Those confusing Brontës

As reported by Mental Floss, both Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre are among 'The 10 Most Confusing Books of All Time'.

Researchers at UK-based online retailer OnBuy.com asked 3205 people to dish on which books puzzled them the most, and compiled a list based on the 10 most common responses. To rank those titles from most to least confusing, they relied on monthly search volume data from Google. [...]

Readers also apparently have trouble decoding the deeper meanings behind the shifting relationships in the Brontë sisters’ novels. Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights came in fourth, just ahead of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. (Ellen Gutoskey)

Even so, this columnist from Seacoastonline recommends Jane Eyre:

Books I’ve loved:

[...]

“Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Brontë: The original gothic novel, Jane Eyre takes a job as a governess for the ward of the mysterious Mr. Rochester. A great read for dark, stormy nights. (Kathleen Whalin)

A contributor to Novedades Yucatán (Mexico) opens her column on love with Jane Eyre.

¿Para qué evocar el pasado cuando el presente es mucho más seguro y el porvenir mucho más luminoso?- Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë

La literatura nos ha contado miles de historias de amor, unas que tienen finales felices, otras que no terminan tan bien, pero mi favorita sigue siendo la fantástica historia que nos regaló Charlotte Brontë: Jane Eyre.

Nunca me he considerado una persona afecta al romance, pero la verdad es que cada vez que leo la historia de Jane y el Señor Rochester me hace pensar en que si bien algunas prácticas como las que nos muestran en el libro siguen vigentes hasta el día hoy, muchas otras son distintas, lo que nos ha hecho cambiar la percepción del amor.

Sin embargo, también puedo decir que aquel libro fue el culpable de que por un momento volviera a creer en esas historias de amor que todos queremos tener en algún momento de nuestra vida, aunque sepamos que solamente existen en las páginas de los libros. El mundo moderno nos ha deformado tanto la idea del amor romántico que ahora ya no sabemos cómo reaccionar cuando nos lo encontramos de frente, y entonces es cuando muchos prefieren huir y no enfrentarse a él. (Diana Puga) (Translation)

This letter to The Times makes us smile:

Sir, Having run out of conversation with our adult children we fell to discussing which literary figures we could bear to share a house with during a lockdown. Jane Eyre would be calm but judgmental; Heathcliff’s moods would be impossible to live with. (Tina Korn)

Apparently the Brontës have turned out to be useful for viral videos on TikTok according to this article from Digital Camera World.

Go viral on TikTok: Find a niche

Yes, this is the standard social media advice – but that's because it's very true. The more niche your content is, the more likely it is you'll be able to reach your intended audience. Try to avoid jumping from niche to niche, as this means that users won't have a reason to follow you. My account's niche is classic literature paired with beautiful aesthetics, so I used a shot of me running through Castle Combe, Wiltshire, UK and did a voiceover of a quote from Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. 

Period fashion, art and literature is very popular on TikTok, so I believe that this helped to contribute to the video's success. (Louise Carey)

Designer Women lists '16 reasons that make the ‘Twilight’ saga so UNFORGETTABLE [sic]'.

10 – Popularization of classical literature

This structure we are talking about resembles that of “The Wuthering Heights”, and Stephenie Meyer herself admitted to having been inspired by the novel by Emily Brontë. Even Bella Swan appears reading and commenting on the trick that has been repeated in many other young publications, such as “The Diary of Anne Frank” in “The Fault in the Stars” and “The Divine Comedy” in “Gabriel’s Inferno”. This transmedia made the viewing public interested in hitherto unknown literature, which is quite positive, as it took advantage of book sales at the time.

Texas Monthly features the work of local artist Edward Carey:

Many of Carey’s portraits convey a deep passion for literature—perhaps not surprising, since he is also a novelist and playwright.  Born in North Walsham, a small town in Norfolk, England, he knows several Shakespeare monologues by heart. In a series of sketches titled “Great British Hair,” writers Samuel Pepys, Charles Dickens, and Daniel Defoe made cameos. All three of the Brontë sisters have shown their distinct faces. To make the family complete, he added their brother, Branwell. (Julie Poole)

Here's his drawing of Anne Brontë for her birthday.

The Brag reviews the film Ma Belle, My Beauty.

The problem here is that [director Marion Hill] didn’t provide any nuance to the character’s experience as a Black woman in this very white, European situation; all we found out about her was that she’d read Jane Eyre 12 times. (Kristian Fanene Schmidt)

Law Society Gazette (Ireland) has an article on Mary Dorothea Heron, Ireland's first woman solicitor, who

enjoyed learning, and it came easily to her. In 1913, she was awarded a full set of the Brontë books for Latin composition, and a complete set of Shakespeare for her performance in classics, French, English and maths at the examinations held at Easter 1914.

Telva (Spain) features a collection of so-called 'romantic blouses'.

¿Quién no ha soñado con vestir con algunas de esas preciosas y trabajadas blusas que llevaban Keira Knightley o Kate Winslet en las películas inspiradas en las novelas de Jane Austen, sea Orgullo y Prejuicio o Sentido y Sensibilidad? O en Mujercitas, o en las novelas de las hermanas Bronte. (Elena Flor) (Translation)

The Harris has a library assistant share her thoughts on Wuthering Heights. The Oddness of Moving Things posts about Sheila Kohler's Becoming Jane Eyre.