The Location of Experience
Victorian Women Writers, the Novel, and the Feeling of Living
Adela Pinch
Lit Z
ISBN: 9781531508616
October 15, 2024
We tend to feel that works of fiction give us special access to lived experience. But how do novels cultivate that feeling? Where exactly does experience reside?
The Location of Experience argues that, paradoxically, novels create experience for us not by bringing reality up close, but by engineering environments in which we feel constrained from acting. By excavating the history of the rise of experience as an important category of Victorian intellectual life, this book reveals how experience was surprisingly tied to emotions of remorse and regret for some of the era's great women novelists: the Brontës, George Eliot, Margaret Oliphant, and Elizabeth Gaskell. It shows how these writers passed ideas about experience-and experiences themselves-among each other.
Drawing on intellectual history, psychology, and moral philosophy, The Location of Experience shows that, through manipulating the psychological dimensions of fiction's formal features, Victorian women novelists produced a philosophical account of experience that rivaled and complemented that of the male philosophers of the period.
The Location of Experience: Victorian Women Writers, the Novel, and the Feeling of Living is available from Knowledge Unlatched on open-access basis.
Suzy Klein, Head of BBC Arts and Classical Music TV says: “I’m proud to support our partnership with Bradford UK City of Culture with a series of our BBC Arts programmes to showcase the area’s rich cultural history.“From Bradford born Vinette Robinson’s star turn in The Read’s Wuthering Heights, partly shot on location on the Yorkshire Moors, to spotlighting some of the brilliant people behind the scenes for the launch in Bradford’s Big Bash, and the Big Tasty Read – another important campaign we’re running with the Reading Agency and Bradford Literature Festival to support the nation’s hunger for great books.”
JANE/EYRE, the first full-length show from Denver’s Grapefruit Lab, is an exploration of Charlotte Brontë’s classic novel Jane Eyre — with original songs by Teacup Gorilla and Dameon Merkl (Lost Walks, Bad Luck City). Adapted by author/musician, Miriam Suzanne, and local director/performance maker Julie Rada, the hybrid play/concert takes a dark and often humorous look at the early feminist novel — bringing a contemporary, queer perspective to Jane’s story.Performances run Friday, January 17th - Saturday, February 1st, 2025 at Buntport Theater. Tickets go on sale January 1, 2025. All tickets are name-your-own-price. Credit online or cash at the door. [...]Don’t believe the hype about Mr. Rochester, this story is much more than one romantic plot-point. “The novel has a defiant attitude from page one of the preface, refusing to be set aside” says Miriam Suzanne, who plays in the band and narrates as an older Jane, looking-back on the action. “Brontë and Jane don’t just have a story, they have an agenda.” Julie Rada plays Brontë on stage, as she and Jane create the story together — or despite each other. Denver actress and BETC company member, Lindsey Pierce, plays Jane in-the-action, with Joan Bruemmer-Holden, company member with Boulder’s The Catamounts, providing all the additional characters, from Rochester to several women “friends” that Jane also considers living with in the novel. (Stephi Wild)
Rebecca StylerRoutledgeISBN 9781032509938November 2024This book is the study of a religious metaphor: the idea of God as a mother, in British and US literature 1850–1915. It uncovers a tradition of writers for whom divine motherhood embodied ideals felt to be missing from the orthodox masculine deity. Elizabeth Gaskell, Josephine Butler, George Macdonald, Frances Hodgson Burnett and Charlotte Perkins Gilman independently reworked their inherited faith to create a new symbol that better met their religious needs, based on ideal Victorian notions of motherhood and ‘Mother Nature’. Divine motherhood signified compassion, universal salvation and a realised gospel of social reform led primarily by women to establish sympathetic community. Connected to Victorian feminism, it gave authority to women’s voices and to ‘feminine’ cultural values in the public sphere. It represented divine immanence within the world, often providing the grounds for an ecological ethic, including human–animal fellowship.With reference also to writers including Charlotte Brontë, Anna Jameson, Charles Kingsley, Elizabeth Charles, Theodore Parker, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mary Baker Eddy and authors of literary utopias, this book shows the extent of maternal theology in Victorian thought and explores its cultural roots. The book reveals a new way in which Victorian writers creatively negotiated between religious tradition and modernity.
Filmmakers, at least ones who are in the position of picking their studio, will increasingly be going with partners that will make good on theatrical promises. Emerald Fennell and Margot Robbie’s Wuthering Heights adaptation landed at Warner Bros. over Netflix after the former offered a robust release. Expect others to push for similar deals. (Mia Galuppo)
Eve Kosofsky SedgwickRoutledge RevivalsISBN: 9781032386560November 2024First published in 1986, The Coherence of Gothic Conventions makes the case that the Gothic in English literature has been marked by a distinctive and highly influential set of ambitions about relations of meaning. Through readings of classic Gothic authors as well as of De Quincey and the Brontës, Sedgwick links the most characteristic thematic conventions of the Gothic firmly and usably to the genre's radical claims for representation. The introduction clarifies the connection between the linguistic or epistemological argument of the Gothic and its epochal crystallization of modern gender and modern homophobia. This book will be of interest to students of literature, cultural studies and psychology.
Chapter 3 is 3. Immediacy, Doubleness, and the Unspeakable: Wuthering Heights and Villette
In the European tradition, carollers were a group of musicians who went from house to house to spread some festive cheer in exchange for food and drink.Emily Bronte wrote about this in Wuthering Heights.“[These carollers] go the rounds of all the respectable houses, and receive contributions every Christmas, and we esteemed it a first-rate treat to hear them,” related Mrs Dean, the main narrator of Wuthering Heights. (Ria Andriani)
The very best way to start your day in Haworth is to walk on the moors. It’s good for the soul. Whether you delight in trekking for hours, or just want to go a short way and breathe in some Yorkshire air before breakfast, there’s routes to suit everyone. If the weather is wild and wuthering, then you’ve hit the jackpot, as that’s just how the Brontës describe it in their writing. If it’s beautiful sunshine (we get more sun than you might think!), then you’re also a winner. One thing is for sure, the dramatic scenery will never let you down. [...]A visit to the The Bronte Parsonage Museum is a must. The former home of the famous literary family now houses the world’s largest collection of Brontë works. (Josie Price)
Amelia Pérez de VillarFórculo EdicitionsISBN: 978-84-19969-13-2November 2024Estamos tan acostumbrados a vivir en ella, que la casa se da por sobreentendida, como el respirar o el comer, asegura David Felipe Arranz, responsable del prólogo de este «formidable ensayo» de Amelia Pérez de Villar. Para la autora, la casa como elemento físico, puramente arquitectónico, con un origen claro gracias a la arqueología y a la etnografía, supone un paso adelante en la historia de la humanidad, y ha llegado a alcanzar un significado filosófico, moral, incluso lingüístico.«Casa», esa palabra que contiene tanto en tan pocas letras —hogar, edificio, propiedad familiar, estirpe— es cobijo, refugio, epítome de la protección y la seguridad. Fuera de ella está la inmensidad, lo inabarcable, la promesa de algo eterno e ilimitado que se abre ante nosotros cuando salimos. Dado su marcado carácter simbólico, ocupa un lugar destacado no sólo en la vida sino también, de forma especial, en la literatura –Horace Walpole, las hermanas Brontë, Jane Austen, Dickens, Bassani, Margaret Mitchell, Evelyn Waugh, Cortázar, Stephen King, Shirley Jackson o Mercè Rodoreda– y en el cine –de clásicos como Murnau, Hitchcock o Jacques Tati, a fenómenos de Netflix como Mike Flanagan o Shonda Rhimes–. Amelia Pérez de Villar llega al corazón mismo de la palabra «casa» haciendo un recorrido por las casas del cine y la literatura que la dotan de sentido. La casa es un tema extraordinariamente potente para un escritor, sobre todo por lo que conlleva de nostalgia y de memoria; está presente en la inmensa mayoría de las obras literarias que se han escrito, aunque no siempre sea protagonista o no tenga ni siquiera un papel relevante.
La casa, por lo tanto, puede ser muchas cosas: refugio, ostentación, fuente de ingresos y, también, cómo no, amenaza. Y a esta última dimensión dedica la autora la primera mitad del libro. Nos habla, cómo no, de la novela gótica, aquella que puso la casa en el centro de la literatura, normalmente con un propósito terrorífico, a partir de los problemas del linaje, de las dificultades para prolongarlo. Así, por estas páginas desfilan las fundacionales La caída de la Casa Usher, El castillo de Otranto o, ya en la corriente del gótico femenino, Los misterios de Udolpho. Y desde luego, Cumbres Borrascosas, la narración de Emily Brontë que, por primera vez, al tiempo que lleva al género a otra dimensión, eleva una casa a la de personaje. (Cristóbal Ruitiño) (Translation)
The play, entitled Bilal and Ted's Bradfordian Adventure, has been commissioned by BBC Radio Leeds as part of the Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture celebrations.It follows Bradford schoolboys and best friends Bilal and Ted as they take a journey of discovery to find out why their city has been named the 2025 UK City of Culture.Their quest for inspiration leads them to a statue of Bradford playwright, JB Priestley - and upon touching the statue, they are whisked away through time and space.The duo lands in 19th-century Haworth, where they join forces with Emily Brontë, who becomes their guide for their journey. (Will Abbott)
At Any Amount of Books on the Charing Cross Road in London, where a bookstore has stood for 100 years, the variety of secondhand items in the Christmas window display is wide enough to tempt almost anyone.Beautifully-bound older editions of novels by Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters and poetry by WH Auden are particularly popular gifts, says William Hayward, a general bookseller at the store. “It's to do with the age and the sharing of past to present that comes with that.”
Sarah E. HomeIndiana University of PennsylvaniaHow can Things in literature reflect time? How are objects used in the texts we read to ostensibly impact time for the characters inside? Bill Brown’s Thing theory explores the traditional roles of subject and object, possessor and possessed, by asking us to consider “how and why we use objects to make meaning, to make or re-make ourselves, to organize our anxieties and affections, to sublimate our fear and shape our fantasies” (A Sense of Things 4). I hypothesize that exploring the largely-overlooked element of time as it can intersect with Things grants us as readers a new, more-rigorous lens via which to analyze the characters we study and the texts they inhabit.In this paper I explore several characters who long to arrest time in order to gain control over their lives or others’, or, who long to be held indefinitely in a moment of held-tim themselves. I theorize that in these instances, a highly-curated space, a Zeithalt (time-hold), can form via the specific Things these characters cling to; these spaces of arrested Zeit serve ultimately as a means of comfort, survival and as a source of protection, keeping the character at the center of it, not to mention the treasured objects that define it, safe from the outside world. Parsing Lucy Snowe, Jane Eyre, Miss Havisham, and Frederick Fairlie via the concept of Zeithalt reveals the ways they each use Things to seemingly impact time; I assert exploring these interactions, as well as exploring the potential of the time-hold in other texts, can provide a fresh, original means of analyzing characters’ psyches, emotions and agendas, and, as they sequester themselves with their Things, their relationship with the outside world. Open-ended and adaptable, Zeithalt theory aims to help us understand why characters cling so adamantly to their Things, why they long to connect them with time, and how they are often better off with objects, rather the human beings around them who so frequently let them down, abuse them, or abandon them entirely
Sandra Gilbert, who has died aged 87, was a writer and poet best known as the co-author, with Susan Gubar, of The Madwoman in the Attic (1979), a polemical analysis of the works of Victorian women writers now regarded as a classic work of “second-wave” feminist literary criticism.Their 700-page study took Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre – with its passionate but repressed heroine and imprisoned double, Bertha Mason, the mad first wife of Mr Rochester locked in the attic of Thornfield Hall – to be representative of the struggles of Victorian women writers against male oppression and “social and literary confinement”.“In projecting their anger and disease into dreadful figures,” they argued, “creating dark doubles for themselves and their heroines, women writers are both identifying with and revising the self-definitions patriarchal culture has imposed on them.”Raging Bertha Mason, with her animal passions, is Jane’s – and Charlotte Brontë’s – real self, and the authors went on to identify a distinctive “female literary tradition” in which authors such as the Brontë sisters, Mary Shelley, George Eliot and Jane Austen left traces of rage and revolt against the “patriarchy” all over their works. It was just necessary to know how to read them. [...]They caught a wave of feminism that was already was beginning to wash into publishing and literary criticism. In Britain Virago was exploring forgotten writers such as Dorothy Richardson and May Sinclair. Elaine Showalter’s A Literature of their Own was published in 1977. But it was Gilbert and Gubar’s spirited fusion of feminism, psychoanalysis and literature that struck the loudest chord in English departments, and academics and students were soon busily subjecting works by male as well as female authors to feminist deconstruction, and working to reclaim significant but forgotten works by female authors.“The western canon was not liberated overnight, but Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar certainly stuck a wedge firmly into the frat house door when they wrote The Madwoman in the Attic,” said the critic Maureen Corrigan in 2013.She was born Sandra Ellen Mortola to a Sicilian immigrant mother and Russian immigrant father in New York on December 27 1936 and grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens. She was, she recalled, “a child who loved to read, but I never considered myself especially scholarly. I adored kids’ books – the Bobbsey Twins series (who has heard of those today?), Nancy Drew – and, more grown-up I guess, Little Women and Jane Eyre.”
The Favourites – Layne FargoThis is an epic love story that reimagines the tempestuous romance of Wuthering Heights in the sparkling, savage world of elite figure skating.Perfect for lovers of Daisy Jones and The Six, we follow Katarina Shaw and Heath Rocha.She might not have a famous name, funding, or her family’s support, but Katarina Shaw has always known that she was destined to become an Olympic skater. When she meets Heath Rocha, a lonely kid stuck in the foster care system, their instant connection makes them a formidable duo on the ice. (Bronwyn O'Neill)
Heathcliff in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering HeightsHeathcliff is the absolute worst. Yes, he has an intense relationship with Cathy but, after overhearing Catherine tell Nelly that she plans to marry their rich neighbour, Edgar Linton, Heathcliff runs away instead of speaking with Catherine. Upon his return several years later, he dedicates his life to destroying the lives of those around him primarily because he didn’t get the girl. And for those who still think that he’s just misunderstood, never forget that his wedding present to his wife Isabella was to murder her dog.Edward Rochester in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane EyreWhen they first meet, Rochester pointedly treats Jane as an equal rather than her employer. However, this is undermined by his behaviour towards Jane when his aristocratic houseguests come to visit. After intentionally hurting Jane by feigning an interest in marrying Blanche Ingram, Rochester eventually declares his love and proposes to Jane. The problem? He’s already married, and his wife is locked up in his attic.To make matters worse, when his lies become apparent, he tries to convince Jane to abscond to Europe with him knowing that this would destroy Jane’s reputation thereby preventing her from ever finding employment or a respectable husband. In this era, the loss of both of these options would leave Jane destitute if dumped by Rochester. (Maria Butler)
Jane Eyre in Therapy: A Neo-Victorian Perspective on the Literary Classic in “The Mirror” by Francine Prose
Julia Maria Zygan
Annales Philologiae, Vol 42, No 1 (2024)
This paper aims to present Francine Prose’s “The Mirror” (2016) as a neo-Victorian rewriting of Jane Eyre (1847/2014) that subverts the Victorian values and ideals concerning women while simultaneously embracing feminist approach to Charlotte Brontë’s classic. The examination relies upon Gerard Genette’s theory of hypertextuality (1982/1997). Prose’s hypertext revises the “happy ending” of Brontë’s novel, drawing attention to issues previously overlooked in the classic, particularly those involving the manipulation of women. “The Mirror” questions Victorian values and proposes different ones, highlighting the importance of mutual understanding among women and sisterhood.
In meditative, fragmentary paragraphs, Smith tells of that emotional shattering and the teenage interests, one might say obsessions, that hold her together: Harry Houdini, astronaut Michael Collins, Jane Eyre and Caine from the television show “Kung Fu.” Individuals who are trapped — straitjacketed, space rocketed, stifled by the patriarchy and religion — and aching for freedom. (Rien Fertel)
Per una banda, la col·lecció Club Victòria, que pretén editar tots els clàssics del segle XIX anglès, ha publicat quatre títols entre els quals Orgull i prejudici de Jane Austen i La llogatera de Wildfell Hall d’Anne Brontë. El traductor d’aquesta darrera novel·la, Ferran Ràfols, ja havia adaptat anteriorment a la nostra llengua, una novel·la molt coneguda; Cims borrascosos de Emily Brontë. "Són autores fascinants. L’Emily és poeta, mentre que l’Anne és més fosca i necessita més paraules per dir el mateix", diu el traductor. [...]En el cas de les germanes Brönte (sic) són novel·les molt gòtiques", indica Ferran Ràfols. "Aquesta és una novel·la de venjança, de maltractament i amb històries molt cruels: t’explica com els fills hereten les malediccions i venjances de les generacions prèvies". Lluny del que ens han fet creure, com insisteix en Xavier Pàmies, cap d'aquests títols són relats d'amor. [...]L’inici dels Cims borrascosos, per ser una novel·la tan coneguda, és fascinant: "La veu narradora juga a confondre’t constantment fins al punt de no acabar d’entendre quines relacions s’estableixen entre els personatges que et descriu. Aquesta confusió té un sentit argumental i això la fa molt moderna". El contrast de l’esperit romàntic amb l’esperit més racional és una pugna present en les obres de les germanes Brontë, l’Emily és més racional mentre que l’Anne i La llogatera responen més a la novel·la romàntica. Això explica que Cims borrascosos sigui dels grans clàssics de la literatura anglesa.. (Bernat Reher) (Translation)
Colleen AllenConquest PublishingISBN: 9781962739320November 2024The Hound of Thornfield High is a retelling of Charlotte Bronte's 1847 classic, Jane Eyre, but as a contemporary young adult novel.In this rendition, Jane Eyre, seventeen, is a student at Thornfield High. Ready for a fun senior year with her best friend, Helen Burns, Jane is quickly unmoored by Eddie Rochester, a new student who matriculates when Thornfield High merges with Milcott High. Unfortunately, Eddie is already dating Bertha Mason.When the relationship between Eddie and Bertha sours, Eddie begins chasing the beautiful Blanche Ingram. Meanwhile, Jane uncovers a secret that jeopardizes everything she knows about her family. To complicate Jane's heart, S.J. Rivers confesses feelings for her, too.This is Jane Eyre's story, adapted for younger readers, and told in our contemporary world of cell phones, text messages, and social media; it's still, at heart, the story of a resilient woman, her journey to discover who she is, and what she really wants. ber 2024
But there is another famous family of authors that have a trail named after them - the Brontë Sisters.The Brontë Way is a 43-mile trail that takes walkers through the heart of Brontë Country, connecting places tied to the lives and works of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë.The journey starts at Oakwell Hall near Bradford, West Yorkshire, and ends at Gawthorpe Hall in Lancashire.The trail is not only a tribute to the legacy of the Brontës but also passes stunning landscapes that inspired their novels.Oakwell Hall, which appears as “Fieldhead” in Charlotte Brontë’s Shirley, marks the start of the trail.From there, the path winds through charming villages, historic sites, and scenic moors.Key stops include the Brontë sisters' birthplace in Thornton and Haworth, home to the Brontë Parsonage Museum, where they wrote many of their celebrated works.The journey also passes landmarks like the Brontë Waterfall and Top Withens, often linked to Wuthering Heights. (Kris Boratyn)
Of course, many websites still announce the Valentine release of Wuthering Heights 2026: The Pinnacle Gazette, Bangalore Mirror, Times of India, Live India, Hello!, Geo News, The News, Elle, India Today, The Shropshire Star, Newsbytes, Screenrant, Cinema Express, inkl, The Standard ... But arguably the best title around comes from Rayo: "Moor-go Robbie?"
Wide Sargasso Sea (2006): Based on Jean Rhys's prequel to Jane Eyre, Wide Sargasso Sea explores themes of identity, race and colonialism, set in 1940s (sic) Jamaica. (Eshana Saha)
2. Austin Shakespeare’s Jane EyreThe first time I saw work that broke boundaries and theatrical conventions was at London’s National Theatre. I fell in love. Naturally, this production, with Austin Shakespeare’s faithful National Theatre blocking and use of onstage musicians, appealed to me. It’s a viewing experience outside of your typical production expectations, and it was a joy to watch.
La cosa consistía (y la idea me pareció brillantísima) en el acercamiento gráfico a algunos clásicos de la literatura a través de una adaptación totalmente chiflada al mundo del cómic.Por ejemplo: (...) Cumbres borrascosas, de Emily Brontë, con el grafismo de los cómics de terror de EC de los años 50… Y así sucesivamente.Se corría el riesgo de irritar a los devotos de la literatura y de aburrir al sector más simplón de los aficionados al cómic. Así pues, le quité de encima a Valerie la responsabilidad de hacerle un posible siete a la editorial para la que trabajaba y me llevé el libro a una de tebeos que dirigía un amigo, al que no me costó mucho convencer de que Masterpiece Comics le daría un poco de lustre a su empresa.Traduje el libro (me lo pasé muy bien), cobré por mi trabajo y… Y luego no pasó nada. La editorial pasaba por una fase de descontrol sobre la que no me voy a extender y resultó que nadie había comprado los derechos de edición a Drawn & Quarterly. (Translation) (Ramón de España)
The Framed enigma on December 14, 2024, was Jane Eyre 2011. Via the Brontë Bell Chapel Facebook Group, a YouTube video of a Thornton visitor.
Gemini BooksSeries: Gemini PocketsISBN: 978-1-91708-299-0All the answers are to be found in the pages of Anne's Agnes Grey or The Tenant of Wildfell Hall; Emily's Wuthering Heights; or Charlotte's Jane Eyre, Shirley, Villette or The Professor.The quizzes will test your recall of clothes, colours, relations, occupations, cookery, villages, seasons, dates, Christmas, interiors and flowers, while the name games require names of characters to be given to reveal a final name.Drawing on the vivid detail in the seven completed novels of the three Brontë sisters -- Charlotte, Emily and Anne -- the ingenious quizzes and puzzles in this fun collection will test your memory. Even the illustrations, by Edmund Dulac, require you to recognise the characters they depict.All the answers are to be found in the pages of Anne's Agnes Grey or The Tenant of Wildfell Hall; Emily's Wuthering Heights; or Charlotte's Jane Eyre, Shirley, Villette or The Professor.The quizzes will test your recall of clothes, colours, relations, occupations, cookery, villages, seasons, dates, Christmas, interiors and flowers, while the name games require names of characters to be given to reveal a final name.Each crossword puzzle relies on quotations from one of the novels, while the wordsearch puzzles are on the themes of pets, pupils, servants and houses.All the answers are given at the back of the book, but elusive answers may encourage you to reread the novels, which will reveal the wealth of quiet detail which builds to give solidity to the hauntingly imaginative worlds of these remarkable sisters.
Emerald Fennell‘s adaptation of the classic gothic romance “Wuthering Heights” is coming to the big screen just in time for Valentine’s Day. Warner Bros. will release the film from MRC on Feb. 13, 2026.Fennell serves as writer, director and producer on the project based on Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel, which stars Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi, Hong Chau, Alison Oliver and Shazad Latif. MRC and Robbie’s LuckyChap also produce.“Wuthering Heights” marks the second collaboration between MRC, LuckyChap and Fennell after the breakout hit “Saltburn,” and the third collaboration with LuckyChap and Fennell (“Promising Young Woman”). (Katcy Stephan)
Also set to hit theaters in February 2026 is an untitled Marvel feature and Scream 7. (Mia Galuppo)
The Margot Robbie-Jacob Elordi starring, LuckyChap production based on the Emily Brontë novel is a clear destination for female audiences over that period. Already on Feb. 13, 2026 is another female-demo movie, Universal’s feature take of Colleen Hoover novel, Reminders of Him. Sony also has the animated feature, Goat from Tyree Dillihay. (Anthony D'Alessandro)
First-person perspective is common to fiction because it allows the author to develop characters while also filling out the world in which the story takes place. Jane Eyre’s passions are informed by her descriptions of Rochester’s home. Dostoyevsky’s Underground Man presents his Russian milieu as a reflection of his own impotence. Humbert Humbert’s description of American motels in the travelogue section of Lolita underscores his broken moral compass. As this last example demonstrates, first-person narration allows for unreliable narrators, storytellers whose limitations (ethical, situational, or otherwise) make the reader doubt the person guiding them through the world.Try as they might, filmmakers haven’t had as much success translating the technique to screen. (Joe George)
Another thing I love about Banagher is its literary associations. Trollope worked in the town's Post Office for three years and foxhunted locally. Charlotte Brontë married local man Arthur Bell Nicholls and spent her honeymoon in elegant Cuba Court (sadly long since demolished).Another of the town's originals is James Scully. The former teacher and local historian has done so much for the area. He is also one of the driving forces behind the year old Banagher Brontë Group, which was a great idea and is proving very successful.On Saturday the group welcomed the famous novelist Martina Devlin to Crank House for the launch of her excellent novel “Charlotte”. Martina is one of Ireland's most talented novelists and she impressed us all with her knowledge of the Brontës and her love of the subject matter.The following day the Banagher Brontë Group attended the midday service in St Paul's Church where the new incumbent clergyman Rev John McGinty gave a thought-provoking and inspiring sermon to the congregation.Rev McGinty is originally from Massachusetts and he told The Midland Tribune that his new life in the midlands of Ireland feels like “a great adventure.”Rev McGinty told the congregation that Saint Paul's Church at Banagher was very happy to welcome members of the Banagher Brontë Group “for the annual wreath-laying at the resting place in the churchyard here of Arthur Bell Nicholls.”Rev McGinty added that The Brontë Group “is today commendably celebrating the town's heritage, and the link of this town and church with Charlotte Brontë, her life and work.“This shines a light on a significant person in her life, her husband, Banagher's Arthur Bell Nicholls. It also shines a light on a very important and happy time in Charlotte's life, her honeymoon.“Here in St Paul's we are very happy to support and encourage these ongoing and deepening efforts.”Outside it was cold and blue-skied. A small gathering stood beside the impressive tombstones of the Bell family while a few words were said. Joanne Wilcock, from Lancashire and a member of the Brontë Society in Haworth, said it was a special moment for her to lay a wreath at Arthur Bell Nicholls' grave. She said Arthur was “a true gentleman, with the emphasis on the word gentle. Arthur worked tirelessly as a curate. In this regard, while living in Haworth, he became a rock for his father-in-law providing invaluable assistance as Patrick became older. For a long time Patrick didn't want Arthur as his son-in-law but Arthur was in love and therefore he showed great determination. He never gave up and eventually he married the love of his life, Charlotte. After Patrick's death it was a great blow to Arthur when he wasn't offered the curacy in Haworth, another of life's countless cruelties. But he returned to Banagher, forged a new life, and married his cousin Mary Anna. For 42 years Arthur and Mary Anna offered each other those great blessings of marriage, namely companionship and emotional support.” (Derek Fanning)
by Anna Juliet ReidNuevas Poligrafías. Revista De Teoría Literaria Y Literatura Comparada, (10), 32–45 (2024)Este artículo examina el tema del acecho en tres novelas inglesas: Wuthering Heights, de Emily Brontë; Jane Eyre, de Charlotte Brontë, y Jamaica Inn, de Daphne du Maurier. Las novelas analizadas son narrativas regionales y me enfoco en los condados de Yorkshire y Cornwall, respectivamente. Mucha de la crítica literaria del género gótico se ha centrado en el gótico femenino, los espacios domésticos, candados y llaves, y la claustrofobia, pero este articulo propone un acercamiento diferente a las novelas dentro del campo del ecogótico. En lugar de sólo enfocarse en los espacios interiores, se enfoca en los espacios exteriores dentro del gótico doméstico, en particular los pantanos, los cuales caracterizan las novelas mencionadas. Estos espacios exteriores son ambivalentes: de una manera son sublimes y, de otra, representan lugares de libertad. Se argumenta que los escenarios moldean a los personajes, en particular a Heathcliff en Wuthering Heights, y realzan la importancia de los pantanos y la turba en el paisaje. La turba tiene cualidades de preservación de los cuerpos que han sido depositados en este tipo de suelo. No se descomponen, lo cual nos hace especular acerca de su edad. ¿Serán cadáveres de miles de años o víctimas de un crimen reciente? Los fantasmas del pasado, sean reales o imaginarios, se levantan para desestabilizar las nociones de lo conocido.
The Spen Valley Civic Society hopes that the new owner of Red House Museum in Gomersal will give the historic building “the tender loving care it deserves.”The Grade II Listed building, which was owned by Kirklees Council, was sold at auction for £650,000 last week.Once the home of Charlotte Brontë’s friend Mary Taylor, the museum closed its doors in 2016 and was earmarked for a wedding venue years later but this plan fell through.The council announced last year that it was looking to dispose of several assets when it was facing a £47m deficit, although local community groups hoped that Red House could be saved.A spokesperson for the Spen Valley Civic Society said: “For all those local residents who campaigned to keep the Red House open as Spen Valley’s local museum and Brontë site, its sale for £650,000 is the end of the story.“A story of the loss of a public cultural and heritage resource. The Civic Society would like to see some of the proceeds being used for other public resources in Spen Valley, such as Spen’s Town Hall in Cleckheaton.“We hope that the new owner of The Red House will respect its historical value and give the building the tender loving care it deserves as a Grade II Listed building.” (Adam Cheshire)
The Banagher Brontë Group welcomed famous author Martina Devlin to Crank House on Saturday afternoon for the launch of her acclaimed book “Charlotte”.James Scully warmly welcomed Martina and the audience to the launch of “this wonderful book.”He gave some background information about what Banagher Brontë Group is. “We are an organisation founded in December 2023 with the aim of highlighting the connection between Banagher and the famous Brontë literary family from Haworth in Yorkshire, England.“This connection began in 1845 when an Irish curate, Arthur Bell Nicholls, who had grown up in Banagher, became the new curate helping Patrick Brontë, incumbent curate of Haworth and none other than father of the famous writers, Anne Brontë, Emily Brontë and Charlotte Brontë. This same curate, less than ten years later, in 1854, became the husband of Charlotte Brontë and he brought her to Banagher on their honeymoon.”James said the Group has enjoyed a great year and has been very active. “We visited Haworth. We took part in the St Patrick's Day Parade in Banagher. We have a growing collection of tapestries and marionettes. We have a number of plans for the future. And now we are delighted to welcome the acclaimed novelist and Irish Independent journalist Martina Devlin to our town for the launch of her highly-praised novel 'Charlotte'. I first met Martina in the summer of 2021 and I was delighted when she said Mary Anna Bell Nicholls, who lived in Cuba Court House here in Banagher and became the second wife of Arthur Bell Nicholls, was going to feature prominently in her novel 'Charlotte'.”The audience was then treated to a fascinating and detailed interview process between Maebh O'Regan of Banagher Brontë Group and Martina Devlin, during which Martina revealed her incredibly extensive knowledge of the Brontës.Maebh began the interview by saying she had hugely enjoyed the novel. She asked why was Martina so interested in the Brontës?Martina said her deep interest goes back to her childhood when she read 'Jane Eyre' and loved it. “Many things struck me when I read the novel, many lines leapt out at me, including the powerful line spoken by Jane, 'I am no bird and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.' I loved that fierce, independent spirit. It was very attractive. In a way my novel 'Charlotte' is an act of homage to 'Jane Eyre'. 'Charlotte' also grew out of the fact that I wanted to draw people's attention to the huge Irish connection, the huge Irish influence in the Brontë story. Take for example the gothic elements in Jane Eyre or in Wuthering Heights, I think there is something very Irish which has inspired those elements. Also, Charlotte's father Patrick, who was from County Down, was well known for being an excellent storyteller. I think the Brontë sisters may have imbibed some of that genius for storytelling from their father.”Maebh said Martina's novel is told from the viewpoint of Mary Anna Bell Nicholls. Why was this?“The more research I did,” replied Martina, “the more pivotal Mary Anna seemed. She met Charlotte and Arthur when they arrived in Dublin on their honeymoon. She spent some of their honeymoon in Cuba Court with them. Mary Anna was young, 22, and I thought it must have been quite dazzling for her to meet one of the most famous female novelists in the world. It would be like a young woman meeting Tom Cruise in Banagher now!“The novel covers quite a long time frame. There was the nine months of Charlotte and Arthur's marriage. The years that followed fascinated me and I wanted to tell the story of that.” (Read more) (Derek Fanning)
"We collaborated and talked about Swift as like a savvy Victorian novelist -- going back to the Brontës, actually, in some ways -- talking about all her re-recordings and marketing strategies in the context of 19th century publishing," she said.The elective class, LIT3301, rotates topics based on interest. The idea for a Swift class came when the trio was having lunch one day in the month of – you guessed it – August.But Jones, an associate professor, explains that while some thought the idea was legendary, others deemed it unnecessary."There was a letter to the editor in the Tampa Bay Times about how it was sort of an embarrassing thing for USF to be doing,” she said. “Like, back in the day, professors taught real things like Shakespeare and Milton and Jonathan Swift and the Brontë sisters." (Mahika Kukday)
Charlotte BrontëPenguinSeries: Vintage Collector's ClassicsImprint: Vintage ClassicsISBN: 9781529954227A beautiful deluxe gift edition of Charlotte Bronte’s masterpiece with foiled covers, marbled endpapers, sprayed edges, beautiful paper and finished with a silk ribbon.As an orphan, Jane's childhood is full of trouble, but her stubborn independence and sense of self help her to steer through the miseries inflicted by cruel relatives and a brutal school. A position as governess at the Thornfield Hall promises a kind of freedom. But Thornfield is a house full of secrets, its master a passionate, tormented man, and before long Jane faces her greatest struggle in a choice between love and self-respect.This hardback is part of Vintage Collector's Classics, a series of luxurious books especially crafted for collectors and fans of beautiful special editions. Sumptuous design meets the highest quality production. Discover timeless classics beautifully bound for every bookshelf.
Emily BrontëPenguinSeries: Vintage Collector's ClassicsImprint: Vintage ClassicsISBN: 9781529954296This is the tale of two families both joined and riven by love and hate. Cathy is a beautiful and wilful young woman torn between her soft-hearted husband and Heathcliff, the passionate and resentful man who has loved her since childhood. The power of their bond creates a maelstrom of cruelty and violence which will leave one of them dead and cast a shadow over the lives of their children.
Here’s The InSneider, with another fascinating read on Warner Bros. shakeup of their 2025 calendar. We now “can safely bet” that Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” will arrive in “late 2025.”“Wuthering Heights,” which stars Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie, is supposed to be shot during the first quarter of 2025. It’s now being sped up by Warner Bros for release during the thick of next year’s awards season calendar.We don’t know if Fennell’s version of “Wuthering Heights” is set in the present day, or maintains the novel’s 17th Century [sic] English setting. What seems to be the lure here is Fennell having just directed “Promising Young Woman” and “Saltburn” back-to-back; not to mention the enticing presence of Robbie and Elordi.One thing’s for certain, and that’s the level of interest for the project, which sparked a bidding war amongst many studios in September. Netflix bid well over $150M to nab Fennell’s film, but she wanted a robust theatrical rollout and finally settled, for $70M less, with Warner Bros. (Jordan Ruimy)
Children were familiar with disease risks. While typhus runs rampant in “Jane Eyre,” killing nearly half the girls at their charity school, 13-year-old Helen Burns is struggling against tuberculosis. Ten-year-old Jane is filled with horror at the possible loss of the only person who has ever truly cared for her.An entire chapter deals frankly and emotionally with all this dying. Jane cannot bear separation from quarantined Helen and seeks her out one night, filled with “the dread of seeing a corpse.” In the chill of a Victorian bedroom, she slips under Helen’s blankets and tries to stifle her own sobs as Helen is overtaken with coughing. A teacher discovers them the next morning: “my face against Helen Burns’s shoulder, my arms round her neck. I was asleep, and Helen was – dead.”The disconcerting image of a child nestled in sleep against another child’s corpse may seem unrealistic. But it is very like the mid-19th-century memento photographs taken of deceased children surrounded by their living siblings. The specter of death, such scenes remind us, lay at the center of Victorian childhood. (Andrea Kaston Tange)
Literature enthusiasts might want to stop by Hathersage, a town featured in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. Nearby North Lees Hall is believed to have inspired the depiction of Mr Rochester's Thornfield Hall. [...] Close by, Haddon Hall appeared as The Inn at Lambton in the same film. Haddon also featured in the 1996 version of Jane Eyre and 1998's Elizabeth. (Isobel Pankhurst)
