Rochester, the tycoon and some mad siblings in Iraq

The Guardian reviews the upcoming book Mad, Bad and Sad: A History of Women and the Mind Doctors from 1800 to the Present by Lisa Appignanesi (Virago Press). Our madwoman in the attic of course appears:

Girl crazy: madwomen in books
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, 1847
The original madwoman in the attic, Bertha is confined by her husband, Mr Rochester.

The Mitfords, the Gattys, the MacDonald sisters... and now the Erdrich siblings. There are Brontë lookalikes everywhere:

How much talent can one family have? Ask anyone who knows the Erdriches and you'll hear about seven accomplished siblings - three of them writers who might be the Midwest's answer to the Bronte sisters. (...)
Before you draw any conclusions about family rivalries, there are three things to know about the writing Erdrich sisters - Louise, Lise and Heid - who've published 27 books between them.
First, they may be the only trio of siblings in the Midwest who consistently publish books, although nobody keeps track of sisters who write.
Even more unusual, each of the sisters has a new book, and they are celebrating with their first joint Twin Cities reading at the Minneapolis Public Library.
Lise's debut short-story collection, "Night Train," is out now. Louise's novel, "The Plague of Doves," will be published April 29, and Heid's third poetry collection, "National Monuments," will be available in the fall.
"The Erdrichs are our Bronte sisters," says former Minnesotan Jonis Agee, a novelist, literature teacher and Heid's longtime friend. (Mary Ann Grossmann in St. Paul Pioneer Press)

What: "Night Train" and Other Ojibwe Stories: A Celebration of Writing and Sisterhood With the Erdriches
When: 7 p.m. Feb. 12 (doors open at 6:15 p.m.)
Where: Minneapolis Central Library, 300 Nicollet Mall

The New York Times reviews Betrayed by George Packer, a new play opening Wednesday in New York about a group of Iraqi translators. Even in this context, a Brontë reference finds its way:

Like hundreds of Iraqis in real life, the fictional Intisar enthusiastically offered her services to the Americans after they toppled Saddam Hussein in April 2003. She’d spent her youth dreaming of America, memorized the prose of Emily Brontë and saw in the invasion the promise of renewal for her country and herself. (Dexter Flikins)

The Texas local newspaper The Facts has an article on fog. And Wuthering Heights 1939 apparently has plenty of it:

People who make motion pictures have always seen fog as a handy way to convey setting and mood. Heathcliff and Catherine wandered through a good bit of it out on the lonely moors in “Wuthering Heights.” (Ron Rozelle)

Critical Mass reviews Wuthering Heights 1992 and thinks that,

The result, as I've spent so much time dodging, is one of the better Heights adaptations I have ever seen, the best in fact.

Find your neutral space raises the question who is wealthier Rochester or Mr Darcy? Apparently Mr Rochester is richer:

So far, I know that:

1. Edward Rochester has £20,000 a year (I'd have to verify that figure first) and owns Thornfield Hall. Jane Eyre inherits £20,000 from her uncle, but divides it amongst her cousins, the Rivers siblings -- leaving her with £5,000;
2. Fitzwilliam Darcy has £10,000 a year and owns Pemberley. His friend, Charles Bingley, has £5,000 a year.

However, I understand that I have to consider the real difference in value that £10,000 in 1813 (the year P&P was published) has over £20,000 in 1847 (the year Jane Eyre came out) -- but I can barely keep track of how much money I have in my own bank account at any time, much less be able to compute relative values allowing for inflation and other factors in 19th Century finance. So as much as it pains my black little OC husk of a heart, I'm going to take the figures strictly as they are. (...)
Thanks to blinovitch (with this link), I discovered that even with a 30-year difference, Rochester can still flash a thicker wad of cash than Darcy on his best day.

Nevertheless, Jane Eyre is supposedly backdated, so the difference could be even greater.

Categories: Books, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, References, Wuthering Heights