With... Adam Sargant
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It's our last episode of series 1!!! Expect ghost, ghouls and lots of
laughs as we round off the series with Adam Sargant, AKA Haunted Haworth.
We'll be...
1 week ago
The BrontësaurusJohn Sutherland is a well-known Brontëite and many horders of Brontë-related books will be acquainted with his books Is Heathcliff a Murderer? (1995) and Can Jane Eyre Be Happy? (1996) in which he ponders literary mysteries of the kind, Brontë-related or otherwise. His new book is wholly devoted to the Brontë family: The Brontësaurus: An A-Z of Charlotte, Emily & Anne Brontë (& Branwell)(1)
An A-Z of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte (and Branwell)
John Sutherland and John Crace
ISBN: 9781785781438
Publisher: Icon Books
Pub Date:December 2016
There is no fate worse for fiction than to come and go into Shakespeare's 'wallet of oblivion'. Everything from 'Jane Hair' salons to Jane Eyrotica confirms that will never happen to the Brontës' fiction. Their novels will last as long as there is money to be made from the novels, which are wholly uncontaminated. Long live 'tat': it bears witness to long life. ('Tat', p. 159)'That Name', on the surname Brontë offers nothing new per se, but is highly perceptive. One of our favourite chapters in the whole book may be 'Three-decker', which is very enlightening on this eminently-Victorian way of publishing and brilliant in its analogy of TV-series on regular channels and on Netflix these days.
''Normal' (even if true, which I believe it is) has a hard time triumphing with the Brontës. We love the myths too much.'Some chapters are wholly unexpected, somewhat random, but most make interesting reads nonetheless. 'Bog people', 'Branderham', 'Extradiegesis', 'Guadeloupe', Myopia', 'Spirit-written', 'Steel' (which is one Agnes Grey and Anne's defence of animals) and 'Toothsome' are among the least expected.
The Madwoman in the Attic argues a powerfully ideological reading and one is grateful for it. But it masnifestly violates what Charlotte Brontë, in her ignorance, believed she was doing. What was that? She believed she was writing a 'moral' tale for young women, not a manifesto. When asked what good novels did, Trollope replied they instructed young women how to receive their suitors. Charlotte Brontë could have said the same. [...]But that's just a matter of opinion, of course. What the book would seem to need, objectively speaking, is a proofreader. 'Claire Harmon' [Harman] and 'Susan Gerber' [Gubar](2) are among the 'most perceptive critics of the Brontë oeuvre' in the preface. Some inaccuracies are also incurred on in the Brontë story: the reader is told that 'Anne, Charlotte and a servant' left for Anne's last trip to Scarborough(3), and that was not a servant but a friend: Ellen Nussey. Thornfield Hall is once referred to as 'Thornton Hall'. We are told that Emily Brontë said that she liked her dog better than her pupils while in Brussels, while she did so at Law Hill and referred to the school dog, not Keeper. John Sutherland thinks that Arthur Bell Nicholls was incorporated into Shirley in the shape of Malone, while it was Macarthey. Nicholls, too, is said to have been 'seven years older than Charlotte' when in fact he was three years younger. Tabitha Aykroyd is said to have outlived all the Brontë siblings, when in fact she pre-deceased Charlotte. A photograph of 'the main street in Haworth, at the period the Brontës lived there' is highly improbable. Nothing too relevant, and yet small details that subtract from the book, particularly if a Brontëite is reading and noticing the mistakes made.
But in a long career I can't recall any essay arguing that Jane Eyre is a novel with an overt Christian motive written by a woman who attended church weekly (often daily) and subscribed faithfully to its doctrines; the daughter of a clergyman (whose parsonage she never left--even in death), eventually the wife of a clergyman, who superintended Dorcas meetings, undertook the routine task of 'district' [i.e. parish] visiting' and awaited, with almost orgasmic excitement, the second coming. ('Attic Matters', p. 7-8)
One is tempted to take it with a grain of something stronger than salt. But the jury is out. And we'll never know and always wonder. The usual situation with the Brontës.The Brontësaurus is definitely a fun book for Brontëites. It jogs our minds, takes us out of our comfort zones, asks unexpected questions and offers insightful glimpses into what the Brontës may or not have known. And not many writers can pull that off as--seemingly--effortlessly as John Sutherland.
There are obvious objections to the 'Madwoman in the Attic' reading of Jane Eyre and the critical theses which have given it currency. [...]The first objection is rather mundane [...]. Bertha Mason is not locked up in an attic. There are indeed attics at Thornfield Hall under the 'leads' (i.e. lead-lined roof). But servants were accommodated in these wretched, cold and leaky dormers at the back of the main building. Bertha Mason is housed in a separate annex, with its own staircase, on the third floor, accessible only by master key, with a barred window. ('Attic Matters', p. 6)(2) Gubar's surname is sometimes spelt correctly. In one instance it's spelt wrongly in a paragraph then correctly in the following paragraph.
but as we have said in the past, we consider Juliet Barker harsh in her treatment and assessment of Charlotte Brontë.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. Well Barker loves Branwell...and it seems those who do,usually do not favor CB.It seems to go hand in hand. People blame Charlotte for her sharp criticism of Branwell during his post Throp Green decline. But I think that was because if she became too sympathetic, Charlotte feared she would join Branwell in his wallow. They were twins still. They were both hopelessly in love with a married person and both suffered greatly over it. But Charlotte could not let herself go as Branwell did. Society and the family's needs would not allow it. If she acted for one week as he did for three years, she would have been carted off to Bedlam. Meanwhile who would see to it Papa would get his eyes operated on? Charlotte wrote she had to be " quite decided " about that...well someone had to be. We do not grant a freedom to others we will not grant to ourselves. Charlotte is keeping herself in check when telling Ellen her twin's failings while suffering for love.
Just started reading. I found an important mistake! Anne and Charlotte did not go to Scarborough in Anne's last travel with a s servant but with their dear friend Ellen Nussey!!!!
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