The God of Wuthering Heights

An awkward comparison in this recent paper:

Comparative Gyunocriticism of Brontë's Wuthering Heights and Roy's The God of Small Things

by Melisa Genç 

Humanitas. International Journal of Social Sciences,  Volume: 12 Issue: 24, 150 - 164 (2024)

Abstract

The present paper focuses on two influential female novelists and their ardent endeavours to claim a gender-specific structure and voice within the discourse of the novel. Emily Brontë and Arundhati Roy nauseated their contemporary readers and most of the critics by making use of bi-sexuality and incest as salient structural and thematic features of their narrative. In Wuthering Heights, both thematic and structural elements of Brontë’s feminine narrative operate as meta-narratives reverberating with the becoming of Brontë as a female novelist. The particular impinge of Brontë’s feminine narrative on the discourse of the novel reveals itself through the reversal of the oedipal projectile motion of history. Similarly, Arundhati Roy has weaponized her Indianized language to break from the strict linguistic laws of the symbolic so that the semiotic or the maternal realm has become blatant in The God of Small Things. Like Brontë, Roy wields incest and bi-sexuality to prevent the phallic development of the grand history; instead of the oedipal identity formation process, she displays the motif of incest as an opponent of a linear progression of the hero. Consequently, this study emphasises the differentiation of the two female novelists from the monolithic discourse in the novel. It also explains how feminine narrative structure owing to its immanent on-hand polyphony and bi-sexuality goes hand in hand with what Bakhtin calls heteroglossia and dialogic discourse in the novel.

Jane Eyre inspired vibes

Culturefly reviews Tales of a Monstrous Heart by Jennifer Delaney.

As the days grow shorter and the night’s get colder, the urge to curl up with something darkly atmospheric and bewitchingly gothic begins to take its hold. Jennifer Delaney’s Tales of a Monstrous Heart is the sweeping slow-burn romantasy to lure you in with its Jane Eyre inspired vibes, ominous supernatural backdrop and brooding romance. But the best thing about this book, aside from the perfect blend of macabre fantasy and heart-stealing romance, is how completely unpredictable it is. From one eerie chapter to the next, you never quite know where this story is going to take you. (Natalie Xenos)

The Pitt News has some 'Fall Book Recommendations' including Jane Eyre, whose plot twist is fully disclosed.

“Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Brontë

You’ve likely heard of “Jane Eyre” at least once, but if you’ve never read it, this fall is a great time to give it a shot. In this classic novel, a young orphan named Jane Eyre leaves her aunt’s house, where she was raised, to attend the Lowood School. Upon her arrival at Lowood, Jane meets Mr. Brocklehurst — the abusive headmaster of the school — who makes much of her first year there miserable until he is finally fired. 

After spending eight years at Lowood — six as a student and two teaching — Jane leaves to work as a governess at the manor of Thornfield, teaching a girl named Adèle. Gradually, Jane falls in love with a man named Rochester, her employer at Thornfield. Jane struggles to navigate her feelings for Rochester — whom she learns is still in a complicated marriage — and has to decide whether or not she will stay to work at Thornfield. (Evin Verbrugge)

The Daily Tar Heel recommends 'Six hair-raising reads for a spooky Halloween' and one of them is

“Wuthering Heights” by Emily Brontë

Moving now to a classic, we have “Wuthering Heights." Gothic in style and eerie in atmosphere, this book will haunt you the way its ghosts do its characters.

All taking place in the eldritch-feeling backdrop of The Moors, the novel revolves around the tragic story of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, whose forbidden love was prevented by Catherine’s family. Heathcliff, distraught by the circumstances of his life, seeks revenge. 

I think "Wuthering Heights" is a display of the darkest crevices of human nature, of horrific tragedy and the epic proportions in which cursed love — or the lack thereof — may take us. In terms of horror, I’d call it more of a psychological thriller. It’s sinister, spectral and even strange at times. (Alexis Clifton)

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Strange Decorative Objects

An example of recent Brontë research:

Les étranges objets décoratifs de « Choseville » (Villette, Charlotte Brontë, 1853)

Isabelle Hervouet-Farrar, Université d'Auvergne

L'Avemor. Vol. 15 No 2 (2024): Devenirs de l'objet

Dans l’autobiographie fictive de Lucy Snowe, postérieure à l’Exposition universelle de 1851, le romantisme flamboyant de Jane Eyre (1847) a cédé la place à un réalisme toujours ardent, mais également préoccupé de matérialité. Cet article questionne la place faite à l’objet, parfois à la « chose » dans Villette (Charlotte Brontë, 1853) en s’appuyant sur la mention d’objets domestiques brodés, cousus ou peints par les femmes : quelques robes, ainsi que deux écrans à feu, une pelote à épingles et une chaîne de montre. Puisque Lucy a elle-même fabriqué la plupart de ceux-ci, la critique analyse souvent l’objet dans Villette comme la matérialisation d’éléments épars de la psyché de l’héroïne, psyché qu’il serait donc possible de reconstruire et de décrire en interprétant ces objets comme métaphores. Dans un récit marqué par la difficulté à exprimer l’intime, Brontë porte d’ailleurs un très grand intérêt à la classique analogie textile-textuel. Il est nécessaire cependant de dépasser une lecture classique des objets comme métaphores de la psyché de Lucy dans la mesure où, si Brontë les utilise comme relais de l’intime, elle semble finalement les poser en concurrence avec le sujet et son langage. Au-delà de l’animisme, Brontë transforme ces objets décoratifs en fétiches dépositaires d’une histoire qui restera tue. Villette rejette même l’opposition binaire sujet-objet pour mettre en scène le contrôle du discours et la réification, parfois la création de l’humain par des vêtements cousus, des bibelots brodés ou peints. Dans le cas de Lucy, la domination opérée par les « choses » oscille entre protection et menace : si à la conclusion du roman Lucy est placée à l’abri au milieu d’objets, elle est elle-même devenu l’un d’eux.

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A gorilla reading Wuthering Heights

Today marks the 177th anniversary of the publication of Jane Eyre.

But it's (almost) all about Wuthering Heights these days. The Torch--a university newspaper--has an op-ed on the so-called 'Whitewashing of Wuthering Heights' which serves to prove that article on university students being unable to read whole books and/or grasp their meaning.

Within the first two pages of Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights,” it is made abundantly clear how main character Heathcliff appears in the novel:

 “He is a dark-skinned gipsy in aspect, in dress and manners a gentleman.”

As the main male character and love interest to Catherine Earnshaw, Heathcliff was an orphan in Liverpool brought to Wuthering Heights by Mr. Earnshaw, Catherine’s father, and made her “adopted sister.” Through the use of multiple narrators, the novel unfolds the story of Heathcliff and Catherine’s tumultuous relationship as they weave in and out of each other’s lives. 

Actor Jacob Elordi, rumored to be playing this role in a new adaptation, is unfit to star not because of talent, personality or lack of sisterly relation to potential co-star Margot Robbie — but because of his race. 

In ignorance of the original characters in the novel, director Emerald Fennell (“Promising Young Woman,” “Saltburn”) has cast a pair that will make the film marketable and a ‘must-see’ for fans. But what about fans of the novel itself? 

Why can’t the industry cast roles not based on current marketability, but instead on accuracy? It feels as if this movie is meant to be an extension of the Elordi and Robbie movie star streak and less of an adaptation of a classic, beloved novel.  

Fans of the novel have taken to social media to express their disdain and outrage towards this new production. Many have “fancasted” actors  Dev Patel and Elle Fanning to be the leading characters in the film due to their appearance, nature and age. Others also argue that a main point of contention with Catherine’s family in the novel is Heathcliff’s race, and a white actor should not be the representation of this.

Hollywood is infamous for casting actors and actresses based on their current relevance or popularity — not on whether they fit the role. This isn’t the only time that adaptations were grossly misrepresented just to fill them with A-listers. [...]

The biggest problem with how Hollywood casts is the blatant lack of accuracy and respect for the original text. Instead of creating a film that is true to the book or work it is based on, the industry casts whoever is the most popular at the time. Though it may seem obvious why trending actors are cast, there is no room left for up-and-coming talent to get their big break.

Doesn’t it seem like all of the same actors and actresses are starring in every major film this past year, or even a few years? Clearly, A-list actors are sought after for roles, but how many characters can they play in such a short time?

Even Robbie’s character, Catherine, is an interesting choice given the character’s nature. Especially with the success and fandom of “Barbie,” having Robbie play Catherine, who is a “spoiled and often arrogant” young girl, feels inaccurate and out of place. Catherine is 15-years-old for the majority of the novel, and Robbie is over twice her age, being 34-years-old. 

This is not to say that Elordi and Robbie will not succeed in their roles; both are capable and talented actors. The bottom line is that so many other talented people could play the roles of Heathcliff and Catherine like the novel intended. The characters of the novel are described how they are, and this sentiment should remain true in any adaptation. (Olivia Rainson)

Had she gone beyond the first two pages of the novel, she would have seen that the descriptions of Heathcliff vary wildly and serve only to emphasise that he's an outsider. He's so ignored that they don't even agree on what he looks like. Had she gone beyond social media, she would have seen that the matter of Heathcliff's origins has been a subject of very interesting--thankfully much deeper--debate for decades.

The Onion jokes about a zoo gorilla that 'Looks Bored Out Of Mind Reading Wuthering Heights'. Well, that could be us reading one more clueless column on Heathcliff.

Observing the 300-pound captive ape from the other side of his enclosure, Lincoln Park Zoo guests expressed empathy this week for western lowland gorilla Nzinga, who looked bored out of his mind reading Wuthering Heights. 

Concerned visitors reported seeing the 26-year-old silverback resting his head on his hairy fist as he stared down at the pages of the classic tale about social class, passion, and revenge, which, with the exception of a few plants and rocks, was seemingly the only enrichment item within the exhibit at his disposal. According to sources, Nzinga’s posture slumped lower and lower throughout the afternoon as he plodded through the turgid prose of the 1847 gothic novel by Emily Brontë.

“Poor thing. Imagine being forced to sit in a cage all day with nothing to do but read about Heathcliff pacing around a mansion and growing bitter with resentment through the years,” said 43-year-old Elmhurst, IL resident Angela Kreusler, who sighed and shook her head as she watched the great ape fidget with the corner of a page. “It’s such a shame. Gorillas need constant stimulus. You can tell he’s not engaged. Just look at the way he yawns every time he turns a page.”

“Can’t they at least give him a Jack Reacher book or something?” added Kreusler, crossing her arms in indignation. 

Zoo visitors told reporters they feared that the inadequate living conditions in the enclosure would cause further suffering for the gorilla, observing that Nzinga was less than one-third of the way through the novel and had ahead of him hundreds of pages detailing the tedious and confusing lives of Cathy, Catherine, Heathcliff, Linton Heathcliff, Hindley, and Hareton, among numerous other impossible-to-keep-track-of characters. 

“Locking up animals like this without any other entertainment options is simply immoral and cruel,” said 29-year-old William Torres, who pledged to never return to any zoo after taking in the depressing sight of the gorilla nearly nodding off while reading the novel. “I just wish I could reach in there and hand him the SparkNotes. He doesn’t even have access to a family tree explaining how those living at Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights are related to each other. No wonder he’s so miserable.”

At press time, animal rights activists were demanding zookeepers give Nzinga an electronic device so he could watch videos or play Doodle Jump.

Even so, we'd bet the poor gorilla would have had a much interesting point of view on the novel than some of those we have read lately.

EnVols has an article on the landscape where Wuthering Heights takes place. Deseret News lists Wuthering Heights among other classic novels that are getting screen adaptations.

Elle asks bookish questions to writer Jean Hanff Korelitz.

The book that: [...]

..made me rethink a long-held belief:

Jo Baker’s Longbourn. I had always been of the opinion that an author’s characters belong to them and them alone, but this reimagining of Pride and Prejudice was revelatory and powerful. I’ve since opened my eyes to other novels that lean on existing works of literature: Peter Carey’s Jack Maggs, Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea, Valerie Martin’s Mary Reilly. Eventually, I wrote an entire novel (The Plot) about the imprecise borders between fictions. (Riza Cruz)

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The Absurd Hero

 A new paper which mentions Wide Sargasso Sea:

Sisyphean or Medusan: The Absurd Hero in Jean Rhys's Good Morning, Midnight and Wide Sargasso Sea

Susan Poursanati , Maryam Neyestani

Journal of Modern Literature, Volume 47, Number 4, Summer 2024 pp. 144-161

Jean Rhys's Good Morning, Midnight and Wide Sargasso Sea each create a liminal space wherein the traditional absurd in Camusian sense is both discernable and modified. While the male-female interactions in the novels correspond to the interactive nature of the moment of absurd recognition, the female characters of both novels manifest the same sense of lucidity and constant consciousness that constitutes the essence of absurd heroism. Thus, by casting female heroes as opposed to male ones, Rhys's aforementioned novels introduce the notion of gender and heterogeneity into the absurd. As such, Sisyphus's labor-ridden and mainly corporeal struggle, no longer the sole representative of the absurd, is counterpointed with that of female characters such as Sasha, Antoinette, Christophine, and Amelie whose absurd experiences are more Medusan than Sisyphean.

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Cathy and Heathcliff advertising Chanel no. 5

Daily Mail discusses 'How Hollywood is 'ruining' the classics by 'dumbing it down for Gen Z'' (poor grammar in that headline, we know).

Fans of classic novels have slammed Hollywood adaptations of their beloved books- claiming the industry is 'ruining' works like Pride and Prejudice, which Netflix has just announced plans to produce as a TV show.

It comes following backlash of the streaming giant's remake of Persuasion starring Dakota Johnson in 2022, which, despite being set in the 19th century, used modern phrases in its dialogue.

Elsewhere, viewers recently voiced their ire following news that Emerald Fennell will helm a Wuthering Heights movie, with many hitting out at her 'weird' and 'terrible' casting of Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff - claiming that the director has 'not read' the Emily Brontë novel.

Many have taken to social media to express their dislike of the choice to use two stars who 'look like they belong on Instagram' in a film set during the 1800s. [...]

Elsewhere, last month Wuthering Heights fans slammed Emerald Fennell's upcoming adaptation of the classic.

Social media hit out at the 'whitewashing' of the romantic lead - as Heathcliff (set to be played by Jacob Elordi) is often described to be 'dark skinned' and is subject to 'racist abuse'.

'Guys I can ONLY assume that Emerald Fennell isn't actually adapting Wuthering Heights, she's just using it as inspiration and it's loosely based on and the only similarities are the characters' names and it's set in this time period and it's a different story entirely right?' one joked.

Another wrote: 'Truly the worst casting I've ever perceived, I'm gagged by how Emerald Fennell is committed to never serving.'

A third quipped: 'Looking forward to hearing those distinctive Yorkshire twangs!'

Elsewhere, a comment begged for 'new actors please'. 

News that Margot and Jacob are set to play the lead roles in Emerald's adaptation was revealed by Deadline. 

Margot's LuckyChap company is on board to produce the film. LuckyChap also produced two of Emerald's other movies: Saltburn and Promising Young Woman. 

The film is currently in pre-production, and will shoot in the United Kingdom next year.

No plot details have yet been revealed.

Brontë's Wuthering Heights, published in 1850 [sic], is considered a masterpiece of English literature.

The original story centres around the Earnshaws, the Lintons, and their turbulent relationship with Heathcliff, an adopted son of the Earnshaws.

Heathcliff is one of the most infamous and complex romantic heroes in Western literature, known for his brooding nature and obsession with Cathy. 

There have been a number of film adaptations of the book over the years, with perhaps the most well known being the 1939 version directed by William Wyler, and starring Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier. 

The most recent adaptation is the 2011 film by Andrea Arnold, starring Kaya Scodelario and James Howson. (Maria Okanrende)

Funny how an article complaining of dumbing down the classics can't get the publication date right.

A contributor to The Mary Sue is still thinking about the so-called controversial casting.

In my proud career as a period drama enthusiast, rarely have I seen such abysmal casting—especially for a property as well-known and as beloved as Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, a 19th-century novel so popular that any new adaptation might as well rely on the power of its title and cast relatively unknown actors who really fit the characters’ descriptions. But to be honest, there’s a good number of already established names who would have worked better than Robbie and Elordi as Catherine and Heathcliff—and that’s with all my love and affection for them and their acting abilities.

There’s honestly a myriad of problems that have already been well and truly analyzed by the Internet since the casting announcement dropped. The blatant case of “iPhone face,” their ages, and the oh-so-inconsequential detail of Heathcliff being very clearly described as a POC in the original novel are simply some of the major ones.

I think it’s so unfair and ridiculous how hollywood casting directors keep erasing canonically BIPOC characters in important roles especially in classic literature and historical roles like in Wuthering Heights, the 2011 adaptation is the only one that had an accurate Heathcliff. (Benedetta Geddo)

There can't be an accurate Heathcliff when there's not an accurate description of Heathcliff in the novel, right? James Howson hardly looked like a 'Lascar' or a 'Spanish castaway' which is how Heathcliff is also described in the novel.

Daily Mail and others are really interested to see Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi working together already in a Chanel no. 5 ad.

On iNews, Lucy Mangan blames 'gentle parenting' for students no longer reading long books.

When I was taking GCSEs – back in the days when they were still newfangled things and your parents still referred to them as O-levels, we read books in class. By which I mean whole books. And plays. The Lord of the Flies. 1984. Macbeth. The Importance of Being Earnest. Wuthering bloody Heights, if you can believe it. It took forever and I cannot say that our national literary canon was best served by being stumblingly read aloud by 35 disaffected teenagers in turn, hour after hour, lesson after lesson, week after week.

Why did the teachers do it this way? Because they knew that few of their students were either of a temperament or came from homes that would enable them to read such tomes anywhere but the classroom. And so the classroom it had to be if we were all to get the prescribed classics, however painfully, under our belts.

El Mundo (Spain) has selected a few 'autumnal books for women' and one of them is Jane Eyre.

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The Brontës and the Fairy Tale

 A new scholarly book is published this month:

The Brontës and the Fairy Tale

by Jessica Campbell

Ohio University Press

Series in Victorian Studies

ISBN 9780821425640 (hardcover)

November 2024

ISBN: 9780821425657 (ebook)

October 2024

The Brontës and the Fairy Tale is the first comprehensive study devoted to the role of fairy tales and folklore in the work of Charlotte, Emily, Anne, and Branwell Brontë. It intervenes in debates on genre, literary realism, the history of the fairy tale, and the position of women in the Victorian period. Building on recent scholarship emphasizing the dynamic relationship between the fairy tale and other genres in the nineteenth century, the book resituates the Brontës’ engagement with fairy tales in the context of twenty-first-century assumptions that the stories primarily evoke childhood and happy endings. Jessica Campbell argues instead that fairy tales and folklore function across the Brontës’ works as plot and character models, commentaries on gender, and signifiers of national identity.

Scholars have long characterized the fairy tale as a form with tremendous power to influence cultures and individuals. The late twentieth century saw important critical work revealing the sinister aspects of that power, particularly its negative effects on female readers. But such an approach can inadvertently reduce the history of the fairy tale to a linear development from the “traditional” tale (pure, straight, patriarchal, and didactic) to the “postmodern” tale (playful, sophisticated, feminist, and radical). Campbell joins other contemporary scholars in arguing that the fairy tale has always been a remarkably elastic form, allowing writers and storytellers of all types to reshape it according to their purposes.

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Brilliant literary conceit

The Post (New Zealand) has an article on Jean Rhys.

There are four early Rhys novels — Quartet (1928), After Leaving Mr Mackenzie (1930), Voyage in the Dark (1934) and Good Morning, Midnight (1939) — followed by a nearly 30-year break before her late masterpiece, Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), with its brilliant literary conceit of taking up the story of the first Mrs Rochester, the mad woman in the attic, from Charlotte Brontë’s 19th-century classic Jane Eyre. (Guy Somerset)

Business Today on why Malaysian future leaders need to be empathic.

The importance of empathy in leadership can be traced back through the ages, even in classic literature. Consider Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë’s timeless novel. The protagonist, Jane, while enduring many hardships, learns empathy through her own suffering and her experiences with others. Her ability to understand and empathize with the struggles of those around her—whether it’s the tortured Mr. Rochester or the fragile Helen Burns—makes her a strong, principled character. Likewise, Malaysia’s future leaders must learn to lead not just with intellect and strategy but with empathy, which will allow them to truly connect with the people they are meant to serve.

AnneBrontë.org has a post on Charlotte Bronte In Hornsea.

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Assessing the Translations

Are you interested in Jane Eyre's translations to Arab? We knew it. Here is you thing:

Assessing the Translation of Direct Speech in “Wuthering Heights” into Arabic

Dhafar Asim Sulaiman Yahya, University of Mosul / Department of Translation College of Arts, Najat Abdulrahman Hasan, University of Mosul / Department of Translation College of Arts

Journal of Language Studies,  Vol. 8 No. 9 (2024): Vol.8, No. 9, 2024

The present study tackles the translation of direct speech forms in Bronte’s novel "Wuthering Heights" into Arabic. The significance of this study stems from the fact that English direct speech forms in literary texts might pose substantial challenges when translated into Arabic due to their semantic connotations and structural peculiarities. The study aims at assessing the translation of English direct speech forms in "Wuthering Heights" novel into Arabic. It also aims at investigating the problems that may arise during the translation of direct speech forms in this novel into Arabic. Wuthering Heights is Emily Bronte’s unique novel. It is a story of love and revenge, this exciting and vivid novel depicts a deep and devastating love between its two main characters, the stubborn, charming Catherine and the handsome, dark-skinned, impulsive Heathcliff, both of whom are as wild as the Yorkshire moors where the novel takes place The study hypothesizes that translating direct speech in literary texts poses serious difficulties for the translators. To test the validity of the hypothesis, the study includes a practical chapter which tackles the translation of (25) excerpts that have been chosen from Wuthering Heights novel along with four Arabic translation versions. The Arabic renderings are those of the Arabic Cultural Centre (2016), Rifaat Naseem (1975), Helmi Murad (2003) and Hanna Saeed (2021). The analysis is implemented according to the model proposed by Vinay and Darbelnet (1958) which tackles the different kinds of translation approaches and strategies available for the translator when handling the task of translating various kinds of texts.

The study concludes that novice and unskilled translators might encounter serious difficulties and challenges in translating direct speech expressions due to the multiple meanings and connotations inherent in such expressions. It also concludes that context plays a vital role in defining the most appropriate rendering for the SL text.

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The Vicar, the play and the adaptations

The Bolton News interviews Rev Oliver Preston who is the vicar of St Michael and All Angels Church in Haworth:

Rev Oliver Preston was previously working at the Hope Centre in Johnson Fold and moved to Haworth in West Yorkshire with his wife and children in July last year after he felt a calling to the role.
In his new role, Oliver oversees three churches in Haworth, St Michael and All Angels Church, St Gabriel's Church in Stanbury and Cross Roads-cum-Lees St James Church.

In 1820, Patrick Brontë, father of the renowned authors, Charlotte Brontë and Emily Brontë, accepted to living of Haworth and moved to the St Michael and All Angels Parsonage with his family.

There are estimated to be 42,000 burials in the graveyard, many of the graves from the time of the Bronte family hold entire families including a number of infants. (...)

“Because of the connection to the Bronte sisters, St Michaels attracts thousands of visitors and tourists, so how we welcome them is important.

"Haworth is a beautiful area so it attracts tourists, but this can make it hard to have a sense of local community – which is something we’re working towards." (Leah Collins)

Broadway World presents the premiere of the Bristol Old Vic-National Theatre production of Jane Eyre in the US. It will happen in Austin:

Austin Shakespeare will be the first American theater company to stage a new version of Jane Eyre, recently developed by The National Theatre of Great Britain and The Bristol Old Vic Theatre. It will run Nov. 9-24 at the Long Center’s Rollins Theatre with a low-priced preview Nov. 8. Regular tickets start at $28. 

rtistic Director Ann Ciccolella relishes the passion and madness of the classic novel. “We can’t wait to share this new version of Charlotte Brontë’s trailblazing romance,” she said. “Austin actors and contemporary live music bring a modern, Austin flavor to the classic story.”

Taylor Flanagan will portray Jane. She has performed in the Chamber Music Festival’s collaboration of The Tempest and was Jo March in a staged reading of Jo and Louisa; in shows at Hyde Park Theatre, Penfold Theatre, Ground Floor Theatre, Deaf Austin Theatre and ZACH Theatre. Tim Blackwood is the formidable, mysterious master of the house, “Mr. Rochester.” (Steph Wild)

/Film recommends some ghost films on streaming. Among them Guillermo Del Toro's Crimson Peak:

Playing out like "Jane Eyre" meets "The Haunting of Hill House," "Crimson Peak" finds Edith in serious danger and dealing with ghosts and other dark secrets. (Chris Evangelista)

The York Press recommends ghost stories and vampire thriller, like The Black Feathers by Rebecca Netley:

With a secluded house on the bleak Yorkshire Moors laden with secrets and full of enigmatic characters, The Black Feathers is an atmospheric Victorian Gothic thriller reminiscent of Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca and Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. This book exudes palpable eeriness and a pervasive sense of dread, making it an ideal autumnal read. 

Josephine Brady explores 'cancer literature' in the Irish Times:

When we feel imprisoned by despair and cut off from the world, the alchemy of great cancer writing releases us. It heals our despair. It restores the possibility of becoming, as was so perfectly expressed by Emily Brontë, “chainless souls”, with the strength to endure whatever cancer may have in store. 

Vogue (France) lists the best and the worst Wuthering Heights adaptations. In a nutshell the best according to the article Wuthering Heights 1939, Onimaru (1988) and Wuthering Heights 2011. The worst, Wuthering Heights 1992 and Wuthering Heights 2009. But it's obvious they haven't take into consideration a lot of adaptations.

Femina (France) also recommends adaptations of Wuthering Heights. Curiously, Wuthering Heights 1939 and Wuthering Heights 2011 are recommend but also Wuthering Heights 1992.

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On Nature Imagery

An example of recent Chinese Brontë scholars:

On Nature Imagery and the Heroine’s Growth in Jane Eyre 

Qizhen Cai, Jingdong Zhong

Zhejiang Yuexiu University, Shaoxing, China. 

Scientific Journal Of Humanities and Social Sciences   

Volume 5 Issue 6, 2023 

Corresponding Author Abstract Jane Eyre is a masterpiece written by Charlotte Bronte. It is an autobiographical work. The novel takes the life of the orphan Jane Eyre as the main line, shows the rough life experience of the heroine Jane Eyre, and successfully portrays brave female imagery who dares to fight, love and hate. It expresses the dissatisfaction and struggle of the author as a woman against the social phenomenon that women have always been in a subordinate position in society at that time. When the author created Jane Eyre, the wave of the Industrial Revolution made Britain one of the world’s leading industrial powers. With the development of heavy industry, the natural environment has been destroyed. At the same time, women could do fewer and fewer jobs, and they had to rely on men economically. This paper tries to explain the critical role played by natural imagery in Jane Eyre in the process of the heroine’s growth. This paper is composed of four sections: the first section introduces the writing intention of the thesis, the background of Jane Eyre and the significance of the research; The second section expounds on the research achievements of the novel at home and abroad; The third section discusses the natural imagery in the novel, and discusses the influence of Nature imagery on the growth of the heroine Jane Eyre; The forthsection is the conclusion, which summarizes the previous chapters and emphasizes the practical significance of this article again, especially the importance of correctly establishin

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Netflix is trying to buy Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights

Puck's What I'm Hearing column reports that Netflix is trying to acquire Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights.

Netflix’s no-theaters issue strikes again: Dan Lin, the new head of Netflix’s film unit, is quickly becoming familiar with the downside of refusing to put movies in theaters. According to three sources, Lin has bid more than $150 million for Saltburn filmmaker Emerald Fennell’s planned adaptation of Wuthering Heights, with Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi set to star. That’s far more than other bidders, I’m told, and MRC, the film finance company that put the package together, would very much like to take the money. But Fennell and Robbie, who’s also producing, fear the movie won’t have the same cultural impact without a theatrical release and marketing campaign that the rivals are offering. And, let’s be honest, they’re right. So they’re wavering, and as of today, Netflix isn’t budging on theaters.

“Not our model,” Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria likes to say, echoing her boss, co-C.E.O. Ted Sarandos. Bajaria repeated that line today at the Screentime conference, adding, “We’re just in a different business.” That’s true… and also kinda not true. Netflix is ultimately in the talent business, just like all its rivals, and those that offer the best talent a theatrical release are still in a better position to win the best film projects—unless there’s a willingness to vastly overpay. What’s been true since the advent of the TV movie in the 1960s is still true today.

Similar concerns are playing out with Netflix’s big Chronicles of Narnia movie, which Barbie director Greta Gerwig has been signed on to write and direct since back in 2020. Gerwig has also been raising concerns with Lin about the theater issue, given the scope and grandeur of the material. It’s all been friendly requests so far—demands and screaming isn’t really Gerwig’s style—but she’s clearly bummed about the platform she’s being offered—and not offered. Netflix, which has the rights to all the Narnia books, would very much like to give an A-list director what she wants. But, again, theaters are not their model.

Back to Wuthering Heights. I’m told this one will ultimately be Fennell’s decision. But Robbie is one of the savviest actor-producers in town, and it’s probably not a coincidence that she’s also one of the few stars that has never done a Netflix movie. Without making a Knives Out 2-style exception for theaters, Dan Lin is really gonna need to pay up.

ScreenRant, World of Reel and others echo the news.

The Indiependent continues discussing the casting of Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff.

The recent casting of Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi in Emerald Fennell’s upcoming Wuthering Heights adaptation highlights issues of whitewashing and Hollywood’s historical casting issues.

In her book Wuthering Heights in 1847, Emily Brontë describes Heathcliff as “a dark-skinned gypsy in aspect, in dress and manners a gentleman.” It is unlikely that many people would have pictured Jacob Elordi who is set to play alongside Margot Robbie in Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights adaptation—a casting choice that has certainly ruffled a few feathers. [...]

The fear of Heathcliff not being cast appropriately is that it erases his struggles, which are imperative to the novel. While Jacob Elordi will likely deliver an excellent performance, he risks becoming a pawn in the whitewashing of such a complex character.

As previously mentioned, Heathcliff is described as “a dark-skinned gypsy,” and while he is left racially ambiguous beyond that, his identity is not merely a superficial detail like whether a character is blond or brunette, but instead it is purposefully constructed to highlight his struggles with a society that marginalises him and labels him an outcast in the 1800s. This aspect of his identity is a trait that, if removed, also takes away the essence of Heathcliff as a character.

It is also important to note that this isn’t the first adaptation of Wuthering Heights where Heathcliff has been played by a white actor. For example, Tom Hardy has previously taken on the role in Coky Giedroyc’s 2009 adaptation series, and when considered alongside Andrea Arnold’s 2011 adaptation that featured a black Heathcliff played by James Howson, Fennell’s seems like three steps backwards. [...]

The reason many audiences are tired of the ‘iPhone face’ in period dramas is that it feels unrealistic and takes audiences out of the story. Even minor details, such as Catherine and Heathcliff having Hollywood white teeth in the 1800s, can be distracting. While these details are not significant to the plot, they can detract from the overall ambiance and ruin the authenticity of the setting for many audiences.

Moreover, Elordi has been striving to break free from the teenage typecasting that has characterised much of his early career. His recent role in Priscilla (2023) marks a shift, but as he takes on the role of Heathcliff, estimated to be around 40 years old, one can’t help but notice the problematic casting alongside 34-year-old Robbie, who will portray a teenage Catherine. This age disparity raises further questions about the integrity of the characters, especially when they are portrayed by actors who don’t visually align with the descriptions in the novel.

It can’t be understated that Robbie and Elordi will leave no crumbs on their performances; however, their casting raises questions about how seriously Hollywood takes authenticity when producing films in terms of aesthetics and cultural appropriation above popularity and glamour.

Despite these concerns, many are excited to see Fennell’s adaptation; it offers new audiences a chance to experience this classic in cinemas. However, the underlying issues of Hollywood’s apparent disregard for authentic casting and cultural appropriation will leave audiences’ popcorn to taste somewhat bittersweet. (Libby Jennings)

Once again, the social issues in Wuthering Heights arise not from race--which is only mentioned vaguely to make Heathcliff more of an outsider--but from class. What's 'purposefully constructed to highlight his struggles with a society that marginalises him and labels him an outcast' is the fact that his origins, and therefore his place in society, are blurry. If it was about race, there'd be no point in him believing that coming back rich would change anything. It's the fact that you can't buy your way into society that's the issue here.

A columnist from Daily Telegraph (Australia) is all for it though: 'Why keyboard warriors are blowing their bloomers off over latest Wuthering Heights'.

“Margot Robbie in Wuthering Heights controversy” is the kind of headline I’m here for. That’s what’s in the news – my favourite actor and my favourite book, adapted by my favourite director. What’s not to love?

Lots, apparently, if you’re a keyboard warrior. For those who haven’t set their Victorian-novel-Google-alerts, people are blowing their bloomers off over a book which came out 177 years ago.

Oscar-winning Emerald Fennell – she of Killing Eve, Promising Young Woman and Saltburn – is writing and directing a new adaptation of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. The casting has caused consternation, because Cathy will be played by Margot and Heathcliff by Jacob Elordi, in an Aussie double-header, and – it’s claimed – Margot is too old to play Cathy, at 34, and Jacob too young for Heathcliff, at 27.

There was also criticism the casting should have been more diverse, as Heathcliff, who was brought as a child to Yorkshire by Cathy’s father, from the streets of Liverpool, is described in the book as being, “a dark-skinned gypsy,” with “eyes full of black fire”.

Now, I’m the first to show concern when it comes to filmmakers butchering classics, but as to the numpties who questioned whether Emerald had “ever read the book” – she studied English at Oxford University – I think we can assume she’s leafed through it.

And despite all kind of novel hysteria on X, with people actually calling for Wuthering Heights to be cancelled, I couldn’t be more up for it. Margot is a magnificent actor and anyone who saw Jacob in Saltburn would understand why he’s in this movie.

Plus, Margot’s production company LuckyChap, which produced Barbie, Promising Young Woman and Saltburn, is behind this version. They know what they’re doing. [...]

Whatever Emerald does with it, it’s bound to be disturbing, which shouldn’t be difficult, considering Heathcliff hangs a dog and digs up his lover’s grave in the novel but, even so, if anyone was going to make this the dark, depraved story it always was – even Charlotte Brontë took it upon herself to tone down a second edition following her sister Emily’s death – it’s this director.

“Wild, confused, disjointed and improbable”, leaving you, “shocked, disgusted, almost sickened”, and “desperate, confused … pleased with its petty shocks,” were the withering reviews for both Wuthering Heights in 1847 and Saltburn in 2023. I’ll leave it to you to work out which was which.

We’re in good hands. Frankly, I reckon it’s a lot of wuthering about nothing, and Emerald and Margot should Brontë it on. (Kerry Parnell)

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Wuthering Censorship

A new scholarly Spanish book with Brontë-related content:

Mujeres silenciadas. Traducciones bajo la dictadura franquista

Edited by Iván García Sala, Marta Ortega Sáez and Gora Zaragoza Ninet

Editorial Dykinson

ISBN: 9788410705401

September 2024

El volumen Mujeres silenciadas: Traducciones bajo la dictadura franquista, editado por Iván García Sala (UB), Marta Ortega Sáez (UB) y Gora Zaragoza Ninet (UV), reúne nueve novedosos estudios que abordan la influencia de la censura franquista sobre escritoras y personajes femeninos de la literatura y el cine extranjeros a través de la traducción y la adaptación. Al abordar este fenómeno, esta publicación procura una comprensión más profunda de los mecanismos censorios y de su impacto en los productos culturales del período de la dictadura franquista. Los ensayos aquí compilados evidencian el silenciamiento de las voces femeninas en este contexto de represión cultural. El volumen se divide en dos partes que se corresponden con las particularidades de la censura de textos literarios en el primer franquismo y el tardofranquismo y, seguidamente, se examina la censura cinematográfica. En su conjunto, los estudios abarcan diversos contextos geográficos y temporales, así como géneros literarios variados, desde autores y autoras canónicos del siglo xix como Charles Dickens, Mary Shelley, Lev Tolstói y Emily Brontë, hasta literatura contemporánea como la literatura beat, el ensayo feminista, la literatura de escritoras lesbianas, y otros géneros como la novela detectivesca y la literatura middlebrow. Los capítulos han sido elaborados por especialistas de larga trayectoria en los estudios de traducción y censura durante el franquismo y por doctoranda/os que contribuyen con sus investigaciones.

The book includes the following chapter:

Las turbulentas censuras de Wuthering Heights (William Wyyler, 1939) durante la dictadura franquista by Marta Ortega Sáez

Según apunta Pajares, pasaron años hasta que la novela Wuthering Heights (1847), de la escritora Emily Brontë, fuera «aceptada en Europa en general y en España en particular» (2007, p. 63). Stoneman argumenta que la popular adaptación cinematográfica de William Wyler, estrenada en Hollywood el 24 de marzo de 1939 y protagonizada por Lawrence Olivier y Merle Oberon, supuso un punto de inflexión en la recepción popular internacional de esta novela victoriana ya que, por ejemplo, contribuyó a su equiparación con Jane Eyre, de Charlotte Brontë, que había tenido una más amplia difusión desde fechas más tempranas (1996: 6) 2. Este mismo fenómeno se produjo en el contexto español, donde a lo largo de un siglo tan solo había circulado la traducción del catalán Cebrià de Montoliú 3 de 1921 para la editorial Atenea (Madrid) –cuyo título como Cumbres borrascosas sirvió de referente para los sucesivos traductores.

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'Some kind of Jane Eyre-ish schoolmarm'

The Guardian reviews the film Timestalker.

In 1688, Lowe is Agnes, a humble Scottish maidservant who is enamoured of a heretical preacher (Aneurin Barnard) who is about to be executed. In 1793, she is a poutingly bored noblewoman who conceives an erotic fascination for a dandy highwayman in the Adam Ant style, with the memorably annoying name of Alex O’Nine Ribbons (again Barnard). And in 1980, with leg-warmers and a frizzy hairstyle which makes her look like Barry Gibb or the Cowardly Lion, she plays a British woman in a drolly unconvincing-looking New York who has become a stalker-superfan of a new romantic pop star (Barnard once more). In addition, she is briefly to be seen as a magician’s assistant in Cleopatra costume in 1940 and even more briefly – almost subliminally – as some kind of Jane Eyre-ish schoolmarm in 1847 who is decapitated by a carriage wheel. (This last episode is so bafflingly fleeting that some of it must surely have been lost in the edit.) (Peter Bradshaw)

Nosotras (Mexico) recommends 7 must-read love stories including both Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre.

1. ‘Cumbres borrascosas’ de Emily Brontë

Publicada en 1847, “Cumbres borrascosas” es una obra única en la literatura inglesa. La historia gira en torno a “Heathcliff”, un joven que, tras ser adoptado por la familia “Earnshaw”, se enfrenta al desprecio opresivo de su entorno. Su relación con “Catherine” (su hermana no biológica a quien ama con locura), está marcada por la venganza y las divisiones de clase. Brontë crea un universo en el que el amor y el odio coexisten, ofreciendo una visión intensa sobre los problemas psicológicos que afectan a sus personajes. Esta obra rompió con las convenciones de su tiempo y sigue siendo un referente entre las novelas históricas de romance.

2. ‘Jane Eyre’, de Charlotte Brontë

La hermana de Emily, Charlotte Brontë, nos brinda otra obra icónica, “Jane Eyre”. Esta novela gótica cuenta la historia de una joven huérfana que busca su lugar en un mundo cruel. “Jane”, tras una infancia marcada por el abuso y la injusticia, se convierte en institutriz en “Thornfield Hall”, donde entabla una relación con el enigmático “señor Rochester”. La novela aborda temas de amor e independencia, mientras devela los secretos oscuros que amenazan la felicidad de “Jane”. Con un enfoque en la búsqueda de la autenticidad, esta obra se convierte en un manifiesto sobre la fortaleza y la resiliencia femenina. (Jessica Espinoza) (Translation)

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More Wuthering in Rome

New chances to see Martina Badiluzzi's Wuthering Heights adaptation in Rome:

Cime Tempestose

by Martina Badiluzzi

6-17 October 2024

Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo

Via Ostuni, 8 | 00171, Roma

Direction and playwriting Martina Badiluzzi

With Arianna Pozzoli and Loris De Luna

Dramaturg Giorgia Buttarazzi

Playwriting collaboration Margherita Mauro

Set design Rosita Vallefuoco

Sound and music Samuele Cestola

Lighting Fabrizio Cicero

Movement dramaturgy Roberta Racis

Press office Linee Relations

Production Cranpi, CSS Teatro stabile di innovazione del Friuli Venezia Giulia, Romaeuropa Festival

With the contribution of MiC – Ministry of Culture

With the support of Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo

Cime tempestose è un lavoro che vuole essere un omaggio al potere catartico della letteratura, alla magia dell’arte e del teatro. Una ricerca di poesia e sentimenti espansi, di quelle emozioni radicali che appartengono alla giovinezza e alla scena. Una storia

familiare che già di per sé è un’opera d’arte e che si dipana attorno a una casa che viene chiamata “Cime tempestose”; altrettanto viva e conturbante la brughiera, una natura potente che è frontiera tra il focolare e la civiltà.

Catherine e Heathcliff, protagonisti del celebre romanzo di Emily Brontë a cui si ispira lo spettacolo, sono gli eroi tragici del contemporaneo, il mito fondativo della nostra società, il racconto del profondo fraintendimento tra femminile e maschile, tra natura e civiltà. Coprotagonista di questa storia è il paesaggio, quella brughiera da cui i protagonisti tentano di evadere ma alla quale sempre torneranno; la natura contraltare di una società che in fondo ciascuno di noi rifiuta ma con la quale deve

venire a patti.

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'Fresh and imaginative'

More reviews of Genesian Theatre Company's production of Jane Eyre today. From Theatre Travels:

Director Ali Bendall has created a production that celebrates the historic nature of the original novel whilst bringing this into a modern world; utilizing fourth wall breaks and addressing the audience as “Dear Readers” to really draw audiences into Jane’s perspective. Whilst not all parts of Bronte’s original novel will resonate with modern audiences, the spirit of Jane and her resilience, independence and compassion shines through. Orphaned as a baby, we follow our narrator Jane as she struggles through her loveless childhood, her time at Lowood School - an institution for orphans - and the death of her young friend, before she sets off in the world to become a governess at Thornfield Hall. It is here where she learns how to love and begins to truly live…but mystery shrouds the hallways of Thornfield Manor, threatening to undo both Jane and the man she grows to love.

Kyra Belford-Thomas was completely engaging as the titular Jane, able to spout off reels of dialogue and move seamlessly between Jane’s addresses to the audience of her inner thoughts. She did a magnificent job of playing Jane as a child and then transitioning to an adult Jane, retaining her youthful spirit and passion which was then carried throughout the entire show.

For me personally, I would have preferred some cuts to the first half of the production, as the energy and tension of the piece really clicked when Mr Rochestor appeared and he and Jane began facing off. Vincent Andriano was a clear standout as the compelling yet brooding Mr Rochester. Andriano has an incredible stage presence as well as a lovely emotional range and he perfectly embodied the peculiar, dark charm of Thornfield’s master. Andriano and Belford-Thomas’ chemistry was another highlight of the production, wherein you found yourself rooting for them, despite all the darkness lurking within Thornfield.

The ensemble perfectly rounded out the production; the sheer size of the cast was most apparent in the orphanage scenes and overall each actor inhabited all the characters of Jane’s world with enthusiasm and commitment. Jenny Jacobs was a joy to watch as Mrs Fairfax, as was Rhiannon Jean as Bertha, who managed to capture the sinister yet heart-wrenching nature of Rochestor’s secret wife, before doubling as the utterly compelling yet utterly odious Blanche Ingram.

 Despite having a 3 hour run time, I must admit the pacing of the production worked well and the energy of the actors meant that it never felt like it dragged too long. There were a few clunky moments of staging; however for the most part Bendall utilized every inch of the Genesian available to the actors in creative and imaginative ways. Trap doors, hidden doors, actors coming out into the audience, playing with staging where the ensemble's hands became a  bookcase - all these elements worked to create an entirely immersive and engaging production. 

The set itself was completely paired back and Tom Fahy’s set design worked well to both emphasize the starkness of the Victorian era and to draw attention to the architectural elements of the theatre itself. For a play so deeply rooted in religious imagery and religious morals, it was a really clever choice to highlight and draw attention to the architecture of the church as almost a character of the play. Instead of hiding the stained glass windows, these become a focal point of the production, ever looming and used to represent a variety of moods. This worked in tandem with Cian Bryne’s lighting design, which, despite a few interesting choices, perfectly conveyed moments of tension and also moments of peace - playing directly into the Gothic horror nature of the story.  One of the loveliest moments was when sunset came through the stained glass to bathe Jane and Rochester in its glow. 

In fact, all the production elements worked closely to create the world of ‘Jane Eyre’ and all the creative team should be commended, with a special mention to Susan Carveth’s costume design. Some of the music choices seemed at odds with the time period/overall mood of the piece but these moments were mostly in the first act. The final moments of the play are completely joyful and bubbling with delight, as the characters break free from the darkness of the Gothic horror genre and Jane is finally “rewarded” for her years of suffering and her dedication to holding fast to her morals. (Grace Swadling)

From CityHub:

Director Ali Bendall also wrote this adaptation, and it is an absolute joy; fresh and imaginative while still preserving the essence of Brontë’s original novel. Bendall has reduced a very dense story into a dramatic work whose central characters have depth and a full arc, and whose narrative is epic but not burdensome. 

Jane Eyre is written in the style of a Bildungsroman, that is, it traces the moral and psychological development of its protagonist from youth through to adulthood, usually with that character finding enlightenment or redemption. The narrative is told in the first person by Jane Eyre herself. 

As you can imagine, the stage role of Jane is a hearty one, requiring a performer with good instincts, plenty of stamina, and natural rapport with cast and audience. Enter Kyra Belford-Thomas. 

Belford-Thomas holds the room in her thrall from the moment she takes the stage to her well-deserved curtain call. Confidently speaking witticisms in a Northern English accent, assuming a posture of defiance, and presenting a personality that is much taller than Jane’s diminutive physical stature, Belford-Thomas handles the critical role with mastery. 

Almost equally important is the role of Rochester, Jane’s love interest. Vincent Andriano steps into the tall riding boots of Rochester with aplomb and a kind of gruff charisma. Andriano and Belford-Thomas have great chemistry and spar like a classic 1940s Hollywood comedy duo. 

Julia Grace is delightfully whimsical as young Adele, Rochester’s ward, ever leaping and twirling in ballet slippers. Genesian favourite Jenny Jacobs is a warm, likeable Mrs Fairfax. In a handful of appearances as the bitter, spiteful Mrs Reed, Roslyn Hicks is stunningly affecting, inspiring both antipathy and pity. 

The remaining cast play multiple roles, and all are excellent. Worth special mention is Rhiannon Jean’s Blanch Ingram, whose comically repugnant personality and grating cackle never failed to evoke laughter from the audience. 

The set design by Tom Fahy and Bendall comprises a large wooden structure with stairs and platforms occupying most of the lateral and vertical stage area. It gives a rustic ambience as well as cleverly facilitating different settings without need to change the set. 

In a fine homage to the little church theatre, the back wall of the stage (which is actually the front of the church) is fully exposed, showcasing three beautiful stained glass windows and the original brick wall. 

Cian Byrne helps establish transitions in time and place with clever lighting. Byrne’s sound design incorporates modern folk-pop songs that add an interesting dimension to the whole aesthetic. 

Bendall’s direction is spot on. The characters are credible and interact well with each other; the comedy is perfectly delivered; the ensemble pieces are well choreographed. 

This is truly a magnificent production, a suitable finale to the Genesian company’s residence at the little old church in Kent Street. Don’t miss the opportunity to experience both this production in this theatre. (Rita Bratovich)

Berkeley Beacon has an opinion column on Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights.

Whether Fennell is good or bad at making movies is a completely different conversation. The visuals knock it out of the park, but often the message of the movie, when presented through the dialogue, is more of a miss. It seems her writing is on the weaker side of her abilities. 

 But honestly … has Fennell even read the book? Unlike her previous films, it doesn’t feature any bathtub-slurping, hot nerds in glasses like Barry Keoghan. There aren’t any sexy nurse costumes for revenge-seeking baristas to wear. “Wuthering Heights” has its charm, but with Fennell’s reputation for neon and cheetah print, along with her inability to write convincing dialogue for the poorly developed characters, I have very little faith. Listen, I know she won a screenplay Oscar for “Promising Young Woman,” but I doubt she’s up for something as renowned as a Brontë novel. 

 And let’s talk about the casting. If you’re someone like Fennell, who may or may not have actually read the book, Elordi is the obvious answer for this role. After “Saltburn,” when him … doing stuff in a bathtub was well received by viewers, it makes sense for Fennell to think of him for her next project. 

However, Elordi, an Australian man of European descent, isn’t exactly the spitting image of Brontë’s description of Heathcliff. While Brontë kept his race ambiguous, most people regard Heathcliff as a person of color. Throughout the novel, his brooding personality is emphasized by his appearance, described as having dark skin, eyes, and hair that supposedly contrast his “gentlemanly stature.” He is often nicknamed as a castaway or a lascar (defined as a sailor from the Southeast Asian region). 

Along with these examples, the period in which Brontë sets this story is during the Liverpool Slave Trade; Liverpool was one of the leading slave ports of Britain in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Heathcliff notably meets Mr. Earnshaw in Liverpool, which further leads many to gather he is of non-white descent. He’s been theorized to be Indian, African, Asian, or of mixed race. 

Robbie is beloved by many film fanatics after her extensive career as an actress, but if she is right for this role is also up for debate. Catherine is supposed to be dead before she turns 20. It’s not that women past their thirties don’t have their place in acting, but seeing that Robbie and Elordi are some of Hollywood’s biggest stars right now, it kind of feels like Fennell put Google’s most popular acting names in a hat and cast her movie by drawing out of it. Timothee Chalamet and Florence Pugh, better luck next time. Maybe you’ll get “Jane Eyre.” 

 The negative reaction to Fennell’s adaptation isn’t surprising to me. White-washing in movies is a common occurrence—take Elizabeth Taylor in “Cleopatra,” Ben Affleck in “Argo,” or Scarlett Johansson in “Ghost in the Shell.” Shouldn’t someone who has presented themselves as a cutting-edge filmmaker, like Fennell, at least cast their movie true to the story it’s based on? And truthfully, I don’t know if Fennell needs any more white people to play her leads. Among her two movies, exactly two people of color are in the main casts—both of which are relatively unimportant best friends of the main characters. Fennell has created her movies based on new, exciting, exotic eroticism, but loves to keep the same white celebrities in the middle of her stories. 

“Wuthering Heights” movies have been historically ill-received; Andrea Arnold’s 2011 adaptation has a 68% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, bringing in $1.7 million from a $5 million budget, along with the director herself expressing her own distaste for how the film turned out. Peter Kominsky’s 1992 version of the story has an even worse rating, currently sitting at 31%. Along with other poorly received versions—that I hadn’t even heard of before this week—it’s obvious that this movie is tricky to get right. 

With the movie not set to start filming until 2025, Fennell could still take it somewhere unexpected; we don’t know the whole story behind her casting decisions. It’s not that Elordi and Robbie aren’t talented, it’s just that this announcement is giving off more “money-grabbing” vibes than an actual passion for filmmaking and honoring one of literature’s most famous stories. For now, all we have to look forward to is the Jacob Elordi TikTok edits. (Helen Armstrong)

Far Out Magazine has selected 'Five songs that show off Kate Bush’s unmatched vocals' and one of them is obviously

‘Wuthering Heights’

It would be impossible not to include Kate Bush’s debut, the soaring ‘Wuthering Heights’ on this list. Released in 1978, the song introduced us to the wondrous world of Bush, the magic she wields each time she sits behind a piano, her literary approach to songwriting, and the wandering vocals that would become her trademark. The track borrows its story from the Emily Brontë novel of the same name, but Bush makes it entirely her own.

Over twinkling keys and sonic shimmers, Bush pushes her vocals to impossible heights, her wails encapsulating all of the emotions of Heathcliff and Cathy without ever losing control. The song immediately showed off Bush’s ability to tell a story through her vocal delivery and her ability to climb further up the scale than any of her pop peers. It also set her success into motion, becoming the first self-penned song by a woman to hit number one in the United Kingdom. (Elle Palmer)

BBC Radio Leeds has a six-minute clip on 'the haunted chair of Branwell Brontë in the Black Bull pub in Haworth'. Jane Eyre's Library shows an edition of Jane Eyre from Bangladesh.

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Jane Eyre in Gainsborough

A new chance to watch the ChapterHuuse's Jane Eyre production:

Jane Eyre

Adapted by Laura Turner

Trinity Arts Centre, Gainsborough

Thursday 10 October 2024 19:30,  

Young governess Jane Eyre arrives at the mysterious Thornfield Hall deep in the Yorkshire moors and meets enigmatic Mr Rochester. So begins this most unforgettable of love stories. When a secret from the past returns to haunt them, can Jane and Rochester’s passion survive the forces that might tear them apart forever?

Adapted from Charlotte Brontë’s classic novel, Chapterhouse Theatre Company presents one of the greatest romances of English literature.

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The Brontës As Governesses

 An alert from the Brontë Parsonage Museum:

'A Hireling Among Strangers': The Brontës As Governesses

A Thursday Talk at the Brontë Parsonage Museum

Date: Thursday 10 October, 2pm

Venue: Brontë Event Space at the Old School Room

Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre and Anne Brontë's Agnes Grey were very much informed by the sisters' own experiences of being governesses in the homes of wealthy families. This talk will explore the plight of the governess in the mid-19th century and examine the sisters’ experiences and starkly different artistic responses.

This talk will be given by Diane Fare, Outreach Officer at the Brontë Parsonage Museum. Diane works with local community groups and families and also has a part-time admin role, helping visitors get the most from their trip.

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'Much like Jane Eyre herself; unassuming, generous, modest, and kind'

State of the Art fives four stars to Genesian Theatre Company's production of Jane Eyre.

Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, adapted by director Ali Bendall, was fitting for the theatrical church’s final swansong as it embarks on its next chapter; characteristically Genesian in style but keen to leave its unique mark near the dawn of a new chapter for the theatre company in Rozelle. This play has much to recommend it.

The opening begins with Jane Eyre’s (Kyra Belford-Thomas) childhood shifting from one miserable circumstance to another, from a dreadful aunt to what can aptly be described as an institutionalised orphanage in all but name. Yet in the darkness which pervades these places, there is a glimmer of goodness be found, in her nursemaid Bessie (Karys Kennedy) and friend Helen (Laura Edwards). While Jane is separated from both by sometimes tragic circumstance, she learns enduring lessons of compassion, self-reliance, and generosity that guide her through the tumult to come.

Into adulthood, Jane gains employment at Thornfield Hall from the aloof owner Edward Rochester (Vincent Andriano) as a governess for his French ‘ward’ Adele (Julia Grace). Joined by the delightful housekeeper Mrs Fairfax (Jenny Jacobs), comparatively Thornfield seems like heaven to Jane. However, not everything is as it seems; after falling in love with the brooding Edward Rochester, Jane will discover that Thornfield and its owner share an immense secret; one that threatens everything.

Director/Writer Ali Bendell wanted to create a faithful adaption with a ‘fresh, contemporary twist’ that resonated with a modern audience. The play was largely successful in doing so, showing admirable restraint in holding space for Brontë to speak through this adaptation. The choice for Jane to break the fourth wall was clever and faithful to the book’s first-person narrative style. There was modern music sequence which, compared to the Victorian dialogue and costumes up until that point, felt unexpected and awkward; while the music successfully matched the scene’s ‘vibes’, it did not marry up well with its surrounding context. That being said, the writing was superb; mustering tasteful humour from a Gothic novel is no small feat.

Of all the sets I’ve seen at the Genesian, this was my favourite. The set, designed by Tom Fahy, was beautifully pared back, letting the Genesian’s historic Victorian church do the work with its gritty brickwork and mesmerising stained glass. The set also established physical levels that, in very Gothic fashion, matched the drama unfolding in every scene. Similarly, the sound design by Cian Byrne and Ali Bendall worked well in tandem to deliver that all-important Gothic atmosphere. Another element worth mentioning is the costumes, always a highlight at the Genesian, co-designed by Susan Carveth and Ali Bendall, which really evoked that modest and constrained Victoriana.

This was a really delightful cast; you could see that behind all that Gothic seriousness this was a fun play for them. Belford-Thomas brought a wonderful unassuming Jane-ness to the role; it isn’t an inherently easy role where Jane is understated and yet must also muster main character energy. Andriano meanwhile brought that brooding intensity to his character, which similarly presents difficulties, namely needing to slowly shift from cynic to romantic while still believably remaining the same character. Other honourable mentions go to Jenny Jacobs who brought an extraordinary presence on stage and Julia Grace who really captured the delightful utterly frivolity of her character which contrasted so well with the heavy Gothic atmosphere.

One cannot escape the conclusion that the Genesian is much like Jane Eyre herself; unassuming, generous, modest, and kind. Dear reader, apologies for exposing my sappy sentimentalism; rest assured though, it is thoroughly deserved. Much praise is owed to this production including to its director, creative team, and cast; it is well worth a watch. (Matt Lighton)

Honi Soit reviews it as well.

Brontë’s gothic drama not only matched the theatre space but was rewarded by the fact that set designers Ali Bendall and Tom Fahy made full use of the Genesian Theatre. The stained glass windows on the back wall became part of the set and were not covered up. Coupled with trap doors and creaking staircases, the atmosphere felt spiritual when the church bells rang within the play, as did the red lighting and suspenseful sound design by Michael Schell and Cian Byrne.

From the early scenes, we are immediately exposed to Jane’s difficult childhood as she lives as a “dependent” with Aunt Reed (Roslyn Hicks) and her family, who mistreat and bully her. When she is sent to be educated at Lowood School, she becomes one of many victims of a warped interpretation of Christianity where to “punish her body, [is] to save her soul”. 

The episodic structure of the first act was a necessity considering the length of the novel, however it was disappointing to see Jane Eyre (Kyra Belford-Thomas) only on stage with early confidantes like Bessie (Karys Kennedy) and Helen (Laura Edwards) for a couple scenes. Quiet scenes like Bessie letting Jane out of the ‘red room’ early, or Helen sharing her book, were rare moments of bliss for a character in such rigid domestic and school settings. Jane being forced away from everything she knows so often is an apt microcosm for how women experienced social mobility in the 19th-century. 

While filled with suspense, the second act was rushed in an attempt to get to the final resolution. When Jane returns to visit Aunt Reed on her deathbed, there is noticeably less closure and emotion than the book where it is a crucial turning point for Jane’s character development. She is able to forgive her for her abusive childhood but also stands up for herself and speaks her mind without any restraint. 

The second act may have additionally benefited from cutting the St. John plotline as it held up Jane’s return to Thornfield Hall, and was not translated in all its complexity in its short stagetime.

Despite being a plot twist in the book, the depiction of “madwoman” Bertha Mason (Rhiannon Jean) should have been further questioned given that Jane Eyre is being adapted in the context of a more nuanced understanding of mental illness and substance abuse. This would have been an opportunity to address the criticism for Mr Rochester’s character, having locked up his wife while in a fragile state and hidden the truth from Jane until he is exposed on their wedding day.  

Julia Grace, as Mr Rochester’s ward, Adèle, proved to be the scene-stealer of the show, injecting humour and a free spiritedness in a welcome reprieve from the constant loss.

Belford-Thomas’s task as Jane was challenging. The production quickly moves through Jane’s younger years leaving little room for a clear arc to emerge. Belford-Thomas’ performance was precocious and charming but lacked development, leaving Jane at 10 and 19 difficult to distinguish. In the moments, where Jane should have spoken up, she was silent and vice versa. 

This is furthered by fourth wall breaks where Jane addresses the audience more frequently than the characters in the scene in a commentary-style. Despite this being a way to include the “dear reader” passages from the book, it made it seem like events were happening around Jane rather than her directly participating in them. 

Vincent Andriano as Mr Rochester incorporates small ticks that are well-thought out and consistent, making him a three-dimensional character that is very likeable and funny. His quips like, “a true Jane-ian reply” and “you are from the otherworld”, were heartwarming touches and stark comparisons to how her Aunt and cousins had treated her. 

With regards to the relationship between Jane and Mr Rochester, of note is the considerable age-gap and the positionality of Mr Rochester being Jane’s employer that plagues any adaptation of Jane Eyre. In this version, these concerns were only drawn to attention when Mr Rochester mockingly refers to Jane as “little”, and when other characters say he is old enough to be her father. 

Once you look past this, their ‘meet-cute’ (when Mr Rochester is on his horse) very much preserved the silent (or silenced) tension from the book. However, the manner in which the rest of the relationship between Jane and Mr Rochester unfolds suffers as a result of Jane’s attraction being less convincing compared to Mr Rochester, who does the heavy lifting in that regard. 

As Brontë ascribed to the story, the importance of religion was foreshadowed and clear to the audience long before Jane left Mr Rochester. Similarly, the repetitive and didactic old school ritual of repeating French, conjugating Latin, and singing hymns is a motif across the play reinforced by Susan Carveth and Ali Bendall’s great costuming that a modern audience may link to The Handmaid’s Tale. The use of public shame is emphasised both verbally and in the highly believable physical choreography.

In an intentional casting choice, Jane’s abusive schoolmaster Mr Brocklehust and Jane’s missionary suiter are both played by Neilson Brown. He becomes a stand-in for an emotionally distant Protestant judge who Jane can never quite escape, even as she moves between homes. This pressure on Jane may justify the director’s choice to give her more confidence early on. Belford-Thomas keeps Jane strong willed till the end but her resistance takes on a sense of piety that has been drilled in consciously or otherwise. 

By and by, this adaptation of Jane Eyre was a fitting last performance, destined to make you want to revisit the 591 page novel. The production was a window into a world where even the smallest transgressions feel out of place. (Valerie Chidiac and Angus McGregor)

The New York Times reviews the book Salvage by Dionne Brand.

In “Salvage,” which Brand calls “an autobiography of the autobiography of reading,” she returns to some of the 18th- and 19th-century social-realist novels — “Vanity Fair,” “Jane Eyre,” “Robinson Crusoe” and “Mansfield Park” — that she read as a young person, along with more recent spinoffs such as Jean Rhys’s “Wide Sargasso Sea” and J.M. Coetzee’s “Foe.” Having been trained to read the classics as an Anglophile Commonwealth subject, first in the West Indies and then in Canada, Brand rereads them to recover the Black and Indigenous lives that English realism obscured. [...]

Equally suggestive are moments in Brand’s book when she shows us how a passage ostensibly not about the violence of colonialism is in fact a barely conscious acknowledgment of it. Reading Charlotte Brontë’s “Jane Eyre,” for example, Brand stresses not only that it is a novel of “confinement and submission” for its white female characters, but that the wealth and luxury in the novel are “produced by the political economy of slavery,” including in the case of Jane Eyre herself, who attains financial independence when she inherits an estate in Madeira, a former sugar colony.

Confinement and submission thus double as unacknowledged descriptions of the colonial world on which the book’s English characters depend. The episode in which Jane Eyre hears “the snarling, canine noise, and a deep human groan” of Bertha Mason, the famous “madwoman in the attic,” is perhaps the most important in Brontë’s narrative. Bertha’s groan, her immeasurable suffering, has been interpreted many ways; Brand reads it as “the noise of the plantation world, the suppressed, the made-mad, the sequestered” that was Blackness. This is the very essence, and paradox, of so-called novels of sympathy that became so iconic during English colonialism: “The contentment” that Jane Eyre “feels, and that we are to feel for her, is riven with violence.” (Sophie Gee)

A contributor to The Herald writes about reading mostly women.

This year I’m reading Agatha Christie novels as palate cleansers between other books, though the big find has been Jean Rhys, another rackety and reclusive genius, and author of Wide Sargasso Sea. It re-frames Jane Eyre through the eyes of Mrs Rochester, though that description doesn’t come close to capturing its vivid magic. (Barry Didcock)

Keighley News features a new exhibition at Keighley Library.

Creative writing produced by women who have experienced domestic abuse and sexual violence is being displayed in Keighley.

The work is on show at the town's library, alongside pieces by the Brontës, until the end of this month.

Bradford-based charity Staying Put worked with Dr Hannah Roche, of the University of York, and Professor Katy Mullin – based at the University of Leeds – to organise a series of workshops.

With survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence, they discussed work by writers ranging from the Brontës to Bernardine Evaristo.

The texts helped women in the group to recognise signs and patterns of coercive control, and to 'process' their own experiences.

Participants then produced work themselves.

Dr Roche says: "When we have discussed extracts from Victorian novels, the women in the group have been surprised by how closely their own experiences reflect those of certain characters – Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, for example.

"The fact that a woman in 2024 can recognise herself and her experience in a novel from 1847 tells us just how long the behavioural patterns and timelines of coercive control have been established.

"Those who took part reported that reading and writing about coercive control, as well as acts of strength and solidarity, enabled them to access parts of trauma that 'felt stuck' and helped them move on and feel more confident and valued." (Alistair Shand)

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The Brontë Sisters and Birds

An alert for today, October 9, in Skipton:

Indoor meeting of Craven's RSPB group.

The Brontë Sisters and Birds

Talk given by Alasdair McKee

October 9 at 7.30pm.

Baptist Church Hall

Rectory Lane, Skipton

The Brontë sisters and their fascination with birds will be the focus of a talk.

Alasdair McKee is giving a presentation at the next indoor meeting of Craven's RSPB group.

Joyce Varley, for the group, says: "The Brontë sisters were fascinated by birds, which played a big role in their lives and work.

"The talk will describe how birds featured in their novels, and how the bird imagery they used relates to reality.

"It is a talk that will appeal to bird and book lovers alike, and everyone in between!

"Alasdair is an extremely enthusiastic and entertaining speaker, and this promises to be a very interesting talk with marvellous images.

"Everyone is welcome, irrespective of whether you are an RSPB member." (Alistair Shand in Keighley News)

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