Who, among the following, wrote about Charlotte Brontë that her mind contained ‘nothing but hunger, rebellion, and rage’?
Correct Answer :
Matthew Arnold
Solution :
The correct option is Matthew Arnold.
Matthew Arnold, the prominent Victorian poet, essayist, and literary critic, made this famous observation in a letter dated April 1853 to his sister, Jane Martha Forster.
The comment was prompted by his reading of Charlotte Brontë's novel Villette, which was published earlier that year under her pen name, Currer Bell.
In his letter, Arnold expressed a critical view of the intense passion, discontent, and emotional restlessness depicted in Brontë's writing.
He felt that her work lacked intellectual composure and spiritual serenity, concluding that her mind contained "nothing but hunger, rebellion, and rage."
This critique stands in contrast to the views of other contemporary figures, such as Elizabeth Gaskell, who was a close friend of Brontë and later wrote her sympathetic biography, The Life of Charlotte Brontë.
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