Jane Eyre's anniversary... ghosts, reviews and more

On a day like today in 1847, Jane Eyre was first published in London by Smith, Elder & Co. A few years later, the news are brimming with Jane Eyre mentions, reviews and more...

A letter published in the Daily Mail, reviews Jane Eyre (incidentally, you can read a selection of reviews of the first and second chapter on the BBC webpage). Since we have been publishing a lot of good reviews, maybe it's time to compensate with this rather bad one:

ENTERTAINING though the new BBC drama Jane Eyre might be, as a representation of Charlotte Bronte's famous novel it's a travesty. Some of the events from the original story are reasonably faithfully portrayed, but much of what is now being shown would be better described as new fiction by the screenwriter. The nature of the relationship between Jane and Rochester is pure 21st-century fantasy. The easy, playful banter that we witnessed in the closing scenes of the second episode is altogether unconvincing between any Victorian master and governess, and and at odds with the atmosphere Bronte created in her novel. And why does everyone persist in calling the heroine 'Missair'? Has every one of the actors failed to notice that the spelling is Eyre? The BBC must think today's viewers incapable of watching a period drama unless its characters are mutated into 21st-century caricatures. JENNIFER McNALLY, Dundee. (c) 2006 Daily Mail.

This half of BrontëBlog agrees with the reviewer, but with different conclusions. Each new Jane Eyre is an ADAPTATION. We have the literary original and I, personally, don't need a faithful reproduction of the original. Firstly, it would be pointless (if we have the original, do we really need a photocopy?) and secondly it would be impossible (I think it was David Cronenberg who said that the only way you could faithfully adapt a book it's filming page by page the actual book) : TV, movies and books are different arts. Each adaptation should be faithful to the spirit of the novel, but it's a product of its time. And there's nothing wrong with that.

The Independent continues the discussion on sequels and prequels that we posted before, and considers Wide Sargasso Sea:

Rare among such ventures, the imagined prequel to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, which is set in colonial Jamaica and tells the story of Mr Rochester's arranged marriage, won some critical acclaim. It was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 best English language novels since 1923.

All this Jane Eyre frenzy doesn't seem enough to beat Mr. Darcy, at least with the women from Dorset.

IT'S OFFICIAL: Dorset's women prefer Mr Darcy to Mr Rochester - well those voting in our website poll do at least.
We asked online readers whether they preferred Jane Austen's Darcy or Charlotte Bronte's Rochester and 72 per cent picked the hero of Pride & Prejudice.

And finally, Richard Wilcocks of the Brontë Parsonage Blog writes about some recent ghosts activities (Most Haunted people, what are you waiting for?) near the Parsonage itself.

Perhaps it has something to do with the psychics who were invited into the Parsonage by Cornelia Parker so that their voices could be recorded for her current exhibition Brontëan Abstracts. It is now possible to listen to their conversations on headphones which are installed in several rooms. Quite a few visitors cross Church Street after their tour of the Museum to take a look at the Matt Lamb exhibition -Spirits of the Brontë Sisters - which fills the School Room.

The fact is that some of them may have seen a ghost, or think they have, according to the eminently down-to-earth Peter Ashton, the man in charge there.

Do you want to know what they saw? Check the post :P.

Categories: In_the_News, Jane_Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, Art-Exhibitions,Weirdo