Sentence Correction

Like the idolization accorded the Brontes and Brownings, James Joyce and Virginia Wolf are often subjected to the kind of veneration that blurs the distinction between the artist and the human being.

A)
B) As the Brontes and Brownings' idolization
C) Like that accorded to the Brontes and Brownings
D) As it is of the Brontes and Brownings
E) Like the Brontes and Brownings.

OA E

My doubt: [spoiler]I know when a proper noun is preceded by 'the' then they act as an adjective. However, in the above case I am unable to understand the use of 'the' with proper nouns, and how 'the Brontes and Browning' is parallel to 'James Joyce and Virginia Wolf'? As the question is from OG, I can doubt its correctness; there must be some grammar rule behind it.[/spoiler]