Celebrating Charlotte Brontë: Events marking the bicentenary of her birth

With Stratford Upon-Avon just over the road, you must have been living under a rock if you haven’t noticed the inundation of all things Shakespeare to mark the four hundred year anniversary of his death. But as 23 April comes around, make sure you’re not so busy appreciating the Bard that you miss the bicentenary of another of Britain’s most acclaimed writers, just two days before. Charlotte Brontë’s 200th birthday is being celebrated across the country on 21 April. Don’t worry if you’ve missed her off your calendar – the Brontë society is doing its best to ensure she can’t be overshadowed by hosting events that run right through the year.

An exhibition curated by novelist and fan Tracy Chevalier entitled Charlotte Great and Small puts together the minute details of Charlotte’s domestic life in contrast with the enormity of her ambition and success

Based at the Brontë’s home in Haworth, West Yorkshire, celebrations for the oldest Brontë sister are kicking off with a birthday party for the local community and short performances from her most famous novel, Jane Eyre. An exhibition curated by novelist and fan Tracy Chevalier entitled Charlotte Great and Small puts together the minute details of Charlotte’s domestic life in contrast with the enormity of her ambition and success. It runs until the end of the year and is free with entry into the house. If you’re planning a trip to the Yorkshire parsonage, the summer festival weekend in June might be the best time to visit; with events that range from the short film Charlotte – The Movie premiered on 10 June, to the perhaps more highbrow Great Charlotte Brontë Debate on June 11. To witness the battle over which novel is her greatest work between biographers Claire Harman and Lucy Hughes-Hallett, book tickets on the museum website.

If the Yorkshire village feels a bit far to go, you can still get involved in the birthday festivities. The National Portrait Gallery are running their exhibition Celebrating Charlotte Brontë 1816-1855 until 14 August – a display based around the discovery of a painted portrait of the Brontë siblings. Elsewhere in London, the Sir John Soane’s Museum is running an exhibition until May 7 based around Charlotte’s trips to the capital.

There are events that range from the short film Charlotte – The Movie premiered on 10 June, to the perhaps more highbrow Great Charlotte Bronte Debate on June 11

Things get even more creative over in Halifax with the display Splendid Shreds of Silk and Satin: A Celebration of Charlotte Brontë in Quilts. Entry is free at the Bankfield Museum for the collection of minute quilts on display, alongside a quilt hand stitched by the Brontë sisters. The quilts are all made in response to the line in Jane Eyre: “I hardly know what swelled to my throat – such a vehement impatience of restraint and steady work – such a strong wish for wings”, and promise to capture the passion of the novel’s eponymous heroine. Artistic interpretations of Charlotte Brontë’s work do not stop here. If textiles aren’t your thing, then look out for the Northern Ballet tour of Jane Eyre launching in Doncaster on May 19. Or perhaps, like the famously introverted Charlotte, you would prefer to celebrate at home with a book. Edited by Tracy Chevalier, a collection of short stories by some of today’s most revered female writers in Reader, I Married Him is available now. Authors such as Helen Dunmore and Audrey Niffenegger have created original tales based on Brontë’s Jane Eyre, demonstrating the influence that the oldest Brontë sister has on literature, even today.

Image Credits: Agnes Viviane Kim / Flickr (Header)