Charlotte and Emily Bronte? have long been the subject of critical and popular interest -- both for their lives and their works. In this volume, ten noted authors and critics probe the works of the Bronte?s to show the influences that shaped the mystical worlds of their novels and poems and contributed to their distinctive styles. Their novels are not rebellions against Victorian social standards, but rather are Charlotte and Emily's way of transmuting Victorian ideals into symbolic form. In studying such aspects of the Bronte?'s literature as imagery, ideas of love, and Gothic style, other contributors show "how most interpretations invariably return to the question of Charlotte and Emily's personal involvement in their novels." -- From publisher's description.