S2 E1: With... Jenny Mitchell
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Welcome back to Behind the Glass with this early-release first episode of
series 2 !
Sam and new co-host Connie talk to prize-winning poet Jenny Mitchell...
2 months ago
I couldn't believe that nobody put a comment on this, so I thought I would!
ReplyDeleteMy own cynicism aside, I really enjoyed the play! Brave of anyone to throw down the gauntlet to challenge the erudite and worthy academic biographers, I thought.
So whilst not necessarily agreeing with the sentiment expressed in the play, I have to applaud Sarah Fermi for coming up with a new theory - after all, without imagination and speculation Bronte fans would have a 'dry' time of it.
And the fact that John and Robert Clayton actually DID exist, and were born in Haworth on the dates stated ( 1816 & 1818 )adds a certain spice to the entire enterprise.
There, I've said my 'bit', for what it was worth!
Ooh, thanks so much for your comment! It was great!
ReplyDeleteSo whilst not necessarily agreeing with the sentiment expressed in the play, I have to applaud Sarah Fermi for coming up with a new theory - after all, without imagination and speculation Bronte fans would have a 'dry' time of it.
My feelings exactly. It's nice to see new faces and theories in Brontëland, whether you agree with them or not.
My objection to the play is that the added too much Wuthering Heights towards the end. And that they conjured up those unknown (to me at least) Greenwoods to stand in for the Lintons. They could have kept their feet on the ground and used a *real* Heaton.
Cristina....thanks for kind words! Been checking out the Greenwoods, it's a hugely common Haworth name, there are hundreds of them! A James and a Sarah Greenwood were born in Haworth 1814 and 1815 but this James was a stone quarry labourer at the time of the 1881 census, so I doubt that Aunt Branwell would have countenanced Emily marrying him!
ReplyDeleteCan't help wondering whether Fermi's theory isn't somewhat suspect...but I daresay the soon-to-be-published 'Journal' will have us queueing up to read it, just to find out!
I agree with you about the over-similarity to the plot of 'WH'...too 'pat', really.
Oh, you went and checked! :D How interesting. Perhaps Fermi will say that after Emily rejected him, this James Greenwood turned to the stone quarry, abandoning his really well-off family :P
ReplyDeleteSeriously - at least they're supposed to be real people, so that's something. I thought they were completely made up, though I know just a name in a register doesn't mean much more. But still.
I'm curious too about this "Emily's Journal". Will like to read the whole theory in the length Fermi chooses. Up to now she's always been constrained by time or space.
Thanks for your input!