Jane Pear

The Daily Iowan features the play Brontë: The World Without.

The show explores the complicated and heartfelt relationships between the three famous Brontë sisters, as well as how their growing passion for novel writing changes their otherwise simple lives over three years.

“My favorite part was the comradery. I don’t have sisters, so getting to have them for this was really fun,” Lauren Baker, who brilliantly portrayed Emily Brontë, said. “And then for Emily, she was such a public recluse — to be able to show what her inner life could [was] really cool.”

Emily Brontë was best known for her novel “Wuthering Heights,” which was published in 1847 under the pen name of Ellis Bell. In the play, Emily is bothered by the controversial reception of both her novel and its radical main character, Heathcliff.

“A lot of the script is pretty accurate to their [the sisters] lives. We had an amazing dramaturg who knew so much about the Brontë family. Having that information to inform us about their relationships was really exciting,” Katie Gucik, who played Charlotte Brontë, added.

Charlotte Brontë first gained fame after the publication of her novel “Jane Eyre,” which became popular for its time. The oldest Brontë sister is portrayed as caring deeply for her family, but she is at the same time envied by her sisters for her vastly successful novel and the raving reviews that accompany it.

And, of course, the Brontë trio would not be complete without the youngest sister, Anne Brontë. Brought to life by Mackenzie Elsbecker, Anne is desperate to make a strong impact on the world around her. Through her two novels, “Agnes Grey” and “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall,” Anne discusses the social inequity that existed during their time.

“I like bringing these three sisters to life. I feel like this play, in a way, gives them a chance to be heard. And I also liked just playing and spinning around,” Elsbecker said.

All three actresses brought passion and heart to their portrayals of their respective Brontë sister. Each character seemed unique and special in her own way. During the play, the audience was invited to laugh and cry along with the Brontë sisters as they experienced the most successful — and arguably the most difficult — years of their lives. (Riley Dunn)

According to MovieWeb, the best Wuthering Heights screen adaptation is Andrea Arnold's.

What most adaptations get wrong is that Wuthering Heights isn't a love story: it's a story about hatred and despair. Besides the narrators, who are merely bystanders in the narrative, each and every character in the novel is despicable and difficult to feel sorry for. Arnold understands that, and turns Brontë's story into a harrowing portrait of guilt and deteriorating love through the eyes of the tormented Heathcliff. [...]

Enough of the sophisticated setting and passionate takes on Heathcliff and Cathy's failed romance — Arnold is the first to give a Wuthering Heights adaptation the bleak and hopeless atmosphere the original story deserves. There's a common misconception that the literary classic is primarily a love story, and its upsetting, melancholic elements belong to a secondary narrative. However, there's a clear reason why Heathcliff and Cathy's romance comes to an end in the middle of the novel; this is a story of revenge, and it all starts with the period in life that defines all of us: childhood. [...]

Arnold conducts Wuthering Heights around Heathcliff's shattered psyche, and for the first time after so many adaptations, the decision to cut the book's latter half makes sense with her artistic vision. Her version is all about the moments that define Heathcliff, ending just as his inescapable bitterness begins to flourish in the aftermath of Cathy's death. It's a common thing among readers to start the novel sympathizing and rooting for Heathcliff, yet there's no escape from the monster he becomes.

Arnold's movie could as well be called "sympathy for the devil," as it scavenges for every little bit of humanity in Heathcliff's tormented soul. However, the indie film does a great job of showing these emotions fading away and giving in to anger in the final moments, hinting just about enough at the desolation that comes next. (Arthur Goyaz)

The Daily Pennsylvanian says it's time for the Kelly Writers House to host its annual Edible Books Contest and reminds us of the fact that,

Notable submissions in prior years have been “Jane Pear,” a simple pear with a bonnet nudging Charlotte Brontë's “Jane Eyre,” and “Fifty Shades of Earl Grey," which was 50 cups of Earl Grey tea brewed to different shades of gray based on E. L. James' "Fifty Shades of Grey." (Sadiqua Khan)

Given that December 2nd marked the anniversary of the death of Arthur Bell Nicholls in 1906, AnneBrontë.org shares some key moments of his life with and without Charlotte.