Misogynist magic

Keighley News features the exhibition Of Real Worlds at South Square Gallery in Thornton.

South Square Gallery, just a few minutes’ walk from the author’s birthplace, held a birthday party to celebrate the author.
The event marked the opening the gallery’s latest exhibition Of Real Worlds, which features multi-sensory work by local artists as well as pupils from Thornton’s schools.
Thornton-based artist Lucy Barker worked with schools to explore Emily Brontë’s literary works, with pupils learning about the history of Emily’s family.
Students at Thornton Primary School created stop-motion animation pieces based on the lives of Emily and her sisters.
And pupils from years 8 and 9 at Beckfoot Thornton have created collages out of her poetry and writings.
The new exhibition includes an immersive projection, inspired by the moors and natural landscapes that inspired Emily Brontë.
There are also projections of the work the pupils made in their workshops and 3D pieces of art.
Alice Withers, from South Square, said: “We hope these events will help make the anniversary a milestone for the village. It is good Thornton is becoming more well known as the Brontë’s birthplace now.” [...]
The party featured live music, cocktails, art exhibitions, activities, DJs, a “Wuthering Heights participatory dance challenge” and techno soundscapes.
Adrena backed up their artistic spherical projections with live drumming while Becky Marshall performed a techno soundscape inspired Emily’s works. And dance artist Daliah Touré took part in a participatory dance performance inspired by the Kate Bush song Wuthering Heights.
The exhibition will run until July 27. (Jim Seton)

Still locally, The Telegraph and Argus reports the theft of even more flagstones in Haworth.

The blight of stone theft returned to Haworth with a vengeance when thieves ripped up and stole flagstones from the same path which was targeted in 2016.
Parish and district councillors said they were "appalled" by the latest damage inflicted on the path which runs between Haworth Parish Church's cemetery and the top of Weaver's Hill Car Park.
The path is also a popular route used by locals and visitors to access Penistone Hill, the Bronte Waterfalls and Top Withens.
Councillor Gary Swallow, the then chairman of Haworth, Cross Roads and Stanbury Parish Council, said he first noticed the results of the most recent crime when he was walking his dog last Tuesday afternoon. (May 29)
He said at least seven Yorkshire stone flagstones were removed from one spot overnight between last Monday and last Tuesday, though added fellow parish councillor Alan Watts reported seven more flagstones had been taken from a different section of the same footpath.
Cllr Swallow, who has informed police of the incident, said: "It's appalling. This is a lovely path for visitors to use when they're walking into Haworth from the car park, but now it's been damaged again.
"It's a tragedy for the area, because the Yorkshire stone that's been stolen won't be replaced. It's too vulnerable to this kind of crime.
"When this happened before the gaps were instead filled with road planings."
He warned the uneven surface left behind by the theft has created a trip hazard for pedestrians.
He urged people who see anything suspicious related to potential stealing of stone to report this to police or to Bradford Council.
Worth Valley Ward councillor Rebecca Poulsen said the removal of the stone from the path must have been planned in advance, adding the thieves would have needed to shift the heavy flagstones a considerable distance to a vehicle.
"It's shocking that they would steal things that have been there for so many years, and which made access to the village easier for people," she said. [...]
Cllr Watts, who photographed the damage to the path, said: "There have been 14 flagstones in total taken this time, as well as one which was ripped out then left behind. There'll be no stone left at this rate.
"It's ridiculous, and it looks a right mess."
A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said: "Officers are appealing for information regarding the reported theft of Yorkshire stone flags from Haworth.
"They were contacted last Tuesday by a caller reporting that 14 Yorkshire stone flags had been removed from a footpath on Weaver's Hill.
"It's believed the stones were taken between 6pm on Monday May 28 and 10am on May 29.
"Anyone who saw men removing stones at the location between these times or who is offered a quantity of stone for sale locally in suspicious circumstances is asked to contact Bradford District Police on 101, referencing crime number 131802 60650.
"Information can also be given anonymously to independent Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111." (Miran Rahman)

The Fandom looks forward to the YA books to be published this month.

Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows flipped history on its head and made us LOL with My Lady Jane, and now they’re at it again with My Plain Jane, a skewering of the classic Jane Eyre tale. We’re ready for humor, heart, and absurdity!
You may think you know the story. After a miserable childhood, penniless orphan Jane Eyre embarks on a new life as a governess at Thornfield Hall. There, she meets one dark, brooding Mr. Rochester. Despite their significant age gap (!) and his uneven temper (!!), they fall in love—and, Reader, she marries him. (!!!)
Or does she?
Prepare for an adventure of Gothic proportions, in which all is not as it seems, a certain gentleman is hiding more than skeletons in his closets, and one orphan Jane Eyre, aspiring author Charlotte Brontë, and supernatural investigator Alexander Blackwood are about to be drawn together on the most epic ghost hunt this side of Wuthering Heights.
Out June 26th. (Kait)

Tor is also looking forward to reading it.

While BookRiot's suggestion for '(Bookish) Beach Season' is

swap out your hardcover volume of Jane Eyre for something lighter. . . 

The Boston Globe's Miss Conduct has a suggestion for a reader whose boss is trying to sabotage her.

Finally, read or watch stories about people who handle themselves well in bad professional or social circumstances. They can give you a model for moments in which you find yourself flustered or defensive. I find “Jane Eyre” inspiring as all get-out on that score, personally. (Robin Abrahams)

SoloLibri (Italy) reviews Charlotte Brontë. Il Diario di Roe Head 1831-1838 by Alessandranna D’Auria.

Tale obbiettivo viene realizzato nel lavoro in esame ˗ che non ha lo stile tipico del saggio ˗ attraverso l’analisi del cosiddetto Roe Head Journal, tradotto per la prima volta integralmente in italiano. Più che un diario si tratta di un giornale di appunti poiché non si può parlare di vere e proprie confessioni, perlomeno non del tutto: non troviamo svelati grandi segreti ma
immagini che sembrano fotografie, attimi di fantasia indotta, cosciente e visionaria, immagini che la memoria non deve dimenticare. [...]
Leggendo il libro di Alessandranna D’Auria immaginiamo Charlotte incamminarsi verso l’ufficio postale a “spedire il suo destino”, sotto pseudonimo poiché, in quanto donna, non le era consentito vivere di letteratura. Nei suoi sogni non c’era certo il matrimonio, o perlomeno non con l’intento di fare la mantenuta e allevare figli. Libera e volitiva, ha perseverato anche di fronte ai fallimenti. (Alessandra Piras) (Translation)

Bustle recommends '11 Fictional Books About Real-Life Authors That Will Give You A Whole New Perspective On Your Favorite Writers', including

'Romancing Miss Brontë' by Juliet Gael
After two years in Brussels, Charlotte Brontë (who we now know as the author of Jane Eyre) returned to the Yorkshire moors. Determined not to be held back by her alcoholic brother and blind father, she set out to publish novels. This book imagines a love affair between Brontë and her publisher, George Smith. (Melissa Ragsdale)

Also on Bustle, '9 Classic Books With Toxic Male Characters — And What To Read Instead'.

Instead of 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Brontë, Read 'The Essex Serpent' by Sarah Perry
There are few books I love as much as Wuthering Heights — the dark atmosphere, the tumultuous love affair, the dramatic setting — but there are few romantic heroes I find more toxic than Heathcliff. Rather than reading Wuthering Heights, pick up Sarah Perry's gorgeous novel, The Essex Serpent. Set in the late 19th nineteenth-century England on the rocky coast, it follows the newly widowed Cora Seaborne as she attempts to create a new life for herself and her son, out from underneath the control of her domineered husband, and get to the bottom of the 300-year-old myth that haunts her new community. (Sadie Trombetta)

Texas Observer reviews Joanna Russ’ How to Suppress Women’s Writing which has just been reissued, nearly forty years after it was first published.

Even dilettantes of English lit will find many of Russ’ references familiar — she relies heavily on the work and criticism of Virginia Woolf, the Brontës and Jane Austen — but book nerds especially will find this a rich and maddening trove. Russ’ argument is unassailable, the book rife with evidence for the means of suppression she identifies. She recalls, for example, that Wuthering Heights was initially received as a brutal and melancholy — and ruggedly masculine — exploration of human selfishness, depravity and anguish. That was before, of course, it was revealed to have been written by a woman. After Emily Brontë’s name became attached to the book, it morphed, as if by misogynist magic, into soapy romance unfit for serious readers. (Andrea Grimes)

The Reviews Hub gives 3 stars out of 5 to Northern Ballet's Jane Eyre as seen at The Lowry, Salford.

But the breakneck pace doesn’t allow for much sense of Jane’s character or her emotional journey. She rotates swiftly through sad, fearful, happy and occasionally defiant without ever establishing a strong sense of identity or connection with the audience. There is little opportunity for the kind of solo that might illustrate or share an interior dialogue. Mr Rochester is similarly under-developed. The most vividly-drawn characters are the simplest, or the ones met briefly or occasionally: cousins, servants, especially Rochester’s housekeeper Mrs Fairfax (Dominique Larose) and Grace Poole (Minju Kang), Rochester’s wife’s long-suffering servant’/jailer. Jane’s pupil Adele (Antoinette Brooks-Daw) also pops.
There are some effective scenes – the prologue, which is reprised at the point the story catches up with the narrative framing is pleasing, the scenes at Lowood Institution are evocative, although the tragedy of Jane’s friend’s death from TB is undermined by the seemingly-short duration of their meeting and the fact that shortly after expiring Miki Akuta gets up and walks off. But both fires – for example – are rather underwhelming. Marston’s judicious use of pointe work and the character-based movement of minor characters are neatly done.
Philip Feeney’s score, which compiles his own original material with contemporary music by Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn and Schubert is melodic and easy on the ear and faithful to the period but somehow only achieves accompaniment rather than meaningfully adding to the drama or the psychological portrait of Jane or Rochester.
In summary, Jane Eyre is a somewhat-superficial romp through the novel, attractively designed and neatly performed by a popular and competent company, but somehow it lacks intellect or emotional depth, or the kind of innovation and technical flare that characterises the leading edge of modern theatre or dance – such as the National Theatre’s recent production of Jane Eyre. Somehow this Jane Eyre is safe, nostalgic, comforting and romantic when it could and should be dark, questioning, brutal and passionate. (Peter Jacobs)

While Frankly My Dear gives it 4.5 out of 5.

Fresh, inventive and completely memorising, Northern Ballet’s adaption of Jane Eyre is an absorbing contemporary ballet which packs an emotional punch. Here, acclaimed choreographer Cathy Marston offers a fresh approach to the familiar story, putting the female characters centre stage and giving us a glimpse into their inner psyche by telling the story through their unique style of movement.
Unruly, frenzied and energetic, Ayami Miyata is memorising as the young Jane, her frenetic and chaotic movements, jagged jumps and pummelling fists conveying not only her volcanic temper but also her quickness of mind. In contrast, Minju Kang as her aunt Mrs Reed is prim and proper, with all elegance and pointework, Antoinette Brooks-Daw is full of bounce and energy as Jane’s pupil and Mr Rochester’s ward Adele Varens, while Hannah Bateman’s Bertha Mason is wild, fierce and highly sexualised, adding a level of uncertainty to the performance which keeps the audience on the edge of their seats.
Abigail Prudames is a joy to watch in the title role of Jane, her deliberately non-fluid and guarded movements complimented perfectly by Mlindi Kulashe’s dark and brooding Rochester. The chemistry between the two leads is palpable and while their initial pas de deux is tentative and awkward, their style of dance becomes more classical as their relationship grows. The lovers’ closing duet stands out in particular for its blend of discovery, tenderness and ecstasy, which is beautifully articulated through the choreography.
There is excellent support from Philip Feeney’s subtle and evocative score which blends original and 19th-century music to deliver the right amount of romance and drama. Patrick Kinmonth’s set is also deliberately sparse with its muted colours, screens and curtains, leaving Alastair West’s incandescent and atmospheric lighting design to bring the mood and drama.
The only real criticism is Bertha Mason’s torn scarlet gown – which, while visually striking – covers too much of Hannah Bateman’s body, hiding the beauty of movements and at some times, her intricate footwork. With a running time of just two hours, there is also a lot of content for Marston to fit in here and whilst the key plot points are certainly hit, the narrative speeds along at a bracing pace.
That said, these are minor points and there is plenty of like here, with Marston fusing traditional and contemporary ballet to deliver a performance full of freshness and originality. Poor, plain and little Jane Eyre may not be fictions most loveable character but Northern Ballet have certainly found purity, beauty, power and love in Brontë’s novel. (Donna)

Opening Night gives it 4 stars.

Marston focusses firmly on the female characters within the piece; Jane is indisputably the heroine of the production as Abigail Prudames encompasses the passion and determination of the trailblazer through the most exquisite and precise of performances. Tested to the point of self-betrayal before her belief in love and the fierceness of her own integrity saves her, Prudames tells a story with every slight movement she makes, delivering elegance, drama and emotional depth.
Rochester is brought to life by a brooding Mlindi Kulashe, the chemistry between Prudames and Kulashe is electric, full of passion and intensity. Kulashe capturing the complexity of Rochester’s bruised soul effortlessly, the duo glide from awkward to playful with ease before passion and intensity takes hold.
Adding further layers to the piece is Hannah Bateman’s Bertha Mason, often described as the ‘mad woman in the attic’ she is wild, highly-sexualised and unpredictable as she prowls across the stage barefoot, bathed in red.
The production feels fresh and inspired as the pace dances through Jane’s life from tragic childhood to complex adulthood, her search for fulfilment never wavering.
An ensemble of male dancers, known as the D-Men, symbolise Jane’s inner demons, creating a clear visual image of the orphan girls emotions and inner turmoil, a superb creative decision which visually portrays the constant tug-of-war between Jane’s intensely passionate feelings and her outer reserve.
Young Jane is portrayed to perfection by Ayami Miyata, agitation and frustration depicted in her defiant, energetic movements.
The adaptation does absolute justice to Brontë’s work, bringing the novel to effervescent life with incredible skill and creativity.
Phillip Feeney’s emotive score blends a mixture of both original and 19th-century music which compliments the contemporary feel of this piece superbly. Patrick Kinmonth’s set is sparse moving screens, muted in colour allowing the performers to really be at the centre of this piece, all lit to atmospheric perfection by Alastair West’s lighting design.
The fusing of the traditional and the contemporary ensures this is a performance packed with intensity as well as originality, a beautiful and expressive tribute to both Jane herself and author Charlotte Brontë. (Nikki Cotter)

The History Blog posts about the return home of the Pillar Portrait. My Jane Eyre Collection features an edition of the novel with a sweet secret. On AnneBrontë.org, Nick Holland announces that he will be attending the Brontë Society Summer Festival Weekend and AGM.