The Brontës' web

The Chicago Tribune has an article on Charlotte's Web which touches on Charlotte Brontë herself.

Five years ago, when we named our daughter Charlotte, I was thinking more of Charlotte Bronte, an author who never got old for me despite teaching her work to high school students, than of the heroine spider from E.B. White's classic children's book "Charlotte's Web."Since then, I've come to realize an uneasy connection between the two: Bronte, the author of the masterpiece "Jane Eyre," died during her only pregnancy.
Charlotte A. Cavatica, the title character of White's novel, perished shortly after she produced her only egg sac--514 baby spiders that, as she explains to her pig companion Wilbur, were her "magnum opus." (Carolyn Alessio)

What this title always brings to our mind is not this passing resemblance, but Charlotte's own poetic reflection on her own childhood:

We wove a web in childhood,
A web of sunny air;
We dug a spring in infancy
Of water pure and fair;
We sowed in youth a mustard seed,
We cut an almond rod;
We are now grown up to riper age--
Are they withered in the sod? . . .

As evidence of Charlotte Brontë's expansive web, The Nashua Telegraph has article on the upcoming performances of Jane Eyre The Musical in Nashua.

ON STAGE - NASHUA – StageCoach Productions will present its inaugural production, “Jane Eyre, The Musical,” at the 14 Court St. theater Friday-Sunday, Jan.19-21.
The show’s music and lyrics are by Paul Gordon. The Book and additional lyrics are by John Caird.
“Jane Eyre” is a musical dramatization of the classic novel by Charlotte Bronte. The play follows the first 19 years of Jane’s life as she attempts to escape from the pains of her childhood and reach toward the opportunities she hopes the future will hold. Jane becomes the governess at Thornfield Hall, where she falls in love with Edward Rochester, an enigmatic character with a dark past and a darker secret.
Timothy L’Ecuyer will direct the show with musical direction by Judy Hayward.
For more information, call 672-9664 or visit http://www.stagecoachproductions.org/.

According to the StageCoach Productions website tickets can be bought online here.

Talking about Jane Eyre The Musical. If you can't attend this production, you can at least listen to a duet of In the Light of the Virgin Morning sung by Holly Christina. Listen to it here.

And finally, if you remember this post of ours, we linked to a review of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. The author of the review has kindly written to us to let us know there is a different, 'lightly edited' copy of it here. It's a fabulous review, so we suggest you read it :)

Categories: Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, Music, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Websites