In Present Tense

Philip Pullman criticises the (ab)use of novels written in present tense and uses examples from Jane Eyre, among others, to show a proper use (in his opinion) of the verbal tense. In the Guardian:

Like any other literary effect, the present tense is an expressive device; but expression works by contrast. Take this example from Jane Eyre: "They are making hay, too, in Thornfield meadows: or rather, the labourers are just quitting their work, and returning home with their rakes on their shoulders, now, at the hour I arrive. I have but a field or two to traverse, and then I shall cross the road and reach the gates. How full the hedges are of roses! But I have no time to gather any; I want to be at the house . . ."
That works beautifully because it emerges from the context of a narrative told in the past tense. Jane's sudden use of the present conveys as nothing else could the pressure of her feelings as she recalls the high intensity of that summer evening, of her return to the house of the man she hasn't yet admitted to herself that she loves: "I see the narrow stile with stone steps; and I see – Mr Rochester sitting there, a book and a pencil in his hand; he is writing.
"Well, he is not a ghost; yet every nerve I have is unstrung: for a moment I am beyond my own mastery."

The London Evening Standard finds traces of Jane Eyre in the film Just Wright by Sanaa Hamri:

Sanaa Hamri’s take on Jane Eyre has Queen Latifah as a lower-class woman employed by a rich man.
She is a therapist, he is a basketball star. He gets hurt and so on. Thanks to the charisma of Latifah and her leading man (singer Common), this is easy to endure. (Charlotte O'Sullivan)

The Globe and Mail reviews the latest novel by Richard B. Wright, Mr Shakespeare's Bastard:

Aerlene, however, will make good and sure she doesn’t, and turns herself, rather, into a sort of precursor to Jane Eyre, with Mr. Rochester assiduously removed from the picture. (Cynthia Macdonald)

John Henry Newman's times are described as follows in Birmingham Mail

The key to Newman’s spirit comes from the age in which he lived. Born in 1801, he died in 1890, thus his lifespan took in 53 years of Queen Victoria’s reign and his contemporaries included Abraham Lincoln, Gladstone and Disraeli, Charles Dickens, the Brontë’s [sic], Wordsworth and Tennyson. (Andy Richards)

Several Dutch news outlets mention the Gouden Krekel Awards. The Artemis Theatre/ Theater Antigone production of Wuthering Heights was nominated for the two awards: Most Impressive Production (which the production finally won, watch this clip to see the exact moment) and Most Impressive Stage Performance (Alejandra Theus for her role as Cathy in the production). More information in Seven Days and Omroep Brabant. It seems that a tour revival is being prepared for December 2011 until February 2012.

In La Nueva España (Spain) there's a mention of Jane Eyre's love for Bewick's History of British Birds:

Lo supongo en la línea de la «Historia de los pájaros ingleses», de Bewick, entre cuyas páginas Jane Eyre se sentía feliz, especialmente, según Charlotte Brönte, en «las que trataban de las guaridas de las aves marinas, de los promontorios y de las rocas habitadas únicamente por aquéllas, de la costa de Noruega, cuajada de islas desde su extremo sur, el Lindeness o Naze, hasta el Cabo Norte». (Ignacio Gracia Noriega) (Microsoft Translation)

Maryse Condé, the author of Windward Heights, is interviewed by La Ventana (Cuba):

Tu novela Windward Heights fue una liberación; ver el clásico de Emily Brontë con los ojos de un elenco de personajes negros. Desbarataste las teorías racistas que niegan la existencia de una humanidad común. ¿Fue ése tu propósito o escribiste esa novela movida por razones más personales?
—Alguien me regaló Cumbres borrascosas, de Emily Brontë, cuando tenía quince años y aún vivía en Guadalupe. Yo era muy melancólica y solitaria. Mi madre murió en mi infancia y por muchos años traté de restablecer el contacto con ella. La buscaba incesantemente en la naturaleza, por todas partes. Cuando leí Cumbres borrascosas, sentí que esa obra había sido escrita para mí. Me identifiqué totalmente con la pasión con que Heathcliff quiere encontrar a Cathy una vez muerta. Escribí mi novela para demostrar que, pese a las diferencias de época, de circunstancias y de ideas, las mujeres pueden comunicarse entre sí porque comparten ciertos deseos y experiencias. Emily Brontë podía hablar a Maryse Condé más de un siglo después porque su historia era similar a la mía. Sentí el impulso de reescribir la historia de Brontë, no para mostrar las diferencias entre las mujeres caribeñas y las inglesas, sino más bien lo que tenemos en común.
Dices al comienzo de tu libro que crees que Emily Brontë aprobaría tu interpretación de su obra maestra. ¿Ese deseo de aprobación te impuso alguna cortapisa?
—Debo confesar que olvidé totalmente a Emily Brontë cuando estaba escribiendo mi novela. Me concentré en la pasión entre Cathy y Heathcliff, el amor excesivo que unía a esos dos personajes. Pero leía la novela de Brontë con frecuencia, y la tenía abierta en mi escritorio por la página en que Cathy dice “soy Heathcliff”. Son palabras muy hermosas, reveladoras de la intensidad de la pasión posible entre dos personas. Cuando estaba terminando mi novela me pregunté qué habría pensado de ella Brontë, pero no me lo planteé realmente en serio. Nunca pretendí competir con Brontë. No fue un problema para mí. (Elizabeth Nunez) (Microsoft Translation)

Le Nouvel Observateur remembers Kader Belarbi's ballet Wuthering Heights which was on stage in Paris three years ago:

Pour ce même Ballet de l’Opéra, Kader Belarbi avait naguère monté un ouvrage occupant une soirée entière et inspiré des « Hauts de Hurlevent ». Mieux qu’un « ballet de danseur », comme on le dit de pièces créées par des danseurs qui ne s’affirmeront jamais comme chorégraphes à part entière, c’était une grande fresque bien menée, à défaut d’être d’une facture très originale, et qui se laissait voir sans ennui dans des scénographies très belles. (Raphaël de Gubernatis) (Microsoft Translation)

The internal war in the Republican Party of Florida for the primary nominations finds a Brontë echo in this letter published in the Cape Coral Daily Breeze:

Over the last few weeks I have been reading, with interest Mr. Kalfus' attacks on the GOP/RPOF. This man is so distraught! His rants have all the components of a Brontë novel. (Shirley O'Donnell)

A kitten named after Charlotte Brontë in the Kansas City Star. And Cynsations interviews first-time author Eden Maguire:

As a fantasy and paranormal romance writer, what attracted you to these literary tradition?
This has to be Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1847)! It's an amazing book which expresses wild, romantic passion. It takes readers beyond the real world into territory where fierce, unbridled passion defied even death.

Экспресс газета (Russia) interviews swimmer Yuliya Yefimova (Юлия Андреевна Ефимова). A Brontëite:

В свободное время люблю почитать. Из последнего, что читала, запомнился роман Шарлотты Бронте «Джейн Эйр». (Сергей ДАДЫГИН) (Microsoft Translation)

Caustic Cover Critic presents Ruben Toledo's cover for the upcoming Penguin Classics Deluxe edition of Jane Eyre (on the right). fiftytwo reviews another edition of Jane Eyre: Dame Darcy's. Awsumgal is putting the final touches to her Rochester doll project and History and Women has a post about Charlotte Brontë. Finally, Sacred Places of Yorkshire & Derbyshire has uploaded several winter pictures of Brontë country and Top Withens.

Categories: Brontëites, Dance, Jane Eyre, References, Theatre, Wuthering Heights