Jane's leap into adulthood

ShortList has included Jane Eyre on a list of 'The 30 best coming-of-age novels'.

Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë
Year: 1847
Literary theorists have declared Charlotte Brontë’s revolutionary novel a primary example of the bildungsroman genre, containing, as it does, the titular character’s transformation from child to adult – and all the attendant emotional changes that entails. Dissecting the book for this evolution is a fascinating exercise – the backdrop may change but the leap into adulthood is still a jump into the unknown for many.

And BuzzFeed recommends '27 YA Books You'll Want To Devour By The Pool This Summer' including

19. Wrong in All the Right Ways by Tiffany Brownlee
Release date: July 17
Emma is a careful planner — set to graduate at just 16 years old — but what she didn't plan for was to fall for her new foster brother, Dylan. While studying Wuthering Heights in AP English, Emma and Dylan attempt to only keep their romance on-page through an essay assignment — but will their secret forbidden love last? This swoony contemporary novel showcases the hardships and laughs of falling in love for the very first time. (Farrah Penn)

The Irish Times features Isabella Valancy Crawford, 'the Irish woman who became Canada’s first major poet'.

It is tempting to compare her to Emily Dickinson, the Brontë Sisters, or, with her penchant for publishing serialised gothic romances, the fictional Jo March in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. And yet, history has stayed silent on the facts of Isabella’s life, apart from the glimpses she offers us herself in her poetry. Her work remains a testament to the spirit of Canadian frontiers-people and to the natural beauty of Canada. Perhaps that is statement enough. (Jessica Traynor)

This columnist from The Inquirer discusses age and dating.

Before the apps, age was mismatched by accident. I was 23 when I started dating a lawyer I’d met at a bar.  I sensed he was older, but it didn’t feel it polite to ask until a few dates in, when he mentioned his forthcoming birthday.
“You don’t know?”  he groaned, “35.”
I hid my surprise.  It sounded so old then! (Now it sounds perfect.) I told myself the 12-year gap didn’t matter, since we’d hit it off without knowing.
But I wondered if he liked me because I was mature for my age or because I wasn’t. I was impressed by him, but would I be so impressed if I were his age?
Plus, he complained about his “emotionally unstable” ex he used to live with, and even at 23, the Jane Eyre vibes were too much for me.
I’d very recently been an English major.
I broke up with him shortly after. (Francesca Serritella)

Quillette wonders whether liberal democracies are rape cultures.

A culture’s models may be heroes or villains, but they focus shared attitudes and beliefs, and also guide and inspire action. A community valorizes a hero to signal what it admires, while villains are identified to signal disapproval. The martial culture of Sparta, for instance, lionized men like Brasidas and American martial culture has lionized men like George Patton. Conversely, traitors such as Ephialtes and Benedict Arnold are denounced and vilified. Models or anti-models can be fictional, such as the heroes and villains of a culture’s literature (Achilles, Jane Eyre, or Lancelot), and they can even be symbolic and anonymous (the Unknown Soldier represents all the unnamed combatants). (Antonin Foucaux)

Cayman Compass explores Cayman’s street names:

Some roads have obvious literary connotations, such as Brontë Way, Dickens Street, Chaucer Drive, Kipling Street and Longfellow Circle, while others carry more ordinary names, such as Nancy Street, Bernard Avenue, Gregory Street and Carmen Boulevard. Then there are such scented names as Lavender Way, Cinnamon Link and Frangipani Drive. (Jewel Levy)

MadmoiZelle (France) recommends five English films 'in the spirit' of Downton Abbey.

À douze ans, j’ai découvert la famille Brontë.
Au détour d’une recherche dans la bibliothèque parentale, je suis tombée sur Les Hauts de Hurlevent.  Un titre somme toute ronflant qui au départ ne m’inspirait qu’un ennui morbide.
Mais bon… comme c’était ça ou Belle du Seigneur, le choix était vite vu !
Au fil des pages, je me suis rendue à l’évidence : c’était bien plus intéressant que ce à quoi je m’attendais. C’était même passionnant.
À tel point que je suis tombée amoureuse en même temps que l’héroïne principale et découvrais quelque chose de fou : j’étais romantique. [...]
Jane Eyre, le plus dramatique
Je te parlais plus tôt des sœurs Brontë. L’une d’entre elles, Charlotte, a signé l’un des bouquins que j’ai le plus lu, si ce n’est le seul que j’ai dévoré plus de deux fois.
L’adaptation de Jane Eyre au cinéma, c’est Cary Fukunaga qui s’en est chargé (ce n’est pas le seul bien sûr, il existe plusieurs films).
Tu connais peut-être ce réalisateur car il a donné vie à l’excellente première saison de True Detective ou encore à Beasts of no Nation, le film coup de poing de Netflix.
Cette fois-ci, il s’est essayé à la romance tragique, presque shakespearienne.
Jane Eyre, c’est l’histoire d’une jeune femme détestée par sa famille, qui se fait gentiment expulser de chez sa tante pour atterrir dans un internat très peu accueillant.
Plus tard, elle intègre la grande demeure d’Edward Rochester, un homme très riche et taciturne, pour qui elle officie en tant que gouvernante.
Bien sûr, elle finira par tomber folle amoureuse de lui, et croira en une potentielle relation. Mais les choses seront loin de se passer comme elle le souhaite…
Jane Eyre, c’est LE personnage romantique par excellence. Elle se dédie corps et âme à son amour pour Rochester et se lance aveuglément dans une relation pourtant toxique.
Mais elle est comme ça Jane Eyre, elle place l’amour et les autres avant sa propre personne.
Elle me rappelle mon personnage littéraire préféré : Pauline dans La Joie de vivre de Zola. Elle accueille tous les orages avec un cœur ouvert et conserve un optimisme à toute épreuve même dans les pires situations.
Je l’admire beaucoup. (Kalindi) (Translation)

Library of 1000 Books posts about Wuthering Heights. Japan Brontë Association Official Blog posts briefly about a recent conference on the Brontës. Dorset Echo presents the local performances of the Hotbuckle Theatre Wuthering Heights production.