Whatever our souls are made of...

Both The Mirror and the Express convey the results of a recent study which seemingly looked into the state of old-fashioned love letters. Apparently Emily Brontë should be proud - though we think she wouldn't actually - of having written 'the most popular romantic line' according to those who voted:

An entry from Emily Brontë’s classic Wuthering Heights was voted the most romantic line, when Catherine declares her love for Heathcliff: “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” (Michael Pickard from Express)

The poll was commissioned by Warner Home Video to mark the DVD release of the romantic comedy "Going the Distance". The 20 per cent of the 2000 respondents chose the Wuthering Heights line.

EDIT: More information on Reuters. The complete results can be read here.

Now that Downton Abbey has been broadcast in the USA, a couple of news sites comment on it and bring up Brontë references:

The Atlantic:

With a season that spans the years between the sinking of the Titanic and the beginning of World War I, Downton grounds the changes of pre-World War I England (the arrival of the telephone, servants leaving to become secretaries) in a story that relies on historical perspective, something that has long eluded even western literature's greatest writers. Dickens covered poverty and social injustice, and Brontë covered love and morality, but neither could have known what was ahead. The writers of Downton Abbey do. They know that while modern audiences may not relate to the strict social divisions of Edwardian England, they can relate to a maid's desire to improve her situation by becoming a secretary or a woman's desire to be free of the obligation of marriage for survival. (Nicole Cohen)

We beg to differ in the usual thing: Brontë (which one is meant?) covered more than love and morality.

And from A.V. Club:

Does Downton Abbey occasionally veer into romance-novel kitsch? Absolutely. But part of what makes the series so irresistible is that it indulges so many period-piece fantasies of transgression. It’s the stuff we daydreamed about while reading Jane Eyre back in high school—if not what was actually on the pages. (Meredith Blake)

Las vacaciones de Holden (in Spanish) writes about Wuthering Heights. Two Years(?) in Old Blighty tells - with pictures - about a recent walk in Brontë country. Finally, ScribbleManiac finds out that even Castle Howard is not without a Brontë connection of its own.

Categories: Jane Eyre, References, Wuthering Heights