If you’re after some light, fluffy entertainment surrounding high society courtships in ye olde England, then you’re probably better off staying home and rewatching Bridgerton. The one and only novel published by the second-youngest Brontë sister, Wuthering Heights is often misunderstood as a romance novel – but this is proper gothic fiction. At the center of the intergenerational drama is the relationship between the wily young Catherine and Heathcliff, an orphaned boy who her father adopts as his own. While there is a shadow of romance that underscores the central relationship; their bond is deeply rooted in hatred, pain, jealousy, isolation, misery, and despair.This adaptation sinks its teeth into these darker elements, and it bites down hard. Rather than labouring over every line of the novel beat-for-beat, Rice uses Brontë’s text as a blueprint, fusing a range of theatrical storytelling devices (from fourth-wall-breaking japery to puppets) into an epic production backed by a moody, haunting score performed by a live on-stage band. The chorus (who represents the living, breathing embodiment of ‘The Moors’) infuses the whole affair with a flurry of evocative movement, to great effect.Yes, this is a dark tale of wretched souls (from a time long before we were throwing around terms like ‘antihero’ so freely). But this twisted tale is a refreshing provocation, for multiple reasons – one being that it gives a proper shake-up to the over-saturated ‘genre’ of dramas that revolve around wealthy colonial families roaming large, stately homes in vast, soggy landscapes. (Not that there’s anything wrong with sugary romances with selective portions of historical accuracy, as a treat!) [...]Of course, all of this esteem is not to say that this play will be everyone’s cup of tea. The first act runs long enough to test your patience – helpfully though, ‘The Moors’ step in along the way to explain who is who, who is related to whom, who is romantically involved with whom (spoiler: those last two categories share some uncomfortable crossovers) and who is dead or alive (again, there are some uncomfortable crossovers with these categories too). This exemplifies how this adaptation strikes a perfect balance: it has a sense of humour about the source material, but it also doesn’t undercut it. [...]The whole performance has the air of a dark, haunted twist on a pantomime. At times, you probably wouldn’t be surprised if the actors started doing circus tricks. (Although, disappointingly for some, nobody does a flip.) As film buffs wait for the latest film adaptation of Wuthering Heights from Saltburn director Emerald Fennel to hit the screen (with Aussie darlings Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi), Emma Rice’s version gives us pause to consider what a modern spin on Heathcliff and Catherine’s relationship can offer us.The question of Heathcliff’s heritage has long been contested by modern readers trying to make sense of the novel’s antiquated descriptors, and all but one of the many film adaptations have cast a white (or white-passing) actor – but here, John Leader’s brooding Heathcliff speaks with a Caribbean accent, and there’s an (understandable) implication that this hatred of polite society is tied to colonialism. A commanding presence with somewhat Nosferatu/Dracula-like sensibilities, this complicated character is deeply alluring even when he is being detestable. Similarly, Stephanie Hockley gives us a disconcertingly intense characterisation of Catherine, who burns up the stage in a frenzied musical number before her death (which our UK reviewer correctly compares to a “prime Courtney Love”) before her ghost remains to “stalk the stage like a smudge-eyed ghost, weighting the atmosphere with her presence”.Yet, for all the barking this adaptation does about revelling in darkness and sorrow, it goes on to end on a weirdly cheerful note, which sort of takes the bite out of it. The world continues on, as the ghosts of Catherine and Heathcliff stroll together arm-in-arm. It feels wrong.The relationships depicted in Wuthering Heights should not serve as aspirational. They’re a warning. Any time two people share an intoxicating bond, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ‘meant to be’. At the end of the day, at the end of a lifetime, the quality of the love you gave and the love you received is the most important thing (apart from perhaps, appreciating good art and achieving ultimate goth witch status). If you sink everything into a twisted, unhealthy romance above all else*, you might have to face the fact that you’re choosing to be a self-serving wanker who’ll never be satisfied, as Lin Manuel Miranda might put it. (*Disclaimer; in this scenario you can see the relationship for what it is, and you have the chance to get out.)Alas, this is a clever production that definitely doesn't take the easy way out of staging a well-trodden classic text, and Sydney is lucky to have it. (Although, much like the book, it might not be everyone's cup of tea.) (Alannah Le Cross)
Set and Costume Designer Vicki Mortimer has given Rice a artfully simple staging that utilizes found items to be repurposed as they provide enough imagery to trigger the imagination, from the farming implements employed to represent Heathcliffs vicious dogs and an assortment of panels mounted on trolleys to serve as the doors and windows of the two homes with the lowered light fittings shifting the space from the run down Wuthering Heights to the brighter and refined Thrushcross Grange. A large screen provides a backdrop and enables handwritten text to connect the story to its written origins and also reinforce things like the flocks of blackbirds that accompany the many deaths that mar the story but thankfully the design has refrained from trying to use the Costumes anchor the work in the early 19th century while also having a found nature as more contemporary elements are included to ensure modern sensibilities easily connect the underlying shift in status from life at Wuthering Heights to Thrushcross Grange.Woven with Ian Ross’ music that draws on folk tones and Etta Murfitt’s choreography that has earthy tribal movements, this interpretation of WUTHERING HEIGHTS injects a fresh life into the dark story. With the work centering on Heathcliff and his obsession, Catherine, with the Leader of the Moors being the key narrator, John Leader, Stephanie Hockley retain these roles throughout while the rest of the ensemble take on multiple characters including The Moors. Sam Archer brings a delightful physical comedy to Lockwood as he battles against the storm across the Moors when he visits his landlord and Edgar Linton who at face value seems nice and gentle but has the capability for prejudice initiating Heathcliff’s desire for retribution for his poor treatment. Matthew Churcher gives Heathcliff’s first tormenter Hindley a requisite savagery while presenting Hindley’s son Hareton with a similar aggression born of his treatment from his father and ‘uncle’. As Edgar Linton’s sister Isabella Linton, Rebecca Collingwood conveys a naivety for the easily manipulated child while she infuses a more calculated undertone for the Heathcliff’s and Isabella’s frail son Little Linton.As the Leader of the Moors, Nandi Bhebhe brings a delightful energy to the story as The Moors share their own opinion of the events unfolding, circling around the central characters hoping to influence their decisions but continuously failing to stop them from making unwise choices. Bhebhe gives The Moors a power and gravitas to ensure that it is clear that nature is seen as a major character in the story. The other comedy relief comes from TJ Holmes’ portrayal of Dr Kenneth, the medical man that oversees all of the deaths in the neighborhood with a terrible bedside manner.As Catherine, Stephanie Hockley ensures that the object of Heathcliff’s affection and obsession is seen as increasingly unbalanced, from the initial wish for a gift of a whip, to reflecting that she regrets giving up the wild life playing on the Moors with Heathcliff to marry Edgar in what is considered a more socially acceptable match than the orphan that had been treated as a servant once her father died. She captures the maniacal nature well and her expression of Catherine’s solo rock song that features is powerful as it expresses her mental state. As Heathcliff, John Leader has a haunting gravitas drawn from both the physicality he brings to the role and his vocal tone. He allows the orphan, taken in and doted on by Mr Ernshaw, to grow from a young boy enjoying playing with his adoptive sister but bullied and beaten by his jealous adoptive brother, into an adult driven by the desire to seek vengeance on those that have mocked, mistreated and rejected him. He shifts Heathcliff’s character to become scarily broody, controlled and menacing with a quieter undertone in contrast to those that have tormented him in the past.Regardless of whether you are well acquainted with the classic story or just have a passing awareness of the novel, this production tells the complex story with clarity and makes the gothic tale a captivating evening of entertainment despite the twisted subject matter. A must see for it’s inventive storytelling that shifts a classic novel to the realm of myths and legends. (Jade Kops)
Un clásicoPoesía completa, de Emily Brontë“Emily Brontë no solo fue una gran novelista, sino también una poeta brillante. Su Poesía completa fue editada por Alba Editorial en una hermosa y cuidada edición bilingüe.Estos poemas te llevan a un mundo de paisajes salvajes, emociones intensas y reflexiones profundas sobre la vida, la muerte y la naturaleza. Su lenguaje es rico y evocador, en sus versos se siente la misma fuerza indómita que encontramos en Cumbres Borrascosas. Es un libro que conecta con el alma, ideal para quienes buscan palabras que resuenen con lo sublime y lo eterno”. (Valentina de Aguirre) (Translation)
Production: Cranpi, CSS Teatro stabile di innovazione del Friuli Venezia Giulia, Fondazione Teatro di Napoli - Teatro Bellini, Romaeuropa FestivalWith the contribution of MiC - Ministry of CultureWith the support of Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo presentDirection and script by Martina BadiluzziScript consultant: Giorgia ButtarazziScript collaboration: Margherita MauroPerformers: Arianna Pozzoli and Loris De LunaSet design: Rosita VallefuocoLighting: Fabrizio CiceroSound and music: Samuele CestolaCostumes: Giuditta VerderioMovement/Choreography: Roberta RacisSet construction: Alovisi propsFriday February 7 and Saturday February 8, 2025 at 9:00 PMUdine, Teatro S. Giorgio, Sala PinterOn Friday February 7, the company will meet with the audience after the performanceCime tempestose is a work that aims to pay homage to the cathartic power of literature and the magic of art and theater. It's a search for poetry and expanded feelings, for those radical emotions that belong to youth and the stage. A family story that is already a work of art in itself, unfolding around a house called Cime tempestose; equally alive and disturbing is the moorland, a powerful nature that serves as a frontier between hearth and civilization.Catherine and Heathcliff, protagonists of the famous novel by Emily Brontë that inspires the show, are the tragic heroes of the contemporary, the founding myth of our society, the tale of the profound misunderstanding between feminine and masculine, between nature and civilization. A co-protagonist of this story is the landscape, that moorland from which the protagonists try to escape but to which they will always return; nature as a counterpoint to a society that deep down each of us rejects but with which we must come to terms."It's a genderless art that we aim for when looking through the magnifying glass of a work like Cime tempestose. A literary genre that surpasses the gender barrier and speaks to the human being in conflict, caught in the arduous attempt to create dialogue between masculine and feminine nature, private and public, earthly and supernatural, birth and death.Rereading Cime tempestose as adults is like coming home. It's a rite of passage that Emily Brontë subjects us to as readers, sinking into the depths and darkness of a painful and violent family history that culminates, in the end, in the consoling image of two fearless lovers: Cathy and Hareton.Our show begins with these two lovers and a homecoming. The figures we want on stage are no longer Catherine and Heathcliff; adaptations have worn out their names and critics have overused the terms romanticism and passion to tell their story. We give space to Cathy (Arianna Pozzoli) and Hareton (Loris De Luna), the second generation that inhabits the novel. Hareton is the "second" Heathcliff, another unwanted son, and Cathy is the identical copy of her mother.These two young people are entrusted with managing their families' inheritance, not just the material one, but especially the emotional one. To transform the social inequalities, racism, and male chauvinism of that small ancient world into something else.Can two children raised with restricted love, in toxic and violent family dynamics, manage to love each other?Not everyone remembers that Cime tempestose is a place and the name of a house with animated ceilings. To move forward, to build a future together, Cathy and Hareton must return to the house where they met and traverse their past again.The pivotal scene of Cime tempestose, the exchanges between Heathcliff and Catherine, resurface in the dialogues between Hareton and Cathy; it's the house that acts upon them, the house that brings back the ghosts of the past - sometimes houses must be destroyed." (Martina Badiluzzi)
Lovers of the novel may find themselves resisting initially, but it’s hard not to be swayed by the irreverence of Rice’s theatricality and the vigour of this touring cast of British triple threats.Rice builds the world of the novel from the stuff of old-school, actor-powered playmaking. For example, when new tenant Lockwood (a dazzling Sam Archer in weekend farmer green wellies – a telling anachronism) arrives at Wuthering Heights determined to pay his respects to his new landlord, Heathcliff (John Leader), Rice conjures the storm in shrieking voices from performers side-of-stage, the force of the wind by actors plucking at Lockwood’s coat.Scene changes become dances. Wuthering Heights itself is a door on wheels pushed around by cast and crew. Clouds scud across a video screen sky, but apart from that, the staging feels conspicuously lo-tech – certainly when compared to some other adaptations of classic novels we’ve seen on this stage in recent years.The Yorkshire moors are represented by a Chorus figure (played by the excellent Nandi Bhebhe), singing, wearing a crown of sticks and leading others in choreographed folk-dance inspired motion. The children of the story – including the young orphan Heathcliffe, adopted on the spot at Liverpool docks by the kindly Earnshaw (Thomas Fox) – are played by bunraku-style puppets.Music is provided live by a guitar, bass and drums trio, augmented by actors playing accordion, conga and cello.The sheer difficulty of translating a complex and sometimes confusing book to the stage is acknowledged in asides designed to keep the audience abreast of who’s-who (several characters share surnames) and who’s died.The novel’s characters range from cheerfully spoofy (Rebecca Collingwood’s perky Isabella could have escaped an episode of Horrible Histories) to the serious. Cathy (Stephanie Hockley) is granted a rock concert moment, manufactured with an electric fan and a smoke machine (and topped with a mike drop).Speaking in a Caribbean accent, John Leader’s Heathcliff glowers very effectively. Rice’s adaptation makes persuasive the idea that Heathcliffe’s sociopathic tendencies are rooted in the trauma of slavery. He alone is allowed to tap the power of stillness among a cast kept in near-constant motion.The inventiveness of the production is delightful, the skill of the performers undeniable, but the exuberance does start to wear a little thin in the second half. The plays end, which sees the video screen turn a summery blue lets the accumulated sturm und drang of the last three hours to blow away too easily. (Jason Blake)
It has an appeal, especially at first, but at some point, it starts becoming a little tiresome. For the live music aspect to really work, the songs have got to be great, not just passable. The repetitive refrain isn’t strong enough to function as the musical backbone of an almost three-hour show.There is also a sense of trying too hard to be different. A self-consciously ‘edgy’ approach to the source material is evident throughout.This extends to the set. The rollaway backdrops constantly moving around; chairs stacked high upon each other, in an off-kilter way, for no discernible reason (what’s with all the chairs in this production?); the appearance of puppets at one point for … well, apparently, just because.But there are positives – and some moments are great. When the soundtrack reaches its apogee and Catherine (Stephanie Hockley) goes full rock goddess, with wind in her hair and a mic drop, it’s electrifying.The cast are triple or even quadruple threats: all acting, dancing and singing, with T J Holmes (who plays Doctor Kenneth and the Moors) also playing the cello.Nandi Bhebhe as Leader of the Moors is fantastic. With flawless acting, a powerful voice and huge charisma, she almost steals the show.Archer as Lockwood/Edgar Linton/the Moors is another standout, especially for his physical dexterity; Robyn Sinclair excels as Frances Earnshaw/Young Cathy/the Moors; and John Leader has a gruff, brooding presence perfectly befitting the character of Heathcliff.Wuthering Heights is a convoluted tale. Between this fact and the doubling or even tripling up of roles for the actors, this adaptation could easily become confusing. Rice addresses this by having them carry blackboards with character names written on them in chalk as they enter the show. Said blackboards are also used to proclaim deaths (and there are many deaths in Wuthering Heights).It’s an effective device although whether it’s cringeworthy and a bit lazy or charming and quirky is up for debate.In that way, the blackboards are a good metaphor for the show and its capacity to elicit very different responses (perhaps even within the same person).At the end of the opening night performance, there were standing ovations, with some attendees applauding madly. But many remained down, clapping politely from their seats. Some sat with arms crossed after brief, perfunctory clapping, while a few walked out sans applause. There were no curtain calls.In the theatre, it’s said that audiences don’t lie. This audience was right on the money. (Peter Hackney)
Given the darkness of Wuthering Heights, I was surprised—ultimately, pleasantly so—by the individual growth of Fargo’s characters and the downright wholesomeness of some moments. But Brontë acolytes can rest assured: there’s enough backstabbing by morally gray characters to convincingly transport this Gothic classic from the gloomy moors of England to the glaring lights of Olympic ice. (Emily McClanathan)
First up is The Brontë Sisters Collection featuring Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë. Emily Brontë’s only novel, Wuthering Heights, is the story of Catherine Earnshaw who’s torn between passionate, tortured Heathcliff and gentle, well-bred Edgar. Her choice leads Heathcliff to heap vengeance on the next generation. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë tells the story of a plain, intelligent, and steadfast governess who finds herself tending the ward of the charismatic and moody Mr. Rochester. Their growing love is shattered by dark secrets from Rochester’s past. In Agnes Grey, Agnes’s father suffers professionally and withdraws from his family with a bout of depression. Agnes takes a position as a governess with a wealthy family to help her family financially. Unfortunately, the family she works for treats her cruelly and strips Agnes of her dignity and faith in humanity. (Evangeline Cessna)
Based on Jane Austen's unfinished 1817 novel, it channels the spirit of Regency and Victorian writers, not just Austen, but there's a dash of the Brontes at play, too - especially when, in series two, heroine Charlotte Heywood (Rose Williams) becomes governess to Alexander Colbourne (Ben Lloyd-Hughes), a brooding widower in the vein of Jane Eyre's Mr Rochester.
Zhiying ZhangWomen's Studies, January 2025 https://doi.org/10.1080/00497878.2025.2450833Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar argued that pen is a substitute for penis, suggesting the patriarchal control over literary production and cultural narratives. As a female novelist, Charlotte Brontë intentionally adopts a first-person narrator in most of her novels to endow her heroines with the power to narrate their own stories. Language in the narrative thus becomes not merely a medium of storytelling but a tool of resistance and self-articulation. Through this narrative strategy, Brontë offers her female protagonists a voice to articulate their inner journeys, express their suffering, and redefine male presence and the social structures surrounding them. This narrative empowerment allows her heroines to challenge the dominant ideologies of gender and power, providing a counter-discourse to the patriarchal silencing that would traditionally obscure or distort female experience.
But for all its harshness as a story, this play is suffused with love. Rice’s production is frequently funny and tender, letting Lockwood and Little Linton (Rebecca Collingwood) play up their sensitive social graces to the point of absurdity. The chorus adds little touches of delight to remind us that life offers more than pain, fluttering birds across the stage by holding books on sticks, indulging in a little puppetry to show us the smallness of children, and turning the wuthering winds into jump ropes for the characters to play with and revel in. This levity is added in liberally and generously; we fall in love when we share joy together, and as an audience we must fall in love with this story too.Hockley’s Catherine is bursting with love she cannot express and we feel it in our guts; this production places high value on movement (from choreographer Etta Murfitt) and when she and Heathcliff approach each other, you see and feel her become more alive the closer they get. And when the next generation of lovers find some hard-won happiness against all odds, the moors offer it to us with a literal blue sky. The moors are rewarding the behaviours they want to see from the people who live on their land: forgiveness, closeness, connection, care. And we should know better than to ignore the cries of country.Slowly, amid the pain, drenched in a persistent search for love, it becomes clear that Rice is offering us an urgent missive wrapped up in Brontë’s social gothic. Heed her voice of the moors: if we reach for each other across differences and divides, if we choose love over old hatreds and fears, we all become less haunted. (Cassie Tongue)
This production creatively uses music and dance to evoke the sense of tragedy, and romanticism of the moors. The chorus ensemble become The Moors led boldly and courageously by The Leader of The Moors Nandi Bhebhe. Bhebhe embodies this difficult role exquisitely, leading the chorus and serving as a guardian for the other characters. Bhebhe’s voice is ethereal and powerful, perfect for evoking the mystery and awe of nature. Amongst a very strong ensemble, Bhebhe’s performance is a sure stand-out. Stephanie Hockley is fully committed as wild, tortured Catherine with an angelic voice perfectly suited to the folk/rock style of the songs. She is sadly under-utilised in the second act as she sits around the edges of the stage and her presence is not really felt although Heathcliff states she is haunting him constantly throughout. John Leader is stoic and tragic as Heathcliff, portraying a transformation of character that takes place over the course of decades of abuse and brutality. Leader navigates this expertly, changing before the audience’s eyes from a boy who is a hopeful outsider to an isolated, numb, vicious figure by the end of the show. There is a lot of emphasis on character building but not a lot on Cathy and Heathcliff’s relationship. The show is somewhat obsessed with explaining itself, meaning the audience does not get the opportunity to get swept up and lost in the world of the tragic story.TJ Holmes as Dr Kenneth is a constant bright spark in the production, with just the right amount of pep in his step to provide much welcome lighter moments throughout the heavy runtime. Matthew Churcher does a fine job with the challenging roles of Hindley Earnshaw and Hareton Earnshaw. Rebecca Collingwood flexes impressive physical comedy as both Isabelle Linton and her son “Little” Linton Heathcliff. Sam Archer is appropriately awkward and funny as Edgar Linton and Lockwood. Robyn Sinclair plays Frances and Young Cathy and imbues Young Cathy with a beautiful wild, curious, innocent spirit and has a lovely solo moment where her angelic voice soars. It seems a real waste that she does not have more solos throughout the show. Tom Fox is endearing as Mr Earnshaw, who treats young Heathcliff with kindness.There is a lot to admire about this ambitious production including many exquisitely executed technical elements. However it may be a case of too much spectacle muddling the moving story at the core of the novel. The show does not leave much of an emotional impact which is disappointing and surprising considering the depths and extremes of human feeling and behaviour explored in the source material. Despite not hitting the emotional peaks expected, Wuthering Heights should be commended for its imaginative take on a classic and for boldly trying so many new things. (Michelle Sutton)
One unassuming village just outside of Braintree was the home of a man who later became the father of three girls who left a lasting legacy on literature, film, and music. Until recently, the headquarters of the Ministry of Defence Police, Wethersfield is a village with only a small selection of facilities.In 1807, one man began his curacy in Wethersfield, training to be a priest at St Mary Magdalene and St Mary the Virgin church. Patrick Brunty, an aspiring Revere[n]d, and poet is rumoured to have fallen in love with a lady named Mary Burder while living in Wethersfield. If the pair had married, it would have changed the course of literature in the 19th Century.It was after a disagreement with her father, and tension between the men that Patrick moved north, writing poetry and meeting the mother of his four surviving children. Before moving to Wethersfield, Patrick had changed his surname to Brontë.Father of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne, Reverend Patrick may not have met their mother, Maria, had he chosen to stay in Wethersfield with his first love. The three women outshone their elder brother Branwell, who suffered with addiction, and wrote well known stories that have inspired films, songs, and stories. Charlotte’s Jane Eyre, and Emily’s Wuthering Heights remain their most notable classics.The village of Wethersfield became one of The Hundred Parishes, an area which is recognised informally as a place of cultural and historical significance. Near to the River Pant, the village remains small with one church, a post office, school, social club and a fire station. (Laura Fidler)
Bertha Mason: representación del cuerpo femenino descontrolado en Jane Eyre de Charlotte Brontë
Inmaculada Caro RodríguezRevista Internacional De Culturas Y Literaturas, (28), 119–132 (2025)The figure of Bertha Mason serves as a powerful embodiment of the uncontrolled female body perceived as a threat in Victorian society, as depicted in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. Through Bertha’s characterization, Brontë explores the anxieties of the time regarding women’s independence. Bertha is portrayed as exotic and uncontrollable, reflecting Victorian social concerns. Her apparent madness turns her into a danger that must be confined, symbolized by her imprisonment in the attic of Thornfield Hall. This physical confinement serves as a metaphor for the social and psychological repression imposedon women. In contrast, the protagonist Jane Eyre represents the Victorian ideal of selfdiscipline and bodily control. Bertha’s tragic fate, culminating in her possible suicide and the destruction of Thornfield, constitues both ambiguous liberation and the elimination of a threat. The analysis of these characters aims to examine the struggle for female emancipation within the restrictive norms of their time, with the intention of uncovering the dynamicsç of power and control in Victorian literature, taking into account Foucault’s approach to social control.
An exhibition chronicling how the home of the Brontë sisters became a destination for literary pilgrimage opens this weekend.The Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth - home of writers Anne, Charlotte and Emily Brontë - is hosting the Haworth to Eternity exhibition.The display charts how the Pennine village became a tourist destination, showcasing letters, manuscripts, albums and other material from the museum archives.Principal curator Ann Dinsdale said Haworth was "never a romantic place" before the Brontës "caused a sensation" with their novels in the mid-1800s.She said: "It was a hard-working, industrial township and then in 1847 the Brontë novels were published under assumed names."They caused such a sensation when they were originally published that everyone wanted to know who the authors could be, and in 1850 it leaked out that they were three clergyman's daughters living in Yorkshire and people started making their way to Haworth."There was an idea very early on that all the places in the Brontë novels had actual, real-life counterparts so people started coming to Haworth."Charlotte was the sole survivor by that point and she witnessed literary celebrity and found herself being pointed out in church and being stared at in the village."The exhibition includes Victorian souvenirs early tourists took from the village.It also features scripts, photographs and props from TV and film adaptations of their novels, including Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.Brontë fever was kickstarted two years after Charlotte's death in 1855, when author Elizabeth Gaskell wrote an autobiography titled The Life of Charlotte Brontë.Ms Dinsdale said: "Although Gaskell painted a grim picture of Haworth as this remote, inhospitable place with surly villagers, rather than repelling visitors it actually encouraged them so you started getting people coming from as far away as America to see where the Brontës had lived and written their novels."Quite often they wanted to take away a souvenir so all those people who had lived in Haworth, who had been associated with the Brontës, started being tracked down and persuaded to part with their Brontë artefacts."The exhibition coincides with the opening of the museum's new toilets - the first time the parsonage has had toilets open to the public.The toilet block – built outside the Victorian parsonage – was funded through more than £100,000 of grants from Bradford City of Culture 2025 and Arts Council England. (Grace Wood)
Haworth, the picturesque Yorkshire village famous for its literary family, is surrounded by far-reaching Pennine moorland: wild, windswept and scattered with bracken and heather. This powerful setting was a huge inspiration for the Brontës and their famous novels including Wuthering Heights, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Jane Eyre.I arrived in Haworth at the tail end of a storm with dank, January drizzle providing an atmospheric backdrop to the cobble stones and charming York stone cottages on the main high street.The walk past the station up Main Street, to the Parsonage and the Brontë family home, is familiar. I grew up in Yorkshire and primary school trips were either to Haworth or York.But it was Haworth that captured my 9 year-old heart after seeing a display of tiny books made by the young Charlotte, Emily, Ann and brother Bramwell in which they created imaginary worlds. The Parsonage, now a museum, was the Brontë children’s home where they lived with their father, curate of the local church. The museum captures the family’s everyday life in the early-to-mid 19th century with a permanent exhibition of Brontë artefacts including letters, writing desks, clothing, manuscripts and furniture. (Michelle Mason)
Did Branwell Bronte write Wuthering Heights, while living in Bradford? That’s the premise of Bradford author Chris Firth’s book Branwell Brontë’s Tale, which had a new hardback version launched this week.The book, which caused shockwaves among Bronte enthusiasts when first published in 2005, examines the theory that it was Branwell Brontë not his sister Emily, who was the author of what is widely regarded as one of the greatest novels ever written. Chris’s novel explores Branwell’s hectic creative and social life while working as a portrait painter in “the multi-cultural, bohemian districts of Manningham and Heaton in the 1830s”.This hardback edition of the historical thriller brings “the excitement, adventure and vivid detail of Victorian Bradford to life and celebrates Bradford’s rich, multicultural historical past”. Says Chris: “It is little known that Emily never claimed to have written Wuthering Heights, although Branwell is recorded (in the Halifax Guardian, June 1860) as having read from its opening chapters in Haworth. Both Emily and Branwell died before the book became a widespread seller. Many Brontë experts, off the record, now concur that the novel was most likely a collaboration between the close-knit pair.” (Emma Clayton)
Rebecca is a hard act to follow and, whilst Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre is closer in influence and narrative, it almost felt a little too close to dive right into just yet (but we will be reading it at a later date, don’t worry). (...)Last February, we explored Jo Walton’s Lent, which I urge you to check out if you haven’t already. This is particularly applicable to those of you who aren’t a fan of Wuthering Heights, which we are reading this month. It’s understandable that some people might vehemently dislike this book, as Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel is divisive to say the least. It’s arguably the perfect Valentine’s or Anti-Valentine’s selection (of which you can choose accordingly).I feel that such divisiveness is part of what makes it fascinating. Wuthering Heights is a deeply complex book; not in approach or language (save for some regional dialect), but in emotion. It’s hard to align yourself with the main characters. The reading experience vastly changes depending on age and perspective. The overwhelming nihilism and sadistic behaviour of Heathcliffe can be too much for some, and I respect that.Still, for those willing to step into the storm, Wuthering Heights is a tumultuous experience of obsession, vengeance, manipulation and passion. If this is one of your first forays into nineteenth century literature, you are in for a wild time, because the pace, tone and impact of this book is so intense that it’s easy to see why it remains a classic to this day. It’s strangely accessible, and feels strangely modern in terms of pacing and intrigue. (Colin J. McCracken)
Studenti (Italy) has no problems, though, in recommending the book for Valentine's Day.
[Emma] Rice channelled her rage into this production, and the result is the folk protest song to Bush’s chart-topper. She replaces the novel’s narrator, the housekeeper of Heathcliff’s tenant Mr Lockwood, with a Greek Chorus of wildly dressed, dancing figures called The Moors.At one point they sing “if you want romance, go to Broadway”, and do they ever mean it.That is not to say that the chemistry between this production’s Heathcliff (John Leader) and Catherine (Stephanie Hockley) doesn’t crackle - they are compelling every moment they are on stage. (...)The dark themes were at the forefront, and attempts to leaven them with slapstick-oriented humour sometimes jarred. Also, as good an idea as The Moors were - amid the darkness, you will fall for their compassionate leader, Nandi Bhebhe - they fact that they mostly sing in unison means some of the all-important words were difficult to understand. However the earthy melodies and baroque sound (complete with cello and accordion alongside the acoustic guitars and rhythm section) were a nice antidote to the usual musical diet of West End sugar, while Catherine’s big solo number giving Alanis Morissette vibes was a highlight.Rice’s script doesn’t shy away from the complexity of Bronte’s original plot, at one point even joking about how difficult it is to keep up amid all the cousins marrying each other. At two-and-a-half hours plus interval, you could argue this was 30 minutes too long - but then what is time when you’re rambling along the Yorkshire moors, as alive and as exposed to feeling as is this show? (Michael Bailey)
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë is more than a classic novel-wild, haunting exploration of love, obsession, and destructive unchecked emotions. Set against the wind-swept Yorkshire moors, the story unfolds through the lives of two families, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, whose fates are intertwined in a web of passion and vengeance.At its core, the novel is a stark reminder of how love, when twisted by pride and revenge, can consume everything in its path.The central theme of Wuthering Heights revolves around the destructive nature of obsessive love and the cycle of revenge. The story revolves around the relationship of Heathcliff and Catherine; their love for each other is so intense that it becomes above rationality and morality. It becomes a deep passion that becomes a source of suffering not only for them but also for people surrounding them. Brontë depicts how emotions without control may lead to havoc and leave pain and regret for the generations that follow. (Nida Faraz)
Brother Brontë, by Fernando A. FloresTaking place in 2038, Flores’s novel unfolds in an apocalyptic authoritarian Texas, where women have become forced laborers and reading is illegal. In the town of Three Rivers, literature has become an underground activity, cherished by the last literate citizens, including Neftalí. As the government and polluting corporations become more violent, it’s up to Neftalí and her best friend, Prosperina, to create a rebel organization to fight back against destruction and dictatorship. MCD, February 11 (Jessica Blough, Maisie Hurwitz and Will Garrett)
Emily Brontë’s Gothic masterpiece is remembered for its tempestuous lovers, windswept moors and tragic family drama. However, when creating her novel, Emily Brontë chose to open with a violent and terrifying ghostly encounter. In the opening of the novel, Lockwood (the narrator), spends the night in a forbidden bedroom after being caught in a storm. He has read the names Catherine alongside Earnshaw, Heathcliff, and Linton, all carved in the wooden window frame.As he sleeps, he is awoken by a knocking on the window pane and, thinking it a branch, reaches out to break it. The reader is then startled to read that Linton’s wrist is grasped by the ice-cold fingers of Cathy’s ghost. Her specter cries that she has been ‘a waif for twenty years,’ have inspired countless other works of fiction including the song Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush. (Lauren Jones)
Jewish multihyphenate Lena Dunham, creator and star of the beloved HBO series Girls, has turned her personal move to London into fodder for this exciting new series. Part comedy, part drama, the premise revolves around recently single New Yorker Jessica (Megan Stalter) who decides to take a job in London where she will (supposedly) live a life of solitude like a Bronte sister as she comes to grips with her heart-wrenching breakup. (Eliana Jordan)
César Suárez: ¿Qué has tenido en tu universo de inspiraciones durante el proceso de escritura?V.F.: Obviamente American Psycho, y todo el universo de Emily, Anne y Charlotte Brontë, Cumbres borrascosas, Agnes Grey..., incluso sus biografías. He tomado cosas que les ocurrieron realmente en su vida: por ejemplo, a Emily le mordió un perro con rabia y ella misma se cauterizó la herida en casa con una plancha. Mucho Dickens, lo ridículo y ostentoso de sus personajes... Y un libro maravilloso de Joyce Carol Oates, Zombi, sobre un asesino en serie que es tan obsceno y tan grotesco que me resulta gracioso. (Translation)
Ever wondered what the Brontë Birthplace looked like before restoration? Now you can explore it for yourself!Thanks to Vision Digital Culture Limited digital twin creation, we have a virtual tour showcasing the house’s original features before renovation work began. Step inside the birthplace of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë as it was in April 2024!
Sundays, 12:00 pm EST - 1:30 pm ESTFebruary 2 to February 23, 2025Charlotte Brontë has been hailed as “the first historian of private consciousness” because of her gothic, torrid Jane Eyre. The novel tells the tale of a mousy governess and her brooding employer: wills clash, sparks fly, a mysterious arsonist starts to wreak havoc in the halls of Thornfield Hall, and nothing is what it seems.Jane Eyre has held a tight grip on the reading public’s imagination and heart since it was first published in 1847. Perhaps because it’s tremendously romantic: two homely misfits find solace, chemistry, and laughter with one another. Or it might be because of how dark and twisted the novel becomes, exposing intense depths of human cruelty. Or because of its shockingly modern takes on feminism, class, and sexuality. Or because it addresses the brutality of colonialism, a theme brought to the forefront in Jean Rhys’s brilliant Jane Eyre-inspired novel, Wide Sargasso Sea. Or because Jane Eyre, whose voice helms this bildungsroman, is defiant, furious, hilarious, impassioned, deluded: a deeply complex and original character.In this group we’ll pay attention to both the language and plot that make Jane Eyre so unique and look at the ways it inspired—and continues to inspire—literary fiction, films (including Jane Eyre adaptations), cultural ideas of romance, and Gothic horror tropes.
Campaigners say the planned 65-turbine development on Walshaw Moor, between Stanbury and Hebden Bridge, would have a huge environmental and visual impact.Now they are urging people to back a petition calling on Parliament to ban turbines on protected peatland in England.Stronger Together to Stop Calderdale Wind Farm says 100,000 signatures would secure an MPs’ debate – which needs to take place before the end of the year, when the Government will publish its reformed National Planning Policy Framework.Opponents of the scheme say it would potentially destroy internationally-recognised wildlife-rich moorland and damage peat bogs, which retain water in an area that experiences flooding.The campaign group says the Government itself has suggested a ban on windfarms on peatland. [...]Objectors also include the Haworth-based Brontë Society. It fears the project would ruin the landscape for millions of people from across the world who visit to experience the surroundings that inspired the literary siblings and see ruined farmhouse Top Withens, reputedly the inspiration for the setting of Wuthering Heights.
As Bradford continues to mark its status as the UK City of Culture in 2025, there’s a focus on Pictureville Cinema - which is currently celebrating northern women in film.Yorkshire’s biggest independent cinema, located in Bradford’s National Science and Media Museum, is running a Northern Soul programme - showing films that span six decades. Showcasing the northern female voice in cinema, the screenings include A Taste of Honey (1961), Wuthering Height (sic) (2011) and Typist Artist Pirate King (2022).Curating the season is Clio Barnard, the West Yorkshire-raised writer-director of The Arbor, centred on Bradford writer Andrea Dunbar, The Selfish Giant and Ali & Ava, a moving romance set in the city.
British sociologist Anthony Giddens, whose work Portolan references, argues that our ideas around modern romance emerged in lockstep with the rise of the novel: think Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice or Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. (Lauren Ironmonger)
Peacock’s streaming lineup throughout the Valentine’s Day season will also feature titles such as Pride And Prejudice, 2013’s Romeo And Juliet, 1939’s Wuthering Heights, and A Walk To Remember, the 2002 film starring Mandy Moore and Shane West. (Allison Schonter)
She was divine, she was marvellous to work with, great in front of the camera.She was just instinctive. She had hardly done any professional photography.I was brought in, and was played Wuthering Heights which hadn’t been released yet. I just thought, “this is extraordinary”. And then they played me the video they had made for it and I realised how important dance and movement was to Kate. (Martin Robinson)
The Brontë Sisters YouTube Channel reviews the film Devotion 1946.
Sat 1 Feb 2025, 2:00pm (Zoom: 7.30pm)Brontë Space at the Old School RoomThis talk will occur twice on the day - once at the Museum and once online. You can book for either event below.For the in-person talk, please reserve your place below, but kindly note, you'll need to show your Museum ticket (or proof of local residency) on the door.For the online talk, a recording will be sent out afterwards.
This very limited Australian season will mark the commencement of an East Asian Tour for the production, directed by Emma Rice, and sees the British company including many of the original London cast members returning to their roles.Emma Rice says, “How exciting to be bringing our beloved Wuthering Heights to Sydney! Following in the footsteps of my productions of Tristan & Yseult, The Red Shoes and Brief Encounter, I hope Wuthering Heights will capture the heart of Sydney, just as Sydney has captured mine. Prepare for all the drama, humour and hope that you could wish for - I can’t wait to be down under again.” (Stephi Wild)
AP: Do you have a favorite book of all time?Roberts: “To Kill a Mockingbird” is probably the most perfect novel I remember. I love “Catch-22.” And “Jane Eyre.” (Sophia Rosenbaum)
Popular romance novel recommendations from the survey include modern reads such as “The Notebook,” “It Ends with Us” and “Fifty Shades of Grey” as well as classic titles like “Gone with the Wind,” “Pride and Prejudice” and “Wuthering Heights.”“It’s heartwarming to see that readers are still actively reading and recommending classic romance novels as well as contemporary ones,” said [Barbara Hagen, vice president of marketing at ThriftBooks]. “And while more than a few had misconceptions before getting into the genre, the study found that many readers found romance to be more nuanced than originally thought.” (SWNS)
5. Jane Eyre (2011)Cary Fukunaga's Gothic-infused adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel Jane Eyre must have been intimidating to make. With dozens of previous adaptations already out there across film, television, and other media, finding a new angle could not have been easy.And yet, the 2011 version of the classic novel feels fresh and faithful to the source material. The chemistry between Jane (Mia Wasikowska) and Rochester (Michael Fassbender) animates the movie. Check it out next time it pops up on streaming.
Sat 1 Feb – Wed 31 DecOur brand-new 2025 exhibition puts the Brontës’ Haworth home front and centre.The Brontës’ enduring popularity is largely explained by the power and originality of the stories they created, but the story of the Brontës’ own lives is as compelling as their fictions. The family’s home at Haworth Parsonage, and the moorland surrounding it, were a profound influence on the Brontës, and became part of the irresistible draw of Haworth for visitors from all over the world.Hot on the heels of the sensational Brontë novels came Elizabeth Gaskell’s best-selling biography, The Life of Charlotte Brontë, published just two years after the death of its subject. The book was partly written to satisfy an already burgeoning public interest in the Brontës, and it was perhaps inevitable that Haworth would become a destination for literary pilgrimage.This exhibition looks at the popular conception of Haworth, nurtured by the many film and TV adaptations of the Brontës’ lives and works. It traces a development from the first literary pilgrims to mass tourism in Haworth, featuring letters, manuscripts, souvenir albums and material drawn from the Museum’s drama archive.
Sat 1 Feb – Mon 23 Jun
In this beautifully detailed exhibition, the more you look, the more you’ll see…Over many years, self-taught artist Franklin has been creating artwork inspired by the poems, letters, books and lives of the Brontës. In this special exhibition, he delves into their make-believe worlds, through an intricate, gothic style of drawing achieved with the use of a magnifying glass.Each picture takes Franklin between two months and a year to complete. He creates different forms with intricate detail, including jewel and textile-like patterns, shadow-shaped dreamy figures and elemental beings – all based upon the Brontës and their world.
Enthusiasts of the literary works of the Brontë family can snap up a slice of the family's history at auction next month.While Thornbush Farm on Miry Lane in West Yorkshire is now derelict, its history is far from dull, and the entire 8.5 acre site is going up for auction via Auction House on 5 February with a guide price of £380,000 plus fees.In the 19th century, the site featured two sturdy adjoining cottages and was known as Lousy Farm.In 1811 it became the home of the future Brontë patriarch, Reverend Patrick Brontë, the father of writers Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë, and of Branwell Brontë, his son.Reverend Patrick is understood to have lived in the cottage after taking up his first full ministry and lodging with his landlords.While at the farm, Reverend Patrick met and married his wife, Maria Branwell. The couple had their first two children, but both sadly died during childhood.During his time at Lousy Farm, Reverend Patrick authored and published his first work, Cottage Poems.The young family are understood to have remained at Lousy Farm until around 1815, when they relocated to Thornton, the birthplace of Emily, Charlotte and Anne and Brandon.The Brontë sisters authored several popular and influential novels, including Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.James Pank, a director and auctioneer at Auction House West Yorkshire, said: 'This is a unique opportunity to take ownership of a site with a fascinating history and perhaps restore or reimagine a vital piece of Britain's literary heritage.'The farm's cottages and outbuildings have been affected by the passing of time, but the site still commands stunning countryside views.Owing to the site's historic connections, the farm's cottages and outbuildings are Grade II-listed and require an owner with the vision and cash to restore or redevelop the site, subject to planning permissions.Approximately 0.7 acres of the site is brownfield, with the remaining 7.8 acres being categorised as greenfield.'Numerous planning applications relating to a variety of uses including residential dwellings and a visitor attraction can be found on the Kirklees Planning Portal searching via the property's post code', Auction House said.The site is accessed off Lincs Wold and is a short distance from Hightown, Liversedge. (Jane Denton)
Cranbrook Arts volunteers Jack and Catherine Moes submitted a wood carving of books from the Brontë sisters, including the famous Wuthering Heights. They also carved a collection of wooden blocks that show the evolution of children's books from the 15th to 20th century. (Gillian Francis)
Liza McLean & Andrew Kay presentA National Theatre, Wise Children, Bristol Old Vic & York Theatre Royal coproductionbased on the novel by Emily Brontëadapted and directed by Emma RiceRoslyn Packer TheatreWalsh Bay NSW 2000, Australia31 Jan - 15 Feb 2025The Yorkshire moors tell an epic story of love, revenge and redemptionIn her trademark musical and visual style, internationally acclaimed director, Emma Rice (Buddha of Suburbia, Bagdad Cafe, Wise Children, Brief Encounter) brings new life to Wuthering Heights in this elemental new musical stage adaptation. The bold and ingenious production is a unique retelling of the gothic novel interlaced with intelligent humour and dynamic live music. Emma Rice transforms Emily Brontë's masterpiece into a passionate, powerful and uniquely theatrical experience.
Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights adaptation starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi has begun filming in the UK at Sky Studios Elstree for Warner Bros.Based on the Emily Brontë novel, the story centres on the intense relationship between the daughter of a well-to-do family and the mysterious orphaned boy they take in.Further cast include Hong Chau, Alison Oliver and Shazad Latif.Fennell has written the screenplay and has a producer credit alongside Robbie’s LuckyChap Entertainment. MRC is financing the film.Warner Bros has set a February 2026 release date. (Ellie Calnan)
The Reverend Brontë, the father of the writers Emily, Charlotte and Anne, lived at the West Yorkshire farm in the early 19th century. Fans of the Brontës will get the chance to restore the building if they submit a successful bid in a property auction.A spokesman said: “Thornbush Farm on Miry Lane is now in a derelict state, but in the 19th century it featured two sturdy adjoining stone cottages and was better known as Lousy Farm. In 1811, it became the home of the future Brontë patriarch, Reverend Patrick Brontë, marking the foundation of one of the most famous literary families in Britain."Reverend Patrick lived at the farm after taking up his first full ministry, lodging with his landlords Mr and Mrs Bedford. While there, he met and married his wife, Maria Branwell, and they had the first of their two children, Maria and Elizabeth, who sadly died during childhood. He also found time to author and publish his first work, Cottage Poems.”During their time at the cottage, the family witnessed part of the Luddite riots and the march to Rawfords Mill, which went past their front door. This event was later described by Charlotte Brontë in her novel Shirley. (Greg Wright)
A derelict farm that was once home to the father of the Brontë sisters is set to be auctioned.Thornbush Farm on Miry Lane, Liversedge, will be sold by Auction House West Yorkshire on February 5.The Reverend Patrick Brontë's former lodging has a guide price of £380,000, plus fees.While the property is currently in a derelict state, in the 19th century it featured two sturdy adjoining stone cottages and was better known as Lousy Farm.In 1811, it became the home of the future Brontë patriarch, "marking"- per a spokesperson for Auction House - "the foundation of one of the most famous literary families in Britain."The farm is set in 8.5 acres of land and has "gorgeous" countryside views.The Reverend lived at the farm after taking up his first full ministry.He lodged there with his landlords, Mr and Mrs Bedford.While there, he met and married his wife, Maria Branwell, and they had the first of their two children, Maria and Elizabeth, who sadly died during childhood.He also found time to author and publish 'Cottage Poems.'During their time at the cottage, the family witnessed Luddite riots and a march on Rawfolds Mill, which bypassed their front door.This event was later written about by Charlotte Brontë in her novel 'Shirley.'The young family are thought to have remained at Lousy Farm until around 1815, thereafter living at Thornton, the birthplace of the authors Emily, Charlotte, and Anne, and of their brother, Branwell.Commenting on the property, director and auctioneer of Auction House West Yorkshire, James Pank, said: "This is a unique opportunity to take ownership of a site with a fascinating history and perhaps restore or reimagine a vital piece of Britain’s literary heritage."Thornbush Farm in Liversedge will be sold via livestream auction on February 5 at 12pm.To learn more about the property or to book a viewing, buyers can call Auction House West Yorkshire on 0113 393 3482 or visit https://www.auctionhouse.co.uk/westyorkshire (Will Abbott)
The popular image of the Brontë family — the world-famous novelists Charlotte, Emily and Anne, their impressive father Patrick, and their rather less famous brother Branwell — is one that’s indelibly linked to Haworth, the surrounding moors, and Haworth Parsonage itself where the three girls grew up. (Also Branwell.)The famous parsonage wasn’t the original family home, however. After graduating from Cambridge in 1806, the Irish-born clergyman and writer Patrick Brontë had several different postings within the Church of England, living in Essex and Shropshire before eventually ending up in Yorkshire. He became a curate based at the Church of St Peter in Hartshead, near Liversedge, in 1811; and whilst there lived at the chillingly-named Lousy Farm. During this stint he met Maria Branwell, who he fell in love with and married on 29 December, 1812. And Lousy Farm, where they first lived as husband and wife, is now for sale via Auction House West Yorkshire.The farm is now entirely dilapidated, which is the bad news. The good news, for literary fans looking to snap up a piece of Brontë history, is that it’s in the February 5 auction with a guide price of just £380,000, to include the buildings and almost eight acres of land. Considering that this is in the heart of West Yorkshire, between Leeds and Huddersfield, that’s a lot of land for the price.Then again, it’s clear that a lot of money — a lot — will have to be spent on the property to return it to any sort of useful state.
Sara Hildreth: Can you give readers a brief summary of The Favorites for those who haven't read it yet?Layne Fargo: A modern retelling of Wuthering Heights about the toxic, decades-spanning romance between a pair of hot mess ice dancers.SH: Can you share your initial inspiration for the novel? How and at what point in the writing process did Wuthering Heights come into The Favorites?LF: The Favorites came out of two other failed projects: a Gothic romance and a thriller about rival ice dance teams. I kept bouncing back and forth between the two, desperately trying to make them work but they just… didn’t. I picked up Wuthering Heights, which I hadn’t read since high school, hoping to find some inspiration for the Gothic book, and instead I thought: what about a Wuthering Heights retelling with ice dancers? Then I thought I’d lost my mind (this was deep into the pandemic FYI, when we were all feeling a little unhinged!), but my critique partner assured me it was a good idea. So I went for it and quickly found that mashing up Wuthering Heights and figure skating worked better than I could have imagined.Sara’s note: When I heard about this premise I immediately knew it was genius because of partner swapping. The world of ice dancing is full of messy breakups and new partnerships and so is the Gothic tale of Wuthering Heights.SH: What are some of your favorite nods to WH and the Brontës that appear in your novel?LF: Pretty much all the character names are Brontë Easter eggs. Jane Currer = Jane Eyre + Charlotte Brontë’s pen name Currer Bell. Inez Acton = Agnes Gray (Inez is the Spanish version of Agnes) + Anne Brontë’s pen name Acton Bell. And of course Ellis Dean is Nelly Dean from Wuthering Heights + Emily Brontë’s pen name Ellis Bell!I can’t get too specific about this one because it’s a spoiler, but there’s a character whose last name came from a real-life person who said some not so nice things about Emily Brontë back in the day — so giving their surname to this particular character is my petty literary revenge.
Wuthering Heights (1847), by Emily BrontëEmily Brontë’s Gothic masterpiece is remembered for its tempestuous lovers, windswept moors and tragic family drama. However, when creating her novel, Emily Brontë chose to open with a violent and terrifying ghostly encounter. In the opening of the novel, Lockwood (the narrator), spends the night in a forbidden bedroom after being caught in a storm. He has read the names Catherine alongside Earnshaw, Heathcliff, and Linton, all carved in the wooden window frame.As he sleeps, he is awoken by a knocking on the window pane and, thinking it a branch, reaches out to break it. The reader is then startled to read that Linton’s wrist is grasped by the ice-cold fingers of Cathy’s ghost. Her specter cries that she has been ‘a waif for twenty years,’ have inspired countless other works of fiction including the song Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush. (Lauren Jones)
Sad girls have existed in literature for hundreds of years like my girl Jane Eyre. (Zoulfa Katouh)
Since she arrived at Dior in 2016, Ms. Chiuri has often resolutely focused on clothes so subtly accessible they can verge on the banal. But though there were pieces like that in the show, including a great little sleeveless black trapeze shift with ruffles for straps, it was the skirts, built on a carapace of bamboo, covered in trailing vines of flowers made from raffia, feathers and lace, and resembling the love child of an octopus and a parasol, that dominated. Also the playsuits and bloomers (items of clothing that normally have no place in a grown-up woman’s wardrobe) made from tulle covered in appliqués that seemed to swirl around the body like mist, popping out from under buttoned-up Jane Eyre jackets as though impossible to restrain. (Vanessa Friedman)
Paul Gordon & Michael CairdThe Warehouse Theater @ Artios of Sugar Hill, Artios Academies Of Sugar Hill415 Brogdon Rd, Suwanee, GA 30024Thu Jan 30th - Thu Feb 6thCharlotte Brontë's great love story comes to life with music to lift your heart and set your spirit soaring. This is a beloved tale of secrets and the lies that secrets create, it is a tale of unimaginable hope and unspoken passion. Nominated for five Tony Awards, Jane Eyre continues to enchant audiences with a timeless love story all while exploring themes of darkness, brokenness, but most importantly. forgiveness. Jane's story begins at Gateshead Hall, where she is in the unfortunate care of her cruel aunt, Mrs. Reed, and cousin, John. The miserable young orphan is finally liberated from her hateful family when she is sent away to attend Lowood School for Girls. After six years, Jane leaves Lowood and is shortly after hired as a governess at Thornfield Hall. Here, she meets Mr. Edward Rochester, thus beginning her passionate and heart-wrenching journey of love, loss, and the struggles of morality. This intellectual period drama is a wonderful work of theatre but please note it does contain mature themes that may not be suitable for younger audiences. Please contact us at tickets@artiosacademies.com with ticket questions
Wuthering Heights by Emily BrontëEmily Brontë’s (of the famous Brontë siblings) only published this one novel. The intensity! The passion! The devotion that defies death! The songs by Kate Bush and Céline via Meatloaf! Heathcliff is one of the original brooding bad boys, stomping around the Yorkshire moors as he and Catherine pine for one another. True love has never been so deliciously sadomasochistic. Read the OG classic that inspired both the Twilight and Fifty Shades franchises which, in turn, helped legitimize fanfic.
A little older, and I got into Jilly Cooper, Dick Francis, and the original Flowers in the Attic. Then my mother introduced me to Jane Eyre, and I was off.
En esta novela de terror gótico ambientada en la Inglaterra de la época victoriana hay sangre y vísceras. La acción transcurre en Ensor House, una de esas mansiones típicas del condado de Yorkshire —tan habituales en algunas de los dramas de Jane Austen y de las hermanas Brönte [sic]—, en la que podríamos imaginarnos con nitidez a una Jane Eyre aguantando el mal carácter de Edward Rochester.Winnifred, una mujer tan inteligente como macabra, con una infancia carente de momentos felices, llega la mansión en calidad de institutriz, como Jane Eyre, donde desata su rabia acumulada ante unas diferencias sociales que considera injustas. Ya en la tercera página del libro se avisa al lector de sus intenciones: Estamos a principio de otoño. El frío no se ha hecho esperar, y dentro de tres meses todos los habitantes de esta casa estarán muertos. (Marta Caro) (Translation)
Wuthering Heights: Love, Hate and Vengeance, 8.00pm, Sky ArtsIf you’ve ever read Wuthering Heights, you’ll know it’s a quite incredible story and an unforgettable experience.Narrating the doomed romance of Heathcliff and Catherine, Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights also contains a powerful critique of British society, denouncing its oppressive and colonising system.This documentary explores the little-known and disturbing aspects of a cult book that was first published back in 1847. (John Byrne)
ISBN: 9781003507574Although history records that the British nineteenth century was obsessed with order,conventionality, and conformity, there were many Victorians from all walks of life, across lines of class, race, and gender, who resisted social mores and sometimes the laws themselves, in a variety of ways and to varying degrees. Some expressed dissension through music, art, literature, and social protest. Others were more subtle like manipulative wives who gained what they wanted while seemingly remaining docile and submissive. Some rebellion fermented into social and political movements. The revolt of still others was extremely executed by serial killers, criminals, and suicides. Contemporary readers can learn from these rebels and discern what values and ways that were uniquely Victorian should be retained and those that should be rejected after having observed their outcomes. To that end, this collection of essays offers a study for both novice and expert on Victorian rebels.
By Catherine J. GoldenA madwoman in the attic, an impassioned love, and a mysterious/abusive past—such sensational themes may seem ripped from today’s social media; in fact, they are defining elements of the novels of the Brontë sisters, quiet rebels who veiled their identities and gender as writers. The sisters’ lives outwardly conformed to nineteenth-century expectations, but their rebelliousness found expression in their works published under pseudonyms—Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. Public reception grew more damning when reviewers discerned their gender. Ellis/Emily’s Wuthering Heights (1847) was immoral and savage while Currer/Charlotte’s Jane Eyre (1847) was anti-Christian, bold, and immoral, though spellbinding. Acton/Anne’s Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848) disturbed Victorians in its fearless presentation of domestic abuse and alcoholism, so unpleasant to sister Charlotte that she did not promote it after Anne’s death. Using period reviews and criticism, this essay examines the degree to which each sister challenged rigid Victorian morals, gender roles, and religion. Of the unconventional Brontës, this essay privileges the unsung sister—Anne Brontë—as the most rebellious of the trio and frames her Tenant of Wildfell Hall as a novel of rebellion.
