COVE

Charlotte Brontë's Hair Ring, March 1855, Wales.

The first two images in this case show a ring encasing Charlotte Brontë's hair. Inscribed in the ring is "Brontë, March 1855." According to a 2019 article in The Guardian by Alison Flood, the ring was found in an attic in Wales. The owner of the ring is unknown, but it is speculated to have belonged to Arthur Bell Nichols following Charlotte's death. Mr. Nichols would have worn the ring with Charlotte's hair as a way to stay connected with his wife after her death in March 1855.

Charlotte Brontë's Bracelet, Brontë Parsonage Museum, date unknown.

The third photo shows a bracelet thought to have been worn by Charlotte. The bracelet was made by weaving together Emily and Anne Brontë's hair. An amethyst stone lays at the center of the piece. Charlotte probably would have worn this bracelet as a way to keep her sisters close to her after death. Emily describes woven hair pieces in Wuthering Heights (1847). In the novel, Nelly puts both Heathcliff's and Edgar's hair in Catherine's locket as a way to keep both men close to Catherine's heart. Deborah Lutz, a prominent writer about Brontëan literature, even states in The Brontë Cabinet that the bracelet is "positively ghost-ridden" (186). This is interesting considering the supernatural elements of Wuthering Heights and just shows how haunting the Brontës themselves were. 

Emily and Branwell's Hair Ring, Brontë Parsonage Museum, date unknown.

The last photo shows a ring that holds the woven hair of both Emily and Branwell. This ring would have probably been worn by Charlotte after the deaths of her siblings. Similar to the bracelet with Emily and Anne's hair, this is another item of hair jewelry Charlotte owned that is similar to that of Catherine's in Wuthering Heights, with one piece containing the hair of two beloved individuals. Whether there is a connection between the presence of jewelry containing more than one person's hair in Wuthering Heights and in Charlotte's life is unknown. 

Analysis

In the Victorian era, hair jewelry was extremely popular. It served to help the Victorians hold onto a piece of a loved one after death. As hair jewelry was common in the Brontë's time, it makes sense that it would be incorporated into Brontëan literature, most notably in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1847). In the novel, Catherine Earnshaw has a locket holding the hair of her husband, Edgar Linton. Heathcliff sees this and replaces Edgar's hair with that of his own. Nelly Dean, the housekeeper, intertwines both Heathcliff and Edgar's hair together and places the strands in Catherine's locket. Earlier in the novel, Catherine exclaims to Nelly,  "'I am Heathcliff--he's always, always in my mind...'" (Brontë 64). Therefore, if Catherine dies, part of Heathcliff does too. This is important because usually the dead have their hair in lockets, rather than the living. For Heathcliff to put his hair in Catherine's locket while still alive signifies that part of him is actually dead. Catherine is the one who holds the hair, though she is the one who actually died. This symbolizes how in the novel, Catherine never really passes away, and Heathcliff experiences a sort of death along with her. Without Catherine, his love, Heathcliff cannot fully function. Catherine becomes a ghost, comes back, and haunts Heathcliff. Hair in Wuthering Heights acts as a symbol of immortality: it is the cord that ties together the living and the dead. Heathcliff's hair in Catherine's locket represents a "grey area" between life and death, connecting him with Catherine beyond the grave. It should be noted that although hair can fade and grow brittle, it will never quite spoil. This is another reason that hair is a symbol of immortality both in Victorian culture and Wuthering Heights, since hair is truly immortal.

https://www-jstor-org.lib-proxy01.skidmore.edu/stable/pdf/41307854.pdf?a...

https://longreads.com/2015/06/30/death-made-material-the-hair-jewelry-of...

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/17/charlotte-bronte-hair-ring...

https://www.bridgemanimages.us/en-US/8158/collection-spotlight-bronte-pa...