Charlotte in politics

Taking into account Charlotte Brontë's interest in politics, we are quite sure she would have liked being quoted at a conference session of the Delegation of the European Commission to the USA:

Ján Figel’—EU Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth
Promoting Understanding and Dialogue
NAFSA Conference session: International Student and Scholar Mobility: Programs, Trends, Challenges and Impact
Washington DC, 27 May 2008

(...)In the end, what really counts is that higher–education systems are better connected and that more and more young people receive a good education in their countries or anywhere else in the world.
And the reason was simply explained by Charlotte Brontë:
Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education; they grow there, firm as weeds among rocks.

The quote is from Jane Eyre (Chapter XXIX).

The Daily Freeman interviews Shannon McKenna Schmidt, one of the co-authors of Novel Destinations: Literary Landmarks from Jane Austen’s Bath to Ernest Hemingway’s Key West:

Schmidt, 37, a freelance writer who spent a decade in publishing, met another English major, Joni Rendon, a couple years ago. They not only hit it off, they realized they had similar interests that went beyond classic literature to the actual residences of the writers. In 2006, they visited together the home of the Bronte sisters - Charlotte, Emily and Anne - in England, where Rendon had moved.
"We hadn't sold the book at that point," Schmidt said. "What it did for us is that it allowed us to see how these kinds of trips could be for people."
The women stayed at a bed and breakfast that once was the home of the Bronte sisters' physician, they visited the pub where the Brontes' brother drank and they inspected the parsonage museum. They also took a walking tour of the town and rambled about the moors.
The trip turned out to be a highlight, for Schmidt, of the approximately 200 sites the women eventually visited, apart and together.
"I'll try not to go on and on about Bronte Country," Schmidt said, "but .... I was a huge fan of 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte. The backdrop of that book is just so atmospheric. As you're reading, you get these vivid images of the moors and what they're like. For some reason, that really resonated with me, and I wanted to go there." (Bonnie Langston)

Coal Valley News talks with Elaine Carol Tapley, Jane Eyre in the Clay Center’s presentation of Polly Teale's Jane Eyre in Charleston, West Virginia:

Directed by David Wohl, the play is an adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s renowned romantic classic, Jane Eyre, a novel religiously assigned to students of Literature and widely referenced as a one of the most famous of British novels.
A word of caution to those planning on attending the play – do not expect to see a chapter-by-chapter rendition of the novel.
In the adapted version, the protagonist, or heroine Jane Eyre has an alter-ego, Bertha, who is locked in a “Red Room,” waiting for her chance to escape society’s stigma of “accepted” behavior by breaking a rule or two.
Bertha isn’t the only one breaking a few rules – the “powers that be” decided to build audience seating directly on the stage for the two weeks this play is scheduled to run at the Clay Center. (Joanie Newman)
Picture: (L to R): Former Boone County teacher and part-time actress Elaine Tapley poses with actors Chris Terpening (Rochester) and Marlette Carter (Bertha) during Friday's performance at the Clay Center (Source)

Another Brontëite, the OUP blog writer. She reveals her Brontëism in this post where she includes an extensive quote from Janet Gezari's Last Things. A book about Emily Brontë's poetry published last year and reviewed by BrontëBlog here. By the way, the book will be published in paperback this summer.

The Brontë sisters are three of my all-time, all-star favourite authors. I first read Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre when I was at school and was instantly bewitched by them, and have re-read them both often in the years since. Every time I read the Brontë sisters’ novels (not just those two) I find more in them to love. By the time you read this post, I will be in the midst of two long weeks off on holiday, and during that time I’m going to make my very first trip up to Howarth [sic] to see the parsonage where the girls lived with their brother and father - I can’t wait - talk about kid in a sweet shop!

The Independent reviews Simon Patterson's exhibition at the National Maritime Museum in London which includes a Brontë-related piece:

Another work consists of three giant sails, all side by side, and leaning into some phantom wind. (The only movement in this room is the gentle flutter of the attendant's eyelids.) These sails have names of writers on them – Currer Bell (better known as Emily Brontë), Laurence Sterne and Raymond Chandler. The guide tells us that they are named in this way to remind us that the sea has been written about a great deal, and often very well. Not quite in those words. How lame is that? (Michael Glover)

We are no one to judge Simon Patterson's works but if a critic wants to be taken seriously he can only do it checking his sources. Currer Bell was Charlotte Brontë's nom de plume ... not Emily's.

It's even worst when in order to promote something, a comic in this case, you have to denigrate another one. Jane Eyre in this case. Beware of strong language:

Man, do I love me some Garth Ennis. Garth Ennis could turn mind-numbing drivel like Jane-fucking-Eyre into a comic and it would rock out with its cock out, I’m sure. (Wildstar on Geeks of Doom)

In this other case, at least the reviewer is more polite. Talking about a rumour about a Broadway musical based on Ugly Betty, we read:

A musical can have the best plot ever, and sucky music can just bring the whole thing crumbling down. See Jane Eyre, Cry Baby or the recent Saved as examples. Good in concept. Bland in execution. (Angel Cohn on Television Without Pity)

Adventures in Reading talks about Wuthering Heights. SimplyScenic posts a nice picture of the Brontë way. Other Stories posts some pictures of Haworth and the Brontë Parsonage. Gondal-Girl (quite a Brontë name for a blog) wonders what Heathcliff's star sign would be.

Categories: Art-Exhibitions, Haworth, Jane Eyre, References, Theatre, Wuthering Heights