'I say bring back the Weak Female Character'

Keighley News takes us on a trip down memory lane to see Top Withins.

In another trip down memory lane, we look at Haworth Moor and Top Withens – said to have been the inspiration for the location of the Earnshaw family house Wuthering Heights in the 1847 novel of the same name written by Emily Brontë, who lived in nearby Haworth at what is now the world-renowned Brontë Parsonage Museum.

In 1964, stonemasons Aspinall and Hanson accepted an order from the Brontë Society for a stone plaque to be carved and fixed in a wall of the ruined farmhouse, Top Withens.

The tough job included having to carry the heavy stone half a mile, after a tractor became bogged down on the rough hillside. (Alistair Shand)

There's also a slideshow of the process.

BBC History Revealed lists seven eminent Victorians such as

Emily Brontë, 1818–48

One of the talented Brontë siblings, Emily lived most of her life on the remote Yorkshire Moors with her family. Her only published novel – the dark and tragic Wuthering Heights – is considered a classic of English literature. Along with sisters Charlotte and Anne, Emily was first published under a pseudonym in a book of poems. She died in 1848 of tuberculosis, less than three months after her brother Branwell. (Emma Slattery Williams)

Stylist lists the 'Best ever period dramas streaming now, for anyone in need of some cosy viewing' including

To Walk Invisible

While bookworms are incredibly familiar with the Brontë sisters’ literary exploits, many of us are less aware of the hardships they faced in order to become published authors. This series, which originally aired on BBC One, is here to change this.

The story revolves around Charlottë [sic] (Finn Atkins), Anne (Charlie Murphy), and Emily (Chloe Pirrie)’s increasingly difficult and toxic relationship with their brother, who in the last three years of his life – following a tragically misguided love affair – sank into alcoholism, drug addiction and abhorrent behaviour.

With their father focusing all of his attention on their brother (who, as the male heir, was seen as “the big hope for the family”), the tenacious trio decided to throw themselves into their writing – and began publishing novels under pseudonyms.

In fact, the show’s title, To Walk Invisible, is a quote taken from a letter penned by the real-life Charlottë, following a meeting with a clergyman. Despite being a big fan of her work, he failed to recognise that she was the author, due to her pseudonym ‘Currer Bell’.

Writing to her publisher about the encounter, Charlottë said: “What author would be without the advantage of being able to walk invisible? One is thereby enabled to keep such a quiet mind.” (Kayleigh Dray)

 News Australia reviews Netflix's new Rebecca:

Hammer is miscast for the role, bringing to it a more serious countenance than Olivier’s charismatic Maxim and closer to Jane Eyre’s Mr Rochester. It’s easy to forget the seductive, sexual charmer of those Monte Carlo scenes. (Wenlei Ma)

And The Telegraph uses the film to make the point that some stories simply can't be retold from a feminist perspective. And there's no need to, either.

If you watch the director of any recent period drama being interviewed, the chances are that someone will look down the camera, take a pause and then say: “When you really think about it, this is a truly feminist story” – and then they’ll go on to describe how they wanted to “bring that out”. 

And in some cases, it’s true. Vanity Fair is a feminist story. Jane Eyre is a feminist story. I could even see a case for arguing that Pride and Prejudice, which let’s face it, doesn’t pass the Bechdel Test, is feminist. To upholster these classics for modern audiences and our modern values therefore adds an edge that is at once interesting, relevant and compelling.

But there are also plenty of books and films that aren’t feminist and really shouldn’t be, no matter how woke the remake. Tess of the D’Urbervilles, for instance, is a story of woman who is punished for her entire life because she once enjoyed sex with someone she really fancied. It’s a cruel story which treats Tess as a punching bag, and there’s absolutely no way to retell it in a feminist light. If you wanted to do so, you’d have to completely rewrite the story to make it Tess of the Respectable Single Parenthood.

Wuthering Heights is similar. There’s no empowering way to tell the story of someone who gets so upset about a break up that she goes out in her nightie and dies. Latter day adaptations have made much of ‘fiery’ Cathy, seemingly untroubled by the idea that someone so ‘spirited’ could then collapse at the first sign of heartbreak. [...]

I am a fully paid up, T-shirt wearing feminist. But just as your average churchgoer doesn’t want to see all their favourite films remade with characters acting more in accordance with the Ten Commandments, I just can’t get on board with modern expectations for ‘strong’ women being retrospectively applied to make existing stories more palatable at the expense of their storyline.

There’s something rather patronising about the idea that we must be surrounded by these ‘inspirational’ women, lest we watch a spineless heroine and start mimicking her behaviour. Even if such decisions are taken under the guise of being ‘inspirational’, why is it that only women who apparently require ‘inspiration’ from their fiction, where men are allowed to merely be entertained?  

There are plenty of weak women (and weak people) in the world. Suggesting that all women have to be strong and empowered is no more forward-thinking than suggesting that we all have to be docile and meek. It would be more genuinely feminist to allow the reality that female characters are often deeply flawed, and that a weak female character has just as much right to exist on screen as the strong ones.

The second Mrs de Winter can be just as compelling to watch as Elizabeth Bennett or Katniss Everdeen. I say bring back the Weak Female Character. (Rebecca Reid)

We couldn't agree more.

Vanity Fair tries to look into what may have inspired Daphne Du Maurier to write Rebecca,

Especially in America, the book was (and often still is) considered to be a crude knock-off of Jane Eyre, and du Maurier an opportunistic appropriator of “real” literature—swapping her unnamed narrator in for humble Jane and the seductive Rebecca for Mr. Rochester’s attic-imprisoned first wife, Bertha Mason. The three du Maurier sisters so obviously idolized the Brontës—Daphne named them often when interviewers asked about her favorite authors—that some critics thought she’d stoop as low as plagiarism. The accusations followed du Maurier her whole life and beyond; in her 1992 essay collection, Expletives Deleted, writer Angela Carter declared that Rebecca had “shamelessly reduplicated the plot” of Jane Eyre.

The Brontës weren’t around to sue, but contemporary novelists who also saw similarities between their work and Rebecca were. (Rosemary Counter)

The Hollywood Reporter reviews the film The Sounding.

The Sounding might have worked better as a theater piece — which is how it began — than as a film, where its excessive quirkiness feels all the more glaring. The story begins on a remote island (actually Monhegan Island in Maine, which would serve as a perfect location for a remake of Wuthering Heights), where Liv (Eaton) lives with her elderly grandfather Lionel (stage and screen veteran Harris Yulin, who has lost none of his commanding presence). Liv never utters a word, although there is nothing physically wrong with her and she seems perfectly content. One of her favorite activities is listening to her grandfather read aloud to her at night, usually from the works of Shakespeare. (Frank Scheck)

Nocturno (Italy) reviews The Haunting of Bly Manor.

Se Emily Brontë e Rosamund Pilcher fossero state compagne di banco nello stesso secolo e avessero ricevuto la commissione di scrivere a quattro mani una sceneggiatura per il piccolo schermo avrebbero dato vita a The Haunting of Bly Manor. (Alessandra Coiro) (Translation)

What'sOnStage brings good news about the National Theatre production of Jane Eyre by Sally Cookson.

Sky Arts and National Theatre Live have revealed a new partnership deal.

Over the next three years, Sky Arts will continue to be the headline sponsor for all NT Live shows, while providing exclusive content and screening opportunities for those who take part in Sky's VIP programme.

In addition, Sky Arts will present two shows, Twelfth Night and Jane Eyre on its Freeview channel 11 in December. This marks the first time NT Live shows have been broadcast on television.

Emma Keith, Head of Broadcast and NT Live said: "We're delighted that Sky Arts is continuing its headline sponsorship of National Theatre Live in the UK for the next three years, a partnership based on our shared goals of bringing arts and culture to everyone across the UK.

"The theatre and cinema industry have been greatly affected over the last year due to the coronavirus pandemic and many challenges remain, however we are committed to continue sharing our work with audiences. We are thrilled that Jane Eyre and Twelfth Night will be shown on Sky Arts this December, the first time NT Live titles will be seen on the small screen, and we hope many people will watch and enjoy them later this year."

Specific release dates for Simon Godwin's production of Twelfth Night and Sally Cookson's version of the Brontë classic are to be revealed. (Alex Wood)

Mujer hoy (Spain) tries to vindicate Emily Brontë by making up the story that Wuthering Heights was initially well received but, three years later, when the second edition was published and signed by Emily Brontë the reviews were awfully bad. Perhaps the writer of the article should write a book herself, her imagination just can't grasp actual facts.

Cuando Cumbres borrascosas se publicó, la crítica la recibió con los brazos abiertos. Pero, tres años después, al ver la segunda edición, se echaron atrás y la menospreciaron sin paños calientes. ¿Por qué? Muy sencillo: su autora, Emily Brontë, decidió firmar la novela en esa segunda ocasión y los sabios del mundillo literario descubrieron, ¡oh, cielos! que habían estado alabando la obra de una mujer. (Rosa Gil) (Translation)

France Musique thinks that the life of British cellist Jacqueline du Pré

aurait pu être inventée par Stendhal ou Emily Brontë. (Bertrand Dicale) (Translation)

Trendencias (Spain) features the new capsule collection by Sandro.

En la nueva colección podemos encontrar prendas seventies inspiradas en los colores de las películas de Jacques Demy y en los tejidos de encaje que se lucían en Jane Eyre. Diseños elegantes que evocan recuerdos de la infancia en el sur de Francia. (Colino) (Translation)

Crónica Global (Spain) reviews the Spanish edition of Isabel Greenberg's Glass Town.