A thing so frail as thou

An article on Collider praising Andrea Arnold's take on Wuthering Heights can't be about the movie itself, but one more way of finding fault with a film that, for all we know, doesn't even exist as such yet. 

Criticisms levied against the 2026 project target Fennell’s seeming disinterest in the source material. Some fans are so upset that they refuse to buy tickets. For any fan of Emily Brontë’s gothic romance, regardless of whether they intend to watch Fennell’s movie, they should check out Andrea Arnold’s 2011 adaptation, Wuthering Heights. While there have been over 20 adaptations of the novel into various mediums, no version better encapsulates the dark and moody atmosphere of the novel, nor has the willingness to go there with the taboo topics of incest and violence. Arnold’s movie has the vision and spirit of Brontë’s novel, which is not something that can be said for most other movie versions. [...]

Criticisms levied against the 2026 project target Fennell’s seeming disinterest in the source material. Some fans are so upset that they refuse to buy tickets. For any fan of Emily Brontë’s gothic romance, regardless of whether they intend to watch Fennell’s movie, they should check out Andrea Arnold’s 2011 adaptation, Wuthering Heights. While there have been over 20 adaptations of the novel into various mediums, no version better encapsulates the dark and moody atmosphere of the novel, nor has the willingness to go there with the taboo topics of incest and violence. Arnold’s movie has the vision and spirit of Brontë’s novel, which is not something that can be said for most other movie versions.

One of the major points of controversy surrounding Fennell’s upcoming film is the casting decisions. The casting director for Fennell’s Wuthering Heights said during a Q&A at the Sands Film Festival, “But you really don’t need to be accurate. It’s just a book…There are definitely going to be some English lit fans that are not going to be happy.” This comment was in response to the outcry over the decision to cast Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi as the film’s dual leads, Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff. There’s a general discomfort over these actors being too old to play either character and a real frustration with a white actor, Elordi, being cast as a character who, in the source material, was frequently described as dark-skinned. One photograph leaked from the set even showed Elordi sporting a gold tooth. It’s hard to tell if the film is going to outright ignore the racism Heathcliff experienced in the novel or lean into harmful stereotypes.

Fennell’s race-blind casting is not the only instance of this in adaptations of Wuthering Heights; in fact, Arnold’s Heathcliff is still the only movie Heathcliff to be played by actors of color. Not shrinking away from the uglier moments of racism in the book, especially from Catherine's brother, Hindley, gives necessary context to Heathcliff's character arc. Solomon Glave and James Howson play the young and adult versions of Heathcliff, opposite Shannon Beer and Skins actress Kaya Scodelario as Catherine. Shockingly, the young Glave and Beer are the standout actors for 2011’s Wuthering Heights. Their chemistry is electric, and their performances as quiet but ferocious children are tremendous. It's easy to believe their connection to each other and the moors as they race each other up tall rocks and weave between the grasses. One memorable scene sees Glave pushing Beer into mud and the two gazing at each other—a private intimacy the audience is invited into for a brief moment. There is a palpable gravitational pull between the two, an essential element for a couple that described each other as “more myself than I.”

Fans of Brontë’s novel are both worried and frustrated with every new bit of news surrounding Fennell's 2026 movie. Right or not, there are countless other movie versions of Wuthering Heights to enjoy. No adaptation better captures the toxic family dynamics and gothic vibes of the novel than Arnold's 2011 Wuthering Heights. An absolutely gorgeous watch, even as one gets that nauseating discomfort watching the Earnshaws act out their nasty family drama, Wuthering Heights, while not a perfect plot recreation, perfectly translates the tone of the novel. It's a must-watch for book fans and for enthusiasts of gothic romances. (Rachael Blair Severino)

We must be very bad 'fans of Brontë's novel' because for nearly 20 years we have been reporting on projects related to Wuthering Heights and we have always tried to keep to keep an open mind, knowing that what makes a book great is partly the different things it inspires in people and the different visions they take to it. None of those projects have ever damaged or deleted the actual novel, see? What one person might take away from the novel is not necessarily what everyone else needs to take away. As poet Fleur Adcock said, 'Art's whatever you choose to frame' and we are increasingly worried about this supposed way of loving a novel that won't allow for anyone else's vision, this supposed truth that's actually far from it because no one really knows for sure what Emily Brontë would have liked, which makes it all pointless. Wuthering Heights has been open to reinterpretations for nearly 200 years, since its first ever reader, and surely at this point it doesn't need gatekeeping by overzealous so-called 'fans', which in truth are nothing but literal-minded people who have a hard time grasping the concept of different opinions.

Seeing Dance reviews Northern Ballet's Jane Eyre.

Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre is possibly one of the best-known stories in the English language, one of an orphan girl, growing-up under harsh conditions, who finds work as a governess, and love with her employer, Mr. Rochester. If only it were that simple. Jane is them devastated to learn that he is married and his wife still alive, if hidden away and mad.

There is a lot of story, and it’s not the easiest to follow as retold in the ballet. I probably wasn’t the only one resorting to the programme to work out exactly what was going on on-stage.

Having said that, Northern Ballet’s rendition of Jane Eyre was one of the most beautifully danced ballets I have seen in a long while. All the dancers were both technically and expressively excellent, with the two leads, Sarah Chun as Jane and Joseph Taylor as Mr. Rochester, particularly so. They melted and flowed around the stage with grace and perfection.

The choreography, by Cathy Marston, is innovative, creative, intriguing, and challenging. A perfect combination. Every movement has place and meaning.

Patrick Kinmoth’s costumes are of the period, which does mean a lot of dark colours. In contrast, his set is rather modernistic and graphic-designed. It could easily belong to another ballet. Alistair West’s lighting is dim almost throughout, an increasing trend it seems. While that may be accurate for the period, and possibly reflect the trauma and emotion of the story, a little more brightness would have been welcome. The notable exception are the fire scenes, which are aflame.

Philip Feeney’s music, conducted expertly by Lauren Wasynczuk (and how nice to see the Northern Ballet Orchestra back in the pit) is interesting, tonal, and matches the choreography exceptionally well. Unfortunately, after the first half hour or so, it seemed to be on a continuous repeat loop. I longed for a more light and shade, the change of musical construct, tempo and emotion so called for by the story.

But overall, an evening not to be missed for the outstanding dancing and choreography. But a little more light, please. (Nicola Claire)

The Independent's Poem of the Week is Emily Brontë's To a Wreath of Snow.

Emily Brontë’s ‘To a Wreath of Snow’ is a poem of exquisite stillness and confinement, hovering at the edge where natural beauty collides with human suffering. Written during her cloistered life at Haworth, possibly imagining the emotional landscape of her imprisoned brother Branwell, the poem becomes not merely a pastoral observation but an act of imaginative survival.

Let’s look at of the opening: “O transient voyager of heaven! / O silent sign of winter skies! / What adverse wind thy sail has driven / To dungeons where a prisoner lies?” Brontë immediately elevates the snow to cosmic status — it is not just weather, it is a “voyager” sailing the heavens. There’s something almost mythic, oracular, in this: the snowflake becomes a kind of messenger, something fated or fateful, not random. The tone here carries a desperate longing for meaning: the prisoner (and by extension, the speaker) cannot endure mere accident; they must believe the snow means something, that its arrival is not arbitrary but destined.

Notice the strange, inverted power dynamic next: “Methinks the hands that shut the sun / So sternly from this morning’s brow / Might still their rebel task have done / And checked a thing so frail as thou.” The “hands” — faceless, brutal, monolithic — can block sunlight, can enforce isolation. But they cannot stop this delicate, fleeting snow. Here, the poem becomes not merely a meditation on nature but a quiet, defiant political fable. The instruments of authority — jailers, walls, governments, laws — can confine the body, restrict the senses, narrow the range of motion; yet they cannot perfectly seal the prisoner off from the world’s surprises, its accidents, its rebellions. The snow is a defector, slipping across borders, breaching the walls, bringing with it the chill memory of freedom.

In Brontë’s psychological landscape, the self is not a fixed, stable entity. It is a shifting, flickering, fragile thing, sustained by memory, by sensation, by the capacity to imagine connection. The snow does not save the prisoner by changing the material conditions of the prison; it saves the prisoner by reactivating the idea of the free self, the wild self, the mountaineer who loves the bleak, rugged summits more fiercely than any soft, green plain.

And yet, it’s bittersweet. The closing lines confess that this comfort is temporary: “That comforts me while thou art here / And will sustain when thou art gone.” There’s no illusion that the snow will last; it will melt, fade, vanish. But even its absence holds sustaining power, because it has entered the prisoner’s consciousness. Oates might call this the paradox of beauty: its transience does not weaken its impact but deepens it, embedding it more fiercely in memory.

In a 21st-century world of algorithmic bombardment, political imprisonment, climate crisis, and technological isolation, ‘To a Wreath of Snow’ feels piercingly contemporary. Its vision of the imprisoned self — cut off from direct experience, yet still able to be transformed by a fleeting brush with beauty — resonates with anyone navigating mental health struggles, systemic oppression, or even the isolations of virtual life. The poem reminds us that comfort and rebellion can take delicate forms. That resistance is not always dramatic; sometimes, it is the act of recognizing beauty where none should exist, of holding onto the small, transient signs that life beyond the prison walls still matters. (Cassandra Fong)

Mirror highlights the '19 most beautiful villages in the UK you'll want to move to immediately' and one of them is

10. Haworth, Yorkshire

Nestled atop a Yorkshire hill, Haworth is a dream destination for bibliophiles, situated right in the throbbing heart of Brontë country. Here, amidst the hauntingly beautiful heathland that breathed life into 'Wuthering Heights', steep and cobbled lanes teem with historic bookshops, trendy boutiques, classic pubs, and cosy tea rooms, all imbued with shades of the past.

Don't miss the hallowed Brontë Parsonage Museum, in the very dwelling where the literary sisters penned their renowned novels. Also beckoning visitors is the Keighley and Worth Valley Heritage Railway, enhancing the village's yesteryear allure with the echoes of steam train whistles. (Steffan Rhys and Isobel Pankhurst)

Coincidentally, The Yorkshire Post says that Haworth is the 'most affordable family staycation spot for this summer'.

Wide Sargasso Sea makes it onto the list of '8 books where women are bold, brilliant and unforgettable' compiled by Times Now News.