt so small, engulfed by the hills and valleys of the moors. At that moment I was engrossed by the beauty and the magnificence of the English countryside.

"Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being." - Wuthering Heights

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