A lasting legacy
200 years on, the Brontës' lives and works continue to inspire new generations. From actors and directors, to writers and musicians, learn more about how this family from Yorkshire have had a lasting impact on the creative industry.
Taylor Swift
At the Nashville Songwriters Association International annual ceremony in 2022, Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Taylor Swift confirmed that one of her writing styles, which she coined the 'Quill' style, is inspired by the writing of Charlotte Brontë and Emily Dickinson.
Listeners of Swift's music have long connected tracks from her 2020 album, folklore, to Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, particularly 'mad woman' and 'invisible string'.
Swift's lyric "all along there was some invisible string, tying you to me" is thought to be a direct reference to Rochester's line to Jane during the proposal scene: "I have a strange feeling with regard to you. As if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly knotted to a similar string in you. And if you were to leave I'm afraid that cord of communion would snap."
“I categorise certain songs of mine in the ‘Quill’ style, if the words and phrasings are antiquated, if I was inspired to write it after reading Charlotte Brontë”
Taylor Swift, Songwriter
Stephenie Meyer
Many writers have taken inspiration from the Brontës' novels since they were first published in the late 1840s.
One book series that made a huge impact on pop culture in the 2000s was Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga. Throughout the books, it's known that Bella Swan's favourite novel is Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, with the third installment, Eclipse, taking particular inspiration. The popularity of the Twilight saga even influenced an increase in sales of Wuthering Heights when HarperCollins published a series of classics with Twilight-inspired covers.
Bella compares herself to Catherine Earnshaw in Brontë's novel, in the way that she is also stuck in a love triangle, with Edward as Heathcliff and Jacob as Linton. She goes as far as to directly quote Catherine, "If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger."
"You could look at Edward and Jacob from one perspective and say: Okay, this one is Heathcliff and this one is Edgar."
Stephenie Meyer, Writer
Guillermo del Toro
It is known that one of Guillermo del Toro's favourite novels is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. His 2015 film Crimson Peak is heavily inspired by Brontë's novel and even stars Mia Wasikowska, who portrayed Jane Eyre a few years prior, in the 2011 adaptation of the novel.
Crimson Peak leans into the gothic romance and ghost story elements that were popularised in Jane Eyre. The film is set in Victorian England and follows a new bride who investigates her ghostly visions at a remote gothic mansion that holds dark secrets.
The Oscar-winning director also explained that some of the dialogue was directly inspired by Charlotte Brontë's writing, "I quote almost verbatim in Crimson Peak: The 'cord of communion' speech from Rochecter to Jane."
"As a character, Jane is stainless-steel strong when facing the world."
Guillermo del Toro, Director
Emerald Fennell
2026 sees a new vision of Emily Brontë’s classic novel from Oscar-winning writer and Saltburn director Emerald Fennell, starring Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff. Emerald Fennell spoke at the Brontë Women’s Writing Festival in 2025 about wanting to adapt the novel to create the vivid experience she had when she read it for the first time as a teenager.
Charli XCX
After her success with Brat, Grammy and Brit award-winning artist Charli XCX is heading in a new direction, with the release of her album Wuthering Heights, set to accompany Emerald Fennell's adaptation. In a Substack post, Charli explained, "When Emerald approached me with an open mind and a total willingness for me to explore I thought… ok I can do something cool here. I can write songs from a different perspective." The album contains 12 tracks inspired by the film, including 'House' featuring John Cale and 'Chains of Love'.
Both the film and album will be released 13 February 2026.
“When I think of Wuthering Heights, I think of many things. I think of passion and pain. I think of England. I think of the moors, I think of mud and the cold. I think of determination and grit.”
Charli XCX