A key, a marriage and revisited books

Several newspapers cover a survey released by Costa Coffee about revisiting books in the UK:

New research released today to mark the launch of the 2007 Costa Book Awards reveals that 77% of UK readers have enjoyed a book so much the first time that they've gone back to read it again! The research shows that well over a quarter (29%) of those surveyed admitted they have re-read a book at least twice, 27% three times and 12% four times. Almost a fifth (17%) have re-read the same tome more than five times!

THE TOP 20 MOST REVISITED READS:

• 5. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
• 9. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

La Tribune de Genève reminds us of the current performances of Polly Teale's Jane Eyre in Corseaux, Switzerland.

The Guardian talks about happy endings (with a marriage) in romantic novels. Jane Eyre's finale is quoted:

It's not just Austen who uses this narrative convention - the idea of marriage as an ending is littered throughout literature. Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre may marry her Rochester rather than being married by him, but it's still the "last word" of her narrative. (Emma Campbell Webster)

Marriage is also the topic of this post on Terry Heath's blog:

Both Dacre’s Zofloya and Bronte’s Wuthering Heights consider two points of marriage essential, love and status. Love was the ideal, the romantic marriage many would wish to attain, but status contained an equally romanticized attraction for some and overpowered the notion of love. In Zofloya, Victoria believed she loved Berenza, but you might more correctly say she was in love with the status afforded her in being loved by a Count. In Wuthering Heights, the love between Heathcliff and Cathy was on a more equal footing, but Cathy’s desire for status turned an already dysfunctional relationship into a prison for them both. (Read more)

Bookstove analyzes Wuthering Heights under another perspective: Locks and Keys.

Emily Bronte, author of Wuthering Heights, incorporates an image of locks and keys repeatedly throughout her story. The image of locks and keys is found in characters, places, and events both figuratively and physically. (W) (Read more)

Remember Emily Brontë, the horse? The Times brings her back:

Fillies to receive an encouraging word included Royal Proposal, Emily Bronte, Reunite and Taranto. (Julian Muscat)

Finally, Poetry for the Margins quotes some fragments from Heathcliff and the Great Hunger: Studies in Irish Culture, by Terry Eagleton, originally published in 1996. Dislocate interviews Kristy Bowen, author of The Fever Almanac. The Brontës are mentioned as one of her influences.

Categories: Brontëites, In the News, Jane Eyre, Weirdo, Wuthering Heights