Not Oppressive Evils

Peril, loneliness, an uncertain future, are not oppressive evils, so long as the frame is healthy and the faculties are employed; so long, especially, as Liberty lends us her wings, and Hope guides us by her star. (Charlotte Brontë in Villette, Chapter VI)

This is the quote that a columnist of Granada Hoy (Spain) chooses to comment on his ninth day of quarantine.

More suggestions for this almost planetary self-isolation days. W Magazine recommends books by zodiac sign (sigh):

Leo: Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights
Yes, that’s right, this is the time to reread Wuthering Heights. This is the time for heartbreaking, earth-shattering romance. If you’re not having it, at least you should be reading about it. You should also be listening to Kate Bush’s iconic “Wuthering Heights” and doing karaoke to it in your apartment. Both Kate Bush and Emily Brontë are Leos. Leos are passionate and completely unable to restrain themselves when they are into someone. They will not be subtle! We need this kind of energy now. We need hot Leos. (Also, please make sure to text your Leo friends the most during quarantine. They’re starving for attention.) (Astro Poets) 

Rutgers-Camden News goes highbrow:

Lauren Grodstein, professor of English and director of the MFA in Creative Writing program
If you’re feeling highbrow in your isolation, I’d recommend A True Novel by Minae Mizumura, which is a deeply engrossing 800-page Japanese novel based loosely on Wuthering Heights. And if you’d rather go low, a truly guilty pleasure is the “Crime Junkie” podcast, which dives deep into the most sordid murder cases of the past hundred years. (Stefanie Charles)

Lynne Tillman in LitHub:

I look at my books, shelves overwhelmed, actually I watch them, I am their guardian. I read this, that, Natalia Ginzburg, Lyndall Gordon on Charlotte Brontë and Virginia Woolf, a book on spies. Books live for me to read, books are alive when they are read, but mostly I fail them, and they rebuke me.

But... as The Toronto Star says: you can do nothing at all. And there's no shame in it:

According to the army of social media influencers who appear to be battling it out for the title of “Most Productive Person in the Time of Coronavirus,” there are so many more interesting things one can do in quarantine besides avoid illness.
For example, you can learn to crochet. You can do 100 squats a day. You can grow tomatoes in your backyard. You can read “Jane Eyre,” read your partner’s palms or learn 10 ways to wrap a sarong. (Emma Teitel)

Babygaga and spring names for babies:

Heath: (...)  The name is also linked to Heathcliff of Emily Brontë's famous novel, Wuthering Heights. (Kristy Law)

The Orange Country Register has some news on the cancellation of the Jane Eyre production at the California State University Fullerton:

[Dale] Merrill had some good news this week for theater students and anyone else who was looking forward to the spring productions. Most of the shows that were canceled will be presented in the fall with as many of the original cast members as possible — and a holiday production will be added to the mix.
Senior Gabrielle Adner, the lead in CSUF’s production of “Jane Eyre: The Musical,” has indicated she will return to the role in the fall as a guest artist. (Susan Gill Vardon)

Dark thoughts for dark days in Il Manifesto (Italy):

Nel libro Storia del buio (Il Saggiatore, pp. 294, euro 27, traduzione di A. Ricci), la giornalista Nina Edwards prova a indagare questo nodo ponendo le basi per una storia culturale dell’oscurità in un tragitto ad ampio spettro di rimandi a zig zag tra arte e filosofia, fisica e psicanalisi, letteratura e biologia. Da William Shakespeare a Ursula Le Guin, passando per Joseph Conrad e Charlotte Brontë, Edwards arriva alla storia sociale del sonno di Roger Ekirch, agli scritti di Jung sull’ombra, agli studi di Martin Bureau sui buchi neri, fino all’invenzione del Vantablack, una sostanza applicabile alle superfici in grado di assorbire il 99,6% della luce, utilizzata per scopi militari e di recente anche artistici – come nel caso dello scultore Anish Kapoor, che ha voluto ricreare un ambiente tanto scuro da far perdere il senso dello spazio, del tempo, di sé. (Claudia Bruno) (Translation)

France Culture and the great classics of European literature:

1. Jane Eyre de Charlotte Brontë (10 x 24 min)
En 1847, Charlotte Brontë publie, sous un nom d’emprunt masculin Currer Bell, son roman le plus célèbre : Jane Eyre. Présenté comme l’autobiographie du personnage éponyme, ce roman connaît un succès immédiat dans l’Angleterre victorienne, alors même que son héroïne, résolument moderne, ne cesse de se montrer insoumise, de revendiquer son indépendance, et de remettre en question les normes et les préjugés de son époque. Personnage hors du commun, Jane Eyre est aujourd’hui considérée comme une féministe avant l’heure. (Translation)

Telegraf (Serbia) shares some anecdotes about the filming of Wuthering Heights 1939. A passing mention to the Brontës and Wuthering Heights in Die Welt (Germany). Open Book Story posts about Charlotte Brontë as a preacher.