The Japan Brontë Society is all set to host its 38th Annual Conference. Scheduled for today, October 21, 2023, this conference will take place at the Rissho University Shinagawa Campus, specifically in the 150th-anniversary memorial building on the 7th floor in rooms 1372/137A.
The event kicks off with registration at 9:20 AM and will be guided by Professor Noriko Matsubara, a special lecturer at Chukyo Gakuin University, serving as the overall moderator.
Key Speakers and Sessions:
9:50 AM: Inaugural Address by Professor Midori Uematsu, Honorary Professor at Women's College of Japan.
10:00 AM to 12:00 PM: Research Presentations moderated by Professor Keiko Hattori, Kansai University of Foreign Studies.Break and Formal Addresses:
- Exploring Memory and Ghosts: The First-Generation Catherine as a Phantom in "Wuthering Heights" by Akie Echigo, Part-Time Lecturer at Nihon Women's University.
- The Significance of 'A Room of One's Own': A Case Study of "Wuthering Heights" by Asuka Ishii, Part-Time Lecturer at Tokyo Gakugei University.
- Male Figures in Brontë's Works: A Focus on Works from 1834 to 1836 by Hiroki Takigawa, Special Lecturer at Osaka Institute of Technology.
- A Study of Anne Brontë's Art by Hiromi Kanenaka, Professor at Nihon University.
13:00 to 13:10: Welcome Address by Yoshiyoshi Murakami, Dean of the Faculty of Literature at Rissho University.
13:10 to 13:40: General Meeting moderated by Maki Okumura, Professor at Kyoto University of Education.2:00 PM to 3:00 PM: Keynote Address titled "British Novels and Me: Insights from My Recent Publication" by Hiroshi Ebine, Honorary Professor at the University of Tokyo.
- Reporting from the Secretariat by Mari Shiratori, Professor at Tokyo University of the Arts.
- Presentation of the Japan Bronte Society's Encouragement Award by Mie Meguro, Professor at Matsukage University.
- President's Address by Michiko Kurisu, Honorary Professor at Daito Bunka University.
- Conference Chair's Address by Tatsuhiko Ono, Professor at Rissho University
3:10 PM to 5:20 PM: "Revisiting 'Shirley'" Symposium.
Led by Mariee Ishii, Assistant Professor at the Tokyo Polytechnic University.
Featuring Professor Ai Sugimura from Tottori University as a guest speaker.
5:20 PM: Concluding Remarks by Seiichi Hashimoto, Honorary Professor at Aoyama Gakuin University.
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM: Social Gathering at Le R, a casual French restaurant.
For more information and registration details, please visit Japan Brontë Society.
Date: Saturday, October 11, 2025, 9:50 AM - 5:30 PMVenue: Shoin University, Atsugi Morinosatoキャンパス, Building 3, Floor 5, Room 3503 Address: 9-1 Morinosatoﾜｶﾐﾔ, Atsugi City, Kanagawa Prefecture 243-0124
Program Schedule
★ Registration: 9:20~
Master of Ceremonies: Associate Professor Beni Kudo, Rissho University
★ Opening Remarks: 9:50
Professor Emeritus Mitsuko Suzuki, Tohoku University
★ Research Presentations: 10:00~12:00
Chair: Professor Miwa Ota, Chuo University"Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights—Three Narrators"
Miharu Otobe, Teacher, Osaka Prefectural Toyonaka High SchoolIn Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë, 1847), the narrator is the protagonist Jane herself, and Charlotte is considered to directly express her own thoughts and ideals through Jane based on her own experiences. In contrast, the two narrators in Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë, 1847) are not protagonists, and the connection between Emily's biographical facts and the work is not clear. Emily constructs complex human relationships spanning three generations within a double narrative structure, and the characters' utterances and actions are conveyed to readers through Lockwood, who is completely unrelated to the events at Wuthering Heights, and Nelly, who observed and heard everything nearby.I hypothesize that Emily's attempt to hide her own assertions and thoughts inward while depicting them indirectly and modestly in her work led to this complex narrative structure, and I would like to examine this by comparing with Jane Eyre while also considering the lives of both authors."The Rhetoric of Nelly Dean's Narration—Focusing on Appellations and Address"
Hidehiro Yukita, Doctoral Course, Graduate School, Hokkaido UniversityWhat kind of person is Nelly Dean, the main narrator of Wuthering Heights (1847), and what significance does her being the narrator hold? This presentation approaches this problem by changing perspective from Keiko Kawamura's argument, which examined "how Nelly is addressed," to consider "how Nelly addresses other characters." Nelly uses various appellations when referring to the same person. For example, she sometimes calls Catherine I "Miss Cathy," "Miss Catherine," or "Mrs Linton," and other times omits honorifics and calls her "Cathy" or "Catherine." This presentation explores the motivation behind such distinctions and discusses the stylistic effects created by different forms of expression, arguing that the various appellations and forms of address used by Nelly play a significant role as rhetorical elements supporting her sophisticated narration.Chair: Professor Emeritus Haruko Iwagami, Shiga University"Lucy Snowe's Two Loves—Reconsidering Villette"
Masako Ishii, Part-time Lecturer, Doshisha UniversityThe romantic feelings of Lucy Snowe, the protagonist of Villette (1853), toward John Graham Bretton and Paul Carl David Emanuel have been discussed from different perspectives: feminism and British identity. This presentation aims to complement these approaches and offer a new perspective on her love. When she calls Graham "a true young English gentleman" and continues to praise his character, beauty, and good fortune, she places the ideal of British identity in him and also practices self-love. Having a place (home) in his heart supports her personality. Even when his view of women is socially defined and he sees her only as a "shadow," she submits to this. On the other hand, while she constantly points out Monsieur Paul's ugly expressions and Napoleon-like tyrannical character, he understands her heart and she behaves as his equal. Furthermore, she knows his character of sacrificing himself for others and his love for her, deepening her love for him. Her heart becomes his home as he departs for the West Indies."Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea—Bessie and Christophine"
Keiko Inokuma, Associate Professor, Tokyo University of ScienceThis presentation compares and analyzes Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea. You might think "not again." Indeed, numerous critics and writers, including Gayatri Spivak, Joyce Carol Oates, and Susan Meyer, have repeatedly discussed (and exhausted) both works from postcolonial perspectives and from the perspective of women's voices and narratives. Nevertheless, this presentation takes up these two works again, beginning by focusing on their "beginnings." Interestingly, both Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea focus on the discourse of female servants at the beginning of their works—in the former case, Bessie of the Reed family, and in the latter case, Christophine, who cares for Antoinette. However, in contrast to the critical spotlight on Christophine, interest in Bessie is uniformly low, and there are no studies (as far as I know) that compare and analyze the relationship between the two or their positioning in relation to the heroine's voice. In light of this, this presentation aims to shed light on the previously overlooked connections between these two women while unraveling both classic works.Symposium: "Charlotte Brontë and Art—From a 2020s Perspective"Research on "Brontë and Art" began with comprehensive material studies such as "The Brontës' Paintings" (Alexander and Sellars, 1995) and "Brontë and Music" (Higuchi, 2008), and has since developed remarkably through multifaceted individual studies seen in works like "Brontë in the World of Art" (eds. Hagan and Wells, 2008). This "art" encompasses not only their creative work but also painting, music, theater, and even cooking and sewing in daily life, and recently various forms of "art/arts" adaptations are also research subjects. This time, we deliberately title it "Art" and focus on the aspect of "craft/technique" at its root. Charlotte's basic training in learning art at home began with mastering drawing techniques and practicing musical exercises. We want to approach her solid attitude and interest in meticulous techniques.
★ Host University Address: 13:00~13:10
Nanatsuka Ishigami, Dean of Faculty of Communication and Culture, Shoin University
★ General Meeting: 13:10~13:40
Chair: Professor Hiroko Sugimura, Osaka Electro-Communication University
Report from Secretariat: Professor Mari Takumi, Tokyo University of the Arts
★ Encouragement Award Report
Chairperson of Japan Brontë Society Encouragement Award Review Committee:
Professor Emeritus Akiko Kimura, Waseda University
★ President's Address
Professor Emeritus Michiko Kurisu, Daito Bunka University
★ Conference Chair's Address
Professor Mie Abe, Shoin University
★ Lecture: 14:00~15:00
Chair: Professor Kimiyo Ogawa, Sophia University
"The Domain of the Narrator—The Case of Jane Eyre"
Speaker: Professor Akira Tamai, Mukogawa Women's University
★ Symposium: 15:10~17:20
"Charlotte Brontë and Art—From a 2020s Perspective"
Chair/Presenter: Professor Mari Takumi, Tokyo University of the Arts
Presenters: Lecturer Mai Osawa, Meiji University
Associate Professor Ami Hatanaka, Hirosaki University
Associate Professor Yuko Nishiyama, Mukogawa Women's University
★ Closing Remarks: 17:20
"Pleading Narratives and Women's Responses in Jane Eyre"
Mai Osawa, Lecturer, Meiji University
"Women's Lives and Loneliness: The Efficacy of Creative Activities in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre and Margaret Drabble's The Waterfall"
Ami Hatanaka, Associate Professor, Hirosaki University
"The Overlap of Sound and Art in Jane Eyre"
Yuko Nishiyama, Associate Professor, Mukogawa Women's University
"The 'Art' of the Body in Jane Eyre"
Mari Takumi, Professor, Tokyo University of the Arts
Access Information
Conference Venue: Building 3, Floor 5, Room 3503
Reception Venue: Tiara Hall, Building 3, Floor 9, Room 3904
Group B presentsダイニング・テーブル (The Dining Table)〜ブロンテ一家のいたところ〜 (Where the Brontë family was)地中海料理&ワイン Showレストラン ガルロチ (Mediterranean Cuisine & Wine Show Restaurant Garrochi) 160-0022 Tokyo, Shinjuku-ku, Shinjuku 3-15-17 Isetan Kaikan 6FJune 11,13, 19.00 hJune 14, 15 13.00 hJune 15 16.00 hThe story is set in a parsonage on the outskirts of the English countryside in the mid-19th century. At the dining table, Charlotte Bronte was coughing violently from time to time.She is writing a novel. Her aged father Patrick keeps interrupting her and she is fed up with it. The ghosts of his younger siblings, Branwell, Emily, and Anne, who died several years ago, appear to him. The four of them happily reminisce about the past, Eventually, the various feelings he had been hiding in his heart began to bubble up...
With Miyuki Numao, Hideya Tanaka, Mizuno Takai, Misa Murata and Akihiro Hanebuchi.Screenplay and Lyrics: EsmeraldaComposer and Music Director: Obe KochiDirected by: Mai HiratoAssistant Music Director and Piano: Asuka KunoChoreography: Masako YasumotoStage Director: Takashi Fujinaga
So my first thought on seeing Jane Eyre in the season lineup at Hartford Stage, where it’s playing through March 14, was Why? Why add another retelling of the tale to a long line of predecessors?The Orange County Register features the preparations for a local production of Jane Eyre. The Musical.
The answer, in this adaptation by Elizabeth Williamson, who also directs, is that it does something the book does and screen versions don’t. Where film and TV can render the Yorkshire moors in vivid color and take us along the shadowy hallways of Thornfield Hall, the viewpoint is objective and the story is told, as it were, in the third person. Brontë’s narrative is in the voice of Jane herself (it’s said to be the first-ever novel to be told in the first person by a female protagonist), and so is Williamson’s play.
Jane, played by Helen Sadler, speaks directly to us, the audience, using Brontë’s term “Dear Reader.” As in most versions, much of the dialogue comes straight out of the book, to which is now added Jane’s own thoughts and commentary.
Thus, we not only witness the cruelties visited on the poor orphan child in the home of her callous aunt and at the brutal Lowood Charity School, we have her opinion of them. This approach serves narrative efficiency as well, moving us briskly from place to place on Nick Vaughn’s spare set, where a writing table and a window seat flank a bare stage, and drawing rooms are represented by furniture that glides in and out on a turntable. Atmosphere is provided by Isabella Byrd’s ghostly lighting, Christian Frederickson’s moody music, and flashbacks seen in stark silhouette.
I would have appreciated the first-person device a lot more if Sadler’s approach had been more intimate and inviting. But she seems to think expressing Jane’s ardent spirit and narrative urgency requires excessive volume and overemphasis, more haranguing than confiding. This skews our sympathies for Brontë’s feisty, resilient, outspoken heroine, whose coming of age as a governess in the household of the irascible, secretive Mr. Rochester is both a story of hopeless love finally attained and a tale of mystery and dark secrets, accompanied by midnight shrieks of uncanny laughter.
Chandler Williams’ Rochester makes a refreshing change from the usual brooding Byronic misanthrope. He’s plenty peevish, but also ironic, eccentric, even whimsical, a bit overblown at times but giving the piece its only flashes of spontaneity and humor.
An ensemble of six carry 19 supporting roles. I particularly relished the versatile Felicity Jones Latta as Jane’s imperious aunt, the kindly housekeeper Mrs. Fairfax, the snooty Lady Ingram and the furtive madwoman in the tower. Eleven-year-old Meghan Pratt is appealing as young Jane and Adèle, Rochester’s French ward, and Grayson DeJesus creates nice variants of three miscellaneous relatives.
Marie-France Arcilla gives a supercilious flounce to the vacuous Blanche, Rochester’s supposed intended, but her performance of the creepy servant Grace Poole is clichéd and furnished with, of all things, an Irish accent. While Sadler brings her native-born English accent, no one comes close to the Yorkshire cadence of the book’s locale, and most of the supporting cast either approximate BBC English or follow Arcilla into bad attempts at bog-Irish.
At just over two hours, this Jane Eyre provides a handy summary of the beloved book, and there are effective moments in Williamson’s rendition, but this critic was never lured into its spooky spell or tortured passions. (Chris Rohmann)
Period movement, voice, dialect and even corset training are part of Gabrielle Adner’s preparation for the lead role in Cal State Fullerton’s production of “Jane Eyre: The Musical,” opening March 13 at the Little Theatre.The Wesleyan Argus discusses the literary canon:
Donning a long skirt, long-sleeve blouse and corset Monday through Friday, from 7-10 p.m., Adner was initially worried the corset would hinder her ability to sing. But, after a period of adjustment that included switching her meal times, she was surprised to find that the costume aligned her posture in a positive way.
“Corset training has actually helped my vocal technique,” says Adner, a theater major who will portray Charlotte Brontë’s classic heroine. “My breathing comes from a different place, and when I sing, I feel more supported.”
To keep her voice healthy, Adner has been keeping to a strict regimen of increasing her water intake, taking vitamins, going to sleep by 11 p.m., minimizing the amount she talks during the day, avoiding caffeinated drinks, and not eating tomatoes or other acidic foods.
In addition to the daily three-hour rehearsals, Adner has invested hours of outside time preparing for the role — reading the libretto and book, listening to the musical score, memorizing lines, working on character development and even watching a documentary on the Brontë sisters.
“Being the lead of the musical can be emotionally and physically exhausting,” she says.
When she feels worried or anxious about the performance, Adner tries to remember positive moments in rehearsal and turns to her peers for support. “I try to calm myself by thinking about what I can do to make myself the best Jane Eyre I can be.”
Sixty students and faculty members are involved in the production, which began in November, on everything from the cast to costume, hair, makeup, lighting, sound, scenery and property design.
James Taulli, director and dean emeritus of the College of the Arts, says students are gaining classical training as the musical follows Eyre’s journey from a student at Lowood School to governess at Thornfield Hall. [...]
Theater major Enrique Duenas has been cast as Edward Fairfax Rochester, master of Thornfield Hall and Eyre’s love interest.
“I am really intrigued by dark, mysterious characters like Mr. Rochester,” he says. “I feel like they have so many layers.”
Across the 1990s, a long war was waged over whether or not university and high school English departments should continue to hold a specified canon of literature above the rest. Not only was the canon—which included the likes of Shelley, Blake, Johnson, Coleridge, Melville, Hawthorne, Shakespeare, Joyce, Faulkner, Nabakov, Pynchon,Tolstoy, Dante, Homer, Goethe, etc.—exclusively white, exclusively dead, and exclusively male with the exceptions of Austen, the Brontë sisters, George Eliot, and Virginia Woolf, it was not clear that such a canon truly represented the acme of all literary accomplishment, or even what such an acme should mean. Is it not curious that such an emphasis was put on Renaissance plays, Romantic poetry, and the early novel? And so we attempted to level the playing field, but I would contend that we did not succeed. Really, the decline of the canon was a recentering of educated discourse from literature to politics. (Tom Hanes)Florida State University reports on the latest talks by members of its staff:
Judith Pascoe, Ph.D. (English) gave a talk “Wuthering Heights, World Literature, and Japanese Child Readers” at Meiji University Dec. 10 and at the University of Tokyo Feb. 6. She was also one of four speakers at Tokyo Humanities Cafe Jan. 9, which aims to bring together humanities researchers in Tokyo and make their research visible to an international, non-specialist audience. (Anna Prentiss)Les Échos (France) has an article on 'Flaubert, Madame Bovary and coronavirus.
Comme toujours, une évolution souhaitable passe d'abord par des excès ; c'est le cas ici aussi : on ne doit pas aller jusqu'à penser que Flaubert n'avait pas le droit d'écrire « Madame Bovary ». Ni que Jane Austen ou les soeurs Brontë n'étaient pas légitimes en racontant dans leurs romans les aventures de formidables personnages masculins. Et tant d'autres exemples, en particulier dans le cinéma aujourd'hui. (Jacques Attali) (Translation)The Australian features Simone de Beauvoir listing the Brontës as early influences. Jornal do Comércio (Brazil) recommends Wuthering Heights as a classic of 'human degradation'.
With some delay, we report the new performances of Gordon & Caird's Jane Eyre. The Musical in Tokyo. It's a revival of the 2009 production running from October 6th until the 28th.Nissay Theatre (日生劇場)
ジェーン・エア (Jane Eyre)
Music and Lyrics by Paul Gordon
Book by John Caird
From the original novel by Charlotte Brontë
Book translated into Japanese by Yoshida Mie
Japanese Lyrics by Matsuda Naoyuki
Orchestrations by Brad Haak (based on the orchestrations by Larry Hochman)
Vocal Arrangements by Steve Tyler
Jane Eyre .... Matsu Takako (松たか子)
Rochester .... Hashimoto Satoshi (橋本さとし)
Director - John Caird
Set Design – Matsui Rumi
Costume Design – Maeda Fumiko
Lighting Design – Nakagawa Ryuichi
Sound Design – Yuasa Noriyuki
Hair & Make-up – Kawamura Yoko
Musical Director – Yamaguchi Billy
Conductor – Uegaki Satoshi
Stage Manager – Suzuki Masanori
The legendary composer Michel Legrand is touring half the globe. Among the pieces that he currently plays in his concerts are themes from his Wuthering Heights 1970 soundtrack. These are some of his recent and upcoming concerts:September 2012The picture is from the Oman concert as published in The Times of Oman, courtesy of the Royal Opera House Muscat:
September 17 – Symphonique House, Montreal, CANADA.
September 25 – Royal Opera House, OMAN.
October 2012
October 2 – Sumida Hall, Tokyo, JAPAN.
October 4 – Michel Legrand’s 80th Birthday Show, Nagoya, JAPAN.
October 6 and 7 – Michel Legrand’s 80th Birthday Show, Tokyo, JAPAN.
October 10 and 11 - Concerts at Bluequare Samsung Card Hall, Seoul, KOREA.
October 18 - Special Symphony Concert, for Michel’s 80th Birthday, Erevan, ARMENIA.
November 2012
November 3 – Symphonic Concert, Jerusalem, ISRAEL.
November 6 – Jazz Trio Concert, Compiegne, FRANCE.
November 23 - Symphonic Concert, Essentuky, RUSSIA.
November 25 - Symphonic Concert, Krasnodar, RUSSIA.
November 26 - Symphonic Concert, Rostov-na-Donu, RUSSIA.
December 2012
December 4 - Symphonic Concert, Palais des Congrès, Paris, FRANCE.
With the dramatic, adventurous score of Three Musketeers, the soulful, tragic and romantic soundtrack for Wuthering Heights, and the beautiful love story of Gable and Lombard, Legrand's music was reminder of how important music is to a movie since it has such a powerful ability to guide one's feelings and reactions. (Sarah MacDonald)
New ITV period drama Wuthering Heights has been picked up for broadcast in the US, Canada and Australia.Takako Matsu's performance in Jane Eyre. The Musical in Tokyo is commented by Jap
ITV Global Entertainment has sold the 2 x 90-minute adaptation of the Emily Bronte classic to WGBH in the US, the W Network in Canada, and Australian public broadcaster ABC.
It previously aired in the US on PBS, back in January, as part of the channel’s Masterpiece Classics strand.
The drama, produced by Mammoth Screen, has also been acquired by New Zealand’s TVNZ, Belgium’s VRT, Denmark’s TV2, Holland’s KRO, Sweden’s TV4 and Cyprus’ CYBC.
Further afield, the drama will be shown on Future in Brazil, Mio TV in Singapore and PTS in Taiwan.
The two-part drama, starring Tom Hardy as Heathcliff and Charlotte Riley as Cathy, will also be released on Blu-ray and DVD on 7 September on the ITV DVD label. (Michael Rosser)
an Today:The curtain rose on Takako Matsu’s first ever solo-lead musical performance on Tuesday, in the stage production of “Jane Eyre” at the Nissay Theater in Yurakucho. Matsu, 32, plays the title role of the strong Jane Eyre as she travels through life and love.WWD interviews Ruben Toledo, author of the recent new covers for Penguin Classics including one of Wuthering Heights:
In the show, the actress made her first appearance in a wedding dress, and entertained the audience with 22 songs. Matsu said of the performance, “Both the cast and crew are wonderful, and I hope to do my best in making this story come alive.”
WWD: Did you get to choose which novels you illustrated?Lorrie Moore talks to the New York Times about her new novel project, A Get at the Stairs:
R.T.: No, but I’m a very lucky man. I really got some gems to work with....What an honor to draw for Emily [Brontë], Nathaniel [Hawthorne] and Jane [Austen] — hope they like ’em. (
Instead she invoked “Madame Butterfly” and “Jane Eyre,” works that feature themes of abandonment and orphanhood. “I’m interested in adoption because those kids become Jane Eyre,” said Ms. Moore, alternately sipping from a cup of coffee and a small glass of pale Belgian beer. “Not to push the ‘Jane Eyre’ thing too much, but of course there is that racial aspect to it,” she said, alluding to the Creole heritage of the Mrs. Rochester character. “And there’s a racial component to ‘Madame Butterfly,’ so these were the Ur-texts hovering over my desk while I just barreled ahead and wrote a Midwestern story.” (Motoko Rich)The Birmingham Post reminds us of a Brontë curiosity related to September 1, 1939, the day the Second World War began:
On September 1, 1939, the Alexandra Theatre was holding twice nightly performances of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre but the Post reported that cinemas and theatres were likely to be closed down at the start of the war. (Edward Chadwick)A judicial conclusion in New York has Brontë references. The New York Post quotes:
The judge said the "sad and unusual facts seem in some ways to spring more from the pages of a Victorian novel like 'Jane Eyre' than from the annals of modern American divorce. (Dareh Gregorian)Entertainment Weekly talks about the Twilight-oriented Wuthering Heights covers, Richard Wilcocks on the Brontë Parsonage Blog announces the broadcast (next Friday on Channel 4, see our sidebar for details) of First Cut: The Yorkshire Clamper, A Rose beyond the Thames talks about Jane Eyre 2006 and Wuthering Heights 2009, Autocontemplação posts about Jane Eyre (in Portuguese) and 30 Books does the same with Wuthering Heights.
Tokyograph has information about another Wuthering Heights adaptation:Emily Brontë's classic novel "Wuthering Heights" (known as "Arashigaoka" in Japan) is being performed as a stage musical next year, starring LUNA SEA vocalist Ryuichi Kawamura (40). Although there have been musical adaptations of the book before, this one will be a new adaptation written by playwright Sanae Iijima and directed by Nobuhiro Nishikawa.Apart from that, The Canadian Press reviews April Lindner's YA retelling of Jane Eyre, Jane.
Kawamura is taking on the lead role of the revenge-seeking Heathcliff, while voice actress Aya Hirano (23) and singer Natsumi Abe (29) have been double-cast as the heroine Catherine. Although Abe has plenty of experience on stage, this will be Hirano's first performance in a theatrical production.
The revealed cast so far includes Ikusaburo Yamazaki (24) as Edgar, Yuki Shoda as Isabella, Dai Iwasaki as Hindley, Keaki Mori as Nelly, and Tsunehiko Kamijo as Mr. Earnshaw.
The musical will be performed at Tokyo's Akasaka ACT Theater on July 6-24, then at Osaka's Theater Drama City on July 25-31.
Although author April Lindner puts her own spin on the story, she keeps the core story line true to the original. Lindner mirrors Nico after the brooding and inattentive Edward Rochester, but in this modern version, Nico comes across as neglectful toward his young daughter. He only spends time with her as a way to get closer to Jane.Novel Reaction reviews this book too.
Jane Moore shares the same serious disposition as Jane Eyre, but Lindner's Jane is more spirited and vulnerable.
"Jane" is a captivating modern love story of a young woman who refuses to compromise her values, and fans of Bronté's "Jane Eyre" are sure to praise this rousing retelling with its rock 'n' roll twist. (Carolyn Lessard)
Wuthering Heights: ladies undertaking this track will do so in the name of lolz, under the guise that it’ll sound so ridiculous they couldn’t possibly be taking themselves seriously.A teenager interviewed by Springfield's State Journal-Register doesn't seem at risk of that.
Do not be fooled.
They secretly believe they are going to be ethereal in the extreme, channelling Kate Bush’s wide-eyed, mad-lady insouciance with their wafty arm movements and dog-decibel wailing.
Sadly, their efforts will be such that Heathcliffe [sic] won’t let them in the window. However cold it is. (Lauren Bravo)
What is the worst book you’ve ever read? “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Brontë.Flickr user Anna & ♣LaPuffa♣ ^Io Mi Faccio Di Twilight^ seems to be enjoying the novel (in Italian) a bit more, given by the diptych she has uploaded. Our Mutual Read reviews Agnes Grey.
The 36th Annual Meeting of the Japan Brontë Association takes place today, October 16 by ZOOM:
October 16, 2021 from 10:00 to 16:00(Google Translate wonders ahead)★ Opening 9: 50 ~ General Moderator Manami Tamura, Professor, Nihon University★ Opening remarks 10:00 Former Professor, Kawamura Gakuen Women's University Yoshiko Tanaka★ Research presentation 10: 10-12: 10Moderator Miwa Kabara, Associate Professor, Kinki University1. 1. "Western wind" blowing on Caroline-women and debts given to each other in "Shirley"Seijo University Part-time Lecturer Mai Osawa2. 200 years after her death-thinking of Maria BranwellSuzuka National College of Technology Lecturer Yuri FurunoModerator Tatsuhiro Ohno, Professor, Rissho University3. 3. Witches in control of space- "Wuthering Heights" and "Snow White"Chihiro Sakuma, Assistant Professor, Tokyo Metropolitan University4. English Literature as Therapy: Starting with the Brontë sistersProfessor Emeritus, Saitama University Kazuko Uda★ General Assembly 13: 00-13: 30 Moderator Akiko Kawasaki, Professor, Komazawa University★ Encouragement Award Commentary Michiko Kurisu, Professor Emeritus, Daito Bunka University, Chairman of the Encouragement Award, Japan Brontë Association★ Greetings from the Chairman Seiichi Hashimoto, Professor Emeritus, Aoyama Gakuin University★ Symposium 13: 40-15: 50 "200 years of Anne Brontë's birth"Moderator / Subject Miwa Ota, Professor, Chuo UniversityAssociate Professor, Tokyo University of the Arts Mari TakumiFormer Professor, Kansai Gaidai University Chizuru WatanabeAkiko Kimura, Professor, Waseda University
The complete program and abstracts of the research presentations can be seen here (in Japanese).
EDIT: The Japan Brontë Association blog posts about the event here.
A couple of alerts from Tokyo for today, July 28, and tomorrow, July 29:5th Ryogoku Art Festival 2019
Akemi Naito, Artistic Director
Ryogoku Monten Hall, Tokyo (Japan)
Emily Brontë – Through Life and Death, A Chainless Soul (Japanese premiere)
by Akemi Naito
poetic mono-opera based on selected poems of Emily Brontë
with Japanese subtitles
Sunday, 07/28/19, 04:00 PM
Tuesday, 07/30/19, 07:00 PM
Jessica Bowers, mezzo-soprano
Satoko Inoue, piano
Toshihiro Sakuma, art installation
Lecture by Hisae Ashizawa: Time and space in poems of Emily Brontë
Monday, 07/29/19, 06:30 – 08:30 PM
Hisae Ashizawa, lecturer
Akemi Naito, moderator
A Japanese musical inspired by Wuthering Heights is currently being performed in the Akasaka Act Theater, Tokyo:Wuthering HeightsPictures of Aya Hirano can be found here. Complete cast and after performances events here.
written by Sanae Iijima
Directed by Nobuhiro Nishikawa
Tokyo's Akasaka Act Theater on July 6–24
Osaka's Theater Drama City on July 25–31
With Ryuichi Kawamura, Natsumi Abe, Aya Hirano.
嵐が丘 (Wuthering Heights)
日生劇場 (Nissay Theatre)
May 6, 2015 - May 26, 2015
Screenplay and directed
G2
With
Horikita Maki (Catherine)
Koji Yamamoto (Heathcliff)
Kazuya Takahashi (Hindley)
Irei Kanata (Edgar)
Katsuya Kobayashi (Joseph)
Soviet double down (Isabella)
Keiko Toda (Nelly)
激烈な愛、そして不滅の愛 ―
堀北真希主演で贈る永遠の名作『嵐が丘』
エミリー・ブロンテがその30年という短い生涯で唯一執筆した小説「嵐が丘」―
19世紀、イングランド北部ヨークシャーの荒野に建つ
「嵐が丘」という名の屋敷を舞台に、
キャサリンと孤児ヒースクリフの激烈な愛、
そして不滅の愛を描き出した壮大な愛の物語 ―
〝世界の十大小説〟のひとつと謳われるなど全世界で読み継がれ、
刊行から150年以上の時空を超えていまなお輝き続ける永遠の名作。
愛に燃える主人公キャサリンには、
これまで唯一無二のヒロイン像を造形してきた女優、堀北真希。
不朽の名作に情熱的な新たなヒロインが生まれます。
愛ゆえに復讐心に駆られるヒースクリフには、山本耕史。
ほかにも戸田恵子が出演するのをはじめ充実のキャストが揃い、
脚本・演出のG2による
新たな『嵐が丘』の世界がいま輝き出します!!
She has written a period piece (Time: The 1840s-ish; Place: The bleak moors of England?) with a cast of characters that remind of us other people we’ve been aware of: Agatha and Huldey, two sisters living in a rundown manse on the moors, just like the Brontë sisters; an impressionable governess (take your pick from Jane Eyre or Henry James’ ghost tale); a mastiff considered dangerous (Sherlock Holmes and the Baskervilles) but who is a lovesick puppy; a devastating maidservant or servants (Mrs. Danvers in “Rebecca”); and a Moor Hen. Note to audience: this is a very funny play about a very savage subject—jealousy and its inherent depravity. (J. Peter Bergman)The Guardian looks at the 'Best TV of 2019 so far', including
Gentleman JackCinevue reviews the DVD release of the 1979 adaptation of the (wonderful) novel My Brilliant Career.
Sally Wainwright travelled back in time for her latest piece of thrillingly human Yorkshire drama, with this real life tale of Anne Lister. Suranne Jones has received rave reviews for her portrayal of the 19th-century industrialist and diarist, who developed a code to hide her lesbianism.
What we said: It’s Regency Fleabag! Because the heroine occasionally breaks the fourth wall and exteriorises her inner monologue. But it’s set in Halifax in 1832, so it could be Northern Jane Austen. Then again, it’s about Anne Lister, who has been dubbed the first modern lesbian, so maybe it’s Queer Brontë ... You can afford to have a little fun with Gentleman Jack; Sally Wainwright clearly has. (Kate Abbott and Gwilym Mumford)
Like the Westerns to which [director Gillian] Armstrong pays tribute, wildness and civilisation are at the heart of My Brilliant Career; the external landscape of the American West – which is invariably tamed by its masculine heroes – is here internalised by its heroine, who embodies both the wilderness of the landscape with the heightened romance of the English gothic tradition. The film’s grainy texture – captured beautifully by this release – emphasises the tactical relationship of its characters to the vast country they have colonised. It’s just about enough to overcome a slightly over-familiar story that has echoes of both Austen and the Brontës, but that never quite lives up to the social critique of the former or the Gothic visions of the latter. (Christopher Machell)Dagens Nyheter (Sweden) reviews the Swedish translation of The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins with a blunder thrown in for free.
Det finns åtskilliga påminnelser om andra kända romaner, man hör Bertha från Emily Brontës ”Jane Eyre” och Jean Rhys ”Den första hustrun” . . . (Lotta Olsson) (Translation)Women's Agenda (Australia) interviews fashion designer Lisa Swinbanks.
The other half of my inspiration comes from my British heritage on my father’s side. I grew up watching a lot of British period drama, going to theatres, reading Jane Austen and Emily Brontë. I am very much inspired by the British Monarchy as well as their history, especially the fashion from the Victorian era. Therefore, my designs can be broken down to sweet silhouettes inspired from my Tokyo upbringing, and a passion for beautiful lace that comes from my British heritage. I travel to both Tokyo and London every year for inspiration for my designs. (Madeline Hislop)Express carries the story of Nancy Garr's grave in Bradford. AnneBrontë.org follows in the footsteps of Anne in Scarborough.
That kind of self-respect is a discipline, a habit of mind that can never be faked but can be developed, trained, coaxed forth. It was once suggested to me that, as an antidote to crying, I put my head in a paper bag. As it happens, there is a sound physiological reason, something to do with oxygen, for doing exactly that, but the psychological effect alone is incalculable: it is difficult in the extreme to continue fancying oneself Cathy in Wuthering Heights with one's head in a Food Fair bag.
While she was there, she noticed an envelope resting by her bed, and after opening, it was revealed to be a goodbye letter from Stanford.
“Dearest Carrie, by the time you read this I’ll be in Tokyo.
I couldn’t tell you — not without crying,” the letter read in part. “And you have had enough crying.
Stanford’s husband (and best friend of Charlotte) Anthony Marentino (Mario Cantone) was not far behind at the door, sharing a few details as he blasted Carrie for taking up cigarettes again.
“You’re smoking?” Anthony prodded.
“Stanford’s in Japan?” Carrie fired right back.
“That’s Ashley,” he explained. “The 17-year-old Long Island TikTok star he manages. She’s huge in Asia. She asked him to go on tour with her. I do not get her, but then I’m old, gay and not Japanese.”
“Well fine, good, sayonara,” Carrie said. “But why the dramatic note? ‘By the time you read this, I’ll be in Tokyo.’ Who is he, the lost Bronte sister?” (Fletcher Peters)
Want to talk about strong characters? Lets talk about the literary Brontë sisters, and lit-class melodrama, and the joys of radio-style theater from a woman-run company – in this case, Portland’s Cygnet Productions, led by Louanne Moldovan. In Cygnet Radio Hour: “Withering Looks” adds humor and madness to the traditional Brontë trope, Amy Leona Havin writes that the takeoff on Wuthering Heights “flips the story on its head with … a humorous radio-hour satire developed as a stage play by Maggie Fox and Sue Ryding of England’s LipService Theatre.” Havin adds: “Withering Looks satirizes and anatomizes the story ‘in the name of both feminism and fun,’ making the obvious even more obvious and thereby bringing hilarity to some otherwise overly melodramatic plot points.” The cast is led by the excellent duo of Luisa Sermol and Vana O’Brien, and – o seasonal gift – is streaming free through Jan. 31. (Bob Hicks)
Finally, I got a kick out of the one visual pun in the clue set: BR on one line, TE just beneath: BR ON TE, or BRONTE.
New Year's Eve
Jane Eyre
BBC2, 12.30pm
Michael Fassbender smoulders as Mr Rochester in Cary Joji Fukunaga’s handsome retelling of Charlotte Brontë’s gothic novel. With Mia Wasikowska. (Paul Whitington and Sheena McGinley)
FII: What do you like to do when not writing about gender and social justice?
Harshita Kumari: I am a big time foodie, so I love cooking and eating, a lot. I am also fond of reading, it has been my oldest love – Wuthering Heights and Fountainhead are my favourite re-read books. To unwind, I listen to Hozier and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
Catherine has just returned to the manor after recovering from an injured ankle. The house is preparing for Christmas but Heathcliff has hidden himself from Catherine, as Nelly, our narrator, ponders:“Under these circumstances I remained solitary. I smelt the rich scent of the heating spices; and admired the shining kitchen utensils, the polished clock, decked in holly, the silver mugs ranged on a tray ready to be filled with mulled ale for supper; and above all, the speckless purity of my particular care—the scoured and well-swept floor. I gave due inward applause to every object, and then I remembered how old Earnshaw used to come in when all was tidied, and call me a cant lass, and slip a shilling into my hand as a Christmas-box; and from that I went on to think of his fondness for Heathcliff, and his dread lest he should suffer neglect after death had removed him: and that naturally led me to consider the poor lad’s situation now, and from singing I changed my mind to crying. It struck me soon, however, there would be more sense in endeavouring to repair some of his wrongs than shedding tears over them: I got up and walked into the court to seek him.”
As I grew up, I admired police officers in their uniforms and priests in their collars, ordinary people with extraordinary power. It is one reason why I entered the school building each day during my career wearing a tie. I wanted to be a role model for my students: professional, a teacher, the Lone Ranger helping kids become better readers, writers and people. I wanted to protect children from the kryptonite of vulgarity and surround them with Toni Morrison, Robert Frost, Hamlet, Atticus Finch, Jane Eyre, Emily Dickinson. (Christopher de Vinck)
Rhys, at this point, is not in any particular danger of being forgotten. Wide Sargasso Sea, her final novel, is a fixture of postcolonial and feminist literature courses. The contours of her long and difficult life — Caribbean childhood, alcoholism, affairs, poverty, two incarcerated husbands, the death of an infant son, a long fallow period when she was believed to be dead, success at last when Wide Sargasso Sea came out in 1966 — continue to fascinate. (Mariah Kreutter)
Confiesa su devoción por autores del Este de Europa y de Centroeuropa como Stanislaw Lem, Tolstoi, Goncharov, Kundera, Schlink, Kohut, Krleza, los hermanos Strugatski o Jünger, reprochándose el abandono de la literatura hispanoamericana, salvo Borges, Carpentier, García Márquez y otros tres o cuatro. "Recuerdo con especial afecto a varios autores en lengua inglesa: Nathan Hill y Steve Toltz, entre los modernos, Jane Austen y Emily Brontë, entre los antiguos. (Manuel Cuenya) (Translation)
De film gaat over het ingebeelde leven van een van 's werelds beroemdste auteurs, Emily Brontë. Ze is een rebel en een buitenbeentje, terwijl ze haar kracht vindt en de literaire klassieker Wuthering Heights schrijft. (Bram De Groot) (Translation)
The Eyre Guide publishes the eleventh chapter of The Jane Eyre Files podcast.
1.The storm had been assembling itself all morning, and finally the glowering sky, veined with lightning, loosed a rain of Old Testament proportions. Alan Pinkney looked up approvingly, then turned to the seven walkers he was leading and exclaimed, “This is perfect—I can almost see Heathcliff riding across the moor!”Categories: Jane Eyre, Haworth, Music, Theatre
We had ignored the clouds to hike some three miles to a remote, ruined farmhouse named Top Withins. It was little more than crumbling walls, but in its original form it is widely believed to have been the model for Wuthering Heights, home of the wild and mysterious Mr. Heathcliff in Emily Brontë’s classic 1847 novel of passion, rage and revenge. (Read more) (William Ecenbarger)
Gordon & Caird's Jane Eyre. The Musical opens tomorrow, September 2, in Tokyo, Japan. These are the details:Nissay Theatre (日生劇場)A (very brief) promo of the production can be seen here.
ジェーン・エア (Jane Eyre)Music and Lyrics by Paul Gordon
2009 September 2 through 2009 September 29
Book by John Caird
From the original novel by CHARLOTTE BRONTË
Book translated into Japanese by Yoshida Mie
Japanese Lyrics by Matsuda Naoyuki
Orchestrations by Brad Haak (based on the orchestrations by Larry Hochman)
Vocal Arrangements by Steve Tyler
Preview performance: September 1
18:00 hrs
Jane Eyre .... Matsu Takako (松たか子)
Rochester .... Hashimoto Satoshi (橋本さとし)Jane’s Father - Konishi Ryosei
Jane’s Mother – Yamazaki NaokoYoung Jane – Sato Ruka/Masuda Hanami/Tsunoda Moana
John Reed – Yokota Yoshiki/Oshika Raiki
Mrs Reed – Itoh HiromiMr Brocklehurst – Jo Haruhiko
Miss Scatcherd – Oh Natsuki
Helen Burns – Satoh Michiko
Teachers – Yamazaki Naoko/Suzuki Chikako/Tanaguchi Yuuna
Yasumuro Natsu/Yamanaka SakiMrs Fairfax – Kotobuki Hizuru
Robert – Konishi Noriyuki
Adèle – Kato Yurara/Sato Ruka/Tsunoda Moana
Grace Poole – Suzuki Chikako
Leah – Yasumuro Natsu
Sophie – Yamazaki Naoko
Bessie – Tanaguchi Yuuna
Rose - Yamanaka Saki
Abraham – Abe YoshitsuguBlanche Ingram – Kouda Hiroko
Lady Ingram – Itoh Hiromi
Lord Ingram – Konishi Ryosei
Mary Ingram – Satoh Michiko
Colonel Dent – Jo Haruhiko
Mrs Dent – Oh NatsukiRichard Mason – Fukui Kiichi
Bertha Mason – Oh Natsuki
Vicar – Jo HaruhikoSt John Rivers – Konishi Ryosei
Director - John Caird
Set Design – Matsui Rumi
Costume Design – Maeda Ayako
Lighting Design – Nakagawa Ryuichi
Sound Design – Yuasa Noriyuki
Associate Scenic Design –
Hair & Make-up – Kawamura Yoko
Musical Director – Yamaguchi Birri
Conductor – Uegaki Satoshi
Stage Manager – Suzuki Masanori
Aftertalks:
September 4, John Caird (composer)
September 7, 11 and 14 (actors)
The title Wuthering Heights is misleading as this production is not set on a brooding, windy Yorkshire moor but in the scorched desert of Rajasthan at the end of the 18th Century.The Guardian partly touches on this Bollywood version of Wuthering Heights in an article about an Arts Council initiative to enable under-26s to go to the theatre for free.
However, this musical adaptation echoes Brontë's timeless tale of passion and jealousy in many ways and compares the rigid Victorian class system with the traditional values held by Hindu society.
Writer Deepak Verma (Sanjay in EastEnders) has produced a script which asks the same questions as the original novel and sets love against a backdrop of class discrimination.
Made in association with the production company behind the award winning East is East, the creators produce the feel of a Bollywood epic by using a cinematic set, a lip-synced vocal score and a sprinkling of Hindi.
Disappointingly the expected big Bollywood dance scenes are missing but the small cast are skilfully directed to fill the stage as much as possible. Visually the work is bold and performed beautifully, with Pushpinder Chani and Youkti Patel excelling as the love struck counterparts to Heathcliff and Cathy.
However, although this adaptation is skilfully woven some aspects are not explored in enough detail and give a rushed and unconvincing ending.
With only three years between conception and opening night this production doesn't seem totally completed yet. With bigger ensemble scenes and some re-working this could be a Bollywood blockbuster in the making as all the right ingredients are in place.
Until Saturday. (Victoria Luke)
With only one set of free tickets allocated per person for each venue, Spring Awakening seems to have been a savvy choice for this season; Wuthering Heights, it turns out, is not. The songs are rather bad, and despite the show being billed as a musical, they're mimed rather than sung live. My companion is equally underwhelmed, and in the interval we grumble about the tone of the production, the way that it falls short of both Bollywood melodrama and Brontëan passion, all the while feeling a bit churlish for doing so. The play boasts the strapline "Brontë goes to Bollywood", but I find myself feeling Brontë should have stayed at home in Yorkshire. Perhaps I'm prematurely middle-aged. (Hermione Hoby)Just a brief note here: most, if not all, Bollywood musicals use lip-syncing, not live singing.
We have now seen a few pictures of the Chinese theatrical adaptation of Jane Eyre, thanks to CriEnglish.The Chinese theatrical adaptation of 'Jane Eyre', based on the romantic English novel of the same name by Charlotte Bronte, is currently under rehearsal in Beijing.
The cameras moved in close and the spotlight was cast on the lead actress's plain face, which looked clean and natural with minimal makeup.
In a loose grey cotton dress, Yuan Quan was just as serene as 'Jane Eyre' in the novel.
Though never losing her dress sense, she prefers to put on something less glamorous for rehearsal.
The grey outfit was specially made for rehearsals as the actress needs to feel a certain way in order to immerse herself into the role and get closer to the character. This certainly worked as she wore the dress every time while practicing her lines.
Wang Luoyong, China's first mainland Broadway singer and an experienced actor, plays Jane Eyre's lover, Edward Rochester.
Yuan said this renowned 'Engineer' from the musical 'Miss Saigon' has instilled much spirit into the drama and gives her the right feeling to better build up the role. She initially worried that working with Wang would be a big challenge but instead has drawn a lot of inspiration from him.
The actor also enjoyed their collaboration very much.
"In my mind, she really has a lot of similarities with Jane Eyre," said Wang, adding Yuan Quan doesn't impress people with her striking looks, instead her beauty glows from within and it is very impressive.
The drama will take to stage in the National Center for the Performing Arts from June 19-28. (Tian Tian) (Picture source)
And yet another Asian adaptation: the Japanese take on Gordon & Caird's Jane Eyre the Musical, which will be on stage for most of September at the Nissay Theatre, Tokyo. Here's a very rough Google translation of the article published by Pia News.Matsu Takako star in the musical "Jane Eyre" Production announcement press conference, held June 1 in Tokyo. Stage, movies, dramas and films that the pine to the single star in the musical and the first time.Categories: Jane Eyre, Music, Theatre, Wuthering Heights
Best known as the Charlotte Bronte novel is beloved around the world read "Jane Eyre". This, "Les Miserables" is the famous director John Caird, lyrics and doing his own screenplay, this film was the 2000 opening on Broadway in years. In the five Tony Award winning musical will be nominated and evaluation, this addition, John Caird himself remixing the script as you perform in Japan, rebuilding the music play to produce. John "Broadway work I get a commercial pressure. Or Do it with a strong element of comedy, I should not work on a large scale because of the story depicts the emotional outburst of the private and had been a very big scale. I did not understand that writing has changed considerably in collaboration with composer Paul Gordon. " Broadway over the "full version" and they performed this.
To play the heroine, Matsu Takako. "This is a heroine and a great performance, sing a great song, says actress should not have the mental power.'ve Seen during the first stage of his Takako, who do we find Jane, and思IMASHI or "Song to John and has been praised for" having the confidence I need to practice more, because of challenging work, 9 this month, dedicated to Jane Eyre's "modest and comments. Of Rochester will play the role opposite of Hashimoto Satoshi Jane. Pine with a few people have an experience together "(pine tree), her tough.惚RERU customers are the actors and actresses. Did not I would not do together in this love story No way. A miracle, I would like to express love for the stage. " Hashimoto to talk sprinkled with laughter and the light, John "in the wild and Rochester, the hero is not simple. If you know the Charlotte Bronte to Kansai if any (to speak to Mr. Hashimoto) written in Kansai I think I did "nothing to comment, and seemed confident in the casting.
The photo session is the last meeting, Hashimoto, pine and cast a smile to the camera, and suddenly John "You want me on my stage?" Or someone's shoulder, and looking fit or progress in the atmosphere, already company that was suitable for垣間見breath. Performance is Tuesday, September 1 from 29 (Tues.), at日生劇場. Tuesday, September 1 is a preview performance. Tickets are Monday, June 29 to begin the public sale. (Picture source)
Date: Saturday, October 19, 2024, 9:50 AM to 5:30 PMVenue: Kobe City College of Nursing, Education Building West Wing, Room W13Address: 3-4 Gakuen Nishi-machi, Nishi-ku, Kobe
★Reception: 9:20 AM onwardsMaster of Ceremonies: Hiroki Takigawa, Lecturer, Osaka Institute of Technology★Opening Remarks: 9:50 AMTakeshi Sakamoto, Professor Emeritus, Kansai University★Research Presentations: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PMChair: Chizuko Watari, Former Professor, Kansai Gaidai UniversityTranslators' "Wuthering Heights" - Focusing on the Author's ImageHidehiro Gyoda, Doctoral Student, Hokkaido University Graduate SchoolNarrative theorist Gérard Genette called the elements that regulate the reception of a text by connecting with the narrative (the main body of the text) as paratext. This presentation aims to trace the evolution of Emily Brontë's (1818-1848) image held by successive Japanese translators of "Wuthering Heights," using prefaces, afterwords, and commentaries (paratexts in the narrow sense) attached to translated editions as source material. The representation of the author, as background information (paratext in the broad sense), influences the reception of the work. Especially for the Brontë sisters, as Lucasta Miller detailed in "The Brontë Myth" (2001), various author images have been established to the extent that they are described as "Brontë myths." This presentation will follow the changes in Japanese translators' images of Emily Brontë by comparing and contrasting the paratexts of each translation in chronological order, focusing particularly on how they fill the gaps in the largely unknown biography.Pet Dogs and "Femininity": Animal Representation in Charlotte Brontë's "Villette"Rie Baba, Doctoral Student, University of BirminghamThis presentation points out that in "Villette," the image of pet dogs plays an important role in highlighting Lucy Snowe's complex emotions and interpreting the work. The word "pet" has meant "companion animal" from the Victorian era to the present, while metaphorically it has also functioned as a term associated with pampering and dependency, such as "favorite" or "darling." In the Victorian era, pet dogs evoked the image of pampered lap dogs and were sometimes used as derogatory expressions, while also functioning as symbols of femininity embodied by ideal mothers and wives. "Villette" depicts Lucy's longing for and rejection of middle-class domestic femininity. Through the image of pet dogs, femininity that conforms to patriarchal values in the Victorian era is portrayed positively, while at the same time, this image also acts to critically distance itself from similar femininity.Chair: Akiko Kimura, Professor, Waseda UniversityEmily Brontë and Ludwig TieckChihiro Sakuma, Assistant Professor, Tokyo Metropolitan UniversityThis presentation explores the connections between Emily Brontë (1818-48) and Ludwig Tieck (1773-1853). While Paula Sulivan suggested a connection between "Tieck's Bluebeard" published in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine (Feb. 1833) and "Jane Eyre" (1847), there seems to be no previous research directly mentioning the connection between Emily and Tieck. Considering that an article about Tieck's short story was published in Fraser's Magazine (Nov. 1831), the possibility that his works caught Emily's eye cannot be ruled out. I would like to analyze the articles published in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine and Fraser's Magazine along with "Wuthering Heights" (1847) to consider Tieck's influence.Soundscapes in Poetry - The Resonance of Emily Brontë's PoemsYoko Gonaka, Part-time Lecturer, Kindai UniversityMany literary figures create poetry with the awareness that their poems will be recited. As Bob Duckett states that all the Brontë children were "capable and knowledgeable musicians," the Brontë siblings had a musical background. Charlotte Brontë (1816-55) described her sister Emily Brontë's (1818-48) poetry as having "a peculiar music—wild, melancholy, and elevating." This presentation aims to analyze the poetic text focusing on resonance and rhythm, which are important auditory elements in poetry, and consider how skillfully the poet chooses words to depict the poetic scenery. We will examine what auditory images are brought about when Emily Brontë's poems are recited and verify the musical artistry seen in her poetry.-- Break --★Host Institution's Greeting: 1:00 PM - 1:10 PMKoji Egawa, President, Kobe City College of Nursing★General Meeting: 1:10 PM - 1:40 PMChair: Miho Katayama, Associate Professor, Osaka Seikei UniversityReport from the Secretariat: Mari Takumi, Professor, Tokyo University of the Arts★Encouragement Award ReportMie Abe, Chair of the Japan Brontë Society Encouragement Award Committee, Professor, Shoin University★President's AddressMichiko Kurisu, Professor Emeritus, Daito Bunka University★Conference Committee Chair's AddressRie Yamauchi, Professor, Kobe City College of Nursing★Lecture: 2:00 PM - 3:00 PMChair: Yumiko Hirono, Vice Director, Institute for Liberal Arts and Sciences, Kyoto UniversityTitle: "The Realm of Translation - From My Translations of 'Wuthering Heights' and 'The Mill on the Floss'"Midori Uematsu, Professor Emeritus, Wayo Women's University★Symposium: 3:10 PM - 5:20 PM"Animal Representation and Feminism: The Cases of the Brontë Sisters, Joyce, and Woolf"Chair and Presenter: Nobumitsu Ukai, Professor, Kyushu UniversityIn recent years, there has been a trend in research to find expressions of feminist issues in the way animals are depicted. Convincing examples of such research include analyses that draw parallels between the situation of women being treated as inferior to men or subordinate to men, and the situations in which animals and pets are placed. The expression of animals is not simple; while bestiality can correspond to the violent aspects of men, the ferocity of animals can also symbolize the anger of oppressed women towards men. Additionally, focusing on animal representation can sometimes reveal unexpected elements of feminist issues depicted in works. In this symposium, we will examine the Brontë sisters, James Joyce, and Virginia Woolf from the perspective of animal representation and feminism, considering how Joyce and Woolf in the 20th century inherited and developed the legacy of the 19th-century Brontë sisters.Heathcliff as an Outsider and BestialityNobumitsu Ukai, Professor, Kyushu UniversityIn my presentation, I will first discuss Anne Brontë's "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall," examining the overlap between women's oppressed position and animal representation. Then, I will focus on the expression of Bertha's oppressed position and anger towards men in Charlotte Brontë's "Jane Eyre" from the perspective of animal-related expressions. Subsequently, I will analyze the animal representation in Emily Brontë's "Wuthering Heights." Heathcliff is a villainous male who oppresses women such as Isabella and the second Catherine, and his villainy is also reflected in his attitude towards animals. However, as an outsider, Heathcliff is also a character who, like women, is oppressed within patriarchal society. I would like to consider the meaning of Heathcliff's inhuman bestiality, which resonates with the first Catherine who loves wild things, from a feminist perspective.Bloom Cooking Breakfast and the Black Cat - Reading the Fourth Episode of "Ulysses"Keiko Niina, Associate Professor, University of MiyazakiThe fourth episode of "Ulysses" (1922) begins with a kitchen scene where the protagonist Leopold Bloom is busy preparing breakfast, thinking about his favorite grilled lamb kidneys and his beloved wife Molly's preferences. There's a black cat (female) begging Bloom for food, and he interacts with it. He prepares breakfast for his wife, who is still in bed, and a separate menu for himself. Why does Bloom make breakfast for Molly? In fact, he even brings Molly's breakfast to her bed, but what does this mean? Also, why is there a black cat in the Bloom household? What is the significance of this black cat in the story? By asking these questions, I want to deeply interpret the circumstances of the Bloom family while explaining the new world that Joyce presents in "Ulysses."The Border-Crossing OrlandoHiromi Harada, Lecturer, National Institute of Technology, Kitakyushu CollegeVirginia Woolf's "Orlando" (1928) is a unique biographical novel in which the protagonist Orlando hardly ages for about 300 years and even undergoes a sex change from male to female during that time. Due to its characteristic topics such as sex change and androgyny, this work is often discussed from feminist, gender, and queer perspectives, but what happens when we find the presence of animals in it? Derek Ryan focuses on the dogs that appear in this work and points out the connection between sexuality and animality for Woolf by reading it as a schema of Orlando, who crosses the boundaries between male and female, and the dogs who experience or witness such identity crossings. In this presentation, using Ryan's observation as a guideline, I would like to reread "Orlando" from the perspective of feminism and animal representation, focusing particularly on Orlando's various crossings of boundaries such as male/female and human/animal.★Closing Remarks: 5:20 PMMichiko Soya, Professor Emeritus, Kobe Kaisei College for Women
Chihiro SakumaHumanities Journal, 521-13 p20 (2025)Focusing on 'Rochester's fairy naming' (Gouker 175) in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, Gouker notes that he calls Jane a witch twice and opines that 'this signifier for contemporary readers was surely more shocking' (176). If we include Rochester's allusion to a witch embedded in Jane's narrative, he calls her a witch three times throughout Jane Eyre. When Jane pours water over his bed, Rochester, says, 'What have you done with me, witch, sorceress'?' (C. Brontë, Jane Eyre 148).' Subsequently, during the engagement period, as Jane asks Rochester to sing for her, she narrates that he says she is 'a capricious witch' (271). In addition, when she recounts what she feels upon finding a gorgeous wedding veil, he says, 'How well you read me, you witch!' (...)
In “Cell Phone,’’ Jean’s world is turned upside down when she answers the trilling phone of a dead man in a cafe. Ruhl compares Jean to the quiet, passive heroine, Lucy Snowe, in Charlotte Brontë’s novel “Villette.’’What do you think, Cinderella or Beauty and the Beast? In The Guardian:
“It’s almost like [Lucy] is an invisible or ghostly presence, in a way,’’ says Ruhl. “But as the novel progresses, she becomes more and more present and alive.’’ (Christopher Wallenger)
But not every growing-up story is a Cinderella tale. I once heard an American academic spend a whole lecture trying to show that Jane Eyre was a Cinderella story. She failed, because it isn't: Jane Eyre is a Beauty and the Beast story, in which the physically powerful, sexually potent, threateningly mature adult male, Mr Rochester, is gradually subdued and tamed (not to say shamed and maimed) by the small, weak, delicate, but implacable Jane, who does it all by herself. (Philip Pullman)More reviews of Brian Dillon's Tormented Hope. Now in the Guardian:
For Brontë, Darwin and Nightingale, being permanently half-ill facilitated withdrawal from society, which enabled them to devote themselves to their projects. (Jerome Boyd Maunsell)And also in The Guardian a review of Jacqueline Wilson's new novel Hetty Feather:
I approve of the way Wilson includes kind characters alongside cruel ones – and they turn out to be the more powerful. There is a touch of Jane Eyre to Hetty. There is also a Shakespearean spark when Hetty disguises herself as a boy. And the flower girl at the end of the novel is straight out of Shaw. (Kate Kellaway)The Canadian soprano Sally Dibblee is interviewed in The Telegraph-Journal:
Your favourite hero of fiction?According to News of the World (ahem), if you are a Pisces you like the Brontës:
a Jane Eyre. I love her for her passionate nature and her convictions. There's also an idealistic part of me that is seduced by the romanticism of the Victorian era, when days were spent reading and knitting and sewing.
You also love places made famous in classic novels, such as the Brontë country of the Yorkshire Moors.(Mystic Meg and Jess Spiring)More Twilight-Wuthering Heights references in The Cumberland County Sentinel, Apostillas Literarias reviews Jane Eyre in Spanish, Click Me Shoot Me talks briefly about the Tokyo performances of Jane Eyre. The Musical, Lilacs and Lace posts about her personal experience with Wuthering Heights, greenrose18 describes Jane Eyre 2006 (in Russian) and finally Brontë Parsonage Women's Writing talks about Katrina Noemi's visit(s) to the Parsonage as their first Writer in Residence.
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