Anne Bronte wrote in Agnes Grey said that her only weapons were patience, perseverance and firmness. These she resoved to use to the utmost. These all seem good qualities and the advice is sound. All the Brontes must have been formidable women in their time. I wonder if they were helped by living in such isolated and extreme conditions. Is it harder to display characteristices like these when you have to walk the tight-rope of every day relationships, which are so fragile they can be shattered at any moment?