Charlotte Brontë, fashion guru

Keighley News takes things a tad too far when claiming that Charlotte Brontë has been revealed as a 'fashion guru'.

Defying Expectations: Inside Charlotte Bronte's Wardrobe reveals that the literary legend was also quite a fashion guru of her day.

More than 20 pieces of her clothing, and accessories, are on show at the family's former home – the parsonage, in Haworth.

Amongst them is a striped evening dress which was only recently confirmed as belonging to Charlotte, and is being displayed for the first time.

Whilst her most famous protagonist – Jane Eyre – was a conservative dresser, Charlotte engaged with latest fashions.

The exhibition is being co-curated by the Brontë Parsonage Museum and Dr Eleanor Houghton – a historian, writer and illustrator.

Ann Dinsdale, principal curator at the museum, said: "When I first started working here we couldn’t actually display some of the items included in this exhibition as people simply wouldn’t have believed that they belonged to the family, they were so outlandish!

"We always have at least one of the sisters’ dresses on display, because they are so popular. Just seeing the personal items these young women wore brings out an emotional response from audiences.

"I think this exhibition, showing Charlotte’s sense of style and her interest in contemporary patterns and materials, will surprise visitors and I am incredibly excited that we have been able to focus on her wardrobe for the first time anywhere in the world."

Beaded moccasins on show are thought to have been a gift from Charlotte's publisher in New York.

And she was most likely the first person in Haworth to own an 'Ugly Bonnet' – a fashion item she would have bought on a visit to London.

The striped dress was discovered during renovations. It was proved to be Charlotte’s following extensive research by Dr Houghton.

She said: "My research has revealed that seismic changes in Charlotte’s life and circumstances are clearly reflected in her surviving clothing. And although the items that remain make-up just a portion of those owned and worn by the novelist throughout her lifetime, these varied and often surprising pieces are able to offer a unique insight into both her ordinary and extraordinary lives." (Alistair Shand)

The Spectator reviews Wise Children's Wuthering Heights.

The National Theatre’s vast resources have been placed at the disposal of Emma Rice for her adaptation of Wuthering Heights. And that’s the problem. Too much of everything. The story vanishes beneath a cascade of songs, dances, sound effects and distracting video clips showing clouds scudding across the Yorkshire moors. The actors wear hats made from twigs or sprouts of moss. Most of their costumes don’t fit. Barmy props built from vandalised chairs clutter the stage. Every dramatic moment is treated as a zany joke — like a Spike Milligan sketch without any gags. Even a mother’s death during childbirth isn’t treated seriously. Pity the poor performers.

It takes hard work to make a beautiful actress like Lucy McCormick seem sexless and unattractive but that’s the achievement of this show. She plays Cathy as a screeching, honking basketcase with crazy hair and tasteless, baggy clothes. Any sane man would sprint for the exit if she arrived at a party.

Her lover, Heathcliff, is an orphan from Jamaica adopted on a Liverpool dockside by old Mr Earnshaw. His nasty, bullying siblings treat him to numerous kickings. (The show is full of ugly violence.) Despite being raised in Yorkshire the young outcast clings to his Caribbean lilt and when he escapes from the family home he sets off in search of his fortune. Years later he returns in a blinged-up white-and-gold suit, still talking like Bob Marley. He’s turned into Heathspliff.

This role is superbly played by the handsome Ash Hunter who has a lovely voice and a powerful, smouldering stillness. Yet he’s the only one who brings any hint of the novel’s romance, wildness and mystery. The only other bright point in this barrage of Brontë-phobia is Katy Owen’s humorous turn as Isabella. Owen can deliver a ribald line with just the right amount of sauce — ‘I like to slide down the bannister because it tickles my tuppence.’ And she can bend her limbs amusingly which suggests that she could make ballet look funny. She’s a big find. (Lloyd Evans)

Spiked discusses trigger warnings.

The list of trigger warnings is seemingly never-ending. From Jane Eyre to Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the first encounters university students have with new texts are likely to be warnings about their content. Rather than asking why a young generation of budding intellectuals have such a bad reputation for controlling their emotions (or why university students are reading Harry Potter books at all), many academics seem willing to play along with trigger warnings. To criticise trigger warnings today is tantamount to outing yourself as a sadist, intent on causing emotional damage to hordes of unsuspecting youngsters.

But criticise them we should. Trigger warnings are terrible for many reasons. They sanitise our authentic experiences and emotions – reading of the brutal murder of Nancy at the hands and club of Bill Sikes is supposed to make you recoil. They also give credence to the narcissistic idea that young people should link everything they read back to their own experiences, rather than embracing a universal outlook. This philistine approach to learning will do nothing for a young generation of scholars. University is, after all, supposed to be about opening your mind. (Ella Whelan)

Academic Helen Taylor engages with what women have read and how in Why Women Read Fiction: The Stories of Our Lives. The Irish Times reviews it:

Caitlin Moran's girlhood titles are a sensory bloom: The Railway Children, Jane Eyre, Ballet Shoes, What Katy Did, Gone with the Wind. (Ruth McKee)

Russh has an article on Dark Academia.

In essence, we can see Dark Academia as prep school fashion with a gothic twist. It's imbued with European romanticism, tragic fiction, influenced by things like mythology and poetic existentialism, with classic female authors like the Brontë sisters, and Jane Austen being key figures to the trend. (Madeline Kenzie)

The Hollywood Reporter reviews HBO Max’s The Girl Before.

Harkening back to that tradition of Heathcliff/Rochester anti-heroes — The Girl Before is very gothic in its origins — Oyelowo conveys enough temper and torment that audiences will probably be divided on his character and whether the show earns its last 10 or 15 minutes. I would say “No,” but that’s not Oyelowo’s fault. He’s intense and scary even in the moments he maybe isn’t supposed to be. (Daniel Fienberg)

V-Day zone. Times of India shares '5 extremely romantic moments in literature':

05/6 When Jane confesses her love for Rochester: 'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Brontë

“All my heart is yours, sir: it belongs to you; and with you it would remain if fate were to exile the rest of me from your presence forever.”

There are many declarations of love in 'Jane Eyre' that are heartfelt and sweet declarations. However, it’s Jane’s ardent declaration of love at the end that is everyone's favorite.

A quote from Wuthering Heights on a list of 'Classic Love Quotes By Popular Authors That Will Rekindle Your Faith In It' in Times of India and also in Women's Health.