Charlotte Brontë would be disappointed

Today is World TB Day and a couple of news outlets mention the Brontës in connection to this disease which, unfortunately, is not a thing of the past. This is how the Financial Times opens its article on the subject:

Its victims have included George Orwell, Frederic Chopin, Franz Kafka, Emily Brontë and Eleanor Roosevelt.
If tuberculosis were still killing such cultural giants, it would not be hard to attract attention and funding to the campaign for its eradication. (Andrew Ward)

Metro speaks in more general terms:

One in three people across the entire world right now is infected with tuberculosis.
It might seem an incredible statistic for a disease most people associate with Les Misérables and Charlotte Brontë novels, but the reality is that billions are carriers of dormant TB which can become active at any time. (Alistair Potter)

British Theatre Guide reviews the Bristol Old Vic production of Jane Eyre:

This adaptation effectively compacts the story before Jane encounters Rochester but the story-telling goes on too long before flowering into full dramatisation. The choice of music to underscore the emotion of some scenes seems counter-effective but the company makes an excellent team in the way they work together and the rapport between Pomfret and Maddison as Rochester and Jane lifts this production to dramatic effect. It is difficult to believe that such accomplished playing is actually Maddison’s professional debut. (Howard Loxton)

The Keighley News now has an article on the Emily Brontë vs Jane Austen debate that took place in London a few weeks ago.

Emily Brontë narrowly lost to Jane Austen in a prestigious debate over who was the best novelist.
Popular modern novelist Kate Mosse led the fight to declare Emily the top writer during the gathering at the Royal Geographic Society.
Leading English literature professor John Mullan put the case for Jane Austen during the event in London earlier this month.
Professional actors including Sam West, who played Mr Elliot in the 1995 film version of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, performed scenes from both writers’ work.
On entering the venue the audience were asked to vote for their favourite author, with Jane receiving 55 cent of the vote and Emily receiving only 24 per cent.
After the debate, a new vote gave 51 per cent to Jane and 47 per cent to Emily, with only two per cent remaining undecided.
Prof Mullan passionately defended Jane Austen, saying she had a wonderful ability to write simple prose that was actually incredibly complicated.
He praised Austen’s descriptive ability, particularly of her characters, and described her mastery at observation and putting an artistic gloss on the world.
Kate Mosse described Austen as witty and wonderful, but said she wanted more from a book than romantic characters in pursuit of marriage.
She said Wuthering Heights was one of the most effectively set-up novels in the English language, balancing light with dark and calm with chaos.
She said the novel was not in love story, but a story of obsession and ghosts, as well as exploring what it meant to be human and to have a soul.

The Guardian discusses the double standard in men's and women's looks on TV.

In Jane Eyre, the unpleasant Blanche Ingram declares that an ugly woman is a blot on the fair face of creation, while men need possess only strength and valour. How disappointed would early feminist Charlotte Brontë be that, getting on for 200 years and many improvements in women’s lot later, creation – or rather broadcasting – has not learned to see beyond a woman’s looks? (Liz Boulter)

La Nación (Argentina) mistakes the moors in Wuthering Heights for cliffs:

A veces, uno se pregunta si seguirá soplando el cierzo sobre los peligrosos acantilados de Cumbres borrascosas (Wuthering heights, la famosa novela de Emily Brontë). (Graciela Melgarejo) (Translation)

Book Lovers Paradise reviews the forthcoming novel Always Emily by Michaela MacColl.