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| Vida Winter's Brontë shelf |
Thus [Christopher Hampton's] screenplay required the terrifically subtle Olivia Colman to utter the ridiculous opening line “Is this the Moors?” as she was being driven through an instantly recognisable windswept landscape. When it turned out, minutes later, that her character had written “a celebrated biography of the Brontë sisters” the idea that she wouldn’t recognise the Yorkshire Moors when she saw them became even more absurd. (...) [Vanessa] Redgrave was in magnificently regal style, reclining on her couch, sipping liquid morphine, a seductive and slippery storyteller. Her lips wrinkling cruel and tender by turns, Winter told of red-haired twin girls raised amid incest, murder and suicide in a crumbling old pile. The ghosts of Miss Havisham, Norma Desmond and Mrs Rochester danced knowingly around the edges of her performance.
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| The celebrated Brontë sisters biography that Vida Winter wouldn't dream of reading looks a lot like Juliet Barker's one. |
The ghost story within the story was good too, a sort of amalgam of The Innocents and Village of the Damned with a bit of Jane Eyre thrown in. (Ellen E. Jones)The Times also references Jane Eyre in its review of the adaptation.
Haworth and Oakworth are set to feature in a television series exploring Britain’s relationship with the railways.We agree with Vanessa Dunne in The Huffington Post, smart is still sexy:
The Brontë Parsonage Museum and the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway will appear in an episode of Great British Railway Journeys, presented by former Conservative politician Michael Portillo.
The programme, which will include footage from Haworth and also Oakworth Railway Station, will be broadcast on BBC Two at 6.30pm on Thursdaym, January 9. Professor Ann Sumner, executive director of the Brontë Society, said the filming took place in May.
She added: “I did an interview with Michael about the Brontës’ relationship with the railways, and his visit has prompted us to have a new display on this subject in 2014. Mr Portillo was charming, very enthusiastic and it was a pleasure to welcome him.”
She said the interview examined subjects such as the Brontës’ experience of travelling by rail, Branwell Brontë’s stint as a railway employee and the role the railway played in making Haworth a tourist destination.
Yes, reading books and reading the politics section of The Huffington Post will make you feel better about yourself because you actually know what's going on in the world around you. You can have discussions with peers about world affairs, the current state of the government or about how you just finished reading Jane Eyre.The Orange County Register visits the local coffee shop Ink & Bean where
Decorative library card trays line the walls and each is labeled with a literary giant – Jack London, Charlotte Bronte, Tom Wolfe, Oscar Wilde, Henry James. (Keith Sharon)Kirkintilloch Herald gives details of the upcoming Glasgow Film Festival:
The full programme of films - screening between February 20 and March 2 - will be launched on January 22.But organisers have announced a few of the strands - including a focus on Chilean movies and more pop-up cinema after the success of a number of site-specific screenings last year.El Periódico de Catalunya (Spain) talks about yesterday's broadcast of Jane Eyre 2011 on Spanish TV:
There will also be showings of all the Best Picture Oscar nominees of 1939 - arguably Hollywood’s greatest year ever.
The classic films include ‘Gone with the Wind’, ‘Wuthering Heights’, ‘Goodbye, Mr Chips’, ‘Mr Smith Goes to Washington’, and ‘The Wizard of Oz’. (David Hepburn)
Realitzada sota pavelló britànic, el nord-americà Cary Fukunaga ('Sin nombre') torna el relat original de Charlotte Brontë als dominis atmosfèrics d''Alma rebelde', una de les primeres i més preades adaptacions de la novel·la de Brontë, amb Orson Welles i Joan Fontaine en els papers que ara representen Mia Wasikowska, excel·lent en la seva fragilitat, i Michael Fassbender, perfecte en el turment que el corroeix. És, sobretot, una pel·lícula d'atmosfera, tan plàstica com torbadora, en què importen els personatges i les tensions a què s'enfronten, però sobretot els silencis i els gemecs que se senten a la mansió dels Rochester, els dubtes en penombra i l'altivesa en una història tan romàntica i malaltissament romàntica com deliciosament aspra. (Translation)Several news outlets publish the film ratings:
En Antena 3, la película Jane Eyre anotó un 13,1%, con 2.513.000 espectadores. (Translation)By the way, you can read on Storify the complete Q&A with the film's production designer Will Hughes-Jones organised by @BBCFilms on Twitter.
Chiusa nell’appartamento della nonna invita lettori, presta volumi, e soprattutto attende, nottetempo, gli incontri con i suoi personaggi più amati – non gli scrittori, i personaggi: Emma Bovary, Clarissa, Jane Eyre, Madame Chau- chat, Nathan, Tristram, il capitano Achab, don Giovanni. (Translation)Graphomania (Italy) discusses sequels:
Quanto ai prequel, forse ne esistono meno, ma tra quelli più noti ricordiamo – sebbene siano lontanissimi tra loro – Il grande mare dei Sargassi di Jean Rhys, “risposta” postcoloniale a Jane Eyre di Charlotte Brönte (sic) che narra con ogni evidenza la storia della prima signora Rochester, però senza mai citarla direttamente[.] (Roby)A local Saint Louis wedding that featured readings of Jane Eyre in the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch; The Telegraph informs that Wuthering Heights 2011 can now be found in Netflix; the film is reviewed on Film Forager; From the Recamier reviews The Brontë Myth by Lucasta Miller; Adventures with words posts about Minae Mizumura's A True Novel; The Autobiography of Jane Eyre's crowdfunding indiegogo campaign has arrived almost to $10000 and still four days to go; Bookish Wimsy reviews Jane, Le Renard et Moi; manarnia shares her vision on St John's character.
A new release of a supposedly digitally remastered Jane Eyre 1970. As the film is in the public domain we are not very certain about this one:Jane Eyre - Digitally Remastered (1970)
Format: DVD
Format: NTSC
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 1
Studio: TGG Direct
DVD Release Date: March 5, 2013
And a pack of three adaptations from the BBC and ITV for the Spanish market:Brontë Collection [Blu-Ray]
Contains:
Wuthering Heights (1998) ITV
Jane Eyre (1997) ITV
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1996) BBC
English (DTS-HD 2.0), Spanish (DTS-HD 2.0)
Spanish Subtitles
Region Free
3 Discs
Estudio: Llamentol S.L. (20 august 2013)
An argument with her best friend during a visit to Brontë country – she champions Cathy Earnshaw, her friend, Jane Eyre – leads Ellis to revisit the most important books of her life. “I had read to find out what kind of woman I might want to be, lived through my heroines, and rehearsed lives I might live,” she tells us. Years on she finds some of these characters remain robust, some she has wildly misunderstood, and some now horrify, leading her to explore a new cast of literary role models.Yorkshire Post interviews the painter Ashley Jackson:
He calls himself the “People’s Artist” and says he strives to “do with my painting what the Brontës did with their writing”.Flavorwire lists ten 'literary portraits of a Young Artist'. It's curious to see Anne Brontë besides James Joyce:
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - Brontë’s controversial, protofeminist, epistolary novel — about a woman who escapes an abusive marriage and reclaims ownership over her life and artistic freedom (her paintings narrate the events of her battle) — rattled critics and sister Charlotte. The oldest Brontë halted its re-publication. However, there is great speculation on the reasons behind this. (Alison Nastasi)Telelocura (Spain) is looking forward to watching Jane Eyre 2011 on the Spanish TV channel Antena 3 TV tonight:
Este film, que ha sido adaptado en una veintena de ocasiones a la gran pantalla desde 1910, subraya los aspectos góticos de la novela, construyendo una atmósfera inquietante a partir de unos colores apagados, neblina omnipresente y habitaciones poco iluminadas. En las versiones que se han hecho de la película destacan la de Robert Stevenson de 1944, con Orson Welles y Joan Fontaine, y la de Franco Zeffirelli, que data de 1996. (Elisa Blanco) (Translation)Estado de Minas (Brazil) runs a story about some evacués in Belo Horizonte:
O cachimbo que pertenceu ao avô, os livros preferidos – contos de Machado de Assis e O Morro dos Ventos Uivantes, de Emily Brontë –,uma garrafa de hidromel produzido pelo pai e, claro, os documentos. (Gustavo Werneck) (Translation)Diario de León (Spain) talks about women writers but it is quite wrong when it says
En la historia quedará ya como algo inédito la imagen de la inglesa Charlotte Brönte (sic) (1816-1855) escondiendo el manuscrito de Jane Eyre para ponerse a la tarea de pelar patatas y, como ella, sus hermanas Emily (1818-1849) y Anne (1820-1849) tuvieron que esconderse bajo seudónimos masculinos. (Carmen Sigüenza) (Translation)This is one of those things to be found on the net for some time, especially on Spanish speaking websites and that is, as you know, completely wrong. It would be nice if the journalists checked their sources and not repeated each and every thing they see on the net.
A French book and a recent thesis with Brontë-related content:Le plébéien enragéReviews can be found on nonfiction, Le Silence que Parle...
Une contre-histoire de la modernité de Rousseau à Losey
Alain Brossat
Le Passager Clandestin, 20 november 2013
ISBN : 978-2-916952-96-3
On trouvera dans des romans comme Le Rouge et le Noir, Les Hauts de Hurlevent ou L’amant de Lady Chatterley, sinon ce qu’on y cherche, du moins ce qui va s’accorder au plus près avec l’attente de chacun : donc plus souvent la fable « éternelle » des amours contrariées que celle du plébéien moderne, rebelle… voire enragé.
Pourtant, c’est bien cette dernière figure qu’Alain Brossat va dépeindre dans son nouvel essai, en revisitant ces « classiques » et quelques autres, et ce point de vue critique permet d'appréhender tout un pan de la littérature moderne et d’écrire une véritable contre-histoire de la modernité.
Loin de cette lecture aseptisée qui cherche à « immuniser » les chefs-d’œuvre littéraires des contaminations du domaine politique (comme si un chef-d’œuvre ne pouvait s’inscrire que dans l’immuable et l’atemporel), l’auteur du Serviteur et son maître (Léo Scheer, 2003) et du Grand dégoût culturel (Seuil, 2008) privilégie pour sa part une lecture explicitement politique. Il ne s’agit en aucun cas de classer les œuvres (roman « prolétarien » , « bourgeois », etc.), mais de les rétablir dans leur pleine condition de « politicité ». Ces œuvres ensablées, statufiées, sur lesquelles on a même souvent baillé au collège, Alain Brossat les fait sortir du patrimoine pour retrouver ce qui faisait et fait encore aujourd’hui, pour une bonne part, leur force et leur vitalité.
Le plébéien évoqué par Brossat (Jean-Jacques des Confessions, Julien Sorel, Heathcliff, Mellors …) est une singularité rétive, et, à ce titre, un fauteur de trouble et de désordre. Son activisme tend à saper les fondements prétendument naturels de l'ordre établi. Il est une force en marche dont les talents, souvent éminents, vont se perdre au fil de ses affrontements dramatiques avec l’Histoire et la société. Il est l’ingouvernable, figure dangereuse par excellence, singulièrement dans les sociétés modernes.
Haunted by Passion: Supernaturalism and Feminism in Jane Eyre and Villette
Laurel P. Lorber
Department of English, Seton Hall University (2013)
In Jane Eyre and Villette, Charlotte Brontë builds suspense and creates an eerie atmosphere by hinting that bizarre occurrences are caused by supernatural entities such as ghosts or demons. Ultimately, the strange events are given rational explanations. The monster in Jane Eyre is revealed to be Rochester's wife Bertha Mason and the ghostly nun in Villette turns out to be Ginevra Fanshaw's lover in disguise. Both Bertha and the nun are robbed oftheir threatening supernatural quality. Like these figures, the female protagonists of Brontë's fiction are repressed and subdued. Jane Eyre and Lucy Snowe hide the passionate side of their personalities from the outside world. This repression manifests itself in the form of mysterious figures that haunt both novels. The aggressive and animalistic Bertha Mason represents Jane's buried passion. Similarly, the mysterious nun represents Lucy's repressed sexuality and serves as a reminder of her loneliness. Jane and Lucy conceal their passion in order to get by in male dominated society. In Brontë's time, outspoken and aggressive women were generally considered to be unacceptable and unladylike. The ideal woman was calm, quiet, and submissive. Powerful women were often viewed as threatening. The supernatural figures associated with the female protagonists in both novels are robbed oftheir mysterious allure. Like Jane and Lucy, they are stripped of their power. Jane and Lucy are conflicted characters who struggle with their longing for marriage and their desire to be independent. They both fall in love and hope to establish a relationship of equality with the men in their lives. Although Jane and Lucy have similar objectives, they do not achieve their goals with the same degree of success. Unlike Jane, Lucy achieves independence and largely overcomes the repression that has been with her throughout most ofher life. Villette succeeds as a feminist novel while Jane Eyre is rather problematic. The conclusion of Lucy's story conveys an empowering feminist message in all the ways Jane's story does not.
From time to time I reprint on my blog the public domain works of authors from the past. This poem is by Anne Brontë, the youngest of the famous Brontë sisters. It was first published in 1846 in Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, a collection of poems by Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë, using pseudonyms because of the prejudice against female writers at the time. Anne’s life was cut short by tuberculosis in 1849 at age 29, within ten months of the death of her brother Branwell at age 31 and her sister Emily at age 30. The work expresses poetically Anne’s response to the Calvinist-Arminian debate. If she were alive today, what would you say to her? (Diane Castro)The Star (Malaysia) is concerned about why people abandon books halfway:
Sofea A. Ghani (Student, 19, Selangor) stopped reading Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë six years ago because the Victorian prose made for difficult reading.Spin-offs, sequels and so on on BBC News:
“‘Dear Sofea, I am giving you this book because no young lady should go through life without having read it.’”
“At 13, I found the book confusing, long, detailed and very deep. Today, at 19, it is time that I do justice to this book, a gift from an aunty six years ago, and appreciate the beauty which will show in due time.” (Rouwen Lin)
Some early 20th Century spin-offs, such as Jean Rhys's Jane Eyre prequel, The Wide Sargasso Sea, and Sir Tom Stoppard's Hamlet-led play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, have become classics in their own right. (Victoria Lindrea)The Independent somehow also talks about it here:
An entire necrophilic industry has sprung up wherein Jane Eyre and Elizabeth Bennet continue their amorous affairs, Poirot still investigates, Jeeves still bails out Wooster. (Christopher Fowler)Judith Newmark gives her very personal theatre awards in St Louis Post-Dispatch:
DramasThe Columbus Dispatch also summarises the local theatre year:
Best couple • Sarah Godefroid-Cannon and Shaun Sheley, “Jane Eyre,” Mustard Seed Theatre
Best villain • Richard Lewis, “Jane Eyre,” Mustard Seed Theatre
Best ShowsSebastião Nunes shows symptoms of (George) Bataille (La Littérature et le Mal) indigestion en O Tempo (Brazil). Bataille's essay on Wuthering Heights is quite interesting on its own but we think that the comparison with the Divine Marquis is a little forced, à la 'épater le bourgeois' kind of way:
• Jane Eyre, Available Light Theatre (May 16 to June 8, Riffe Center’s Studio One Theatre) (Michael Grossberg)
Emily Brontë, provinciana inglesa de 29 anos, recatada e tímida, publicou em 1847 “O Morro dos Ventos Uivantes”. Que sabia ela da vida? Nada. Que fazia ela na vida? Nada. Onde morava? Numa cidadezinha banal, Howart (sic), no condado de Yorkshire, em que seu pai era pastor.El Día (Argentina) recommends Wuthering Heights 2003 as it is aired by Studio Universal (today, 6 pm):
Durante sua relativamente curta existência, pouco saiu de casa. Era tranquila e introspectiva. Não foi feliz nem infeliz, vivendo apagada no seu canto, entre duas irmãs (também escritoras) e um irmão (pintor fracassado). Lia muito, pois seu pai, Patrick Brontë, dispunha de boa biblioteca e não criava restrições. Além da Bíblia, tinham à mão Homero, Virgílio, Shakespeare, Milton, Byron e Walter Scott, entre outros.
Assim se construiu, no isolamento e na monotonia, umas das obrasprimas da literatura romântica, em que o Mal dá o tom maior. Emily nunca leu Sade, é óbvio. Nem os muitos autores libertinos que circulavam na época e que nada tinham de sádicos. Como se explica que essa criatura fosse capaz de criar livro tão diabólico?
Rachel de Queiroz, na introdução a uma das traduções brasileiras, escreveu que Emily “morreu do livro, como se morresse de parto”.
O MAL IMORTAL
O paradoxo está posto. Ao inventar um personagem tão feroz como Heathcliff, em seu único romance, que no entanto envenenou para sempre a literatura de língua inglesa, Emily Brontë, jovem apagada, tímida, recatada e discreta, filha de pastor e irmã dedicada, criou um laço forte e indissolúvel com Sade e, muito pior, com o Mal absoluto. (Translation)
En otro canal, en simultáneo, vuelve “Cumbres borrascosas” (“Wuthering Heights”), única novela de Emily Brontë, quien a junto a hermana Anna tuvo también un papel central en la narrativa europea en el siglo XIX. Hay numerosas versiones para el cine de este libro clave. La particularidad en esta oportunidad es la traslación a la actualidad, en California, donde un joven talento musical se enamora de una chica rica. (Amílcar Moretti) (Translation)Lennon (Argentina) devotes an article to Joan Fontaine:
En Jayne Eyre (sic), basada en la novela de Charlotte Brontë daba vida a una huérfana que triunfa sobre la adversidad y resiste todos los tormentos con gran determinación moral. Sin dejar que las circunstancias la aplasten. En esta ocasión la acompañaba Orson Welles, que interpretaba al Sr. Edward Rochester. (Lucrecia Fañanás) (Translation)czytelnia książek wszelakich reviews Shirley in Polish; Musings of a Nerdy Girl reviews Jane Eyre.
A CD and a book both related to Wuthering Heights 1939:Majestic Hollywood: The Greatest Films of 1939 by Mark A. Vieira
Running Press (December 10, 2013)
ISBN-13: 978-0762451562
1939 was a watershed year. The Great Depression was barely over; economics, politics, and culture braced for war. There was a lull before the storm and Hollywood, as if expecting to be judged by posterity, produced a portfolio of masterpieces. No year before or since has yielded so many beloved works of cinematic art: The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Gunga Din, Only Angels Have Wings, Destry Rides Again, Beau Geste, Wuthering Heights, The Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach, Ninotchka, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Dark Victory, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Women, and of course, Gone With the Wind.
The April 1939 chapter contains an article about the film.Here Come the Classics. Volume Twenty-FourTrack 14 is Cathy's Theme from Alfred Newman's Wuthering Heights 1939 soundtrack.
The Golden Age of Hollywood 4Conductor David Firman
Royal Philarmonic Orquestra
And the text extracts from authors including John Betjeman, Charlotte Brontë, Charles Dickens, Sebastian Faulkes, Mervyn Peake and Shakespeare added depth – sometimes with pathos, sometimes with humour or drama. (Morwenna Blake)Reason magazine traces the origins of the term glamour:
During the 19th century, glamour expanded to include less literal charms, while maintaining the sense of making things look better than they really were. "The glamour of inexperience is over your eyes," Mr. Rochester tells Jane Eyre when she calls his mansion splendid, "and you see it through a charmed medium: you cannot discern that the gilding is slime and the silk draperies cobwebs; that the marble is sordid slate, and the polished woods mere refuse chips and scaly bark." (Virginia Postrel)Parsha Malla summarises her 2013 reads in The Globe and Mail:
I binged on the stunning work of Anne Carson, and finally got to Wuthering Heights – which, if 170-odd years of accolades haven’t convinced you, is a hell of a story.Oliver Kamm's explores in The Times the uses of 'bright' as an adverb:
The adverbial use of "brigh" is long established in English. Crystal cites Beowulf and Shakespeare. I can think of many other examples. Here is Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights: "The moon shone bright; a sprinkling of snow covered the ground, and I reflected that she might, possibly, have taken it into her head to walk about the garden, for refreshment."The Australian reviews the British Library's A Literary Christmas among other Christmass-y books:
Other highlights include Stevenson reading Thomas Hardy's poem The Oxen and a passage from Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. (Stephen Romei)The Aldergrove Star has an article about dementia:
Diana, whose c.v. includes florist, actress and coach, was at first floored when her mom-in-law was diagnosed. “I’d only read Jane Eyre” (which deals in a very 19th-century way with dementia), she says. “I had to learn so much.”Libreriamo (Italy) lists the most memorable female characters in literature:
LE EROINE TRAGICHE – Quando si parla di personaggi femminili letterari non si può non pensare quasi subito alle storie non a lieto fine – come quelle di Anna Karenina, Emma Bovary e Catherine Earnshaw di "Cime tempestose". Se si esclude la fine tragica, questi tre personaggi sono diversissimi l'uno dall'altro, segno evidente che nei libri non esistono caratteri prefissati, da adottare ogni volta che si vuole raccontare un certo tipo di storia. (...) Catherine di "Cime tempestose" ha un carattere ancora diverso: sospesa tra quella cattiveria un po' infantile che hanno le persone viziate, voglia di essere qualcuno, passione. (Translation)Finally, Mediamass has published a couple of news that are (literally) too good to be true:
According to the latest Watch and Listen magazine poll just out yesterday (Friday, December 27), BBC One's popular series Jane Eyre is now considered to be the Greatest Show in the History of Television.And this one is even better:
To many of you it’s probably a familiar story. Once every decade, the world-renowned entertainment magazine Watch and Listen conducts a global poll of television producers and critics from 80 different countries and translated into 20 languages. The recognition of Jane Eyre (starring Ruth Wilson) in this decade's list doesn't come as much of a surprise. (Brent Meslow)
Rumors of a Jane Eyre reunion had the internet in a frenzy on Friday (December 27) as reports claimed that BBC One confirmed a revival of the popular sitcom for 2014.By the way, marion davies publishes a gif collage of Jane Eyre 2006 (via fyje).
Why in the world did Jane Eyre end?
When Jane Eyre came to an end, million viewers tuned in to say goodbye to Jane Eyre (Ruth Wilson). And since then, they have been itching for a reunion.
Would a Jane Eyre reunion disappoint people?
Jane Eyre is considered one of the most influential TV shows ever on pop culture. Although no original episodes have been shot since, it has remained a regular feature on many station's schedules. But Wilson said she's not sure if Jane Eyre would work today. “I don't want to see old Jane Eyre,” she told a journalist (Wilson turned 31 in January). “Everyone’s going to have different vision of what the character is like, so to have that materialize is going to disappoint most people,” she added. (Bryan Murray)
A walking club will be enjoying a Brontë-themed walk on Saturday. Bradford CHA Rambling and Social Club will be leading a circular walk called ‘Shirley and the Luddites’ around Gomersal. Members are asked to meet at Bradford Interchange to take the number 283 bus to Oakwell Hall at 9.25am. (The Telegraph & Argus)If you feel more like doing it by yourself Pennine Prospects makes available several routes around Yorkshire on Walk.Cycle.Ride South Pennines website:
Saturday 28th December 2013
No 283 bus from Int at 9.25 to Oakwell Hall
Shirley & the Luddites
Gomersal Circular: Stuart Blaylock
In addition, Pennine Prospects is publicising special events during the Christmas and New Year period, including several just across the borders from the Keighley area.
One of these is a short guided walk for families, entitled Fun Hat and Wig Walk, setting off from Bingley Arts Centre at 12.30pm on New Year’s Day.
The website offers almost 30 routes in the Airedale and Bingley areas, including Cullingworth, Denholme, Ilkley Moor, East Morton, Silsden, St Ives and Kildwick. There are 17 routes across Haworth, Brontë Country and the Forest of Trawden, including walks taking in Oakworth, Haworth, Stanbury, Oxenhope and Keighley Moor. (Keighley News)
Shot on dank and misty Yorkshire locations, British director Andrea Arnold’s haunting adaptation — which screened exclusively at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art — cuts beneath the romantic accretion of decades of movie and TV idealizations to penetrate the dark heathen heart of Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel. Here, the famously tragic love story of Heathcliff and Catherine is something elemental and wild: a product of the untamed moors, like the fog, the heather and the ever-present rush of ghostly wind. Arnold’s boldest decision is to cast black actors as the boy and adult Heathcliff, making him an especially forbidden romantic partner for the pale Catherine. (John Beifuss)William T. Gormley Jr thinks in Fox News that the Common Core State Standards are not so bad:
I feared that Charlotte Brontë, Ernest Hemingway and William Shakespeare and many other favorite authors were on the chopping block.The San Francisco Examiner reviews the DVD The Vivien Leigh Anniversary Collection:
But later I learned that the “plot” to curb fiction was neither fiendish nor foolish. The Common Core’s nonfiction requirements are phased in over time, with younger children reading more fiction and older children reading more non-fiction.
Taking a cue from their characters, the co-stars plunged into an affair. Leigh is more natural in front of a camera - a knack Olivier wouldn't learn until two years later, when William Wyler showed him how in "Wuthering Heights." (Ruthe Stein)Assignment X reviews the film The Invisible Woman:
The film is lovely to look at via Rob Hardy’s cinematography, with the kind of brooding imagery we may associate more with Thomas Hardy or the Brontë sisters than with Dickens. (Abbie Bernstein)Line2day (Vietnam) recommends some tourist trips in England:
8. Haworth, YorkshireLa Nación (Argentina) retells the story of the Brontës' tragic endings:
Haworth là một thị trấn nhỏ của thành phố Bradford, nằm ở phía tây hạt Yorkshire. Những điểm tham quan nổi tiếng ở làng Haworth là tuyến đường xe lửa hơi nước cổ xưa, bảo tàng Parsonage Brontë, thác nước Brontë cùng các cửa hàng bán đặc sản địa phương, các quán rượu truyền thống nằm trong những tòa nhà lịch sử. (Translation)
Pero las hermanas Brontë representan, sin duda, un caso especial. Charlotte, que escribió Jane Eyre; su hemana menor, Emily, autora de Cumbres borrascosas; así como sus dos hermanas mayores, María y Elizabeth, contrajeron la tuberculosis al igual que otras 36 alumnas de una clase de 53 chicas que estudiaban en la Clergy Daughter's School, donde dormían hacinadas y se levantaban a las cinco de la madrugada para tomar un desayuno lamentable y lavarse con agua congelada. María y Elizabeth murieron a los once y diez años, respectivamente. Charlotte y Emily seguirían ese camino varios años después.The Times remembers Joan Fontaine in its summary of the obituaries of the year; Random Reads recommends Jane Eyre; Alex Waterhouse-Hayward posts an article about Currer Bell, Emily Dickinson, Jane Eyrë (sic) & Jerome Charyn; on Letterboxd, Stephen Brown doesn't like Jane Eyre 2011; Esther's Narrative reviews Villette; Romanzi 2.0 (in Italian) posts about Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë era una personalidad extraña. Sus biógrafos dicen que nunca mostró interés por un humano; todo su amor estuvo reservado a los animales y hay quienes atribuyen sus peculiaridades al síndrome de Asperger (son adictos al trabajo, tienen excelente memoria y retención de los detalles, frecuentemente poseen grandes habilidades verbales y pueden encontrar un aspecto terapéutico en la creación artística). Hacia fines de 1848, y después de meses de toses, debilidad y falta de aire, fue languideciendo cada vez más y murió en diciembre de 1848.
Charlotte, sumida en la depresión, se refugió en la escritura. Casada a los 38 años, a los seis meses se embarazó, desarrolló hiperemesis gravídica (náuseas y vómitos continuos, un trastorno que afecta al uno por ciento de las embarazadas) y fiebre, un cóctel que inclinó la balanza a favor de la malnutrición, la tuberculosis y, finalmente, la muerte. (Nora Bär) (Translation)
Maddalena de Leo's fictional account of Maria Branwell's life, Mai Più in Oscurità is republished in Italy under the new name La madre di Jane Eyre:La madre di Jane Eyre. Nove lettere ritrovate, i segreti d'amore di Maria Branwell Brontë
Maddalena De Leo
Publisher: Neapolis Alma (December 2, 2013)
Collection: Lilith
ISBN-13: 978-8890677649
Com'è possibile che poco o nulla si conosca della madre delle tre sorelle scrittrici più famose al mondo? Anne, Emily e Charlotte riuscirono a raggiungere risultati letterari notevolissimi, imprimendo i loro nomi nella storia della letteratura mondiale. Eppure qualcosa manca a questa storia. Da dove arriva tanta ispirazione? Per la prima volta in traduzione italiana, il testo completo delle lettere d'amore tra Maria Branwell e il reverendo Brontë. Un tassello prezioso del grande mosaico Brontë che sembrava perduto e grazie a Maddalena De Leo ritorna e fa da ispirazione, da centro propulsore, dell'intero romanzo. Lontano dai banali prequel o sequel che intasano gli scaffali delle librerie, questo romanzo è una traccia fedele della sensibilità brontiana. Le parole di un diario, le immagini di una scrittrice amata in tutto il mondo, la forza di una fede che supera ogni difficoltà, per una storia che, oggi come allora, emoziona i cuori romantici. L'autrice, esperta di letteratura brontiana, lascia che Charlotte racconti la storia di Maria Branwell Brontë, la madre mai conosciuta. A ispirarla un pacchetto di lettere originali, custodite con grande cura.
Responding to the news last week, the actress, who is originally from North Yorkshire, said: “I’m incredibly excited about being part of the film, and being able to play Anne Brontë is a dream – I can’t wait to start filming!”EADT24 Ipswich discusses the sponsors of the production The Brontës of Dunwich Heath and Cliff:
Yorkshire-based Clothworkers Films revealed in October it is targeting an estimated budget of £10 million for its planned biopic about the Brontë siblings – Charlotte, Emily and Anne.
The production company said the film will be the world’s first English-language project of its kind. The two-hour film is due to be released on April 21, 2016. (...)
She added: “I’ve never been to Haworth before, but I’m definitely going to pop up in the New Year before any filming to do my own research.
“It’s an amazing feeling knowing someone has so much trust in your ability. The Brontë sisters are so iconic that I need to make very strong and accurate character choices. Luckily, Anne is very feisty, but you see a softer side to her, which I’m looking forward to exploring.(...)
“I studied A-level English literature, so did some work on Wuthering Heights. I loved the writing style and how dramatic it was, but never read anything by Anne Brontë. So this year I hope Santa brings me The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall!”
Director, David Anthony Thomas, said: “I’m absolutely delighted Rachel has agreed to play Anne Brontë.
“In the Brontës film, Anne is an incredibly challenging and complex character, with a fantastic personal journey, and I feel Rachel is the perfect choice to play her. I know her casting will please both Brontë purists and the general cinema-going public.”
Two firms have joined forces to support a wuthering new festive panto taking a sideways look at the celebrated novels of the Brontë sisters.The Alternative Press (Sparta, NJ) talks about the Poetry Out Loud Contest held in the Sparta High School on December 16:
Legal eagles Barker Gotelee have joined forces for the first time with long-time sponsors Ensors chartered accountants to support Eastern Angles’ The Brontës of Dunwich Cliff and Heath.The madcap interpretation of Wuthering Heights features Mad Cath, Plain Jane and a panoply of off-the-wall characters, as literature and laughs combine in the musical Christmas caper.
Rebecca Senatore won the competition with her presentation of “Ah! Why Because the Dazzling Son” by Emily Brontë.
Removed from the world in an idyll of apparent purity, things darken as the governess perceives, or perhaps merely imagines, that the children's last governess, Miss Jessel, and her Heathcliff-esque lover, the virile servant, Peter Quint, have returned from the dead to possess the children. (Michael Newton)The Mirror highlights the Jane Eyre 2011 airing on BBC Two:
This adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s classic romantic drama stars Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender and Jamie Bell, and tells the tale of a governess who gradually manages to soften the heart of her abrupt new house master. However, when she discovers he is hiding a terrible secret, it threatens to destroy their relationship.( David Edwards , Kevin O'Sullivan , Mark Adams , Claire Hodgson).The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) reviews a local production of Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata:
The real Duplessis, as did Verdi’s star-crossed heroine in “La Traviata,” died young of tuberculosis. The ravaging respiratory disease claimed many famous lives during Verdi’s career, including poets John Keats and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, writers Edgar Allen Poe and Emily Bronté (sic), and fellow composer Frederic Chopin. (Randi Bjornstad)The Personal Tech section of the New York Times gives advice for all the new owners of e-readers:
While you may see a lot of self-published romance and fantasy works among the free offerings, many freebies are classics now out of copyright and in the public domain. You can find “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,” by Arthur Conan Doyle, Frederick Douglass’s autobiography and “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu, as well as many works by Jane Austen, Mark Twain, the Brontë sisters, William Shakespeare and other notable authors. (J.D. Biersdorfer)Time Magazine traces a profile of Joan Fontaine:
Opposite Orson Welles in Jane Eyre and Louis Jourdan in Letter from an Unknown Woman, she created indelible portraits of shy girls who summon the resources to match the whims of imperious men. (Richard Corliss)The Kalamazoo Gazette presents the novel Paint by Grace Tiffany, based on the figure of Emilia Bassano Lanier (a candidate to be Shakespeare's 'dark lady'):
"She did some amazing things. ... She was the first Englishwoman who was not an aristocrat to get her poems published. She ran a school. She was an independent, intellectual woman about 200 years before the Brontës," Tiffany said. "So she's worth a story." (Yvonne Zipp)This is Money makes a 2013 economical quiz. One of the questions is:
29/. Which famous woman will appear on banknotes after a feminist campaign? a) Emily Brontë; b) Emmeline Pankhurst; c) Elizabeth Fry; d) Jane AustenRegrettably the answer is not a) as you well know.
Comparada por su pulso decimonónico con Dickens, Jane Austen o las hermanas Brontë, la autora resta importancia a los elogios de la crítica y prefiere definirse como «lectora antes que escritora». (Mónica Bergós) (Translation)The Brontë Parsonage Christmas Tree can be seen here; another nice Jane Eyre 2006 collage by lizzymaxia.
Do you remember the first installment of the series My Mr. Rochester by L. K. Rigel ? The second one is already available:My Mr. Rochester 2 (Jane Eyre Retold)
by LK Rigel
Paperback: 140 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (December 11, 2013)
ISBN-13: 978-1494445270
A retelling of the Gothic romance, set in a future utopia. Episode 2: As Rochester draws Jane out, her attachment to him deepens, but visiting Blanche Ingram is the daughter of a senator and Righteous Elder, beautiful, accomplished ~ and determined to have Rochester for herself.
“For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.” -Virginia WoolfDigital Spy gives the ratings of the BBC Two broacast of Jane Eyre 2011:
Studying male dominated history is depressing. Virginia Woolf reminds us that women have been contributing to science and philosophy and poetry for centuries, hidden away under male pseudonyms and ghost writers (ahem, Brontë sisters). Every woman’s name on a Nobel prize, book jacket, or punk rock stage is a high five for ladies everywhere. (Mandie Williams)
a broadcast of Jane Eyre appealed to 1.82m (7.6%) at 8.30pm. (Tom Eames)Matthew Norman reviews La Porchetta Pollo Bar in London in The Telegraph and seems fascinated when he sees the following:
Exceedingly cheap and infectiously cheerful it remains, and the beguilingly nostalgic flavour provided by a capacious Greatest Hits menu was reinforced by the vision of a hip twentysomething woman at the next table reading Wuthering Heights. Not on a Kindle, mind. From a Penguin.Suryakumari Dennison in the Deccan Herald reads letters written by his mother when she was quite young:
In that engrossing narrative, young Olivia recounts everyday experiences of her post-academic, simple but satisfying life in Madras. She sings in the church choir, writes poems and stories, plays badminton and tennis, embroiders cushion covers and tablecloths, ejoys concerts and movies, pays visits and receives them in return. She also reads voraciously, devouring novels by Jane Austen, the Brontës, Elizabeth Gaskell and lesser-known authors.The comedian Chris Turner is interviewed on DNA. He quotes Charlotte Brontë:
Happiness is… ‘Being loved by your fellow creatures, and feeling that your presence is an addition to their comfort’ (Charlotte Brontë) (As told to Boski Gupta)
A guided annual five-mile circular walk with Phil Hatton and Barbara Walker sets off at 11am from the Tourist Information Office at the top of Main Street with punch and mince pies, but bring your lunch with you. The walk is of moderate difficulty to the Brontë Waterfalls and back.So Bookalicious!'s Teaser Tuesday is devoted to Jane Eyre; the Brontë Sisters posts a Merry Christmas entry.
Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is currently reading Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch and Saleema Nawaz’s Bread. But Horwath may re-read Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre this holiday and has Rumi’s Whispers of the Beloved and Charles Bukowski’s South of No North on her bedside table as well.Lauren Sarner discusses in The Huffington Post one of those new words for old concepts that have become ubiquituous these days: 'dysfunctional' families in literature:
I was not able to include all of literature's dysfunctional families, but if you're looking for more, you can find them in most of the Brontë's work, Tolstoy's, Tom Perrotta's, Lisa Carey, and many more that you can add in the comments.The Boar has a nice article on book covers. Anna Laycock talks about covers of Wuthering Heights editions:
Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights has to be my favourite book of all time. I own three different copies of the novel, all with different covers. The first copy I came across was a 1995 Penguin Classics edition that was sitting unread on my mum’s bookshelf; the cover features a simple yet mysterious blue and grey watercolour painting of the Yorkshire moors. The second copy I received was a Bloomsbury Classics edition as a Christmas present when I was 14. This cover is bright orange and purple and features the image of a blue lightning strike. My last copy was a 21st birthday present and is a hard back Barnes and Noble Leather-bound edition; it is easily my favourite as with its golden lettering and satin ribbon bookmark, it is a beautiful addition to my bookshelf.A couple of news outlets still talk about Jane Eyre 2011 being broadcast on BBC Two:
My three copies of Wuthering Heights all have distinctly different covers, and those are just a fraction of the many covers that have graced Wuthering Heights over the 165 years since it was published. As Wuthering Heights does not fit neatly into any genre of literature, the various different covers indicate what the publisher is trying to market the novel as. Some covers suggest it is a romance, others a gothic horror story, some highlight it to be a novel of manners and others do away with images, allowing only the title and the author’s name on the cover, emphasising the novel’s place as a classic of English Literature.
It is fascinating to look at how the covers of Wuthering Heights have altered as culture, fashion and literary criticism have changed across the decades. A 1944 copy gives the protagonists, Cathy and Heathcliff, a Hollywood makeover on the front cover. A blond haired Cathy with red lips and dark curly eyelashes cuddles into a tall, dark haired and handsome Heathcliff – an image very reminiscent of the 1943 Casablanca movie poster. In 2009, Wuthering Heights got caught up in the Twilight frenzy when a new edition was released with a Twilight-esque cover. The awful black cover featuring a white flower, the clichéd phrase “Love Never Dies” and a sticker labelling it “Edward and Bella’s favourite book” is clearly an attempt by the publisher (Harper Collins) to cash in on Twlight’s success by aiming Wuthering Heights at Bella Swan wannabes.
With all these various covers, we have to ask ourselves whether the cover of the book affects the way we read it. If it is marketed as a love story then are we more inclined to believe the relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff is based on love? Also, we could question whether the cover we choose says something about us. Perhaps our choice of cover highlights what we want the book to be about, be it a love story, gothic horror or a Victorian Twilight. Moreover as material objects, books have ornamental qualities. I for one want my copy of Wuthering Heights to be a gorgeous decoration on my bookshelf as well as an accessory whilst I read it sipping a cappuccino in Starbucks!
Cary Fukunaga, director of the Mexican gang thriller 'Sin Nombre', was the unlikely though inspired choice to helm this sharp new take on Charlotte Brontë's eternal classic. (Irish Independent)
Mia Wasikowska is Jane Eyre and Michael Fassbender is Mr Rochester in Cary Fukunaga's take on Charlotte Brontë's classic novel. Released back in 2011, this is perfect evening viewing for those who like to cosy up in front of a period drama. (Simon Reynolds in Digital Spy)The film, by the way, is described as a 'Recent overlooked gem' by Entertainment Weekly. Capsule in Space reviews the movie as well.
Ladies, I don't know about you, but I am always on the lookout for a great fun t-shirt that is hip and can be worn anywhere. So I was thrilled to see how many licensed tees Target has in stock this year! The prices are reasonable, there are lots to choose from, they are fun, nerdy, and hip... so what's the downside?? They're made for men. There are a couple (as in 2) in women's sizes, which was so disappointing. (...)Ipswich Star announces next year's Theatre in the Forest by the Red Rose Chain theatre company:
I can think of a dozen women off the top of my head who would totally buy some better graphic tees with characters like Wonder Woman, Princess Leia, Catwoman and old school pics of Jane Austen or Virginia Woolf, or vintage book covers of Pride & Prejudice or Jane Eyre. And it might surprise you to know that some girls also love Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Avengers, rock bands and cars too!
“It couldn’t be more perfect,” [Joanna Carrick] says, as talks turns to next year’s Theatre in the Forest double bill, again at Jimmy’s Farm.Vulture interviews the actor Ralph Fiennes:
“A Comedy Of Errors and Wuthering Heights; one absolutely ridiculous comedy and the other very ghostly and romantic so they’ll be amazing contrast.”
The plan is to start with Errors, then after three weeks introduce Heights. From then on, there will be weeks where you can see both on alternating nights. (Wayne Savage)
Ralph Fiennes: If someone has made their mark and defined a role and later on you take it on, you’re under the shadow.The Observer continues to list the 100 best novels. Now is Thackeray's Vanity Fair's turn:
Interviewer: Like Heathcliff?
Ralph Fiennes: Yeah. Exactly like Heathcliff! (Bilge Ebiri)
Vanity Fair jumps out of this list as a great Victorian novel, written and published deep in the middle of a great age of English fiction. Indeed, so commanding was Thackeray at the height of his powers (some say he never wrote as well, or as sharply, again) that Charlotte Brontë even dedicated Jane Eyre (no 12 in this list) to the author of Vanity Fair. (Robert McCrum)
Emily Brontë schreef deze beroemde roman in 1847. Film 1 zendt een verfilming uit op 1e kerstdag om 21.00 uur. Het verhaal draait om de jonge Heathcliff die wordt opgenomen in het rijke gezin Earnshaw. Hij raakt verwikkeld in een ingewikkelde relatie met zijn pleegzus Catherine. Liefde, wraak en obsessie gestoken in een prachtig jasje. (Annelies Beltman) (Translation)aquatique reviews both The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and its 1996 TV version.
The final book in J.L. Niemann's Rochester trilogy has just been published:Rochester: Redemption
The Continuing Story Inspired by Charlotte Brontë's 'Jane Eyre'
By J.L. Niemann
Trafford Publishing
12/11/2013
Pages: 358
ISBN: 978-1-49071-429-5
Edward’s obsession with Jane has consumed him to their mutual undoing. The intensity of his love and desire for her has rendered him thoroughly reckless and desperate. Meanwhile, revelations of his past have led Jane to flee Thornfield Hall in search of safety away from him. Here Edward is now, broken and abandoned by both Jane and himself, standing in the wreckage of his many deceptions. Edward has a lonely path ahead, and on his journey he must gain understanding of his drives, demons and downfalls. To help him is the support of his friend, Arthur Eshton, the counsel of vicar Peter Wood, the advice of Dr. Carter and that of his long-time solicitor Alistair Blakely, as well as the loyalty of Thornfield’s staff , Leah, John, and newcomer David. Yet, darker forces are near to him too, in the form of Blanche Ingram, St. John Rivers, Richard Mason, and of course, Edward himself. With little hope of Jane’s return, will Edward succumb to his sinful vices and turns of passionate temper? Or will he find strength and faith enough to bring Jane back, thereby attaining his ultimate redemption?
If you’ve had enough of all the Christmas cheer being flung about, there are plenty of non-festive offerings on the box.Not the only TV channel scheduling Jane Eyre 2011 this Christmas. TV3 (New Zealand) also airs Cary Fukunaga's version on Christmas day (11:50 am). Fuck yeah Jane Eyre reposts a nice gif collage from this version originally from the aestically pleasing movies tumblr.
The latest remake of Jane Eyre, starring Michael Fassbender, is a beautifully slow film – with not a mention of Christmas. (Rose Troup Buchanan)
Brontë Way & Top WithensLevante (Spain) remembers when it was usual to translate the names of the characters and authors of novels into Spanish:
While the full Brontë Way route tops 43 miles in length, don’t feel you have to do it all straight after your Christmas dinner. Instead, complete a more modest leg, and visit Top Withens, a ruined farmhouse just south-west of Haworth said to be the inspiration for the Earnshaw home from Emily Brontë’s world-famous novel Wuthering Heights. Needless to say, it’s best to wrap up warm, but pack your camera too, as the views really are breath-taking.
For a warming coffee stop, try one of the many delightful cafés on the cobbled main street. And to finish off a Brontë-themed day, swing by the famous Brontë Parsonage in Haworth itself where the sisters wrote their novels. It reopens after Christmas on December 27.
Ha caído en mis manos Jane Eyre, la novela de Charlotte Brontë cuya última versión cinematográfica pude ver recientemente. Lo curioso es que el libro, traducción de José Fernández Z., edición de 2003, se refiere en su texto a Juana Eyre y a la autora la llama Carlota. Esta manía de traducir al castellano los nombres propios resulta un tanto ridícula. (Rafael Parts Rivelles) (Translation)ABC (Spain) remembers the influence of Charlotte Brontë on Hannah Craft's The Bondwoman's Narrative:
Una vez autentificado, fue publicado por Warner Books (ahora Grand Central Publishing) y en 2002 «The Bondwoman’s Narrative» se convirtió en un auténtico éxito de ventas y tuvo gran aceptación por parte de la crítica, que llegó a elogiar la representación dramática de la vida en el Sur a mediados de 1850 a través de los ojos de una sirvienta culta y refinada con claras influencias de Dickens o Charlotte Brontë. (Inés Martín Rodrigo) (Translation)5-Plus Dimanche (Mauritius) highlights a local citizen and reader of the Brontës; RadiantLit reviews the Cozy Classics adaptation of Jane Eyre; Romanzi 2.0 (in Italian) posts about Wuthering Heights; Jane Entre Linhas (in Portuguese) reviews its 2011 film adaptation.
The academic publisher LAP-Lambert has published this thesis:Less celebrated feministic heroines of Charlotte Brontë.
Feministic characteristics in the fiction of Charlotte Brontë
Asha Kaushik
LAP Lambert Academic Publishing ( 2013-12-14 )
ISBN-13: 978-3-659-50122-7
Published on: 2013-12-14
The literary activities of prominent nineteenth-century English feminists have long been a subject of great interest. During this period, writing used to be considered as inappropriate for the women but it provided them with an opportunity to carry out a literary rebellion against the deliberate marginality which they faced both as women and as writers. Excluded from social, political, and economic activities, writing remained perhaps the only way through which they could assert themselves. This work presents broad discussion of the diversity and complexity of Victorian feminism by exploring the intellectual approach and the theoretical framework of prominent Victorian feminist writers, specifically Charlotte Brontë.
I was on the Brontës’ beloved Yorkshire moors, arguing with my best friend about whether we’d rather be Jane Eyre or Cathy Earnshaw from Wuthering Heights.Crain's Chicago Business interviews the choreographer Margi Cole. Not surprisingly (she was the choreographer of Written in the Body, inspired by the Brontës) she is quite the Brontëite:
I thought Cathy. She’s passionate, headstrong and gorgeous. But my best friend Emma argued that Jane was independent, she knew who she was, she didn’t suffer fools and she stuck to her principles.
‘And Cathy’s just silly,’ she said.
I decided that when I got back to London I would dig out my copies of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre and read them again, with more scrutiny and less sentiment. But if I’d been wrong about Cathy, had I been wrong about my other literary heroines too? (...)
#Cathy Earnshaw
From: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
I’ve read Wuthering Heights every year since first finding it at 12. Cathy Earnshaw was always my favourite literary heroine. But this time I’ve sworn to really think about her.
What I feel is surprising is that Cathy seems haughty. She seems petulant at times, solipsistic and violent. And I struggle with her decision to marry Edgar after Heathcliff runs off. Why does she do it?
When Heathcliff returns three years later and, finding her married, asks, ‘Why did you betray your own heart?’, I’m wondering the same thing.
But Wuthering Heights isn’t really about Cathy as a heroine. It’s about love. Transcendent love, operatic love, excessive, abandoned love.
As a teenager, I wanted a love so intense it could send me into a brain fever or cause the man who loved me to dash his head against a tree till he bled.
But now I see Cathy and Heathcliff’s love is just not realistic. It’s the kind of love that could only be written by someone who had never been in love. And, as I learned in my 20s, it’s a terrible template for conducting a love affair.
Heroine or has-been? Has-been
#Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
As a teenager, I found Jane impassive, dejected. She’s plain and awkward, as I was.
But now, I’m surprised on the very first page: she questions authority and gets a book thrown at her head.
Jane could have taught me that you don’t have to be beautiful to value yourself. When Rochester, her foxy employer, needs her to deal with crises, she’s calm, unhysterical, brave.
And how can anyone not love a Jane who demands, ‘Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, that I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong!’
But she becomes a proper heroine when, her marriage ruined by the discovery of Rochester’s mad wife in the attic, she refuses to stay and be his mistress.
She is independent, brave and clever, and she stays true to herself. And while Cathy ends up a wandering ghost, Jane ends up happily married.
Heroine or has-been? Heroine
Name a fictional character who resonates. Jane Eyre. I'm just enamored of those Brontë ladies. I made a 30-minute work about the Brontë sisters and their masculine alter-egos, and in reading about them, I came to fully understand the place Jane Eyre came from. (Christina Le Beau)Emma John quotes no other than Emily Brontë talking about the The Ashes Test cricket series in The Guardian:
Or, as Emily Brontë would have had it: "Proud people breed sad sorrows for themselves." Who would have believed that thinking they were too good would ever have proved a problem for the England team?The Jakarta Post talks about the artist and entrepeneur Melissa Sunjaya:
“It is a collaborative work with Kampus Diakonia Modern, a foundation that gives care to street children. We provide them with the material, which applies a zero-waste concept,” added Melissa, whose favorite books are Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, Siddharta by Herman Hesse and The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. (Niken Prathivi)The Independent (Ireland) also highlights the broadcast of Jane Eyre 2011 on BBC Two next Monday:
By my reckoning this is at least the tenth major English language film version of Jane Eyre, and that's not counting the 1943 zombie version directed by Jacques Tourneur (I'm not kidding, check it out). Perhaps a perfect screen rendering of Charlotte Brontë's brooding masterpiece is impossible, but this Cary Joji Fukunaga/Moira Buffini adaptation might just be the best yet.El Confidencial (Spain) devotes a post to Joan Fontaine and is quite concernet about Jane Eyre's hairdo:
Mia Wasikowska (above) plays the adult Jane, whom we first meet when she rushes onto the wintry moors and collapses at a cottage door. She is rescued by a kindly but proper minister called St. John Rivers (Jamie Bell), and as she recuperates we travel through her life in flashback.
Neglected and tormented by her cruel aunt following the premature deaths of her parents, young Jane (Amelia Clarkson) is sent to Lowood boarding school, a supposedly charitable institution that treats its inmates cruelly. There Jane learns a kind of joyless self-reliance, and when she emerges at 18 she lands a job as governess to a little girl at a country house called Thornfield Hall.
Jane is pleased by her new surroundings and the relative independence they afford her. But she soon discovers Thornfield is a house full of pain and secrets.
Tal vez por esa doble faz de fuerza y resquebrajamiento, de nerviosismo a flor de piel y solidez de roca, nadie podría haber interpretado mejor el papel de Jane Eyre al lado de Orson Welles en la adaptación de la novela de Charlotte Brönte (sic) que llevó a cabo Robert Stevenson en 1944. Y, si me permiten una nota de frivolidad, aguantar el peinado de la señorira Eyre- raya en medio y una especie de moñetes abultados que tapan las orejas- durante todo el rodaje muestra la capacidad de la actriz para ser creíble incluso en las situaciones más comprometidas. (Marta Sanz) (Translation)Financial Post announces the death of Edgar M. Bronfman who among many other things was the owner of Sagittarius Productions, producers of Jane Eyre 1970; Dulce Inspiración (in Spanish) posts about the Brontës and Jane Austen; A Life Among the Pages reviews Wuthering Nights by I.J. Miller; we are intrigued by this drawing by C+D: Edith Wharton + Charlotte Brontë Pinhole camera for a Curate; Tim Holt visited Brontë country.
