Feminist Jane

Sally Cookson, whose adaptation of Jane Eyre is currently on stage at the Old Vic in Bristol, discusses Charlotte Brontë's novel on BBC News (BBC Radio 4 - Today)

A new interpretation of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, hoping to emphasise the active rather than passive nature of the lead character, is being staged at the Bristol Old Vic.
The play's director Sally Cookson explained that the novel was originally adopted by the feminist movement because the central character "aspired to achieve" and "to find fulfilment on her own terms".
The writer Beatrix Campbell praised the new production for aiming to "rescue" the book from becoming "a late 20th century Fifty Shades of Grey" in which "a poor girl meets a rich brute and falls for him".

Well worth listening to the 5-minute conversation. Lividlili reviews the first half of the production.

WhatsonStage interviews two of the actors of the production Felix Hayes and Madeleine Worrall:

M: No this is not tea sets and country dances, it's a world much angrier, bleaker, more vivid then that I think.
F: It's a kind of real story where people get it wrong and they are broken by things and that I think is fascinating and people will be drawn to those types of stories forever, they do have a timeless -quality. I think Rochester is fascinating as a character. On my first reading of the novel he was so different from the Rochester that I had imagined, he's such a broken person when you first meet him and the discoveries that you as an actor have to make and carry with you throughout the play, to find out why he acts in the way he does and all those things are fascinating, its been an incredible kind of building of him for me. He's rude, he's funny, he's got such a wit that I think is brilliant. (Kris Hallett) (Read more)

More discussions of Jane Eyre, as reported by The Amherst Student:

Many students are unable to study abroad, but now they can interact with students in other countries through a recently-established program, the Global Classroom Initiative.
In Spring 2012, Professor Austin Sarat pioneered a faculty discussion and planning group to discuss the feasibility of a project called the Global Classroom Initiative. The result was a proposal to the Administration for a three-year pilot program.
“[The Global Classroom Initiative] is an experiment with the goal of diversifying and enriching the perspectives shared in Amherst College courses,” said Scott Payne, Director of Academic Technology Services.
This experiment takes Amherst College classes and incorporates video discussions on particular topics between Amherst students and students from other countries. A typical Global Classroom class will have a few video discussions spaced throughout the semester.
To facilitate such discussion, the Academic Technology Services purchased a video conferencing system, which some professors have nicknamed “WALL-E.” Payne explained that the system has two cameras: one that shows a “wide-angle view” of the entire class, and a second that “uses sophisticated speaker-detection technology to figure out who is speaking and then zoom in on that person.” [...]
Professor Shirley’s class will be broadcasted on the “WALL-E” video conferencing system for a few discussions about Charlotte Brontë’s “Jane Eyre” and Jean Rhys’ response, the novel “Wide Sargasso Sea.”
“I am very much looking forward to opening up conversation between students here and the students at UWI Mona and asking them to share their experiences of these novels with each other and to reflect on the situations in which they’ve encountered these texts,” Professor Christoff said. (Jessie Kaliski)

The Telegraph and Argus features the intern working at the Brontë Parsonage Museum.

Interns are helping with a range of useful tasks at the Bronte Parsonage Museum.
Roles have included preparing exhibits for the 2014 season, helping with marketing and improving the Haworth museum’s social media presence.
The Brontë Society, which runs the museum, set up a paid intern programme last year.
The interns are either graduates seeking employment in the museums field or experienced heritage staff wanted to expand their skills.
The first pair of interns, Mari Elliot and Jordan Blackman, recently finished their residency and have been replaced by Hermione Williams and Lauren Livesey.
Sue Newby, the parsonage’s education officer, said: “The first worked to really well. It was a bit of a learning curve but we felt that it was worthwhile.”
“Mari and Jordan both had some experience already. Mari had experience with an arts charity and working with social media, and she wanted more experience working in collections.
“They both helped us with social media, giving us an insight into how it works and how to get more out of it.”
The pair also helped prepare one of the new exhibitions at the Parsonage 2014, exploring the Brontë family’s links with animals, as well as a new Brontë timeline in the museum’s entrance.

An Alternet columnist lists '9 reasons not having kids is the best decision I ever made'.

In excerpts from Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage, author Elizabeth Gilbert talks about the fact that in any given society at any given time there are about 10% of women who never have kids. This group often acts as crucial support for exhausted or absent mothers. She calls it the “Auntie Brigade,” women who contributed to raising the likes of John Lennon, Frank Lloyd Wright and the Bronte sisters. (Liz Langley)

Curbed shares the listing of a Victorian home in London with a twist:

On the market for £3,250,000 (or $5,344,552) this stately 11-bedroom Victorian home in London offers multiple grand drawing rooms, a pretty kitchen overlooking the back garden, and—in a most satisfying Brontë sisters meets Ray Bradbury genre mash-up—a full-sized spaceship command center. (Lily di Costanzo)

The Citizen reports that actress Claire St Pierre has been nominated as best leading female in a drama in the National Operatic and Dramatic Association’s North West regional awards for her role as Emily Brontë in a production of Brontë. Wondrous Reads reviews Jane, le renard et moi. La double vie de Sylvii writes in Polish about Haddon Hall and Jane Eyre. One Room with a View reviews Jane Eyre 2011. Morning Rose Books Blog reviews the original novel.