Two alerts for today, October 6:Amanda Dalton: Poet in Residence
Bloodaxe poet Amanda Dalton will be in residence at the Brontë Parsonage Museum for one day only. She will be working in the Parsonage, exploring its collections and engaging with visitors to produce material which will be developed into a series of audio installations in the rooms of the house. Visitors will have the chance to contribute to these installations which will be in-situ from Saturday 17
November to Friday 14 December - Bronte Parsonage Museum - Free on admission to the museum -
For further information contact bronte@bronte.org.uk / 01535 642323
The other alert comes from The Australian Brontë Association:
10:30am at the SMSA
JOINT MEETING WITH THE DICKENS SOCIETY
Dr Virginia Lowe: As No-one but a Woman CanShe compares Esther Summerson from Bleak House with Lucy Snowe from Villette
Categories: Alert, Brontë Parsonage Museum, Poetry, Talks
Esther Summerson vs. Lucy Snowe. That's a no contest in favor of Lucy! Creating three dimentional woman characters was not exactly Dickens strong point although Anna Maxwell-Martin did a tremendous job in making Esther a compelling character in the Bleak House series.
ReplyDeleteThat's right - there aren't many characters - if any! - that could beat the highly-complex Lucy Snowe.
ReplyDeleteEsther is a very good Dickens female, the problem is that we never get close to her (just like Lucy), but unlike Lucy, it doesn't help that Esther doesn't monopolise the narrative. She shares narrative duties with a - somewhat cocky - omniscient being.
ReplyDeleteI'm of the opinion that Boz's ability to create Women (with a capital W) is unappreciated. You have Sally Brass, Miss Wade, Estella, Miss Havisham, Lady Dedlock etc. It's just that these characters get lost amidst some of his more comical and timid of creations.
Still can't hold a candle to Lucy though!