夏洛蒂·勃朗特（1816-1855）的《简·爱》曾经被多次改编成电影、电视剧和音乐剧等。2011年，又一部同名电影即将上映，可见这部经典小说确实魅力非凡。
说起夏洛蒂·勃朗特，不得不提勃朗特姐妹的文学成就——三姐妹占据了英语文学名人榜单中的三个席位，恐怕连众多男性作家都自叹不如。
实在很难想象，三位住在约克郡荒凉漠泽、害羞腼腆、相貌平凡的女性竟有着如此惊人的爆发力——也许封闭的世界恰恰有助于她们发掘内在的才华。
是什么样的环境和际遇造就了这部长盛不衰的小说？一起来看看夏洛蒂·勃朗特在约克郡度过的岁月——
Charlotte Bronte 1)represented a fascinating mystery to the London literary world of 1847.
对于1847年的伦敦文学界来说，夏洛蒂·勃朗特代表着一个引人入胜的谜团。
An unknown writer named Currer Bell had produced Jane Eyre, a popular and 2)controversial novel. Two other novels were published the same year, Agnes Grey by Acton Bell and Wuthering Heights by Ellis Bell. Were the novels written by three different writers or only one? And were they written by men or women?
一位名叫柯勒·贝尔的不知名作家写出了《简·爱》这部广受欢迎但又备受争议的小说。同年，另外两部小说相继出版，它们是阿克顿·贝尔的《阿格尼丝·格雷》以及埃利斯·贝尔的《呼啸山庄》。这些小说是出自三位不同作家之手，还是同一个人写的呢？它们的作者到底是男性还是女性？
Even the publishers of the novels didn't know. So in 1848, Charlotte and her sister Anne, the author of Agnes Grey, traveled to London to introduce themselves to publisher George Smith and assure him that they were different people and both women.
甚至连小说的出版商也不知道答案。于是在1848年，夏洛蒂和她的妹妹安妮——《阿格尼丝·格雷》的作者来到伦敦，向出版商乔治·史密斯介绍自己，让他知道她们是两个不同的人，而且都是女性。
Charlotte's Jane Eyre was still a source of controversy, though. Its 3)heroine was a strong woman who took 4)responsibility for her own life. It contained scenes of wild passion and violent acts. Rochester's plan to marry when he had a living wife shocked the people of that time.
然而在当时，夏洛蒂的《简·爱》仍然是引发争论的源头。小说的女主人公是一位独立自主的坚强女性。书中对狂烈的感情以及暴力行为进行了一幕幕的描写。罗切斯特在妻子还在世的情况下打算跟别人结婚这一情节让当时的人大为震惊。
It was certainly a strange production for someone like Charlotte Bronte, who led such a 5)retiring life. And Charlotte 6)acknowledged that Jane was not a version of herself. But Jane was a reflection of principles that Charlotte lived by.
对于像夏洛蒂·勃朗特这样一个隐居避世的人来说，这部小说无疑是一个奇怪的产物。夏洛蒂承认简不是自己的写照，但这个角色反映了她一生恪守的准则。
Charlotte was a 7)preacher's daughter 8)to the core. She was raised with strong faith and a firm sense of duty. Her father, Patrick Bronte, was a 9)curate 10)assigned to the Yorkshire 11)parish of Haworth, a land of 12)moors and isolated farms. The family lived in a 13)modest stone house surrounded by the church and graveyard. Charlotte had two older sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, and three younger 14)siblings, Branwell, Emily, and Anne. Their mother died while the children were small; Maria and Elizabeth died in childhood after difficult years in a girl's school. Maria would become the model for Helen Burns in Jane Eyre, and some of the dialogue even came from real life.
归根结底，夏洛蒂是一名牧师的女儿。在成长过程中，她一直被灌输坚定的信念和强烈的责任感。她的父亲帕特里克·勃朗特是一位被派到约克郡霍沃斯教区的助理牧师。那个地方只有漠泽和与世隔绝的农场。勃朗特一家就住在一间朴素的石屋里，周围都是教堂和墓地。夏洛蒂有两个姐姐——玛莉亚和伊丽莎白，还有三个小弟妹——布兰韦尔，艾米莉和安妮。他们很小的时候母亲就去世了；在一间女子学校度过了艰苦的年月后，尚处童年的玛莉亚和伊丽莎白也去世了。玛莉亚后来成了《简·爱》中海伦·伯恩斯的原型，有些对话甚至取材自现实生活。