'Feminism and Jane Eyre. I'm sure much has been written about this'

The pre-production for To Walk Invisible goes ahead and Keighley News now reports that a BBC crew has visited the Parsonage. The article also includes a short account of the Westminster Abbey tribute for Charlotte's bicentenary.

The entire production crew for the BBC’s new Brontë film have visited the family’s historic home.
Writer and director Sally Wainwright and her crew toured the Brontë Parsonage Museum while on a scouting trip around locations.
The crew, along with the cast, will return this summer to film outdoor scenes both in Haworth Main Street and at a specially-built replica of the parsonage on nearby Penistone Hill.
Specialists creating props, costumes and sets for the film have previously made individual visits to the parsonage to quiz the Brontë Society’s experts and examine artefacts.
They have even measured and photographed rooms in the parsonage so they can accurately build and furnish the interior sets at a studio in Manchester.
Museum spokesman Rebecca Yorke said staff had been working closely with the BBC production team for the past few months.
She said: “They’ve have been viewing items in our collections that they want to recreate as props. We’ve had particular crew members with responsibility for producing sets and costumes.
“The latest visit was the whole production team of about 30 people while they were doing a recce of all the locations. They were also visiting the set being built on Penistone Hill. There was the writer-director Sally Wainwright and the producer.” [...]
Brontë Society members and officials were among those who attended a special event at Westminster Abbey last month to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charlotte Brontë.
About 80 invited guests, including the deputy left tenant of West Yorkshire, David Pearson, attended a service at Poet’s Corner in the abbey.
There were readings of poems by the Brontë sister’s siblings, including Confidence by Anne, No Coward Soul Is Mine by Emily, and Life by Charlotte.
The guests then retired to the Churchill Rooms at the House Of Commons for light refreshments.
Rebecca Yorke said: “There was a similar service for the centenary in Haworth Church in 1916.”
Although none of the Brontë family are buried at Poet’s Corner, there is a memorial plaque to the sisters. (David Knights)

Keighley News also reviews the Keighley Playhouse production of Jane Eyre.

I was a little apprehensive to go see this production as I like farces and comedies, so a costume drama -- corsets and polite conversation -- what was I going to make of it?
Actually I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed it. The set, the costumes, the special effects between Act 2 and Act 3, and all the characters.
Beth Welch and Dale Chadwick played the two lead characters of Jane Eyre and Mr Rochester and worked well together.
Beth Welch with the kindness but determined character of a young women who was not going to be put down by society, and Dale Chadwick, the weary middle-aged man with a dark secret, afraid to love. The pair were extremely watchable from start to finish.
Deborah Mouat was excellent as the house keeper Mrs Fairfax who greeted Jane and kept the other characters grounded in the story. She was the constant throughout the play ready with either a sarcastic comment or a kind word.
The other smaller parts were played equal well by the rest of the cast, and together made an excellent unit.
A special mention for Martha Edwards, who played Rochester’s ward Adele. Having to speak not only in French, but also with an accent for her part, top marks.
Finally the director, Mike Boothroyd, to direct a very wordy play, with little 'action', and still make it watchable and not boring is an art. Brilliant.
Yes, I actually liked it that much. Well done everyone. (Philip Smith)

Jasper Fforde's live webchat on The Guardian took place yesterday and both The Eyre Affair and Jane Eyre came up several times.

bookfiend73 asks:
Do you think there is any significant value in modern readers assessing a work like Jane Eyre by contemporary values? eg: today’s reader assessing Jane Eyre’s feminist values by today’s values?
ffordejasper
Good question. Always a problem, I think, and not least in JE the regrettable 'Mad woman in the attic' episode which does cast a few problems with Ed and Jane's romance, especially as Jane seems to forgive him this one small indiscretion once Bertha is well, burnt. It doesn't read too well right now, really, but as a narrative twist of ages past, I guess it must have been a zinger. By rights, we should be shouting: WATCH OUT JANE!I think the best thing to do is to read, consider, build, think and then do the best one can for oneself and one's immediate sphere. Feminism and Jane Eyre. I'm sure much has been written about this, and by better writers than I.

The Guardian discusses dialects and slang and recalls the fact that,

Charlotte Brontë, Charles Dickens and Vladimir Nabokov used non-literal literally. (Stan Carey)

Prima Pagina (Italy) recommends Reader, I Married Him, edited by Tracy Chevalier.

Proseguo poi segnalandovi una testo molto interessante che ci racconta la storia di una delle scrittrici più amate della letteratura: Charlotte Brontë e il suo romanzo immortale Jane Eyre. Perché il verso più famoso della scrittrice è “L’ho sposato lettore mio” ? (titolo anche del romanzo). Quale forza trasgressiva nascondono queste poche parola. Tracy Chevalier ci accompagna alla scoperta di una donna simbolo dell’emancipazione e dell’indipendenza. (Eleonora Tassoni) (Translation)

Bonne Bouche Books reviews Patricia Park's Re Jane;  Slate Plus has a summary of the Jane Eyre's Year of Great Books series, including a podcast of the Strand event a few days ago.