'An Independent Will:' Charlotte Bronte Celebrated In New Morgan Library Exhibition

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The Morgan Library and Museum on Madison Avenue is exploring the life and work of author Charlotte Bronte in a new exhibition.

Curator Christine Nelson created the "Charlotte Bronte: An Independent Will" display  for the anniversary of the author's 200th birthday.

The exhibition opens with the famous blue floral print dress Bronte wore just a few years after publishing the classic novel "Jane Eyre" in 1947.

"I wanted to have that dress be the first thing visitors see as they enter the exhibition because it reminds us of the human being who inhabited it," museum curator Christine Nelson told WCBS 880's Jane Tillman Irving.

Bronte was a small-framed woman, standing only 4'9" tall with an 18-inch waist. But in "Jane Eyre," her voice is huge, assertive and stunning. 

Eyre's narrative is unforgettable -- she speaks to the reader directly, expressing a full emotional range of a woman demanding to be treated as an equal.

"Charlotte Bronte: An Independent Will" will be on display at the Morgan Library through the Columbus Day weekend until January 2.