The Refined Reader (11) Austen vs. Brontë - A Contemporary Debate

The Refined Reader aims to take a look at the journey to where we are as readers today.  It's part history, part commentary - providing a brief, conversational summary of various aspects of our bookish past and comparing it to how it has affected us in modern times.  I love history, but I am no historian, and while I plan to do my research, if there are any errors, please let me know!  This is as much a learning venture for me as I hope it is for my blog visitors!

Source (Although it erroneously labels Charlotte as her sister Emily)

Jane Austen vs. Charlotte Brontë.  An age-old debate.  If you are familiar with my blog, you will doubtless know to which camp my heart belongs to (hint: Gothic governesses FTW!) but for this post I wanted to examine what their peers would have said on the subject by looking at reviews of their work; reviews that were written in their time.  Basically if this debate was happening in the 1800s who would win?  With only three talking points to compare them on for this post.  (Obviously Austen and Brontë were not exactly contemporaries of each other so a direct comparison is difficult.  But I'll do my best!)

Morality

In the 19th century, morality was often a hugely important aspect of literature.  Because people were more religious and more concerned that novels set a good example,  I think any debate of the time would consider a good moral center to be a necessary attribute of a superior novel.  And it was definitely discussed in contemporary reviews of the authors.

For Charlotte Brontë it was said:
"We are painfully alive to the moral, religious, and literary deficiencies of the picture, and such passages of beauty and power as [are contained in Jane Eyre] cannot redeem it [...]"

Granted, that was from the notoriously most harsh review of Jane Eyre by Elizabeth Rigby, but it echoed much of what critics would say about the novel at the time.  Jane Austen faired a little better because her novels were seen as realistic and plausible - I've seen some reviews praise lessons learned (for example in the elopment of Lydia) but others find fault in Austen's lack of instructive morality.  All things considered though, I think most people at the time would find Austen's novels more strictly moral than Brontë's passionate "undisciplined spirit" so on this point I think the winner would be Austen.

Winner: Jane Austen

Writing style/Plot

Austen and Brontë had very different writing styles - each as eloquent and expressive as the other, but with different aims - Austen's use of irony and wit was a highlight, adding to the realism in her work, while Brontë's ardent prose highlighted emotion and individual thought.  But which was better received by contemporary readers of the day in terms of enjoyment and relatability?

Sir Walter Scott said of Jane Austen's novel Emma that it "[copies] from nature as she really exists in the common walks of life, and presenting to the reader, instead of the splendid scenes of an imaginary world, a correct and striking representation of that which is daily taking place around him." 

Of Jane Eyre, the Westminster Review praises "the natural tone pervading the narrative, and the originality and freshness of its style."

It seems like a natural style is praised for both, with more originality praised in Brontë's work because Austen is much more "correct."  I think both authors were well received in how they brought their characters and plot to life, but for Charlotte Brontë, the drama in her narrative appealed more than Austen's "common sense and subtle shrewdness." (that quote is from a letter Brontë wrote!)  Certainly there seemed more enthusiasm for Charlotte's prose given her popularity which I'll go into in the next paragraph.

Winner: Charlotte Brontë

Popularity

I was surprised to find that Austen was not very popular in her time.  It might be due to the lack of sensationalism in her books that made this so, something Charlotte Brontë could not be accused of and sensationalism was fashionable at the time - books that made people gossip and talk sold well.  And Jane Eyre was very popular after it's release since it was reprinted three times, while none of Austen's novels were, in the immediate period after her death.  So in terms of popularity I think Charlotte is the winner.

Winner: Charlotte Brontë

Technically I think the "writing style" section can be argued for either authors, but I do feel like since Brontë was much more popular in her time, it is pretty much a foregone conclusion that she would have won this debate.  Obviously Austen is much more appreciated now, and rightly so, so when it comes to these debates it is mostly fun to discuss but it doesn't prove anything.  Both authors are amazing.

Now I'm almost afraid to ask this - How do you weigh in?  Are you more of an Austen or Brontë fan?

(I realize that for most of this post I compared reviews of Jane Eyre specifically to reviews of Jane Austen novels generally, but it was difficult to find reviews of Charlotte Brontë's other novels for some reason!)

Sources:
Wikipedia
1813 Review of Pride and Prejudice
Pemberley.com
Victorian Web
Brooklyn College
Excerpt of London Quarterly Review