Jane Eyre remains startlingly modern

In Charlotte Brontë's birthday it's almost everything about Jane Eyre.

Almost, because we start with this review of The Children of Húrin by J.R.R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien. If some days ago we were surprised to find on another review traces of Wuthering Heights... now Elizabeth Hand in The Washington Post insists on comparing Tolkien and Emily Brontë's works:

Its central protagonist, Túrin, is one of the most complex characters in all Middle Earth, a tormented, brooding anti-hero who bears hallmarks of a sword-wielding Heathcliff.

Broadway World publishes a photo coverage of The Acting Company's tour with Polly Teale's Jane Eyre. On the right you can see a couple of pictures (there are fifteen!) by Richard Termine. In the first one, Hannah Cabell and Christoper Oden and in the second one, Hannah Cabell, Carie Kawa and Mina Friedman (cellist).

"With the presentation of Teale’s celebrated adaptation of Jane Eyre in the 2006/2007 season, The Acting Company continues its 34-year tradition of bringing touring classical productions, talented young actors and teaching artists into communities across America," state press notes. "Jane Eyre is Charlotte Bronte’s timeless coming-of-age story of one of literature’s most independent and strong-willed women. Recognized as a masterpiece when it was published in 1847, Jane Eyre remains a startlingly modern blend of passion, romance and suspense."

"Jane Eyre is obscure and plain but locked up in the attic of her imagination lives a woman so passionate, so wild, so full of longing, she must be guarded night and day for fear of the havoc she would wreak. Who is this terrifying woman who threatens to destroy Jane's orderly world: a world where Jane has for the first time fallen in love?"

And the blogosphere confirms the validity and modernity of Jane Eyre. Bookyeti reviews the book:

An exceptional amalgamation of ardent sentiment, extraordinary yet accessible characters, mystifying somber ambiance, and intelligent prose, Jane Eyre, is every bit as enrapturing as it was upon its first publication in 1847 by Smith, Elder & Company of London. (...)

Pastyme with Good Companye explores Jane Eyre in connection with Victorian women:

After reading the classic novel, Jane Eyre, I found myself interested in the lives of Victorian women. They lived during a time when women were thought to be inferior to men. They usually did not attend school, almost always married, and rarely worked. The novel of course follows the life of Jane Eyre, who is a living contrast of what Victorian society thought a woman should be. Jane is of lower class, is well educated, and working as a governess. Not to mention she is passionate, outspoken, and opinionated. These qualities deem her unfeminine, and a social outcast. The novel description perfectly calls it “…a passionate search for a wider, and richer life than that traditionally accorded to her sex in Victorian society” (...) (Matthew James Didier and Sue Darroch)

Categories: In the News, Jane Eyre, Theatre, Wuthering Heights