Ministers have announced a £47m funding boost for projects aimed at protecting some of peatlands, which are vital for absorbing and storing planet-heating carbon from the atmosphere.The money, announced by the Environment Department (Defra) today, will be divided between three pots, each supporting projects related to either building wetting infrastructure, growing wetland crops and bulrush, or receiving peatland restoration training.Farmers, land managers, drainage boards, water companies and environmental organisations can apply for grants from these different schemes depending on which action suits them best.Peatlands store more than half of the carbon found in England’s land-based ecosystems.This makes them a powerful nature-based solution against climate change, which is mostly driven by carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels.However, 80 per cent of England’s peatlands have been degraded after centuries of drainage to make way for farming caused the soils to dry out and the organic matter they contain to decompose, releasing stored carbon into the atmosphere. [...]Defra’s announcement comes amid plans to build a huge wind farm on Walshaw Moor, in Calderdale, the wild landscape that inspired Wuthering Heights.Despite its legal protections, Saudi-backed developers are pushing ahead with plans to build 34 wind turbines – at 200m more than 40m higher than the Blackpool Tower – and a battery energy storage system.MPs from Labour and the Conservatives have objected to the project, highlighting the fact that the scheme would cover more than 2,300 hectares of protected peatland. (Ralph Blackburn)
A Musical tribute by Michael and Christine O'Dowd to the celebrated 19th-century Brontë family of Yorkshire was hosted by the Banagher Bronte Group last weekend to mark Charlotte Brontë's birthday.The tribute was a melodic cycle of ten original studio-recorded songs. 40 people attended the event in Crank House. James Scully introduced the world premiere programme of nine songs and lyrics.He also requested a minute’s silence to mark the passing of Kieran Keenaghan, his great friend, historical colleague and good friend of Banagher Brontë Group.Michael and Christine delivered the relevant historical Brontë information for each of the songs, thus enhancing and informing the audience’s experience. A stunning projected film complemented the songs and music and raised the show to a very sophisticated level.Thornton, Yorkshire was the birthplace of the Brontës. Queen Camilla visited in 2025 and learned about the famous literary family. The first song was Brontë Birthplace, Maker of Dreams. Next was Maria, the mother of the family, singing a lullaby to Charlotte. Then, We are the Brontës by the youthful Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne. Followed by Emily, I am a woman.Branwell’s Lament, showed him as lovelorn and melancholic. Anne’s Evensong is a nightly prayer. The Reverend Patrick’s Blessing, prays for divine favour. Charlotte and Arthur's Waltz was a prelude to romance. Charlotte's Way represented the happy couple in Banagher. Charlotte died in 1854. Arthur Bell Nicholls lived in Banagher for 66 of his 80 years. In Forever Free, a schooner represents Freedom floating on a friendly sea to the divine underworld.Frances Browner did a workshop on the Brontës for 6th class in the National School. The fruits of that, were readings of their own poems by Caoimhe Teehan, Maddie Mahon and Diarmuid Boylan to the very appreciative adult audience. Well done to them and their teacher Michaela Keenaghan. Adult readers were James Scully, Courtney Caitlin Phillips, Caleb Phillips, Eileen Casey, Francis Browner. Courtney and Caleb from Alabama also duetted and entertained as singer and musician. Jeannenn and Greg Eastway from Australia and Betsy Pearson from Ohio enjoyed the welcome. Well, That Beats Banagher!Thanks to the Banagher Bronte Group committee, James Scully, Maebh O’Regan, Nicola Daly, Sean O’Regan, Sean Corrigan, Donie Hogan, Frances Browner, and Cora Stronge Smith provided a memorable day and thank Amanda Pedlow and Karen Gray for their support, encouragement and direction for the project. Also Maebh O’Reagan for the art on the back cover of the memorable programme by Brosna Press, Nicola Daly for flower bouquets and the yellow Arthur Bell Rose.Finally, Sean Corrigan who mastered the intricate electronics and the film screen donated by the very generous late Kieran Keenaghan. (Eddie Alford)
Ideas of time pervade the arrangement of the exhibition and its title, ‘I Set Out, I Walked Fast’, which is drawn from Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1847). Re-reading the novel while working in her New Zealand studio, Grosse was struck by Jane’s continuous movement and action as a woman of her time, noting that merely by walking she propels the story forward. Similarly, the exhibition brings together paintings from different periods of Grosse’s practice into a single, interconnected environment, allowing her to traverse swathes of time and register change: an effect that ‘almost repaints’ the works. Across the three spaces of the gallery, each work functions as a ‘plot’ point or ‘node within a spider’s web’ that constantly ‘generates new strands of activity’. In some cases, this process is made literal: canvases painted in previous in-situ installations are brought into the exhibition, carrying ‘the structure and thought of that past show’ with them.
A stormy, emotionally charged literary classic is having a major moment in 2026. According to Goodreads’ latest data on the most-read classics in the last few months, readers have been gravitating toward one famously debated novel above all others so far this year: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.It’s probably no surprise that the 19th-century novel is topping the list. A new film adaptation released in February has reintroduced the story to audiences, sparking fresh discussion around its famously polarizing characters and bleak emotional landscape. (Devon Forward)
La Cadera de Eva (in Spanish) suggests a reading guide to know the Brontës (using a very questionable image without warning or context).
El arco se extenderá hasta que, tres décadas después, Esther dará a luz a un niño, Jimmy, o el auténtico protagonista, siguiendo el modelo de madre subrogada (y tatuada con un extracto de Jane Eyre que sirve de lema existencial) tras un pacto con la mujer asexual para la que antes ha ejercido de au pair (el territorio irvingniano), ya que su proyecto vital estará en la construcción del futuro Estado de Israel. (Antonio Lozano) (Translation)
"When I wrote this book, I was just being all the characters," Micallef says. "To get into their heads, I had to know how they sounded and how they thought."But Micallef did need to change his methods slightly. He couldn't get a laugh with a funny face, voice or act-out — but he could make oblique references to everything from ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus to Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. (Hannah Story and Claire Nichols)
“Wuthering Heights”If you love “Running Up That Hill”, it’s likely you’ll also be fond of this song, which Bush wrote when she was just 18. “Wuthering Heights” was Bush’s debut single and made her the first female to reach No. 1 with an entirely self-written song. It’s also sung from the perspective of Catherine Earnshaw, a character in Emily Brontë’s novel.“It was a subject matter that had been going around in my head for a long time,” Bush shared in an interview. “I’d originally seen the end of a TV series in England, and it had really stuck in my head. And, uh, I read the book last year, and after reading that I just had to write [Wuthering Heights].” (Kat Caudill)
Driving Amazing TrainsC4, 8pmPaul Merton goes from Ravenglass to Dalegarth in the Lake District and then, after Windermere and Brontë country visits, travels from Pickering to Whitby. It’s pleasing stuff, and his journey sheds light on an intractable problem of rail travel: leaves on the line. “A classic railway issue,” he says as the train driver uses a mechanical dropper to put sand in front of the wheels to add traction and stop them slipping down the hill. (Helen Stewart)
3. Lakeside Lodge, Damems, West YorkshirePerhaps not suitable for younger children because of its waterside location, this smart lodge nonetheless has real wow factor. Glass doors and a panoramic deck provide views over the water, beckoning you for a spin in the rowing boat or a spot of fishing. Families can enjoy wildlife watching, as well as train spotting — with steam engines passing by on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway. It’s handy for the Brontë sisters’ home town of Haworth too, which can be reached from nearby Damems station (a request stop) for an excellent family outing. (Oliver Berry)
After delivering an impressive $32.8 million domestic opening, Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi’s steamy romance went on to gross $84 million in North America. It currently ranks as the sixth-highest-grossing release of 2026 domestically, as per Box Office Mojo. Following its U.S. theatrical debut on February 13, the romantic drama effectively ended its North American run on Thursday (April 9), when it collected $8k across 58 locations. That said, the film is still playing in some international markets. [...]Milestone No.1 – $250 Million Worldwide TotalIn addition to its $84 million domestic haul, the film earned $156.4 million from overseas markets, which resulted in a worldwide total of $240.4 million. This means Wuthering Heights is still short of around $9.6 million to reach the $250 million worldwide benchmark. As it is already nearing the end of its ongoing run, it appears unlikely that it will be able to achieve this milestone.Wuthering Heights – Box Office SummaryNorth America: $84 millionInternational: $156.4 millionWorldwide: $240.4 millionMilestone No.2 – $50 Million Theatrical SurplusSince Wuthering Heights was made on an estimated production budget of $80 million, it needed to earn $200 million globally to break even at the box office, using the 2.5x multiplier rule. Based on this calculation, the film has generated a theatrical surplus of $40.4 million. However, reaching the $50 million theatrical surplus mark seems to be unlikely at this stage.Milestone No.3 – All-Time Top 1000 Domestic ChartTo break into the all-time top 1000 films at the domestic box office, Wuthering Heights needed to surpass Peter Pan’s $87.4 million North American total. To reach that milestone, it needs to bring in an additional $3.4 million domestically. However, since the film has effectively ended its original domestic run, it won’t be able to reach that target now. (Pranshu Awasthi)
The Great Southern Killarney was honoured to extend a very warm welcome [to] Nigel West of the Brontë Birthplace Limited, a descendant of Charlotte Brontë’s husband, Arthur Bell Nicholls.Brontë was born Charlotte Nicholls [sic] on 21 April 1816 and she became a highly accomplished English novelist and poet.She [was] elder sister of Emily, Anne and Branwell Brontë and she is best known for her novel Jane Eyre, which was published under the pseudonym Currer Bell.Jane Eyre was a success on publication and is now acknowledged as a classic of English literature.The Brontë connection to Killarney runs deep. In 1818, Rev Patrick Brontë wrote the novella The Maid of Killarney while residing in Thornton, Yorkshire.Decades later, in 1854, Charlotte Brontë and Arthur Bell Nicholls stayed at the newly opened Great Southern Killarney, just days after the hotel first welcomed guests.The visit was marked by the presence of local artist Dolores Lyne, Mayor of Killarney Martin Grady and Great Southern General Manager Jamie Power in a gathering that highlighted the links between community, culture and history.“The occasion provided a meaningful opportunity to reflect on the enduring cultural legacy of the Brontë family and to celebrate the ways in which literature and heritage continue to inspire,” Jamie Power remarked. (John O'Mahony)
BBC period drama hailed as 'best' and 'totally authentic' now streamingThe BBC film put the spotlight on the little-known story (!) of the three Brontë sisters (...)Numerous viewers lauded the programme on IMDb upon its initial release, with one 10/10 review stating: "Really excellently put together and not like any way we've seen the Brontes before."Sets and locations spot on, right even down to the regency couch that Emily is supposed to have died on."Another review was entitled: "One of the Best Bronte Biographies yet" with the viewer elaborating: "I must admit I was dubious at yet another film of the lives of the Brontes.I needn't have been,this was an excellent production." (...)To Walk Invisible is streaming on Apple TV+ and Prime Video for a fee. (Neela Debnath)
After “Frankenstein,” Elordi underwent another transformation to portray Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights.” As he channeled the Emily Brontë antihero earlier this year outside London, he was shocked when a grunt escaped from his own throat.“It was one of my first scenes,” Elordi says with a laugh. “The other actor said something, and I went ‘Wwooouuuugh!’” He re-creates his deep groan from the del Toro movie — wounded and childlike. “Because I had learned to respond to everything with a grunt. Something was still there.” (Brent Lang in Variety)
Banagher Brontë Group organised a number of events for this year's Heritage Week over the weekend of August 15th-August 18th.The Sunday began with 11am Mass in St. Rynagh’s Church and 12 noon Service in St Paul’s Church. Michael Mulqueen, standing in for the vicar, gave a lovely humane sermon.James Scully informed us that the stained glass window by A.L. More at the altar in St Paul's had the names of the Rev. Arthur Bell's family inscribed. He also showed us the graves of the Bell Nicholls family and hoped that the stonework can be restored as it needs very specialist attention.After lunch we gathered in Crank House for the showing of the world premiere of Maebh O’Regan's film Prenuptual Politics at the Bronte Parsonage regarding the marriage settlement and Arthur Bell Nicholls, featuring an interview with Ann Dinsdale, principal curator of the Bronte Museum in Haworth.We learned that once married, a woman had no right to property or money!!! Charlotte was worried about this and whether the marriage would work. They married, fell in love and she trusted Arthur to look after her father Patrick Bronte, a very bright man from a poor Co. Down family. He went to Cambridge on a scholarship. He ensured that the family were well educated so they could survive in employment. Their church school was horrid!In her early life Charlotte was a governess to two young children for £20 a year, less £4 for laundry. Her father Patrick married a well to do lady, Maria Branwell from Cornwall, in 1854. They had six children, four survived; the mortality rate in the Victorian era was very high for children, no sophisticated medicines like today. Maria died in 1821. Patrick was a jobbing vicar in St Peter's Church, Hartshead, Yorkshire. He couldn’t raise the money to buy a church from charities. Rich vicars could afford to buy a church! Patrick was a writer of poetry named “Cottage Poems”. Emily, Patrick and Branwell were known for their poetry.Nigel West gave a very important speech. He’s a founding member of the Brontë Birthplace Thornton group and a descendant of the former occupants of Hill House, now known as Charlotte’s Way. The doctor in Banagher was Robert Tearns. He practised in the building beside Brosna Lodge. Walter West, Nigel’s grandfather, crashed his motorcycle outside the clinic. Dr Robert treated him for his injuries over a period of weeks. Meanwhile the Doctor's daughter and Walter were quickly getting on famously. They got married in St Paul’s Church. Walter later bought Hill House and they lived with her great aunt and Florrie. Their son was Nigel’s father, who inherited Hill House. He lived there and in 1959 he donated Hill House to St Paul's Church.Nigel was a very important figure leading the restoration of the Brontë family’s birthplace of Thornton. He oversaw with the Thornton group fundraising, grants from Bradford City of Culture 2025 and the Community Ownership Fund. The house is now under the care of Brontë Birthplace Ltd., a community benefit society. The building is restored as a heritage destination. (...)Monday August 18th opened in the Offaly History Centre, Tullamore. At 11am the Banagher Bronte Ensemble musicians from Tullamore, Aidan Barry on guitar, Siobhan Butler on vocals and keyboard, Siobhan Godley on flute and Frank Kelly of Lusmagh, gave a recital of the music the Bronte family knew and loved.At 12pm James Scully provided a second launch of 'Let Me In: The Brontes in Bricks and Mortar' by Anne Dinsdale and Sharon White. This very fine tome can be purchased for €25. (...)Finally Dr Meabh O’Regan's enlightening and excellent film, Prenuptial Politics at the Bronte Parsonage was shown. (Eddie Alford)
Jane Eyre by Charlotte BrontëThe story of Jane Eyre is riveting and quite an interesting read to pick up for the fall reading season. It can also to some extent be identified as a coming of age novel. It follows the love story of Jane Eyre and the challenges she faces while growing to finally getting the freedom she deserves. The ending of the novel is also quite interesting and heartfelt, as a reader you will root for the protagonist to have a happy ending. As this is one of the most popular classic novels of all time it would be a little hefty length wise but well layered and quite a language lesson to get in. it is not written to accommodate your language deciphering capacity but is more inclined to improve and upgrade you level of language understanding. (Humaira Salim)
Thumbing through a CliffsNotes guide now is something of a revelation. The Wuthering Heights guide offers over 60 pages on Heathcliff and Cathy’s tempestuous relationship, analysis of Brontë’s writing style, biographical inspiration, and discussion questions. The author of this version of the guide, Janet C. James, has a doctorate from the University of York in England and the writing demonstrates it. One sentence about how readers might feel about Brontë’s work contains 79 words and eight commas:Men and women who, perhaps naturally very calm, and with feelings moderate in degree, and little marked in kind, have been trained from their cradle to observe the utmost evenness of manner and guardedness of language, will hardly know what to make of the rough, strong utterance, the harshly manifested passions, the unbridled aversions and headlong partialities of unlettered moorlands hinds and rugged moorland squires, who have grown up untaught and unchecked, except by mentors as harsh as themselves. (Joelle Renstrom)
Some are interpreted literally through their titles, while others draw on pop culture, such as the bonnet cap from Hulu’s adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale or a chase scene lifted from Wuthering Heights. (Matin Cheung)
In motion, the mood channels the cinema that [Pieter] Mulier loves: the elemental romance of The Piano, the intensity of Breaking the Waves, the brooding wilds of Wuthering Heights, and the painterly historicism of Barry Lyndon. It’s not pastiche, it’s memory repurposed, references filtered into something that feels strikingly now and yet timeless.
The Brontë Sisters UK publishes a video where she describes how the Brontës published under male pseudonyms (Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell) to be taken seriously in Victorian England
A striking portrait of a renowned Yorkshire writer has gone on display in the house where it was painted nearly two centuries ago.The profile image of Emily Brontë is one of the only surviving likenesses of the novelist and poet. It was painted by her brother Branwell originally as part of a family portrait of Emily, himself, and their sisters Charlotte and Anne.The work, on loan until October 31 from the National Portrait Gallery in London, has gone on display at the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth as part of the UK City of Culture celebrations in Bradford.Branwell created the picture when he was about 17 in around 1833. He was shown holding a gun but later painted himself out.It was inherited by Charlotte’s widower, Arthur Bell Nicholls, who destroyed the images of Charlotte and Anne thinking them poor likenesses. However, he kept the remaining scrap because he thought the depiction of Emily was accurate. It was discovered decades later on top of a wardrobe.Ann Dinsdale, principal curator at the Bronte Parsonage Museum, said: “There is great expectancy at the parsonage and we can’t wait for our visitors to see it. It is a fairly rare opportunity to see it outside London in the house where it was painted.”She said its popularity owed much to the “haunting” image of Emily looking much as readers might expect of the Wuthering Heights author.“She’s looking into the distance, you can only see her in profile. The way it’s been torn, you feel it’s like a holy relic almost,” she said. “We’re definitely expecting people to make a special trip while it’s here.”The discovery of the portraits proved to be a compelling story in themselves.On the first day of viewing in 1914 so many people wanted to see the pictures, the Yorkshire Observer noted the gallery “underwent a minor siege”. (Mike Waites)
Many Irish people are unaware that the English novelist, Charlotte Bronte was married to an Irish-man, Arthur Bell Nicholls from Banagher.Charlotte was the only one of her siblings to marry and we are lucky enough to have her dramatic first-hand account of Arthur's proposal and her father, the Rev Patrick Brontë's staunch opposition to this union. In fact Arthur broached the subject of marriage on Monday December 13th 1852 and there followed a tsunami of events before the couple eventually became engaged. Their marriage took place on June 29th 1854.Her father put many obstacles in the couple's way. He even tried to sabotage the wedding by declaring, on the evening before the ceremony, that he was 'indisposed' and unable to attend. So, in the absence of any other male relatives, who would give the bride away?Luckily, Charlotte had her two best friends staying in the Parsonage with her, Ellen Nussey (her bridesmaid) and her mentor, Margaret Wooler. The ladies put their thinking caps on and looked up the Book of Common Prayer (a religious text book). They discovered that the person who conducted the bride up the aisle did not have to be male and so, Margaret Wooler, Charlotte's former teacher, took up that role and the wedding went ahead at 8am on the following morning.One must remember at that time, marriage was a social, religious and legal contract. Prior to the wedding, on May 24th, a group including Charlotte, Arthur, the bride's father Patrick, the trustee Joe Taylor and Charlotte's solicitor, assembled in the Parsonage at Haworth to sign a legal document known as the Wedding Settlement. Who instigated this contract? Why was this a necessary step? Where did Charlotte's money come from? What was the legal standing of women at that time under English law?To answer these questions I brought my camera along to the Parsonage Museum in Haworth (home of the Brontës) to interview an expert in this field. Their Principal Curator, Ann Dinsdale kindly retrieved the Wedding Settlement parchment from the archives and unpacked the story behind it.This film will be premiered in Banagher on August 17th of August 2025 at 2.30pm as part of the Heritage Week festivities. Ann Dinsdale will be present at Crank House, Main Street and Q & A afterwards should be fascinating. (Maebh O’Regan)
Composer John Joubert and librettist Kenneth Birkin worked on this opera adaptation of Jane Eyre for over a decade, from 1987 to 1997 – there were other things going on during this time, and much of their collaboration was done by correspondence, some of which is apparently now in the archives of the British Library, together with some of Joubert’s composition manuscripts. The good thing about this being an opera they wanted to compose and write, rather than being commissioned, is that there was no deadline by which it had to be good and ready come what may. The ‘bad’ thing, as it were, about an uncommissioned work is that it can take a while to get a full production. In this case, it was quite a long while indeed: and so it was, that on opening night, Birkin stood alone with the cast at curtain call, Joubert having died in 2019.Surtitles are in use, even though the opera is in English in the first place. Emotions that come gushing from carefully constructed and thought-through intonations and inflections in a surprisingly enjoyable experience, accessible without compromising too much on the nuances in the story. Of course, a two-act opera (which itself probably rankles purists) that sends the audience home the ‘right’ side of 10:00pm isn’t going to capture everything that the Charlotte Brontë novel does. It effectively skips the first two of the five stages of the novel’s narrative, jumping straight into Jane Eyre (Laura Mekhail) having resigned from her job for the mundane reason (at surface level, at least) of being successful at another job she applied for. The rest is pretty much as the novel would have it, ending, in essence, where Brontë’s Eyre wrote: “Reader, I married him”.I wasn’t thinking about the book whilst watching the opera, which on balance I think is a good thing: the opera does not assume prior knowledge of the story, and there is no synopsis in the show’s programme (well, online freesheet – it is 2025, after all), because one is not required. The operatic convention of putting more effort and energy into singing about one’s intention to do something than actually doing it manifests itself in St John Rivers (Lawrence Thackeray) and his plan to embark on an overseas missionary trip. Whether he goes in the end is known to those who have read the novel, but here, with his purpose in Eyre’s story served, he’s just forgotten about altogether in the final scenes.The focus on the central character appeals to me: a show called Jane Eyre should be about Jane Eyre! This is not opera on a grand scale, and it is, for the most part, solos and duets, duets and solos. I resist a direct comparison with Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde as the storyline is too dissimilar. Joubert’s music more often than not has a propulsive rhythm, and this production is a lean machine, in the sense that most shows, even excellent ones, could do with a little trimming – and some could do with a lot – but this one requires none at all. Perhaps more set would have been ideal, as different settings looked more or less like one another. Otherwise, it was an enthusiastic and engaging evening, which held my attention throughout despite prior familiarity with the story. (Chris Omaweng)
There aren't many directors who manage to stir up rage, controversy and divide opinion quite like Emerald Fennell. Before she could even say the word 'Heights', the Promising Young Woman director's adaptation of Emily Bronte's 1847 novel has had the internet up in arms.First, she was criticised for casting Margot Robbie, 35, as Catherine Earnshaw, who (spoiler alert) dies by the time she is 18. Then she was called out for casting Jacob Elordi, a white actor, in the racially ambiguous role of Heathcliff. And then 'first look' pictures of Wuthering Heights found their way onto social media and the whole production was written off for its numerous historically inaccuracies.Now, despite the film not coming out until 13 February 2026, scathing reviews of the test screenings have put Fennell's adaptation back in the headlines. One viewer at the first test screening in Dallas labelled the film 'aggressively provocative' and said it had parallels with the 'stylised depravity' of her last project, Saltburn. [...]What is surprising, though, is that we are hearing about all of this six months before the film hits cinemas. Whether you work in the entertainment industry or not, it is fairly unprecedented for reviews of screen testings not to be under strict embargoes, especially for a film with such a demonstrable marketing budget and high profile cast and crew.There is a reason why reviews tend to drop the week before or day of a film being released. They are, to all intents and purposes, a way of helping people decide whether to tune in. Nowadays they are also used to create 'buzz' and help the film cut through in online discourse.Given Fennell's penchant for raucous debate – she certainly seems to be an advocate of 'all publicity is good publicity' – it's hard to imagine that these scabrous reviews are not part of the film's wider marketing strategy.When have we ever heard what a single viewer in Dallas thinks of a test screening before? Or read that a film blogger thinks her interpretation adds 'something bold and unexpected' to Brontë's story? It is far from usual protocol. And Fennell knows what she's doing. [...]In a world where audiences are constantly overwhelmed by choice and reluctant to spend in cinemas without knowing what they're paying for, the louder the chatter about a film is online, the more likely they are to watch it.If that's what Fennell is playing into, then hats (or bonnets) off to her. Wuthering Heights might still be six months away, but part of me wants to find out what all the fuss is about already. (Nikki Peach)
Mark Young, The Ivy York general manager, said: "It was a pleasure for The Ivy York to celebrate how incredibly wonderful our fabulous county is."We are so lucky to live and work in such a beautiful place, with so much history and rich culture."One of our guests was Nigel West from The Brontë Birthplace, a direct descendant of Charlotte Brontë's husband Arthur Bell Nicholls. You cannot get more Yorkshire than the world famous Brontë family." (Haydn Lewis)
Even Charlotte Brontë deployed satire. Brontë was an admirer of William Makepeace Thackeray and dedicated the second edition of Jane Eyre (1847) to his famously satirical novel Vanity Fair (1848). As 19th-century literature expert Jo Smith has recently observed, Brontë also used her persona, Currer Bell, to enact satire across her career, even articulating her own theory of satire. (Adam J Smith)
Charlotte Brontë's 209th birthday will be commemorated at an event being organised by the local Banagher Brontë Group on Saturday, April 26.Proceedings will start at Charlotte's Way, The Hill, Banagher at 1.30pm where the group will gather to carpool for a field trip to Shannon Harbour, Shannonbridge, Meelick Weir Walkway, Victoria Lock and Eyrecourt.The purpose of the trip is to visit places outside Banagher which Arthur Bell Nicholls would have been proud to show his new wife, the eminent novelist Charlotte Brontë, when they honeymooned in Banagher in July 1854.Upon returning to Banagher at around 5pm, the group will gather in the new snug in Hough’s pub for readings by, on, or about the Brontës of Haworth and the Bells of Banagher.This will be an 'open mic' format, so now is your chance to 'have your spake'!The readings will conclude at about 6.30pm. Some folks will t
hen repair to Flynn's restaurant for food. Please make your own booking to guarantee a place at a table at 057 9151312.Proceedings will conclude with a recital by the Banagher Brontë Ensemble in Corrigan’s Corner Pub at 9pm.The ensemble is now an integral part of the group, and we have been awarded a grant of €800 to reward the gifted players for creating an extensive and growing repertoire of appropriate music.The group will perform twice more this year, once in Heritage Week in Tullamore, as part of four days of celebration of the Brontë associations with County Offaly, particularly Banagher, from Friday, August 15 to Monday, August 18. Full details coming soon.The group's final events for 2025 will be held at the end of November, when it will Arthur Bell Nicholls' 119th anniversary.
%20(1).jpg)
Dressed in a long black coat, gold-buttoned waistcoat and with longer hair and sideburns, the actor also revealed a hooped earring for the highly-anticipated £62million production.When he smiled, he flashed a gold tooth.Robbie, 36, who plays Catherine Earnshaw, or Cathy, was dressed in a voluminous black gown with black veil during filming on Tuesday for what appeared to be a funeral scene. She clutched a hot water bottle in between takes on the moorland set. (Molly Clayton)
Erase Erase follows Tess, a heartbroken young dyke, who forms an unexpected and all-consuming bond with an older woman, Nora, after being invited to her mansion in upstate NY. Erase Erase is a spiky, queer, darkly comedic spin on the gothic novel—think Gen-Z Jane Eyre or Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca by way of contemporary sugar mommies. Erase Erase runs from April 10th-12th at Grace Exhibition Space.
When I wrote The Creation of Half-Broken People I definitely wanted the Gothic to matter. My first introduction to the genre was when I read Jane Eyre in high school in my A-Level English class. Having been primed by most of the literature that I had consumed till that point to sympathize with the often-white protagonist of the story, my encounter with Bertha Mason turned out to be a revelation. My superb teacher, Mrs. Joan Madonko, made me realize that Bertha Mason in all her wretchedness was not something to fear as Jane did and Mr. Rochester encouraged, but was instead someone that I, a black girl living in a former British colony, should understand and feel an affinity towards. (...)The story had many false starts… until I decided to deliberately write it as a Gothic novel—as a story that is in conversation with Jane Eyre.
De pronto, muchos factores aparecidos en las páginas precedentes toman un vuelo distinto, y la relectura de Cumbres borrascosas que se insinúa en la novela gana profundidad, y lo mismo ocurre con los ecos bíblicos que la puntúan. (Nadal Suau) (Translation)
Amores vampíricos y voluptuosidad lésbica: Aixa de la Cruz se viste de Emily Brontë en su nueva novela. (...)En la última novela de Aixa de la Cruz (Bilbao, 1988), todo empieza con Emily Brontë. Su protagonista, Violeta, crece fascinada bajo el signo de Cumbres borrascosas, es decir, obsesionada con ser una heroína de amor, deseosa de vivir una historia romántica y apasionada que no se convierta nunca en tragedia ni abandono. Y así es como Violeta, Cathy contemporánea, encuentra a Paul, su Heathcliff particular.Como en la novela de Brontë, el vínculo que construyen se encuentra por encima de la sangre y la amistad, del sexo y el erotismo; si en el siglo XIX había matrimonios de conveniencia, corazones rotos y venganza, en el XXI hay búsqueda de otros modos de establecer relaciones que no pudran el amor. (...)Aixa de la Cruz lo sabe y por eso nos regala su versión contemporánea de unas cumbres borrascosas coronadas de pactos de amor que sangran nuevas formas de quererse en un mundo insoportable. (Begoña Méndez) (Translation)
A.D.L.C.: Esta novela nació como una especie de diálogo con Cumbres borrascosas, mi novela preferida en la infancia y adolescencia, a la que vuelvo siempre para entender la fascinación que genera un tipo de romanticismo violento que atrae como un precipicio.Nuria Azancot: ¿Qué le debe este libro, y usted como autora, a la novela gótica y a Jane Austen?A.D.L.C.: (...) Las heroínas se acaban enamorando de lo que, casualmente, les conviene en términos económicos, y ostentan un autocontrol que, si nos movemos al periodo romántico con Cumbres borrascosas, queda arrasado. De Austen me gusta esta asociación de la novela romántica con la novela de tensión de clase, como en El amante de Lady Chatterley o en Gente normal de Sally Rooney, que es una autora en la que pensé bastante también mientras escribía este libro.N.A.: ¿Y qué peso tienen los vampiros? Porque la sangre atraviesa todo el libro...A.D.L.C.: Claro, es que la metáfora de los vampiros es perfecta para hablar de ese amor fusional rollo Cumbres borrascosas ("¡Yo soy Heathcliff!, gritaba Catherine"), que no respeta ni desea la individualidad del otro. (Translation)
won over fans as Jane Eyre's lover Mr Rochester (Hannah McDonald)
Emerald Fennell‘s adaptation of the classic gothic romance “Wuthering Heights” is coming to the big screen just in time for Valentine’s Day. Warner Bros. will release the film from MRC on Feb. 13, 2026.Fennell serves as writer, director and producer on the project based on Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel, which stars Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi, Hong Chau, Alison Oliver and Shazad Latif. MRC and Robbie’s LuckyChap also produce.“Wuthering Heights” marks the second collaboration between MRC, LuckyChap and Fennell after the breakout hit “Saltburn,” and the third collaboration with LuckyChap and Fennell (“Promising Young Woman”). (Katcy Stephan)
Also set to hit theaters in February 2026 is an untitled Marvel feature and Scream 7. (Mia Galuppo)
The Margot Robbie-Jacob Elordi starring, LuckyChap production based on the Emily Brontë novel is a clear destination for female audiences over that period. Already on Feb. 13, 2026 is another female-demo movie, Universal’s feature take of Colleen Hoover novel, Reminders of Him. Sony also has the animated feature, Goat from Tyree Dillihay. (Anthony D'Alessandro)
First-person perspective is common to fiction because it allows the author to develop characters while also filling out the world in which the story takes place. Jane Eyre’s passions are informed by her descriptions of Rochester’s home. Dostoyevsky’s Underground Man presents his Russian milieu as a reflection of his own impotence. Humbert Humbert’s description of American motels in the travelogue section of Lolita underscores his broken moral compass. As this last example demonstrates, first-person narration allows for unreliable narrators, storytellers whose limitations (ethical, situational, or otherwise) make the reader doubt the person guiding them through the world.Try as they might, filmmakers haven’t had as much success translating the technique to screen. (Joe George)
Another thing I love about Banagher is its literary associations. Trollope worked in the town's Post Office for three years and foxhunted locally. Charlotte Brontë married local man Arthur Bell Nicholls and spent her honeymoon in elegant Cuba Court (sadly long since demolished).Another of the town's originals is James Scully. The former teacher and local historian has done so much for the area. He is also one of the driving forces behind the year old Banagher Brontë Group, which was a great idea and is proving very successful.On Saturday the group welcomed the famous novelist Martina Devlin to Crank House for the launch of her excellent novel “Charlotte”. Martina is one of Ireland's most talented novelists and she impressed us all with her knowledge of the Brontës and her love of the subject matter.The following day the Banagher Brontë Group attended the midday service in St Paul's Church where the new incumbent clergyman Rev John McGinty gave a thought-provoking and inspiring sermon to the congregation.Rev McGinty is originally from Massachusetts and he told The Midland Tribune that his new life in the midlands of Ireland feels like “a great adventure.”Rev McGinty told the congregation that Saint Paul's Church at Banagher was very happy to welcome members of the Banagher Brontë Group “for the annual wreath-laying at the resting place in the churchyard here of Arthur Bell Nicholls.”Rev McGinty added that The Brontë Group “is today commendably celebrating the town's heritage, and the link of this town and church with Charlotte Brontë, her life and work.“This shines a light on a significant person in her life, her husband, Banagher's Arthur Bell Nicholls. It also shines a light on a very important and happy time in Charlotte's life, her honeymoon.“Here in St Paul's we are very happy to support and encourage these ongoing and deepening efforts.”Outside it was cold and blue-skied. A small gathering stood beside the impressive tombstones of the Bell family while a few words were said. Joanne Wilcock, from Lancashire and a member of the Brontë Society in Haworth, said it was a special moment for her to lay a wreath at Arthur Bell Nicholls' grave. She said Arthur was “a true gentleman, with the emphasis on the word gentle. Arthur worked tirelessly as a curate. In this regard, while living in Haworth, he became a rock for his father-in-law providing invaluable assistance as Patrick became older. For a long time Patrick didn't want Arthur as his son-in-law but Arthur was in love and therefore he showed great determination. He never gave up and eventually he married the love of his life, Charlotte. After Patrick's death it was a great blow to Arthur when he wasn't offered the curacy in Haworth, another of life's countless cruelties. But he returned to Banagher, forged a new life, and married his cousin Mary Anna. For 42 years Arthur and Mary Anna offered each other those great blessings of marriage, namely companionship and emotional support.” (Derek Fanning)
The Spen Valley Civic Society hopes that the new owner of Red House Museum in Gomersal will give the historic building “the tender loving care it deserves.”The Grade II Listed building, which was owned by Kirklees Council, was sold at auction for £650,000 last week.Once the home of Charlotte Brontë’s friend Mary Taylor, the museum closed its doors in 2016 and was earmarked for a wedding venue years later but this plan fell through.The council announced last year that it was looking to dispose of several assets when it was facing a £47m deficit, although local community groups hoped that Red House could be saved.A spokesperson for the Spen Valley Civic Society said: “For all those local residents who campaigned to keep the Red House open as Spen Valley’s local museum and Brontë site, its sale for £650,000 is the end of the story.“A story of the loss of a public cultural and heritage resource. The Civic Society would like to see some of the proceeds being used for other public resources in Spen Valley, such as Spen’s Town Hall in Cleckheaton.“We hope that the new owner of The Red House will respect its historical value and give the building the tender loving care it deserves as a Grade II Listed building.” (Adam Cheshire)
The Banagher Brontë Group welcomed famous author Martina Devlin to Crank House on Saturday afternoon for the launch of her acclaimed book “Charlotte”.James Scully warmly welcomed Martina and the audience to the launch of “this wonderful book.”He gave some background information about what Banagher Brontë Group is. “We are an organisation founded in December 2023 with the aim of highlighting the connection between Banagher and the famous Brontë literary family from Haworth in Yorkshire, England.“This connection began in 1845 when an Irish curate, Arthur Bell Nicholls, who had grown up in Banagher, became the new curate helping Patrick Brontë, incumbent curate of Haworth and none other than father of the famous writers, Anne Brontë, Emily Brontë and Charlotte Brontë. This same curate, less than ten years later, in 1854, became the husband of Charlotte Brontë and he brought her to Banagher on their honeymoon.”James said the Group has enjoyed a great year and has been very active. “We visited Haworth. We took part in the St Patrick's Day Parade in Banagher. We have a growing collection of tapestries and marionettes. We have a number of plans for the future. And now we are delighted to welcome the acclaimed novelist and Irish Independent journalist Martina Devlin to our town for the launch of her highly-praised novel 'Charlotte'. I first met Martina in the summer of 2021 and I was delighted when she said Mary Anna Bell Nicholls, who lived in Cuba Court House here in Banagher and became the second wife of Arthur Bell Nicholls, was going to feature prominently in her novel 'Charlotte'.”The audience was then treated to a fascinating and detailed interview process between Maebh O'Regan of Banagher Brontë Group and Martina Devlin, during which Martina revealed her incredibly extensive knowledge of the Brontës.Maebh began the interview by saying she had hugely enjoyed the novel. She asked why was Martina so interested in the Brontës?Martina said her deep interest goes back to her childhood when she read 'Jane Eyre' and loved it. “Many things struck me when I read the novel, many lines leapt out at me, including the powerful line spoken by Jane, 'I am no bird and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.' I loved that fierce, independent spirit. It was very attractive. In a way my novel 'Charlotte' is an act of homage to 'Jane Eyre'. 'Charlotte' also grew out of the fact that I wanted to draw people's attention to the huge Irish connection, the huge Irish influence in the Brontë story. Take for example the gothic elements in Jane Eyre or in Wuthering Heights, I think there is something very Irish which has inspired those elements. Also, Charlotte's father Patrick, who was from County Down, was well known for being an excellent storyteller. I think the Brontë sisters may have imbibed some of that genius for storytelling from their father.”Maebh said Martina's novel is told from the viewpoint of Mary Anna Bell Nicholls. Why was this?“The more research I did,” replied Martina, “the more pivotal Mary Anna seemed. She met Charlotte and Arthur when they arrived in Dublin on their honeymoon. She spent some of their honeymoon in Cuba Court with them. Mary Anna was young, 22, and I thought it must have been quite dazzling for her to meet one of the most famous female novelists in the world. It would be like a young woman meeting Tom Cruise in Banagher now!“The novel covers quite a long time frame. There was the nine months of Charlotte and Arthur's marriage. The years that followed fascinated me and I wanted to tell the story of that.” (Read more) (Derek Fanning)
"We collaborated and talked about Swift as like a savvy Victorian novelist -- going back to the Brontës, actually, in some ways -- talking about all her re-recordings and marketing strategies in the context of 19th century publishing," she said.The elective class, LIT3301, rotates topics based on interest. The idea for a Swift class came when the trio was having lunch one day in the month of – you guessed it – August.But Jones, an associate professor, explains that while some thought the idea was legendary, others deemed it unnecessary."There was a letter to the editor in the Tampa Bay Times about how it was sort of an embarrassing thing for USF to be doing,” she said. “Like, back in the day, professors taught real things like Shakespeare and Milton and Jonathan Swift and the Brontë sisters." (Mahika Kukday)
Martina Devlin’s novel adopts the ambivalent perspective of the widowed Mary in 1913, as she looks back over decades of accommodating her emotional needs to Arthur’s continued devotion to Charlotte’s memory. Now legal owner of the remaining collection of Brontëana – which Arthur has already begun disposing of, as household finances become straitened in consequence of the Land Acts – Mary is increasingly tempted to sell the rest, while media interest in Charlotte is intensifying following the (real-life) publication in The Times of her impassioned letters to her married tutor Constantin Heger.Mary’s memories (and, perhaps, imaginings) range from her brief acquaintance with Charlotte during her honeymoon in post-Famine Ireland in 1854, through the years of her own marriage to Arthur. Her narrative is interspersed with fictional documents including letters, interview transcripts and a mysterious manuscript story, while episodes recalling Brontë's life and novels blend with a fictional subplot concerning an illegitimate birth.Like Devlin’s previous novel, Edith (2022), Charlotte articulates an Anglo-Irish psychology of uneasy inheritances and divided loyalties – though crowded incidents and a sprawling timeline prevent it from achieving the atmospheric intensity, or the narrative momentum, that Edith’s tightly focalised, linear structure enabled.Exploration of Brontë's own half-Irish, half-English identity is meanwhile frustratingly confined to the realms of counterhistorical fantasy, as Charlotte flees her Dublin honeymoon to visit her Brunty relations in Co Down, in defiance of Patrick’s shame over their folksy ways and Catholic ancestry. Her uncle William Brunty’s activities in 1798 are hinted at only in an ironic comment from Arthur (“Who knows what else there is to be dug up? Irish rebels, I shouldn’t wonder”), and in two incidents where the Nichollses are menaced by the Bruntys’ rooster, named Henry Joy McCracken. Charlotte, at least, is forgiving: “He was defending his territory.” (Jenny McAuley)
Helen Mead: Does anything in the local area inspire you?S.S.: The vast moorlands that straddle the South Pennines are landscapes that are constantly changing. For thousands of years people have inhabited this often harsh, but beautiful environment and left their mark through carved stones, dry stone walls, managed grouse moors and wind turbines.When I began to draw and paint the moors the expanse of the landscape filled my surface. As I explored I began to take more notice of the objects that inhabit this wild landscape and how they endure against the severe effects of the elements.More recently I have become aware of the impact man is having on our moorlands and how I relate to them in comparison with past inhabitants such as Late Neolithic and Bronze Age communities, and literary figures like The Brontë Sisters. The landscape I walk through is very different to the one that these people would have experienced. (Helen Mead)
Part of the reason may be the sheer amount of time it takes to complete an opus that transcends a lifetime. Would you devote your evenings to arguing with Socrates about morals or sparring with Dante about politics and spirituality? The urgent need of slotting historical literature into some sort of forced contemporary relevance is making these tomes less enjoyable. Case in point: Wuthering Heights is withering.No dedicated bibliophile ever feels fully secure in their own reading accomplishments. So, before you castigate yourself for not burying your nose in a book you should have, experts are telling us that classics are not austere endurance tests. In fact, an e-reading tool powered by artificial intelligence (AI) named Rebind, which utilises technology similar to ChatGPT that replicates dialogue between student and teacher, seeks to rekindle your love and faith in all the things good writing can do. (Kong Wai Yeng)
“Wuthering Heights” by Emily BrontëThe world-renowned “Wuthering Heights” centers on the intense, tumultuous relationship between Heathcliff, an orphaned foundling, and Catherine Earnshaw, his childhood companion.Set on the Yorkshire Moors in England, this gothic classic resembles all that is fair in love and war. The destructiveness of love intertwines with the futility of revenge, creating perhaps the most popular Victorian classic to date. The somber landscapes that coincide with an all-consuming tale of love embodies the autumn we love to romanticize.Brontë displays how the pursuit of love and beauty is not always successful, and how that can stem into generational trauma. Though eloquent in theory, “Wuthering Heights” is a psychological nightmare that is practically gut-wrenching. If a horrifically immersing Victorian novel on a crisp fall evening doesn’t scream autumn to you, I don’t know what does. (Grace Jos)
The story opens in 1854, when a delirious Nicholls arrives in Ireland with his new (and by now exceedingly famous) bride. Charlotte Brontë’s second novel Jane Eyre has, as Mary Bell puts it, “caused a sensation”, and Arthur, a decent but prickly man, will have to endure being constantly occluded by his charismatic wife during their progress around the island.Mary Bell, watching from the sidelines and still unmarried, observes the great writer with a mixture of wonder and envy, and is not initially charmed.“Her face was plain,” she says bluntly, “an overhanging forehead, a nose like a shoehorn.”Poor old Charlotte will be dead within the year, and Martina Devlin’s book shoots forward to 1913, and the visit to Mary’s house of English journalists and collectors keen to divest her of the many Brontë heirlooms that have fallen into her possession.We then drift back and forth between Mary’s serviceable but uninspiring marriage to Arthur, and her brief time with Charlotte, whom she came to dearly love.Mary’s servant, Hope Porter, is another important character: bustling and decent, reminiscent of Nelly Dean in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, but a terriblesecret has been kept from Hope that is bound, sooner or later, to emerge.Mary’s brother Richard is a cad of the first order, though not a particularly colourful one.Mary herself is a far more believable character, by turns petty and generous, with views about ordinary Irish people that neatly reflect the Anglo-Irish prejudices of her time.The Famine lingers over the book’s early sections like a bad smell, and moves centre stage during an eventful (and imagined) journey north to Co Down so Charlotte can meet her extended family.Among them Alice Brunty, a certified loon clearly inspired by mad Mrs Rochester and prone to prostrating herself on a mass grave containing unnamed victims of Black 47.“You’re the image of Branwell,” Charlotte tells one of the Bruntys, and her anguish at the loss of her three siblings is never far from the surface.Charlotte herself will die during a doomed pregnancy in 1855, adding a further gothic twist to an already tragic life.And thereafter, having been bullied into marrying Arthur by her mother, Mary Bell will have to watch while her husband kneels in worship before a portrait of Charlotte that becomes a kind of shrine.After a flighty start, Martina Devlin’s prose settles into a sturdy rhythm: we hear from Charlotte, but not too much, and instead are given frumpy reports from the woman doomed to live in her shadow.Only in those scenes among the Bruntys do we get echoes of the high Brontë style, but the book has much to say about the literary industry that grew around three remarkable sisters who did not live to witness the full extent of their success. (Paul Whitington)
Carol Atherton has been an English-literature teacher for 30 years. Here she considers how novels, plays and poems she has taught have shaped our beliefs, values and interactions as a society, because they make us think about “issues of class, gender, sexuality, race, justice, power and social responsibility”. Her discussions of some 16 literary works are insightful, thought-provoking and wide-ranging. For example, she expands on how Browning’s My Last Duchess concerns power, gender and control to include the ghastly Andrew Tate, and asserts how the plea for social responsibility in An Inspector Calls (1945) still remains unanswered. It would be hard to better her reading of Jane Eyre and its Wide Sargasso Sea companion book. Autobiographical details enrich this paean to dedicated teaching. (Brian Maye)
5. Jane Eyre (2011)Cary Fukunaga’s Gothic-infused adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 novel Jane Eyre must have been intimidating to make. With dozens of previous adaptations already out there across film, television, and other media, finding a new angle could not have been easy.And yet, the 2011 version of the classic novel feels fresh and faithful to the source material. The chemistry between Jane (Mia Wasikowska) and Rochester (Michael Fassbender) animates the movie. Check it out next time it pops up on streaming. (Tim Rinaldi)
As he revealed on Tracks Of My Years, one song in particular, ‘Baker Street‘ by Gerry Rafferty, reminds him of this character-building time.“This was a time I was living in a bedsit in Bayswater,” he recalled. “I used to have the radio on a lot, and there were two hits that year, one, ‘Wuthering Heights’, and the other one was Gerry Rafferty’s ‘Baker Street’. That saxophone solo in the beginning completely destroyed me. It made me wish that I was in the charts too because these were number one records”. (Katy J Pearson)
Programme:Friday, 13th September7:30pm Shay Hynes, Festival ChairmanOfficial Opening: Mr Pat Dowling, Chief Executive, Clare Co. Co.7:45pm Michael & Christine O’Dowd – An Evening with Charlotte BrontëQ & AFollowed by light refreshments in the foyerSaturday, 14th September11:00am Dr Claire O’Callaghan“The value of sisters’ affections: There is nothing like it in this world.”Re-examining Charlotte and Emily BrontëQ & A1:30pm Theatrical Production – “Walking Invisible With You”A new Play by Playwright: Jenny BassettPerformed by: Hot Potato Productions2:45pm Join us for light refreshments in the foyer3:15pm Dr Michael Stewart- Lost in BrontëlandQ & A4:40pm Musical presentation by The GúnasRhoda Clery – Musical Director & Anne Cullen – Accompanist5:15 pm Shay Hynes, Festival Chairman – Official ClosingSunday, 15th September12:00 Noon Heritage Walk led by John WilliamsWalking in the footsteps of Charlotte & ArthurAssemble outside Cultúrlann Sweeney
Following on from the "wonderful success" of last year's inaugural Charlotte Brontë Festival, Kilkee Civic Trust are delighted to announce that this year's festival will take place again at Culturlann Sweeney in Kilkee.The festival honouring the visit of renowned classic author Charlotte Brontë to the west Clare town, just over 170 years ago, will take place September 13-15.An array of Brontë experts, including Dr Claire O'Callaghan and Dr Michael Stewart, will share their knowledge and expertise on the famous literary family, which included Charlotte's sisters, and fellow authors and poets, Emily and Anne.These talks will be coupled with a play 'Walking Invisible With You' written and directed by playwright Jenny Bassett, two musical interludes performed by Dr.Michael O'Dowd (author of Charlotte Bronte An Irish Odyssey) and his wife Christine (nee Patterson) followed by the sweet melodious voices of the Gunas under the baton of Choral Director Rhoda Cleary.To round up the week-end a heritage walk will take place on Sunday, September 15, at noon titled Walking in the footsteps of Charlotte and Arthur, led by renowned local historian John Williams. (Ellen Gough)
The Virago Book of Friendship is an anthology of writings centred on friendships between women. The lack of gender specificity in the title takes us to the nub of the problem: friendships between women exist in life but not in literature, at least not in literature from before 1940, when Vera Brittain paid tribute to Winifred Holtby in Testament of Friendship. There are sisters galore in 18th- and 19th-century novels, but not the kind of ‘bosom friend’ that Anne Shirley longs for in Anne of Green Gables, or the support groups described in Sex and the City and Bridget Jones’s Diary.What about Anna Howe and Clarissa, you cry, or Helen Burns and Jane Eyre, or Elizabeth Bennet and Charlotte Lucas in Pride and Prejudice? The friendship in Clarissa (1748) between Samuel Richardson’s tragic heroine and Anna, her great confidante, is derided as much as it is celebrated. While Colonel Morden believes their relationship an exception to the rule that friendship is ‘too fervent a flame for female minds to manage’, Robert Lovelace, who is pursuing Clarissa, considers their tittle-tattle ‘nothing but chaff and stubble’. Where women are concerned, Lovelace argues, friendship is ‘a mere word … a cork-bottomed shuttlecock’. ‘When a man comes in between the pretended inseparables,’ friendship ‘is given up’. The truth of this theory is never tested because, after Lovelace rapes her, Clarissa dies. Helen Burns also dies, while Charlotte Lucas marries Mr Collins. If it’s hard to imagine Elizabeth’s friendship with Charlotte surviving her marriage, it’s not because the relationship is a cork--bottomed shuttlecock but because she loathes Charlotte’s husband. (Frances Wilson)
Romance and gardens have been inextricably linked ever since Medieval squires courted damsels in flowery bowers. With midsummer nearly upon us, this is the perfect time to make our outdoor spaces more romantic.There is plenty of good advice for gardeners here when it comes to romancing your garden.Roses are the flowers we most associate with lovers. Garden designer Jo Thompson, author of The Gardening Mind newsletter on the publishing website Substack, has written a book out next year called The New Romantic Garden and is giving a talk on the subject at the first Borde Hill Garden Festival next weekend.She says: ‘The rose goes hand in hand with the idea of romance, and if you’ve got a sweet smelling rose all the better.’Her favourite roses for adding romance include the rambler Adelaide d’Orléans, as well as scented pink Gertrude Jekyll, blush pink Olivia Rose Austin and the pale apricot-hued Emily Brontë. (Ciar Byrne)
British filmmaker Andrea Arnold has always been interested in humans: the way they live, love, and carry their wounds through a world that is not made for them, really. Her protagonists, women at various ages and stages in their lives, have dealt with the harsh realities of poverty (American Honey), deprivation (Fish Tank), caging social norms (Wuthering Heights), and most of all, marginalization (Red Road). (Savina Petkova)
By all accounts the inaugural Banagher Brontë Festival held last weekend to celebrate Charlotte Brontë’s birthday, was a huge success.Proceedings opened on Friday evening with a première of 'An Evening with Charlotte Brontë' devised specifically for the Banagher Brontë Group by Michael O’Dowd and his wife Christine. Michael is the author of Charlotte Brontë An Irish Odyssey, an historical account of Charlotte’s honeymoon in Dublin, Banagher, Kilkee and Killarney with her Banagher-reared husband Arthur Bell Nicholls.The presentation focussed on the poetry, songs and music beloved of the Brontë family particularly the melodies of Thomas Moore and poems and ballads of Robbie Burns. The narrative and music were exquisitely presented drawing much appreciation and participation from the large attendance. The event was held in Corrigan’s Back Lounge which was beautifully decorated and appointed for the gala occasion.All events on Saturday were held in Crank House starting with Joanne Wilcock’s talk called 'Falling in Love with Arthur'. Joanne explored the different opinions and feelings people had regarding Arthur Bell Nicholls. Speaking in great detail she explained how the negative opinions relating to Arthur gradually changed particularly in the cases of his father-in-law Patrick Brontë and Martha Brown, the lifelong servant at the Brontë parsonage.Initially, in 1852, Patrick had violently opposed Arthur’s marriage proposal to Charlotte but he gradually acquiesced and they were married in 1854. Seven years later in his will he bequeathed the vast majority of his estate to ‘My beloved and esteemed son-in-law The Rev. Arthur Bell Nicholls, B.A.’Martha’s early hostility to Arthur mellowed to respect and affection, accompanying him when he returned to Banagher in 1861 and making numerous long-term return visits before her death in 1880. Surviving correspondence between them show Arthur in an avuncular role advising Martha on her romantic and financial affairs.Pauline Clooney then presented 'Currer Bell's Silent Years 1852-1855', an examination of Charlotte’s paths to publication and her attitude to a writing life. Making great use of her letters to prospective publishers she illustrated how the Brontë sisters overcame many patriarchal obstacles before eventually achieving the goal of publication.With the huge success of Jane Eyre and the welcome finances that accrued her writing business affairs become better managed. As to the relative lack of output between 1852 and 1855 Pauline posited that the crippling loneliness she endured after Branwell, Emily and Anne died within nine month between autumn 1848 and summer 1849, stifled her creativity. They had not just been her close siblings but more vitally the lifelong collaborators of her writings.Finally she disapproved of the notion found in some biographies that Arthur had curbed her writing after their marriage in 1854. Evidence shows that far from being so that he had encouraged her in her last work, Emma, which unfortunately remained unfinished before her death in March 1855.After lunch, at 2.30 p.m Maebh O’Regan presented 'The Art of Branwell Brontë'. Branwell showed great promise as a portrait artist but he felt his true vocation was in literary composition. Maebh spoke of the artists that had trained the Brontë children and how Branwell had been singled out for special tuition which enabled him to become a portrait artist of note.This was followed by two short films 'The Early Days of the BBG', a short film by created by Maebh and Seanie O’Regan, (Táin Bó Productions), capturing some historic (and otherwise) moments of the early days of the Banagher Brontë Group and some important footage on the group’s participation in the local Patrick’s day parade and a recent trip to Haworth and other parts of Yorkshire.The day’s events concluded with a short amble from Crank House up the Main Street to view the various works of art and displays in local shop windows which have been created by local artists Phil Bennet and Lisa Glynn finishing with a close look at Sheila Hough’s marvellous portraits in Johnny Hough’s musical pub.The festival concluded on Sunday morning with a short walk from Saint Paul’s Church on the Hill to Cuba to look at the remains of the Royal School of Banagher. Members then attended service where they were given a warm welcome by the Saint Paul’s Church community.Matters drew to a close with coffees and teas in Nicola Daly’s guest house, Charlotte’s Way, where a specially prepared Brontë cake was served in honour of Charlotte’s 208th birthday. The essential ingredient of Brontë cake is crushed pistachios.
“Jane Eyre” is not the novel she used to be. She’s grown over the years with the barnacle-like accumulation of theories and readings that have expanded plain “Jane” into an obese compendium of interpretations including everything from its place in the evolving literary tradition of the novel to its radical feminism and Marxist and psychological elements — not to mention its Gothicism and the summaries of generations of students spanning from high school AP courses to college seniors. It’s exhausting to think about it — much less write the sentence!Still, the image is relevant in light of the Alley Theatre’s current production of “Jane Eyre” adapted for the stage by Elizabeth Williamson. For though its basic plot and characters are extracted from Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 novel (originally subtitled, in typical 19th century indirection, as “An Autobiography”), it has to decide which of the many interpretations of Brontë will step on stage for the audience. [...]This production loads up with an entrée of romance supported by sides of Gothic mystery and humorous takes on the novel’s gravy boat of coincidences and quaint values — all thoroughly digestible.If such a description has an air of condescension, know, dear reader (as Jane might say), that none is intended. For to pull off such a feat requires clear, brave decisions on the part of the script and the production, beginning with opting to maintain the novel’s first-person narration: Jane speaks directly to the audience and evokes key dramatized scenes. To do this, director Eleanor Holdridge cedes the front of the stage to Melissa Molano’s Jane, relying on the symbol of Jane’s writing desk to define the space while using the majority of the stage to stand in as the large house of Jane’s employer, Edward Rochester. Aptly named Thornfield Hall, scenic designer John Coyne has created a space that has spiraling beauty and simplicity as well as sliding surfaces concealing mysteries and horrors.More importantly, the production has found in Molano an actress capable and willing to create a performance that matches the set, and, for that matter, her exquisite costume designed by Valérie Thérèse Bart, that is flowing and complicated enough to suggest Victorian fashion but simple enough to represent Jane’s social status and to facilitate removal and putting on to show shifts in times of day. It is a performance that appears as seamless as the dress.As Rochester, Chris Hutchison offers a clear foil to Molano’s Jane. Often seen as the brooding but manly hero, Hutchison’s Rochester is more mercurial. Beyond his wealth, he offers little in terms of traditional romantic attraction. Indeed, the audience first meets him falling onto the stage from his unseen horse and suffering from a twisted ankle more in line with troubles given to novels’ females. But as the play progresses, Hutchison lets Rochester’s flaws and quirks prepare us for his need for Jane and the play’s traditional happy ending even as they enable the Gothic mysteries centered on a largely unseen madwoman in the attic take on added thrills.The large list of supporting characters is handled by actors playing multiple roles, with Susan Koozin’s Mrs. Fairfax, the housekeeper, and Lady Ingram, a visiting aristocrat hoping to trap Rochester’s money for her daughter, being especially enjoyable. Especially in her early scenes, she gives the production a depth it would otherwise struggle to find.In short, neither Williamson’s script or the Alley’s production manage to plunge all the depths that Brontë’s novel has delivered to close readers for generations, but it is a delightful entertainment and an encouragement for audiences teased by this “Jane” to pick up the “Jane” residing in the novel’s pages. And even if no one accepts that prod, the Alley’s “Jane Eyre” insures that Brontë’s characters continue to breathe and entice even as it suggests ways the theatre and the printed page can have a healthy relationship. (Robert Donahoo)
The great American science fiction writer Ray Bradbury was enraptured, asking us to imagine our favorite novels by Kipling, Dickens, Wilde, Shaw or Poe brought back to life 30 years from now. What unintended changes would they undergo? Would Poe's Usher collapse only to rise again? Would The Great Gatsby do 20 laps around the pool? Would Cathy of Wuthering Heights rush to Heathcliff's cry from under the snow? (Loredana Lipperini)
Unless explicitly said
