Brontë archetypes

First of all, we would like to recommend a recent post from Modern Matriarch: Jane Eyre: Unapologetic Protagonist. It is very scholarly and well-based but also very easily read as well. Truly worth it.

BJ Hoff's Grace Notes interviews a character! It is Jonathan Stuart from The Mountain Song Legacy series, created by the blog owner. So what follows is a fun mixture of reality and fiction.

B.J. (Smiling) That’s grand. Any authors you ... ah ... particularly favor?

J.S. I like them all. Sir Walter Scott. That British fellow, Charles Dickens. (Glancing around) And I rather like those Bronte sisters, too. You know the ones.

B.J. You read the Bronte sisters?

J.S. That surprises you, does it? They’re actually quite good writers. I picked up a copy of that Wuthering Heights not too long ago and found myself rather fascinated with the story. And Jane Eyre--now there's a classic!

'Quite' good writers indeed!

While we're on the subject of Brontë fans. Yes! Weekly examines 'coffee shop archetypes'. Read to see if you are one of them. Or perhaps this is you?

The Goth Chick
Unfortunately, since the end of the '90s they've become somewhat endangered, but this doesn't mean that they shouldn't be on the list. During their prime you could find these melancholy ladies glooming up just about every coffee shop in the contiguous United States. They're far more intimidating than anyone else in the shop not so much because of their personality, but more because of the gobs of black eye makeup they have on. Sometimes they travel in packs but usually they just want to be left alone. If they're not festering in the corner with their coffee (served black of course), they're reading something from the proto-feminist era, usually by one of the Brontë sisters.

The Westmoreland Gazette has an article on Gabrielle Drake's works, which include admiration for another great, though non-Brontë, author, Elizabeth Gaskell.

Gabrielle has put together a one-woman show Dear Scheherazade Elizabeth Gaskell, in her own words, which will play the Brewery Arts Centre's Women's Arts International Festival on Sunday (May 6, 4pm). (Adrian Mullen)

Oops, here's hoping you weren't depending on us for such an alert ;)

Her novels included Wives and Daughters, North and South and Cranford her biography of her friend Charlotte Bronte, which Gabrielle claims changed the way biographies were written, giving greater personal details. (Adrian Mullen)

Is there a comma missing or dopes the journalist actually think Charlotte's biography is called Cranford? But anyway, Gabrielle is not alone. Whatever the faults of the biography, it was probably the first modern biography ever to be published.

We suggest the read of the article if you too admire Elizabeth Gaskell.

Want to see something cute? (at least for our taste). Take a trip to Sheffield and visit their Old House Museum and you will find this exhibition there:

"A Century of Wedding Dresses" dresses, pageboy outfits and wedding accessories including hats, shoes and bags from 1840 - 1940. A sumptuous display of satin, silk and lace put together by the museum's hardworking volunteer, textile team.
One of the oldest dresses dates from the Jane Eyre period. Also on display a rare Quaker wedding dress and world war 2 complete outfit donated by one of the museums volunteers.

Actually, the article from Sheffield Today gives a little more info on the wedding dress from the Jane Eyre era:

Nancy Pulley, who has led the team putting together the A Century of Wedding Dresses displays, said: “Some of our dresses are extremely old, like one we have from around 1840. This is very similar to that seen on BBC TV’s Jane Eyre. Then we have a rare Quaker wedding dress, which as you can imagine is a very simple grey dress.”

However we would beg to differ somehow. It's up to debate, but it looks like Charlotte Brontë actually dated back the novel, which would call for another style. But that's just a technicality. We are confident the exhibition is worth it all the same.

And finally something BrontëBlog hasn't listened to yet. The Rabble Podcast Network have this podcast:

Gothic Monsters and Movie Mahem
9: minutes, 9 Mb
Host: Judy Rebick and Cathi Bond
Show Notes:
In this episode of Reel Women, Judy recommends For Your Consideration while Cathi climbs into the tower with Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre.

Aren't you intrigued?

Categories: Art-Exhibitions, Audio-Radio, Jane Eyre, Weirdo