Who Wants to be Edward? Or the Bunny and the Sabre

Another John Mullan Brontë selection in the Guardian. Now Ten of the best religious zealots in literature:

St John Rivers
Rivers is persuasive as well as repellent. The heroine of Jane Eyre is hypnotised by this cold and saintly missionary, who proposes that they marry and go to India together to convert heathens (and perish doing God's holy work). Jane chooses blind, sensual Rochester, but Charlotte Brontë gives the last words of the novel to the dying Rivers.

There is an article in Variety about Goldcrest's UK investments, including Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights:

It has already put coin into helmer Andrea Arnold's adaptation of "Wuthering Heights" -- 20% of the pic's near-$7 million budget. "She's got such a unique vision -- just the kind of project we're looking for," says [Adam] Kulick [head of Goldcrest Capital]. (Diana Lodderhouse)

We read in Kent News about the latest edition of ITV's new Who Wants to be a Millionaire? (31st August 2010) where Mr Rochester was the subject of a question:

There was heartache on the next question for £75,000 when she [Jane Danes] correctly guessed Edward was the name of Mr Rochester from Jane Eyre, but rejected the question for another.
Putting on a brave face, she said: “Never mind, I am happy.”

The Lancashire Telegraph talks about Burnley schools. Describing Unity College:

Unity College is a specialist arts school and has named areas of the school after key figures.
For example the cafe is called Brontë’s, the main corridor is Broadway and there is a Chaucer’s restaurant. (Nafeesa Shan)

Brontë bunnies (literally) in Sunniside, Weardale in The Northern Echo:

It was also in Haworth that the minister [Alf Waite] started keeping Dutch blues. “People had been telling me for 20 years that I should have a hobby. I was keen on bantams, but there was a covenant on the house, so I chose rabbits instead. Rabbits don’t make a noise.”
They’re named after Brontë characters – Bramwell, Heathcliffe, Kathy and the like – and already have won national prizes. “I’m really looking forward to the shows up here,” he says.

We suppose those are the bunnified Brontë names of Branwell (poor thing, he no longer is the forgotten brother but a character!!), Heathcliff and Cathy.

The Spectator reviews Dr Johnson's Dictionary of Modern Life by Tom Morton which imitates Samuel Johnson's style in defining modern life à la Twitter. Not all authors admit such treatment:

The Brontë sisters or Charles Dickens for example were great writers, but it would be difficult to convey their style in just 140 words. (Becky Horsbrugh)

The substance of literature is one of the things covered in this column in The Daily Star (Bangladesh):

You have the stuff of literature here, the imagery of desperation you are liable to associate with Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights. And what indeed is literature? It is life as you live from one day to the next. And yet, paradoxically, literature is not life. But it could well translate into the chronicle of the life you lead, of the lives you see rise and crumble around you.(Syed Badrul Ahsan)

The Philadelphia Enquirer has an article about Jane Eyre, the fencing champion (women's sabre):

But Eyre (who acquired the surname of Charlotte Brontë's heroine from a husband from whom she is divorced), also had an artistic bent. (Art Carey)

On COPE (Spain), Marta Rivera De La Cruz recommends the latest edition of Wuthering Heights by Siruela in Spanish.

La reedición por Siruela de la célebre “Cumbres borrascosas”, de Emily Brontë. Con el trasfondo de la historia familiar de los Earnshaw y los Linton, la obra narra la vida de dos generaciones que se cruzan en el amor infortunado del protagonista por su compañera de infancia. En escenarios exóticos, y entre exaltaciones poéticas, la historia de amor trágico crece hasta conseguir momentos de gran lirismo en los que se mezclan la pasión con la muerte y el arrepentimiento con la venganza. (MM.Ramos) (Microsoft translation)

Il Tacco d'Italia covers the celebration of the following literary-gastronomical event in Palmariggi, Italy last August 27th:

"(S)cena a corte" è una manifestazione che coniuga le bellezze dell'enogastronomia locale alle bontà dei grandi libri e dei grandi film, della musica e delle arti figurative, in un clima assolutamente conviviale. (...)
Venerdì 27 agosto, Il segno di Venere, appuntamento dedicato alla figura femminila nelle diverse arti, compresa quella culinaria. Letture tratte da autori immortali della letteratura mondiale come Emily Brontë, Antonia Byatt, Alberto Moravia, Italo Calvino e altri, a cura di Adele Maruccio, inframmezzati da spezzoni di film. Djset ed esposizione di opere fotografiche di Francesca Ascalone. (Microsoft translator)

Knack (Belgium) wonders if the sisters would have read the satirical magazine Den Vrolyke Tuchtheer:

Charlotte en Emily Brontë, op kostschool in Brussel, zouden enkele afleveringen hebben gelezen, met hun taalgevoel pikten ze snel genoeg wat Nederlands op. (Leen Huet) (Google translation)

Tanznetz reviews the Zürcher Balletts's performance of the ballet Der Tod und das Mädchen by Heinz Spoerli:

Eine weitere Spannung bringt das Bühnenbild von Florian Etti, Spoerlis bevorzugtem Ausstatter. Es zeigt auf der Rückwand eine schöne grüne Hügellandschaft. Doch davor liegt ein Moor, aus dem sich unheimliche Dünste drehen. Der Himmel verfinstert sich immer wieder. Eine Stimmung, wie man sie aus den Romanen der englischen Schwestern Brontë kennt. (Marlies Stretch) (Microsoft translation)

Sedmička (Czech Republic) remembers some of the original locations of Jana Eyrová 1972:

Ve výcvikové středisko anglických letců se zámek proměnil už v roce 1964 při natáčení filmu Atentát, v seriálu Jana Eyrová s Martou Vančurovou v hlavní roli pro změnu v sídlo rodiny Rochesterů Thornfield, v zámeckém parku vítala svého prince Večernice Libuše Šafránková. (Microsoft translation)

An Open Salon story mentions Emily Brontë. On ITN it is said that Gemma Arterton (who was once attached to the Ecosse Wuthering Heights film project) is a big fan of Kate Bush (and her Wuthering Heights); Cosvil Books posts about Wuthering Heights; anniki04 reviews Villette (in German); and on the Dickinson College Humanities Program in Norwich Blog we read about a visit to the National Portrait Gallery with a special stop at the Brontë Pillar Portrait.

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