Twilight and the Classics

The Twilight zone only grows and grows, but let us begin with non-Twilight-related news.

The Independent interviews Mary Beard:

Which fictional character most resembles you?
When I was younger I liked to imagine myself as a cross between Jane Eyre and some hapless Margaret Drabble heroine – a horribly self-regarding position to take. (Boyd Tonkin)

Today's Chicago Woman writes about author Margaret Atwood by way of the columnist's reading history.

While I'm a lover of books (one of my favorite summer activities growing up was my parents driving us to the library and checking out a towering stack of books, which I'd start reading on the way home and would be finished by the time we returned next week) there are only a few I can think of that inspired such a visceral reaction. Jane Eyre. The Rapture of Canaan. A Thousand Splendid Suns. (Cassandra Gaddo)

Talking about visceral reactions, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer Jane Eyre can't hold a candle to The Light in the Piazza, the musical based on Elizabeth Spencer's homonymous novella.

'Reader, I married him." Is there a fantasy dearer to the female heart than Charlotte Brontë's long-suffering governess finally marrying the lord of the manor?
Yes, there is.
The Light in the Piazza, a lovely chamber musical that just opened at the Philadelphia Theatre Company after major success in New York, gives us the current chick-lit dream come true. . . (Toby Zinman)

To finish with the non-Twilight section, The Telegraph and Argus has news on the (in)famous Haworth clamper.

Now Twilight. Finding Dulcinea reports an interview with Amy Clarke, professor at the University of California and teen literature expert:

Clarke says she would “definitely” include the “Twilight” books in her own curriculum, even comparing main character Bella to “Jane Eyre and Elizabeth Bennet,” although somewhat less complex. Meyer’s themes of Native American mythology and religious inquiry also intrigue Clarke. (Sarah Amandolare)

It looks as if she's not alone. From Ozarks First:

Twilight has also encouraged kids to try more complex books. In the movie, Bella constantly reads the 19th century British novel Wuthering Heights. Now that book is also frequently checked-out."
These students would never have picked up Wuthering Heights or a Jane Austen novel and think this is good weekend reading, but now since a character they fell in love with reads it-- they're more interested in seeing what that's about," [Tracy] Mauschbaugh [who teaches Special Education English in Willard] says. (Jessica Williams)

And yet more agreement coming from The Cedartown Standard.

And the debates aren’t limited to teenagers. Valerie Karas, a seventh-grade teacher, has read the books and shared them with friends, who in turn gave them to their mothers.
"We’ve been preoccupied with these ideas for a long time — the idea of star-crossed lovers or the idea of a passion so powerful that it can destroy people," Karas says. "Look at the connections and comparisons between ‘Twilight’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and between ‘New Moon’ and ‘Wuthering Heights."’ (Tom Keyser)

The Contra Costa Times brings actual evidence on the connection between both reads:

At the Century 16 Theater in Pleasant Hill, first in line was Brandy Elkanick, 30. She figured that there would be even more "New Moon" fans than for the first "Twilight" movie.
That time she had arrived at 5:30 p.m., only to find herself in line behind 29 other fans. This year she showed up at 11:30 a.m.
"It's a big deal to have books you read and love come to the theater," she said, slipping a bookmark into a copy of "Wuthering Heights." (Laura Casey)

In a similar vein, Zap 2 It gives advice on how to jump (late) onto the Twilight bandwagon.

Use classic literature as a reference point. Ever read "Wuthering Heights"? Substitute "Edward and Bella" for "Heathcliff and Catherine" and you'll be on pretty safe ground. (Rick Porter)

Which is in turn confirmed by the Derby Telegraph.

But what the Twilight saga has done is captured the heightened romance and melodrama of adolescent years and given contemporary teenage girls a tale of Wuthering Heights-level gothic madness of their own. (Nigel Powlson)

If you need more confirmation, Arts Beat - a New York Times blog - has asked its readers about it and some of them mention Jane Eyre too.

On the blogosphere, both Reading According to Allie and Mildly Free post about Jane Eyre.

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