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This article discusses the influence of contemporary criticism upon the works of the Brontës. Accusations of provincialism and vulgarity published in reviews of the Brontë works prompted written responses from Charlotte. Her responses, focusing upon the geographically located attacks, strengthened the concept of the north of England in the national imagination. This north-south socio-geographic divide, prominent in novels such as Wuthering Heights and Shirley , was evident in criticism of their works and in Charlotte's reactions to that criticism. This article assesses this interplay between the critics, the Brontës and the north. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]