A Metaphor or just very bad Luck

The Bill and Melinda Gates divorce gets their first Brontë references. In The Sydney Morning Herald:

In contemporary culture we know it as the happy ending, the credit-roll moment when the lovers have sorted through their obstacles and misunderstandings and are left clasping each other.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, its most famous proponents were, of course, Jane Austen, George Eliot and the Brontë sisters.

It is no coincidence that women writers were focused on marriage in their work (although Charlotte Brontë and George Eliot published under male pseudonyms at first - Charlotte Brontë wrote that she and her sisters “had a vague impression that authoresses are liable to be looked on with prejudice”.) (...)

On the recommendation of a friend, I am re-reading Jane Eyre, my favourite novel and a marriage plot par excellence.

Charlotte Bronte married late for her time (a spinsterly 38) and the marriage was short because she died soon afterwards, probably from the effects of dehydration brought on by severe morning sickness.

In that way, Brontë’s own marriage plot was her demise, and I’m not sure if that’s a metaphor or just very bad luck.

Jane Eyre is preoccupied with questions of marriage versus independence, and the extent to which we should compromise our own true selves in the pursuit of romantic love.

Its eponymous heroine was radical for her time because she valued her freedom and personal integrity above the security of marriage, twice knocking back proposals, because to accept them would have meant compromising her sense of self to an extent she knew she couldn’t bear. (...)

Even when Jane does finally tie the knot, she subverts the genre by turning herself into the subject, not the object, with one of the most terrific sentences in literature: “Reader, I married him.” (Jacqueline Maley)

Buzzfeed criticises the casting choices of Jane Eyre 2011:

"In the Jane Eyre novel, Jane is painfully plain while Rochester is middle-aged and homely. These traits are essential to their characters and the overarching meaning of the story. However, almost every movie adaptation of Jane Eyre presents an objectively pretty Jane and a gruff, handsome Rochester. I'm tired of Hollywood's bias towards conventionally attractive performers." (Hiitsnicetomeetyou)

This new Jane Eyre 2011 reviewer on Letterboxd is clearly not of the same opinion. 

The Halifax Courier talks about the film sequel of The Railway Children:

Filming will begin for The Railway Children Return on May 10, using locations from the original film.
These locations, which are just over the border from Calderdale, include Oakworth Station, Haworth, The Brontë Parsonage and parts of the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway. (Abigail Kellet) 

The Day wonders when companies like Flock Theatre will be able to perform again:

 Flock did a filmed and Zoom version of “Jane Eyre,” which was originally scheduled to be performed inside the Shaw Mansion in New London. Wood says he’d love to do that in the Shaw Mansion eventually, but that could be a while. “That’s not even on the radar until it’s proven you can sit shoulder to shoulder with strangers,” he says. (Kristina Dorsey)

The Tribune (India) interviews the writer Ruskin Bond:

Rajnish Wattas: You mention some of the books you have liked to re-read. Which are those and why?

R.B.: Yes, I do read a lot of books again and again. Sometimes for the style, sometimes for the characters or sometimes for the atmosphere they create. Such as ‘Wuthering Heights’ by Emily Bronte. I also like ‘The Quest for Corvo’ by AJA Simons.

Actually Mummy and your next UK holiday:

I remember reading Wuthering Heights as a young teenager and being struck by both an urge to visit the dark, bleak landscapes of Heathcliff’s and Cathy’s affair, and fear of what I might find there if I did. Such is the power of a compelling story, that you dive into the descriptions, and want to experience the romance, the rush, or the emotion of the places you read about. (Helen)

Het Parool (Netherlands) presents the recently published book of poems (or poetical prose) Ik Zeg Emily by Yentl van Stokkum:

Niet gek dat Yentl van Stokkum (1991) een fascinatie voor haar opvatte. In haar debuutbundel Ik zeg Emily ­probeert ze in de huid van Brontë te kruipen.

In het openingsgedicht, waarvan de lange titel tevens de eerste zin is – Het verhaal waarin ik bezeten van Emily raak verschilt afhankelijk van de dag waarop ik het vertel – gaat Van Stokkum langs de verschillende versies. In de laatste kijkt de ‘ik’ naar haar handen en ‘weet dat mijn handen mijn handen niet meer zijn/daar niet van in paniek raak/zeker weet/ik ben niet wie ik dacht/er zijn versies waarin het persoonlijk wordt’. (Read more) (Dieuwertje Mertens) (Translation)

Omelete (Brazil) loves Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-García:

Silvia usa muitas referências do gótico e do cosmicismo mesmo para construir sua história, em alguns momentos dá pra lembrar de algumas histórias de H.P. Lovecraft, e também de O Morro dos Ventos Uivantes, e Jane Eyre. É um clima sombrio, melancólico, obscuro e cheio de mistérios. (Milena Enevoada) (Translation)

ArtUK opens an article about the Edinburgh Museums & Galleries with a Charlotte Brontë quote. Brontë Society Italia shares the winners of the De Leo-Brontë 2021 Award in the photography section.