Heathcliff, a Platonic Ideal?

A reader of The Times Literary Supplement complains about the recent review of Dudley Green's biography of Patrick Brontë:

Sir, – “[Dudley] Green”, writes Frances Wilson, “is the first biographer in forty years to attempt to repair the damage caused by Mrs Gaskell” in her unfair portrayal of Patrick Brontë (November 14). Is Ms Wilson unaware that Juliet Barker did precisely this, and at patient, painstaking length, in her book on the Brontës published fourteen years ago? Andrew Motion, reviewing it in your pages (December 9, 1994), remarked that the caricature depicted by Elizabeth Gaskell had finally been eradicated. “Even though Patrick outlived everybody and suffered their loss”, he concluded, “and even though his sometimes prickly, sometimes yielding personality gave the family its dramatic focus, he has been unkindly treated by history. Juliet Barker at last does him justice.” (Peter Rowland)

This reader of The Times is of course right, but we rather think that the reviewer had in mind Lock & Dixon's Man of Sorrow, who tried to vindicate the figure of the father of the Brontës by himself. Patrick Brontë had already been on his way to being better understood in his family's biographies, such as Gérin's, which is already moving forward to the current approach.

The Huffington Post praises the recent release of the box set Studio One Anthology which includes Wuthering Heights 1950:

The Best TV Box Set of the Year -- Studio One Anthology ($99.98; Koch/Archive Of American Television) is easily one of the most welcome TV boxed sets in years. Critics often talk knowingly of Jack Paar and Ernie Kovacs and the glory days of live television. But the truth is most of us are too young to really know much of anything about the early days of television except for what we've read in books. A classic example is Studio One, the great live drama anthology that ran on CBS for almost a decade from 1948 to 1958. This set contains 17 of the show's best hour-long dramas, including Sal Mineo in Dino, a young Jack Lemmon in June Moon and the original 12 Angry Men. The prints are great, the set is bursting with extras and we can finally WATCH these memorable performances rather than just read about them. And while I've always read that this series was especially focused on lively visuals (rather than just filming a stagey sort of performance), now I can see it for myself. This isn't just for scholars: it's highly entertaining, whether you're watching Charlton Heston (almost a permanent member of the cast) in Wuthering Heights or the great but little known Francis L. Sullivan as King Herod in Pontius Pilate. A feast. (Michael Giltz)

BlogCritics Magazine reviews Elric: The Sleeping Sorceress (Chronicles Of The Last Emperor Of Melniboné: Volume 3) by Michael Moorcock and Heathcliff makes an appearance:

In works of fiction, especially fantasy and romance novels, the old maxim "nice guys finish last" is usually reworked to "nice guys just aren't as interesting". (...)
It was the 19th century Gothic novel where these characters pushed their masses of dark hair, and smoldering good looks into the forefront - Heathcliff of Wuthering Heights fame being the Platonic ideal - and they have been brooding their way into the hearts of millions ever since. (Richard Marcus)

Another usual suspect of Heathcliff comparisons is Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga. Today's comes from The Marietta Times:

"('Twilight') is probably our most requested book right now, " said Ashley Spencer, who is in charge of young adult programming at the library.
Spencer has not read the books yet but intends to read the first one before seeing the film.
"My husband has read it and really likes it. It's got classic elements and is loosely based on classic literature like 'Pride and Prejudice' and 'Wuthering Heights' or Shakespeare," Spencer said. (Erin O'Neill)

Incidentally, A Book Lover's Weblog has something to say on this matter.

Brandon's movie memory has found a curious Brontë reference in L'Amour par terre (1984), the film that Jacques Rivette signed just before his very personal reading of Wuthering Heights, Hurlevent (1985):

I haven’t found any online mention that the two lead actresses are named Emily and Charlotte - the names of the two famous Brontë sisters. Rivette’s next film would be an adaptation of Emily’s Wuthering Heights.

Finally Miss Gracie's Sweet Shoppe posts about Jane Eyre.

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