What pseudonym did Emily Brontë use for her published works?

Emily Brontë used the pseudonym Ellis Bell for her published works. She and her sisters adopted masculine pen names partly to avoid the prejudice faced by women writers while preserving their initials: Charlotte became Currer Bell, Emily became Ellis Bell and Anne became Acton Bell.

The sisters first used these names on Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, published in 1846 by Aylott & Jones. Emily’s best-known work, Wuthering Heights, appeared in 1847 under the name Ellis Bell, with Anne’s Agnes Grey included in the same three-volume publication. Emily’s real name was not printed on the novel’s title page until after her death.

The pseudonym helped protect Emily’s privacy and contributed to early uncertainty about the author’s identity. Some Victorian reviewers assumed that the intense violence and passion of Wuthering Heights could not have been written by a woman. Charlotte later publicly identified Emily as the author, though Emily had preferred to keep her literary identity private. Currer Bell belongs to Charlotte, while Acton Bell belongs to Anne.