The courage and genius of Anne Brontë

by Mary Chapman

An examination of the rectified chart of the author of Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. The least known of the famous literary clan, she was a feminist long before feminism caught on and had an ironic eye for inequality and social injustice.

Anne Brontë was born in Thornton, Bradford, on 17 January 1820. There are no records of the time of birth of any of the family members but their charts were rectified by Vivian E. Robson (a prominent astrologer during the first half of the 20th century) and these are the ones most commonly used by astrologers for Charlotte, Emily and their brother Branwell. Robson gives Anne a late Pisces Ascendant (conjunct her father's Sun). This assertion seems to be based on the Pisces Ascendant (which Maud Margesson viewed as a weak sign) and Saturn's conjunction to it.  Anne was the gentle sister who suffered from asthma, and its related problems from childhood.

Anne was the youngest of six children born to Maria Branwell Brontë and the Reverend Patrick Brontë between 1814 and 1820. Maria died of uterine cancer on 15 September 1821, and her older sister, Elizabeth – known as Aunt Branwell – moved into Haworth Parsonage to help raise the children. Anne's Saturn and Pluto conjoin the Ascendant and are square to Mercury (siblings); her two eldest sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, died in childhood partly as a result of the neglect they suffered at Cowan Bridge School. Helen Burns, in Charlotte's novel Jane Eyre, is possibly based on her sister, Maria.

Anne is the least famous of the three published Brontë sisters. This is partly because many people do not realise that it was she, and not her elder sisters, who wrote the novels Agnes Grey and the better known The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

Sue Tompkins (p.274)i writes: "Pluto rising people seem to want to go out into the world wanting to hide". She adds that Pluto in this position can indicate "... a brush with the possibility of death to the self or others in early childhood which explains the subsequent fearfulness". Anne is described by Maud Margesson (p.160)ii as "quiet and unassuming" and suggests that her horoscope "...is devoid of the signs of power and genius so conspicuous in the nativities of her two elder sisters". This assertion seems to be based on the Pisces Ascendant (which Margesson viewed as a weak sign) and Saturn's conjunction to it.  Anne was the gentle sister who suffered from asthma, and its related problems from childhood. Chiron and Pluto are also closely conjunct Saturn-Ascendant but this information was not available at the time Margesson was writing (approximately the early 1920s).
However, if we look at her chart as a whole, it is not difficult to see the strengths (including those associated with Pisces, such as compassion) of the Brontë sister who challenged the social mores of her time.

Her first novel, Agnes Grey, was published in 1847 under the pseudonym Acton Bell. The three sisters used the names Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell to preserve their anonymity as their gender made the prospect of being published even more remote. It also created confusion for the publishers because, at first, they assumed that all the novels were the work of one person. Agnes Grey is based on Anne's experiences when she was employed as a governess at Blake Hall and Thorp Green Hall. In the introduction to the Wordsworth Classics' Agnes Grey (1998), Kathryn White (Assistant Curator-Librarian of the Brontë Museum, Haworth) observes that

"Anne Brontë depicts with keen and ironic observation the social isolation, emotional starvation and frustrations of a governess' life".

She goes on to say: "The author reveals the repellent cruelty, materialism and chauvinism with which young, single women had to cope".

Jane Eyre examined similar themes, but it was Anne who wrote and published first. However her novel was seen to lack the passion and drama of Charlotte's Jane Eyre and Emily's Wuthering Heights.

This criticism was not applied to her second novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall which examined the unfairness of current property laws where a woman, on marriage, gave up her individual identity. She could no longer own property, was expected to be obedient to her husband's orders (no matter how unreasonable), and any children of the marriage belonged to the father. The protagonist, Helen Graham, leaves an abusive, violent marriage, and takes her child with her. Legally, she was the one in the wrong. Anne was aware that this type of domestic abuse existed. Furthermore, she saw the results of alcoholism and its effects on family members in the behaviour of her own brother, Branwell.

Anne's feminism is revealed in both of her published novels. She wrote for women and men; she wanted to entertain but she also wanted her fiction to be based on reality. Anne had the Moon, Venus and Jupiter closely conjunct in the 12th house. These planets are in the Libra decanate of Aquarius, and describe her love of nature, poetry and music. They also describe Anne's diplomacy, her ability to relate positively to other women and to value them as individuals. Anne was very close to her sister Emily and was loved and respected by her pupils at Thorp Green, who maintained contact with her after she returned home. Moon-Jupiter also describes her ability to leave the family home for a period of five years in order to earn her own living.

Charlotte commented on Anne's stoicism and endurance (Saturn-Capricorn placements) and in her ability to perform tasks which she, herself, loathed.

There is a conjunction of Uranus and Neptune on Anne's late Sagittarius MC, and joined by Mercury in early Capricorn. Robert Pelletier (p.63)iii observes that the Uranus-Neptune conjunction gives an awareness of obligations to the social structure. There is an intolerance of abuse of authority and power. In Anne's chart this conjunction is close to the Galactic Centre (at that time at approximately 24 degrees Sagittarius). Mandi Lockley (p.19) in her article Whistleblowers at the Galactic Centre (The Astrological Journal Mar-Apr 2015) argues that these people "...can have an impact on the world that reaches far beyond the personal when given access to information that others would prefer to keep hidden and when they have the means and motivation to share that information on a huge scale". Anne, in her novels, revealed and challenged the legal and social injustices, and the inequalities that prevailed at that time.

Mercury's square to Pluto is a further indication that she was not afraid to tackle subjects that were considered taboo.

In The Improbable Union of Uranus, Neptune: How they can Work Together (The Mountain Astrologer Dec-Jan 2017) Donna Cunningham (p.14) writes, "When strong, both Uranus and Neptune grant out-of-the-ordinary gifts and difficulties fitting into the mainstream". She goes on to point out that, "Those born in the 1820s conjunction, known as the Transcendental Generation, included many exceptional souls" in many fields of society including writing. This was at a time when there were many inventions and social changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution.

Anne's Mercury in Capricorn (realism) is conjunct Neptune (creativity and imagination) on her Sagittarian MC. There is a balance between realism and imagination in her work. When they were children, Anne and Emily created their own imaginary world ('Gondal') through their writing and drawings. The sisters shared their creative ideas (Anne's Mercury is in conjunction with Emily's Jupiter). Mercury is square her nodal axis; the Aries North Node is in the 1st house opposite Libra South Node in the 7th house. Mercury is at the South Bending (90 degrees from the North Node in a clockwise direction). Research by Kathy Allan and others describes the South Bending as being best used in service of the collective. Anne wrote with the intention of trying to improve the world by bringing attention to inequalities and hardships suffered by those who lacked power.

All of the planets in Anne's chart fall in the final four signs of the zodiac (and between the MC and Ascendant) except Mars. Mars is in Cancer in the 5th house and it directly opposes the 11th-house Capricorn Sun. Tompkins (pp.101-2) gives one definition of Sun-Mars aspects as "importance of courage"; she posits that Sun-Mars is at its best when it has a cause. Mars is in fall in Cancer and this might partly explain Anne's apparent timidity and lack of self-assertion. However, Mars is also Out of Bounds – it has a declination of 25N16 (which is outside the limits of the Sun's maximum northern declination of 23N26). Mars is also inconjunct an OOB Uranus in Sagittarius. Alice Portmaniv writes that, "Out of Bounds describes the ability to function outside of the box". It relates to lateral thinkers, original artists and a need for personal freedom. An Out of Bounds Mars can be an indicator of courage, passion and willpower.

Anne Bronte died of tuberculosis on 28 May 1849 in Scarborough at approximately 2pm. This was only months after the deaths of Branwell and Emily, and from the same disease. She was 29 years-old. At the time of her death, transiting Saturn and Mars were conjunct her North Node.

Her last words to Charlotte were "take courage".

Data:
Anne Brontë; 17 January 1820, 10:08:08 LMT Thornton, (Bradford West Yorks).
Charlotte Brontë: 21 April 1816, 14:41 LMT, Thornton (chart not shown).
Emily Brontë, 30 July 1818,14:49 LMT, Thornton (chart not shown).
All the above were rectified by Vivian E. Robson and have a Rodden Rating C (dates recorded in godmother's diary, but no accurate times).

Bibliography:
Barker, J. (2010), The Brontës: Abacus, U.K.
Brontë, A. (1998), Agnes Grey: Wordsworth Editions, U.K.
Brontë, A. (2001), The Tenant of Wildfell Hall: Wordsworth Editions, U.K.
Ellis, S. (2017) Take Courage: Anne Brontë and the Art of Life: Chatto and Windus, London, U.K.
Holland, N. (2016), In Search of Anne Brontë: The History Press, U.K.

Endnotes:
1 Tompkins, S. (1989) Aspects in astrology: A Comprehensive Guide To Interpretation : Element Books Ltd., U.K.
2 Margesson, M. The Brontës and their Stars. (No date of publication – approx. early 1920s.) Rider, U.K.
3 Pelletier, R. (1974) Planets in Aspect: Understanding Your Inner Dynamics: Para Research Inc, U.S.A.
4 http://aliceportman.com/what-is-out-of-bounds.

First published by: The Astrological Journal, May/Jun 2017

Author:
Mary Chapman is a retired teacher who enjoys writing poetry and fiction. She has studied astrology for 35 years, and still loves to learn about the subject. She has contributed several poems to Journal over the years.

Image sources:
Anneʹs portrait: Public Domain, via en.wikipedia.com
Blake Hall: By W. R. Bland FRPS in conjunction with C. Barrow Keene, (gutenberg.org) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Wildfell Hall: By rich4 (https://archive.org/) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Anne Bronte: by Patrick Branwell Bronte, oil on canvas (cropped from 3 sisters). Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

© Mary Chapman - 2017/18

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