The Stars of Tomorrow program of the Twin City Theatre Company’s is debuting its next production this weekend.Director Emily Ritter and Producer Chm. on Saturdays and Sunandra Galloway came on The Morning Show to talk about their organization and to preview their upcoming production: Emily Brontë: Teenage Necromancer. The show will run on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the next two weekends at Parkland College’s Second Stage Theatre.Performances will be at 7 p.m. on Fridays and at 2 p.days.
A sea of red gathered on the moors for a day of music, movement and literary celebration.A total of 500 people took part in 'Mass Wuthering' in Haworth on July 26, 2026, an annual event inspired by Kate Bush’s iconic Wuthering Heights music video.The gathering saw fans don red dresses and recreate the famous dance against the backdrop of the Yorkshire landscape that inspired Emily Brontë’s novel and Bush’s 1978 hit. (...)Ms [Clare] O’Callaghan said: "We had fans of Kate Bush, fans of the Brontës, and people from all over the world who wanted to share the joy of how literature and the arts can inspire and cultivate community."It really was a day of community and cohesion, and we’ve been overwhelmed by the brilliant messages we’ve received from people - and those we’ve seen posting on social media - saying it was one of the most memorable experiences of their lives."We all got drenched on Sunday thanks to the ‘Wuthering’ weather, but it didn’t matter at all - it made it even better and the atmosphere was brilliant." (Amelia Short)
While the latest adaptation of Wuthering Heights may have divided critics and audiences, the film starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi helped put Yorkshire in the global spotlight.This was symbolised by a huge billboard in New York’s famous Times Square showing Robbie sitting on the Moors alongside a caption reading ‘It’s Not Wuthering Heights Without England’.The billboard was a small part of Visit Britain’s ‘Starring GREAT Britain’ campaign to boost international tourism to the UK which sought to highlight popular TV shows and films as a way of drawing visitors here.Visit Britain worked with international film and TV studios to target ‘high value’ international audiences in countries like the US, France, Germany and Australia and the Gulf.Patricia Yates, chief executive of VisitBritain, explained in the organisation’s most recent results that Wuthering Heights had played a central role in this year’s campaign.“Last year VisitBritain launched its ‘Starring GREAT Britain’ campaign,” she says. “This was the culmination of a monumental effort by VisitBritain teams across the globe who negotiated partnerships with nine studios to produce an incredible campaign platform on which to build.“In its first six months alone, the campaign generated an additional £217m in visitor spend.“Each extra pound represents a boost for the UK economy, a small business supported and a job sustained. The team has not lost momentum.“The release of Bridgerton Series 4 and Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Wuthering Heights told a compelling story of regional Britain. VisitBritain secured new Wuthering Heights intellectual property for the campaign showing Yorkshire’s iconic moors and hosted media, buyers and influencers from around the world in Yorkshire. [...]While productions like All Creatures Great and Small and Wuthering Heights may be helping to give Yorkshire a wider international profile, there is still much to be done to keep the region’s hard-working tourism businesses deservedly centre-stage. (Chris Burn)
I ask Jenny [Hill, lead curator] to tell me how the cotton mill owner got hold of a folio in the first place. Jenny grins at her colleague Charlotte [Craig]. One theory is that it came from nearby Ponden Hall. Ponden had one of the largest private libraries not just in the West Riding, but in the whole of Europe. Charlotte has a theory about some of Ponden Hall’s close neighbours who might have used their library.“Well, Ponden Hall is just two or three miles across the moors from Haworth.”“Oh, no!” I gasp “From Haworth Parsonage, where the Brontë sisters lived?”“That’s right,’ says Charlotte. “I used to work there.”“Are you saying that the Brontë sisters might have read this copy of the First Folio?”“We know they used to borrow books from Ponden Hall. But I can’t prove they read this folio.”“Just say it!” I explode. “Let somebody else disprove it. Oh, that is fantastic. What about that!”James smiles wryly. He thinks I’m mad. Jenny and Charlotte very kindly took the folio out of its case and carried it upstairs for me to examine more closely. While they were doing so, I did a bit of research. I remembered a reference to a letter Charlotte Brontë had written to a school friend about Shakespeare. By the time Jenny and Charlotte had laid out the folio upstairs, I had found the letter online.Jenny points out that the folio is missing quite a few pages, and doesn’t have any of the Comedies. So I tell them about Charlotte’s letter dated 4 July 1834, to Ellen Nussey. “Ellen was her best friend at school,” Charlotte interjects.“If you like poetry let it be first rate, Milton, Shakespeare, Thomson, Goldsmith, Pope (if you will though I don’t admire him), Scott, Byron, Campbell, Wordsworth and Southey. Now Ellen don’t be startled at the names of Shakespeare, and Byron. Both these were great men and their works are like themselves. You will know how to choose the good and avoid the evil, the finest passages are always the purest, the bad are invariably revolting you will never wish to read them over twice. Omit the comedies of Shakespeare.”Omit the comedies of Shakespeare. And the Skipton copy has no comedies.“Perhaps Charlotte ripped them out,” Jenny laughs.“This just gets better and better,” I say. “Charlotte, you’ve got to get this story out there.”Once we have all calmed down a little, I tell Jenny that despite its now even more fascinating history, I think it might be the grubbiest copy of the First Folio I have ever seen. “Could you not say ‘grubbiest,’” Jenny grins. “Could you perhaps say ‘well-loved’?”The well-thumbed Skipton copy has become one of my very favourite copies of the First Folio, whether or not anyone can prove that the Brontë sisters ever read it.
Earlier this year, Emerald Fennell’s much-maligned, Mills & Boon-coded bonkbuster Wuthering Heights (2026) proved a great litmus test for how both film critics and film-industry tech bros have been failing to read the room. Fennell turned down Netflix’s $150 million distribution offer and its associated Faustian pact which demanded that the film go straight to streaming. Instead, she went for Warner Bros for $70-$80 million, with whom she got her theatrical release. On the day I watched Wuthering Heights in the cinema this February, Variety reported that it had already grossed $151.7 million worldwide against an $80 million production budget. This certainly wasn’t because it had been lauded in the press: the film was widely ripped to shreds by critics. Yet I can assure you that the much younger audience alongside which I saw it didn’t seem to care. It turns out that audiences are not brute forces capable only of liking or disliking, but sensitive instruments that might derive their enjoyment from camp, irony, strangeness, or the purely preposterous. (Sophia Satchell-Baeza)
When Cohen first walks out onstage, she is wide-eyed and holding a candlestick. Before long, she launches into her first song, “By the Sea,” a catchy tune that also helps to explain the Victorian aesthetic of both her costume and the set. (While working with scenic designer Derek McLane, Cohen was variously inspired by Wuthering Heights and images of Gothic palaces and sanatoriums on Pinterest.) “I always wanted to be the main character and the author and the lighthouse,” she tells the audience. (Alex Jhamb Burns)
‘The Chateau on Sunset’ by Natasha Lester“If you must get into trouble, do it at the Marmont,” reads the opening of this gothic novel set at the Chateau Marmont in 1950s Hollywood. It’s hard to imagine getting into good trouble these days at the Chateau — a relic of a bygone era. Thankfully our protagonist, Aria Jones, does it for us. A midcentury reimagining of “Jane Eyre,” the novel captures the feverish glamour and underlying chaos of the studio era, with each character proving more cunning and bewildering than the last. The result is a gothic tale with a distinctly Old Hollywood twist, paying homage to the enduring mystique of the Chateau Marmont. The dialogue is so taut and snappy, you’ll find yourself holding your breath. Madness, cruelty and difficult women are welcome bedfellows at “The Chateau on Sunset.” (Maddie Connors)
“Flirting is a woman’s trade, one must keep in practice.” (Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre)
LaSexta (Spain) posts about Wuthering Heights.
Catherine Friend, The Lost Brontë (Bywater Books, August 18)In this Gothic-inspired novel about love and forgery in Brontë country, young Lilianne Loxley finds herself in service at the large country estate of Lord Bexton. She is devoted to the works of the Brontë sisters and is soon drawn into a conspiracy to write a ‘lost’ novel by Emily Brontë for Lord Bexton, a plot that can make or destroy fortunes. The house is haunted by lemon-scented ghosts and a portrait on the wall has eyes on her. Only the love of a housemaid named Wren disturbs her in a pleasant way. When Lily discovers a surprising connection between the Brontë family and Lord Bexton, she is forced to make dangerous decisions. You don’t have to be a Brontë fan to be drawn into the atmospheric story. (Queer Crime Writer)
Midway through Brontë: The World Without, three sisters clasp one another in what initially appears to be a passionate embrace. Look closer: they are actually wrestling. They chase and tug at one another, fighting over an envelope like rowdy, fussy children. Sibling love may last forever, sibling peace barely a heartbeat.That contradiction is the richest vein in Helen Juvonen’s final production as co-artistic director of Guild Festival Theatre. One of three sisters herself, Juvonen has chosen Jordi Mand’s domestic drama about perhaps the most famous siblings in Victorian literature, the Brontës. The result is an intermittently compelling family portrait that focuses on the fierce quarrels that can run alongside abiding tenderness. (...)One of the play’s most perceptive achievements is its layered portrait of the sisters’ relationship. In the Brontë household, rivalry and self-doubt live side by side — a tension most affecting in Anne. Overshadowed by her sisters and overlooked by critics, she carries the quiet pain of feeling herself the lesser talent. As Emily complains about hostile reviews, Lucia exposes Anne’s hurt with quiet, clear-eyed restraint as she quips in a puff of breath, “That’s better than being forgotten.”Juvonen’s farewell finds the human pulse beneath the literary legend: three women elbowing for room at the same table, set against one of Toronto’s most evocative backdrops. If downtown feels like a page crammed with noise and haste, this destination offers a change of edition. (Alessandro Stracuzzi)
‘Jane Eyre’Lone Star College-Tomball invites community members to attend its musical production of “Jane Eyre,” which tells the story of the governess’s life from childhood through adulthood. Tickets will be available for purchase at the door.Aug. 27-28, 7 p.m.; Aug. 29, 2 p.m and 7 p.m.Ticket prices TBD30555 Tomball Parkway, Tomball
Heather Caliendo: What are some of your favorite novels?MJ Soni: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë: In my debut mystery, The Masala Chai Mystery Club, my protagonist, librarian Neeti Shah, is inspired by Jane Eyre. And that part is autobiographical. I read Jane Eyre when I was about fourteen, and it was life-altering for me. I was surprised at how independent Jane was, and shocked when she refused to marry Rochester when he made an unacceptable proposition to her. It was the first time I learned what true courage and agency really mean.
Her haunting cover of Kate Bush's Yorkshire-inspired Wuthering Heights was another standout moment, made even better when she led a call and response on who could do the spookiest callout to the moors beyond Halifax. (Jess Blissitt)
An AI recommends historical romances in BookClub, including Jane Eyre. Mental Floss list some of the authors included in Ernest Hemingway's personal library, including Emily Brontë. More local newspapers cover Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever events: TopSouth Now, Greenfield Recorder, Great Yarmouth Mercury, Eastern Daily Press. ..
Thursday 9 July, 2026 at 19:00The Bookery, 21 High Street, CreditonThe Bookery is delighted to welcome Amelia Blackwell for an evening of literary mystery and historic intrigue as she discusses her new novel, The Haunting of a Brontë with Devon crime writer Stephanie Austin, promising a lively evening of murder mystery, literary history and the enduring fascination of the Brontës.Tickets £5, ticketholders will receive 15% off purchases of The Haunting of a Brontë on the night.
Via The Moorlander.
A rare first edition of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, together with Anne Brontë’s Agnes Grey, sold earlier this evening in The Exceptional Sale: Masterworks Across Cultures for £1,206,500, setting a new world auction record for Emily Brontë.The result marks the highest price ever achieved at auction for any printed book by a woman, as well as the highest price for any work of 19th-century literature.Regarded as one of the finest surviving examples in private hands, the set remains in its original 1847 publisher’s cloth binding. No other textually complete copy of Wuthering Heights in publisher’s cloth has appeared at auction since 1908.Mark Wiltshire, Specialist, Books & Manuscripts, Christie’s commented, “This is exactly the kind of book collectors dream about but almost never see. A first edition of Wuthering Heights in original cloth is extraordinarily rare. It’s a true survival – and a landmark result for Brontë collecting. It is an honour to have been entrusted with such an exceptional work.”
Sarah West, a volunteer at the site who met the Queen at the time, said: “One of the joys of volunteering at the Brontë Birthplace is meeting fascinating people from all over the world who come to discover where the Brontë story began.“Having the opportunity to meet Her Majesty during her visit was a wonderful experience, and it is fantastic news that she has chosen to become our royal patron.”A group of people stand and watch as the Queen lifts a cloth covering a memorial plaque mounted on an easel in front of the buildingCathy Boyden, the chairman of Brontë Birthplace, said it was an “incredible honour” that the Queen had become its royal patron.She said: “Our first year has been a remarkable journey, made possible by the dedication of volunteers, supporters, members, funders and visitors who believed in the vision of bringing this historic building back to life.“Her Majesty’s patronage is a wonderful endorsement of what has been achieved so far, and gives us great encouragement as we look towards the future.” (Tom McArdle in The Telegraph)
Also on Museums+Heritage.
For 26 years now, local heritage champion Steven Stanworth has been celebrating the area’s Brontë legacy. Since the turn of the millennium, the now 70-year-old has dedicated countless hours of his time to restoring and promoting the Bell Chapel and, with fellow Bradfordian the broadcaster Christa Ackroyd, also created a Brontë exhibition at St James’ Church in the village, which includes the font at which five of the Brontë children were baptised.Formerly involved in both the Brontë Birthplace Trust and Brontë Birthplace Ltd, Stanworth has also helped to shape a lasting celebration of Thornton’s place in the Brontë story at what was once the family home on Market Street.Next month, he’ll give a talk there about his Brontë journey, one of a number of Bradford-born or based speakers taking centre stage at this year’s Bradford Literature Festival to reflect the city’s rich literary and cultural landscape. (...)Stanworth’s involvement with the Brontë story began in 2000, whilst a church warden for Thornton’s St James’ Church, opposite the ruin of the Bell Chapel. After spotting two people tending to graves in what was its rather overgrown graveyard at the time, he got together a working group to tidy the place up and clear it from weeds and brambles.“I didn't realise how big the site was, or what its historical significance was at the time,” he reflects. “But people kept turning up and saying ‘you do realise this is where Patrick Brontë was the minister and five of the six children were christened in this place?’ I didn't at that time but I started to research it...And lo and behold there we are with this unique selling point for Thornton that had been left to go to rack and ruin.“So I really wanted to set about making this place known to people. Brontë fans come from all over the world to Haworth but they very rarely came to Thornton. This seemed wrong, you know, this is the birthplace of the children. These are three of the world's greatest, well-known authors and they should be celebrated in the place where they were born. I thought it's time to put Thornton on the map.”Fast-forward to 2012 and Stanworth took a leading role in The Brontë Birthplace Trust, which was established to raise funds to purchase the house where the family previously lived. “But unfortunately we didn't have enough time to get the money together and buy it,” he recalls.It was a lot of work and Stanworth, who retired as an engineer for Northern Powergrid six years ago, was reluctant at first to get involved in a second opportunity a decade later.But he did in fact become a key part of a group of heritage campaigners who stepped in to buy the Grade II-Listed house and convert it into a visitor attraction. After being lovingly restored to reflect both its historic character and contemporary charm, the building opened to the public as Brontë Birthplace last year and was paid a royal visit by Queen Camilla.More than £650,000 was raised to bring the site back to life, with money from more than 700 individual investors, together with grants from Bradford City of Culture 2025, the Community Ownership Fund, National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Rural England Prosperity Fund, contributing to the purchase. The house now runs as a museum, cafe and education centre with facilities for overnight stays."I think you have to celebrate people where they were born,” reflects Stanworth, who last year released the book Birthplace of Dreams, with photographer Mark Davis, to champion the Brontë heritage in Thornton. “Famous people from your town inspire other people. I want children in particular to be inspired because these girls lived in a humble terrace house and they became world famous and are still famous 200 years later. That’s aspirational.” (Laura Reid)
What would happen if Georgiana, younger sister of Pride and Prejudice’s swoonworthy hero Fitzwilliam Darcy, met Branwell, the troubled only brother of the famous Brontë sisters, shining stars of the 19th century literary firmament? (...)Georgiana finds herself in 1845, only forty-six years in the future, and at gloomy Thorp Green Hall in Yorkshire. It’s the home of the ageing Reverend Robinson and his decades younger wife… and also the place where Branwell and Anne Brontë are employed as the children’s tutor and governess.Mistaken for the eldest and troublesome daughter Lydia’s ‘special companion,’ Georgiana settles in but anticipates she has been drawn to Thorp Green Hall for a reason… to investigate another murder. However, even before she discovers the cook’s father dead on a chopping block, Georgiana finds herself entangled in a web of passion, deception, and danger centred on the eccentric, haunted Branwell.It seems Branwell is engaged in a perilous affair with Mrs Robinson and experiencing a series of sinister omens and terrifying encounters. As Georgiana uncovers the secrets of the house, and learns more about the origins of her time-travelling, she must find the killer and save the Brontë siblings from an evil plot… thus preventing, of course, a most terrible loss to future readers everywhere.Blackwell’s ingenious blend of crime, time travel, all things Austen-esque, and now the Brontë siblings, delivers an atmospheric murder mystery while allowing readers a fresh and fun perspective on much-loved fictional Austen characters, and a glimpse into the real lives of characters like Anne, youngest of the famous sisters, and the tragic Branwell whose turbulent, alcohol-addicted life ended at the early age of 31. (Pam Norfolk)
What makes Jane Eyre still relevant today? That was a question very much on my mind when I was writing my own Jane Eyre reimagining, 4 Janes, which traces the parallel lives of one soul searching for meaning, connection and a place to belong.For a character self-described as small, plain and poor, Jane remains larger than life. Is it because of her independence, her intelligence, her endurance, her moral courage? These are admirable traits, but perhaps what makes Jane most relatable is her desire for more, for a bigger life. Jane wants love — who doesn’t — but she will not compromise herself for it. No wonder readers can’t get enough of Jane Eyre.The roundup below brings together new and earlier reimaginings of Jane’s story. Each uniquely picks up and elaborates upon an important theme in Jane Eyre. Altogether, these retellings are a testament to Jane Eyre as an enduring source of inspiration for both readers and writers.
As previously announced, Charlie Burn (Mean Girls, Savoy Theatre, Les Misérables, UK and Ireland tour) will take on the title role opposite Ashley Gilmour (Miss Saigon, West End/UK and international tour, Evita, Curve) as Rochester.They will be joined by Claire Greenway (Abbot/Grace Poole), Melad Hamidi (St John/Lord Ingram), Connor Wood (John Reed/Vicar), Jonathan Andrew Hume (Brocklehurst/Mason), Izzi Levine (Agnes/Leah/Jane’s Mother/Mary Ingram), Hannah Lindsey (Scatcherd/Bertha Mason), Isabelle Methven (Helen Burns/Bessie), Gemma Page (Reed/Fairfax), Eve Shanu-Wilson (Blanche/Sophie), Poppy Jason (Young Jane/Adele) and Emily-Rose Samuel (Young Jane/Adele).Co-directed by RSC and National Theatre director John Caird (Les Misérables, Spirited Away) and Broadway star Megan McGinnis (Beauty and the Beast, Little Women, Beetlejuice), Caird and Paul Gordon’s musical reimagining of the classic novel will play a strictly limited season at the south London venue from 28 August to 24 October.Commenting on the London premiere of the musical which was first seen in Canada in 1996, Caird said: “I’m so pleased to have the opportunity to explore a new version of Jane Eyre in the beautifully intimate Southwark Playhouse Elephant. It’s always a pleasure to work on this timeless romance but all the more exciting to be collaborating with the brilliant and innovative Megan McGinnis as co-director.”Co-creator Gordon added: “I’m beyond thrilled to finally bring the musical of Jane Eyre to the UK. Charlotte Brontë’s masterpiece is not only a landmark portrayal of a strong female protagonist, but a story that sends audiences out of the theatre feeling better about their own lives than when they walked in.” (Angela Thomas)
It seems Emerald Fennell is at it again, riding on the high from her very successful Saltburn, she has reprised her trusty Jacob Elordi to take a stab at adapting Wuthering Heights into a glossy, shock-value-heavy, erotic reimagining.When the trailer for her adaptation dropped, it seemed she had a very different vision to the gothic classic than people were expecting. A vision of a whitewashed Heathcliff with a horrendous Yorkshire accent, a bleach blonde Catherine Earnshaw sticking her fingers into Elordi’s mouth and a Charlie XCX soundtrack thundering across the windy moors.To put it simply, she has taken a classic story rooted in racism, classism and generational trauma and reduced it to a ‘dark erotic romance’ created simply for aesthetics.The most glaring controversy of Fennel’s adaptation is her casting choice, once again she has casted Jacob Elordi as her main lead. Talk about beating a dead horse. This casting choice has not only made the film terribly unexciting and overdone but has also stripped away the core plot of the entire novel. (Kate Koles)
Fennell’s storytelling style and directorial instinct tend towards overstatement and hyperbole which in some sense is appropriate for a story that has such huge emotional highs and lows. Robbie and Elordi are equal to those and portray them well enough, but it is a shame that as empathetic and nuanced actors they are not given much of an opportunity to develop or explore their characters and the dynamic between them beyond the two-dimensional. Where the film scores highly is in the beautiful cinematography from Linus Sandgren and the luminous depiction of the Yorkshire landscape, the soundtrack featuring specially written songs from Charli XCX and the stunning production design and costumes. It is undoubtedly a visual feast. (Yvette Huddlestone)
Haworth - Nestled within West Yorkshire's Worth Valley, Haworth is closely associated with the literary legacy of the Brontë sisters. Their novels remain deeply linked to the surrounding moorland landscapes and the village where much of their lives unfolded.The steep main street climbs through the centre of Haworth, passing stone-built shops, tearooms and historic buildings. The atmosphere feels distinctly different from larger market towns, with much of the village retaining its nineteenth-century appearance.Literary visitors often head to the Brontë Parsonage Museum, housed within the family's former home. Nearby, St Michael and All Angels Church remains an important part of the village's history and contains the Brontë family vault.
The more you beat me, I will fawn on you: Use me but as your spaniel, spurn me, strike me, Neglect me, lose me), delivered on all fours with a ribbon-tied ponytail, is an intentional homage to Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights Isabella, but there are certainly likenesses. (Anna Moloney)
Cime Tempestose, analisi critica e socio-psicologica del potente e immortale capolavoro della scrittrice Emily BrontëL’apparente monoliticità dell'opera nasconde in realtà una struttura mineraliforme di vettori culturali e concettuali, che Brontë edifica per manomettere, dall'interno, i canoni estetici e morali della sua epoca. (Massimo Triolo)
by Amelia BlackwellMacmillanISBN: 9781035054145June 2026Georgina Darcy travels through time to save the Brontës from a killer in The Haunting of a Brontë, a wildly amusing cosy crime adventure from Amelia Blackwell, author of A Crime Through Time.Pemberley, 1799.Like many a Regency heroine, Georgiana Darcy is pining for the man she loves. The difference being, her lover is in 1995, while she has been left behind in 1799 waiting for the mysterious device that transports her through time to re-activate.Thorp Green Hall, 1845.But when her Motorola pager finally comes back to life, Georgiana finds herself transported only forty-six years into the future to gloomy Thorp Green Hall, where Branwell and Anne Brontë are the tutor and governess.Georgiana assumes she will soon come across a murder to investigate, but even before she discovers the cook’s father dead on a chopping block, she finds herself entangled in a web of passion, deception, and danger centred on the eccentric Branwell Brontë.Branwell is engaged in a perilous affair with the mistress of the house and experiences a series of sinister omens and terrifying encounters. As Georgiana uncovers the mysteries of Thorp Green Hall, and learns more about the origins of her time-travelling capabilities, she must find the killer and save the Brontë siblings from an evil plot to prevent a most terrible loss to readers everywhere . . .The second entertaining entry in the Miss Darcy Investigates series of timeslip mysteries. Start here, or go back to the beginning with A Crime Through Time.
Bella Swan lee 'Cumbres borrascosas', de Emily BrontëLa tímida e introvertida Bella Swan, protagonista de la saga Crepúsculo, fue vista leyendo 'Cumbres borrascosas'. La novela de Emily Brontë es un clásico de la literatura romántica, pero también una historia intensa, oscura y marcada por relaciones emocionales extremas. Justo lo que a ella le va a ocurrir en determinado momento con Edward.Bella no es una protagonista convencional: es introspectiva, emocional y profundamente entregada. Su conexión con 'Cumbres Borrascosas' refleja su tendencia a idealizar el amor absoluto, incluso cuando este implica sufrimiento o sacrificio. Al igual que Catherine, Bella está dispuesta a todo por ese vínculo que considera irrompible.'Jane Eyre', de Charlotte BrontëRachel Green lee 'Jane Eyre', de Charlotte BrontëLa novela de Charlotte Brontë es un relato de independencia femenina. Jane es una mujer que lucha por construir su propia identidad, tomar decisiones por sí misma y no depender de las expectativas sociales o de los hombres que la rodean.Esto tiene un claro paralelismo con Rachel. Al inicio de la serie, depende completamente de su entorno -especialmente en lo económico y emocional-, pero poco a poco construye una carrera, toma decisiones propias y redefine quién quiere ser. (Melissa González) (Translation)
There’s Helen in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë, who flees her husband to protect their son from his drunken ways; (Harley Freeman)
On Thursday, July 9, the focus shifts to The Bookery, with Amelia Blackwell bringing a lively blend of literary history and mystery with The Haunting of a Brontë. In conversation with Devon crime writer Stephanie Austin, this promises an engaging evening of humour, intrigue and gothic atmosphere, inspired by the enduring fascination of the Brontë sisters.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte BrontëLiterary observers have often connected Swift's song Mad Woman to themes found in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. The song's exploration of female anger, perception, and social judgment echoes ideas that appear throughout the classic novel. The connection becomes particularly striking through the character of Bertha Mason, the woman hidden away in Mr. Rochester's attic, whose story has long been discussed as a symbol of female suppression and misunderstood rage.
Wuthering Heights is, possibly, a good movie. To some, I believe it can be an enjoyable movie. It was not for me. Still, the costuming is avant-garde and fun, the cinematography is breathtaking, and the performances are captivating—none of these things can be taken away from the film because some bits made the audience squirm. However, Wuthering Heights, as directed by Emerald Fennell, fails to be an effective adaptation.Before much promotion was released about the film, it drew considerable controversy when Jacob Elordi was cast as Heathcliff, a main character. This drew significant criticism, largely from those familiar with the original book, as Heathcliff is a person of color in Brontë’s book. No character ever says, point blank, “Heathcliff, I hate you because you are a person of color.” It’s demanded by the plot and by Brontë for the reader to be aware that the young ward’s dubious birth and lack of capital aren’t helped by him being described as “dark-skinned” or “as dark almost as if it came from the devil.” The prejudice he faces becomes the catalyst for the abuse inflicted on him. It’s why he becomes monstrous in character: he has had otherness forced upon him. (...)Wuthering Heights (2026) explores themes of desire, obsession, self-destruction and love—no one will deny that. But even with CharliXCX on the soundtrack, it’s a hollow figurine of the original novel. Brontë’s work has inspired dozens of adaptations and will surely inspire dozens more, but there is a reason why audience members continue to gravitate to that story. Emerald Fennell’s work will not go down in history as worthless; the costuming and overt sexuality will likely delegate it to the realm of camp. But it will not be considered an accurate reflection of the 1847 novel. (Isabe, Papp)
Con este último protagonizó en 1992 una de las adaptaciones más recordadas de 'Cumbres borrascosas', basada en la novela de Emily Brontë. Mucho antes de que la nueva versión protagonizada por Jacob Elordi y Margot Robbie despertara la curiosidad del público, Binoche y Fiennes dieron vida a Catherine Earnshaw y Heathcliff en una película que destacó por la intensidad en las emociones de sus protagonistas y por una química que traspasaba la pantalla. En una época en la que las adaptaciones literarias de gran presupuesto no eran tan habituales como lo son hoy, aquella producción sorprendió por la pasión de sus protagonistas y por una visión especialmente oscura y romántica de la obra. (Álvaro Alonso De La Fuente) (Translation)
Thu 4 Jun, 6:30pmBrontë Event Space at the Old School RoomThis Dark Night: The Life of Emily Brontë – a rare event with globally renowned scholar, author and Emily Brontë expert Deborah LutzCome along for your chance to meet the globally renowned Emily Brontë expert Deborah Lutz and be among the first to hear her speak about her just released book This Dark Night: The Life of Emily Brontë (publishing 28th May and available to buy from the Museum shop).The first full biography of Emily Brontë in over two decades,This Dark Night is unique, eye-opening and offers a fresh take on her short but momentous life.In this event, Deborah Lutz will take you inside the world of Emily’s irrepressible spirit and wild imagination like never before. Deborah will be in discussion with Yvette Huddleston offering illuminating readings of Emily’s poems and a greater understanding of the politics and events of the era, as well as the delights and tragedies of family life that Lutz shows directly inspired much of Emily and her sisters’ writing in her book.
Fans of period dramas - particularly those inspired by the brilliant Brontë sisters - are in for a real treat, as there's a little-known film being praised as the 'most authentic and real' portrayal of their lives.Available to stream at no charge on BBC iPlayer, this underappreciated treasure has received rave reviews from all corners, with audiences left captivated by how accurate and genuine the narrative and its settings appear.The majority of the film's shooting occurred on location in Haworth, West Yorkshire (where the sisters actually spent their childhood), and a three-storey, wooden life-size recreation of the Brontë Parsonage and its rooms was built with meticulous precision on Penistone Hill in Penistone Country Park, relatively near to the actual building's site.To Walk Invisible initially aired in the UK on BBC One in December 2016 and in the US on PBS as part of the broadcaster's Masterpiece series in March 2017. Since its transmission, the film has received outstanding reviews, though it has remained somewhat of a hidden and underrated treasure. [...]The drama's title derives from a letter that Charlotte Brontë penned to her publisher about an encounter with a clergyman who failed to recognise that she was the renowned Currer Bell.Charlotte believed it served her and her sisters well that they remained unknown, as she expressed in her correspondence: "What author would be without the advantage of being able to walk invisible?" (Parul Sharma)
The Chateau on Sunset by Natasha LesterNatasha Lester returns with another sweeping historical novel, blending Old Hollywood glamour with literary intrigue. Moving between continents and timelines, the story draws inspiration from Jane Eyre while carving out its own identity through strong, determined female characters navigating ambition, secrecy and reinvention. Lester’s strength lies in her ability to balance historical detail with emotional storytelling, and here she builds a world that feels both immersive and accessible. There is enough drama to keep the pages turning, but also a deeper exploration of identity and legacy that lingers long after the story ends. (Emily Darlow)
There is a meme circling online asking whether you’re an Emily Brontë or a Charlotte Brontë person. Every thirteen-year-old girl must decide, according to the post, with the implication that the way you answer that question at thirteen will determine the rest of your life. I was a Charlotte person, unambiguously. Charlotte’s world made sense to me in the way I needed the world to make sense at that age, offering self-respect, moral clarity, and—most importantly for my teenage self—a love story that felt earned. Jane Eyre taught me that suffering could be metabolized into dignity, that integrity was its own reward. I found Emily’s novel disturbing in a way I couldn’t quite name and kept my distance from it for years. Decades, really.Emerald Fennell’s new film adaptation has brought Wuthering Heights back into the conversation, and I suspect a lot of people are returning to Emily Brontë right now, or encountering her for the first time. Before you see it—or alongside it, or instead of it, depending on your disposition—I’d recommend picking up Karen Powell’s 2023 novel Fifteen Wild Decembers. It is the best preparation I know for that encounter, because far from softening Emily’s brutal vision or making Wuthering Heights more palatable, it offers something I didn’t have as a young reader: the context of what Emily Brontë was actually writing about, and why.Powell’s novel is narrated in Emily’s voice, and centers her role as primary caretaker for her brother Branwell during the years she was writing Wuthering Heights. Branwell Brontë—once the family’s great hope, the son on whom all expectations rested—spent those years in a spiral of alcohol and laudanum addiction, humiliated by a failed love affair with a married employer, cycling through rages and remorse, through binges and vows of sobriety that lasted until they didn’t. He died in September 1848, just months after Emily’s novel was published. She followed him that December.What Powell renders so precisely is the dailiness of that care. Emily hauling Branwell home from drinking, supporting what she drily describes as “two grown men up the stairs, one half-blind, the other incapable”—her father, whose eyesight was failing, and her brother, who could barely stand. Emily scrubbing a soiled rug in the back kitchen the morning after, while Charlotte’s voice comes at her “sour as an underripe plum,” asking why she can’t make Branwell clean up after himself. The landlord at the inn, looking doubtfully at Emily as Branwell is shouldered to the door, shirt half-untucked, one sleeve of his coat hanging empty: You’ll manage? And Emily managing, as she always does, turning him in the right direction and tacking their way home.These scenes are not dramatic in any conventional sense. They are repetitive by design, because that is what this kind of caregiving actually is—the same crisis with minor variations, the same hope extinguished in roughly the same way, the same morning after. Powell understands that the accumulation of these moments is itself a form of knowledge, and that Emily was accumulating it in real time while writing one of the strangest novels in the English language. (Ellen O'Connell Whittet)
The writer who changed my mindDuring the long summer between GCSEs and A-levels, reading felt, for the first time, like work. I trudged through Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, resenting the densely worded pages and Jane’s interminable stay at Lowood. But in class, when we began to analyse it chapter by chapter, it came alive for me. I think that was the year I started to notice the craftsmanship in how something was written.
This year’s spring play is doing more than just retelling a story.In Bearden’s production of Jane Eyre, Jane is followed from early childhood to late adolescence. Bearden theatre will portray this development through the use of two actors. This play showcases a unique collaboration between Jane as a child and Jane as she ages into adulthood to seamlessly portray one character across different points in time.Junior McKenna Webb (young Jane) and senior Caroline Alley (young adult Jane) have taken on the roles of the same character at different times in life, mainly focusing on matching each other’s mannerisms and personalities to create a smooth transition after the shift in age.“I just kind of watch what Caroline does and see how she moves in her facial expressions and what I can do to enhance that even more because young Jane is just a more vibrant version of older Jane,” Webb said.Webb describes young Jane as relentless, shaped by the hardships during her childhood and school highlighting the character’s emotional intensity and raw honesty.Alley uses this to build on to the foundation of young Jane with a more controlled and reflective version of the character.“She still speaks her mind, but more respectfully,” Alley said.This shift in mannerisms reflects Jane’s growth and maturation, especially after learning about forgiveness and restraint from formative role models in her life.Despite the differences between the two versions of this character, both Webb and Alley worked to maintain a clear connection between the portrayals of Jane. This was accomplished by studying shared traits such as intelligence, isolation, and emotional depth that remains consistent between them throughout the play.Director Ms. Katie Alley underscores the importance of their connection and partnership to the storytelling of the production.“They will want to have some similar mannerisms and make sure their dialect is similar,” she said.Through the careful work and observation of Jane and her journey, Webb and Alley are able to create a unified character and performance throughout the play. This collaboration between the two actresses highlights both their individual talents while also using their strong teamwork skills in bringing this complex character to life. (Kaelyn Martinez)
But the Yorkshire described in The Secret Garden, [biographer Ann Thwaite] says, is "the Yorkshire of her imagination and the Yorkshire inspired by the Brontës"."Frances Hodgson Burnett had certainly read both Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights and indeed probably all the Brontë novels," she says. (Seb Cheer)
by Emiliano VitaliISBN-13: 979-82773301112025
LA REGINA DI GONDAL: A PHANTASY SAGA BY EMILY BRONTËA review by Maddalena De LeoAn absolute first in the Brontë field comes from author Emiliano Vitali, who has reconstructed with meticulous care and detailed information the Gondal saga, conceived by Emily Brontë in collaboration with her sister Anne, initially in adolescence and then continued by her alone throughout her life. Together, the two created a world of fantasy and adventure to contrast with that of their older siblings Charlotte and Branwell (the Angria series), drawing inspiration from two imaginary islands located in the north Pacific Ocean, one called Gondal and the other, smaller, called Gaaldine, a colony of the former and a still unexplored land. On these desolate and wild islands, the two sisters imagined a succession of bloody wars and extreme passions, tormented love affairs and terrible revenge.Until now, only the many poems and various fragments of Emily Brontë's so-called "Gondal Cycle" were known, as the prose version, perhaps destroyed during the author's lifetime, had never been available. Consequently, reconstructing the cycle's plot and its saga solely from the poems has always been a difficult and ambitious undertaking, as logically organizing the adventures of the various characters who populate it has challenged the skills of Brontë scholars and experts for over a century. The only attempt was made in 1955 by Fannie E. Ratchford with her’ Gondal's Queen: A Novel in Verse’, an essay that reconstructed, in narrative form and in sequence, a possible plot that could serve as a common thread throughout the poems. The perfectly credible essay has been the primary source of information for this hypothetical reconstruction to date, where battles, kings and queens, victories and defeats follow one another around a single central character, the Queen of Gondal, called A.G.A. by Emily Brontë, and whose full name appears as Augusta Geraldine Almeda.The reworking that Emiliano Vitali proposed to us at the end of 2025 is a novel inspired by Emily Brontë's poetic saga, titled The Queen of Gondal, subtitled "A Song of Dark Times." It is all the more compelling because it channels the "gothic fantasy" genre, which has become immensely popular among young readers in recent decades following the success of writers like J.R.R. Tolkien and J.K. Rowling. With subtle wit, the author manages to fit the many characters and moments present in Brontë's Gondalian poems into their proper place within the supposed plot, incorporating dialogue and verses from them through painstaking research similar to the interlocking of a jigsaw puzzle. All this is imbued with a cryptic and mysterious atmosphere that perfectly matches the lyrical passion Emily intentionally desired. This technique, besides making the narrative much more fluid and credible, above all helps to create a sense of empathy in the reader with what is being told. It also stimulates their curiosity to continue reading to discover the protagonists' subsequent adventures. The overall result is more innovative and captivating than Ratchford's book, which, only in prose form, enumerated the various battles and events of the Gondal cycle.The undisputed protagonist of the entire novel, and therefore of the cycle, is Queen Augusta Almeda. Raised alone and orphaned from birth, she continually moves from island to island, initially to be with the love of her life, Julius Brenzaida, who died prematurely, and later to pursue power and establish her undisputed sovereignty over the kingdom of Gondal. What emerges from the verses and dialogues skillfully adapted from Brontë's poems is the capricious and authoritarian nature of the protagonist, a fickle and domineering young woman who more than ever recalls the basic characteristics of the future Catherine Earnshaw. Obsessed by a love that transcends time, Augusta is also the victim of powerful hatred and a vengeance that will ultimately lead to her death. As author Vitali rightly notes in the afterword, the world of Gondal "pulses with the dark, gothic, and incandescent substance of Emily Brontë's genius: passion that destroys and redeems, nature as a mirror and nemesis of the soul, destiny as an inexorable force," all themes that will later recur in her great novel, ‘Wuthering Heights’.Special mention should be made of the attention to detail in the illustrations that introduce the book's various sections and also appear at the beginning of the various chapters. The particularly evocative cover, depicting the Queen of Gondal advancing toward the Celtic cross beneath which her beloved rests, immediately evokes the surreal and mystical atmosphere of the moors, which as never before has a privileged place in the Gondal saga.In conclusion, an original work worthy of praise and great success, a perfectly accomplished attempt at "literary architecture."
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by Emiliano VitaliISBN-13 : 979-82698726672025A visionary novel inspired by Emily Brontë’s secret poetic universe — now revealed for the first time.Years before the publication of Wuthering Heights, a young Emily Brontë, together with her sister Anne, imagined a dark and windswept paracosm: Gondal, a northern kingdom torn by war, betrayal, and fierce passions — alongside Gaaldine, its exotic and turbulent colony.At the heart of this gothic fantasy stand Augusta Geraldine Almeda, a fiery and indomitable queen, and Julius Brenzaida, a tormented antihero. Bound by desire, infidelity, and revenge, they echo the tragic intensity of Catherine and Heathcliff.Emily’s poetic manuscripts — long unpublished — sing of stormy seas, dark dungeons, and harrowing conflicts. Beneath their evocative power lies the submerged thread of an epic and unfinished saga, now reconstructed in novel form.The Queen of Gondal transforms those fragmented verses into a novel of epic and tragic resonance, breathing life into Brontë’s poetic visions, anticipating not only the gothic and tormented atmosphere of Wuthering Heights, but, with striking modernity, the settings and themes of contemporary fantasy.
There is also an Intalian spoken language.
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by Nicola FriarASIN: B0FY3XLBLN (ebook)October 2025On a bleak midwinter’s night, author Clara Redfern sits amid the wreckage of her unfinished stories with only silence and self-doubt for company. But when the shadows stir, from the darkness step the ghosts of the Brontë siblings, each bearing a lesson from beyond the grave. Drawn into visions of past, present, and future, Clara must confront her fears as the spirits attempt to show her the power of her words — and the price of letting them fade.Shadows of the Sisters: A Midwinter Haunting is a gothic tale of inspiration, regret, and the spirits that dwell in every writer’s heart.
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Thursday 27 November 2025 at 6:30PMHoughton Library, 74 Newbottle Street. Houghton-le-SpringCulture House Sunderland is delighted to host a conversation with author Karen Powell about her fascinating historical novel, Fifteen Wild Decembers.Karen is an author living in North Yorkshire. She read English Literature at Cambridge University as a mature student and now writes full-time. She is currently working on a new novel set in Italy.Fifteen Wild Decembers is a creative re-imagining of the short life of Emily Brontë, one of England’s greatest writers.Isolated from society, the Brontë children spend all their time inventing elaborate fictional realms or roaming the wild moors above their family home in Yorkshire. Emily appears taciturn and unexceptional; but beneath the surface her mind is in a creative ferment, ready to burst forth to create a masterpiece that will change the literary world forever.
Throughout the making of [her latest record] Scream, Welch says she channelled Mary Shelley and the Brontë sisters through the lens of nineties cult classics such as The Craft and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. “I wanted to build a world where these contrasting [references] could co-exist – Georgian and grunge, all at once.” (Elio Iannacci)
Whilst the film release date was my kick up the backside to finally get through part one, Wuthering Heights has sat on my bookshelf since I was seventeen, because I could never get through the jungle of words I’d never heard in my life in the first chapters. That, and there was no romance at all, fully convincing me of the stereotype that Victorian books really are just people going to each other’s houses. However, once I got through a very lengthy set-up, I found one of my new favourite books.Wuthering Heights focuses on two young people in the Victorian Yorkshire moors who fall in love. Aw. But they’re both a bit too into each other to the point that it’s unhealthy, and this negatively impacts everyone around them, reaching levels of loved-up so drastic that they destroy their small community and make them act in truly questionable ways.The book contains romance, but calling it a romance book isn’t an accurate description (at least not a healthy one). Obsession, motivated by genuine romantic feelings, drives the plot, but what happens is not romantic. And this isn’t in an ultra-woke, feminists ruin everything way, because what some people do in this book is genuine freak behaviour, both today and in the Victorian era. This pair are critically judged by their peers. But regardless, it’s incredibly intense, and isn’t that what we all want anyway? But I fear that the adaptation, due out this Valentine’s Day, hasn’t interpreted this intensity correctly.I picked up Wuthering Heights expecting a slow-burning if not slightly tragic love story about two people in the Victorian era who have to hide their love, a la Romeo and Juliet for goths. It was not that.It was still absolutely fantastic, but if Emerald Fennel plans on keeping the film true to the book, this is maybe not the Valentine’s date for relatively new couples, to the point I think it’s a bit twisted that the release date is the 14th.Saying that, it’s a twisted book and could make for a sick film, so if this is revelling in itself? I think it works. But please, please, please don’t go in expecting a heartwarming story. This was Normal People for Victorian freaks.Not to rain on everyone’s parade, but Emily Brontë would not want her gothic novel’s adaptation to be released on Valentine’s, starring two white, very beautiful actors, and advertised by a trailer focusing on how hot they are for each other.I can’t write off that Catherine was thinking the way Margot Robbie portrays her to be thinking at the start of the trailer, but Brontë never actually comes out and says that. If anything, Catherine can seem quite aloof from time to time, but I digress.We’re doing ourselves an injustice if we’re only focused on their obsession in and of itself. The plot and drama of Wuthering Heights come in the form of the consequences of this obsession, so not only does a hyperfixation on romance significantly dilute the story, but it would rob the audience entirely of moments that left me audibly gasping and throwing my copy across the room. Cathy and Heathcliff do not exist in a vacuum, yet they seem to think that they do. The trailer seems to show what they think is happening in their minds, but that doesn’t make it true.Speaking of inaccuracy, I need to beat a dead horse here in terms of online discourse about the film’s casting. Heathcliff is not a white man. This isn’t a coincidence; it’s central to his character.Heathcliff is an orphan, taken in by a wealthier man, and described as a “gipsy”, with one character speculating if his father “was Emperor of China, and your mother an Indian queen”. We don’t know much, but we know that he’s destitute and at the mercy of the wealthy folk around him. Not only is there a class power dynamic, but a racial one, as Heathcliff’s “inferiority” to his environment is visible. Characters are racist towards him, he’s called a “ruffian”, and Heathcliff’s “moodiness” or whatever you want to call it, comes from this.He’s not so shallow as not to have a source for his chronic anger. Without the class barrier, which comes from the racial power dynamic, Heathcliff is reduced to a Wattpad boyfriend stereotype. Hence, with no disrespect to Jacob Elordi, this role was not exactly made for him. (Jess Urquhart)
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09/30/2025 - 7:00pmBook Culture. 536 W 112th St, New York, NY 10025Join us Tuesday, September 30th at 7pm for a reading and celebration for the release of The Man in the Stone Cottage with the a uthor, Stephanie Cowell.In order to facilitate this in-person author event, we will be partially closing the second floor starting at 6:45pm. Please review our Safety guidelines and register for the event using the link below.In 1846 Yorkshire, the Brontë sisters—Charlotte, Anne, and Emily—navigate precarious lives marked by heartbreak and struggle. Charlotte faces rejection from the man she loves, while their blind father and troubled brother add to their burdens. Despite their immense talent, no one will publish their poetry or novels. Amidst this turmoil, Emily encounters a charming shepherd during her solitary walks on the moors, yet he remains unseen by anyone else.After Emily’s untimely death, Charlotte—now a successful author with Jane Eyre—stumbles upon hidden letters and a mysterious map. As she stands on the brink of her own marriage, Charlotte is determined to uncover the truth about her sister’s secret relationship.The Man in the Stone Cottage is a poignant exploration of sisterly bonds and the complexities of perception, asking whether what feels real to one person can truly be real to another.
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by Stephanie CowellRegal House PublishingISBN: 9781646036240September 16, 2025In 1846 Yorkshire, the Brontë sisters—Charlotte, Anne, and Emily—navigate precarious lives marked by heartbreak and struggle. Charlotte faces rejection from the man she loves, while their blind father and troubled brother add to their burdens. Despite their immense talent, no one will publish their poetry or novels. Amidst this turmoil, Emily encounters a charming shepherd during her solitary walks on the moors, yet he remains unseen by anyone else.After Emily’s untimely death, Charlotte—now a successful author with Jane Eyre—stumbles upon hidden letters and a mysterious map. As she stands on the brink of her own marriage, Charlotte is determined to uncover the truth about her sister’s secret relationship.The Man in the Stone Cottage is a poignant exploration of sisterly bonds and the complexities of perception, asking whether what feels real to one person can truly be real to another.
Several reviews are available, most of them quite positive: Toby A. Smith, Pickled Limes, Library Journal, Layered Pages, A Shropshire Reader...
5. Emily (2022)Before Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi’s Wuthering Heights hits screens, check out Emily, a haunting portrait of author Emily Brontë herself. Emma Mackey shines in this part-fictionalised drama, which critics called “spectacular” and “spellbinding.” With an 87% Rotten Tomatoes score, it’s gothic brilliance at its finest. (Holly Fleet)
Jane Eyre (2011)This adaptation of the literary classic stars Mia Wasikowska as the eponymous orphan, who becomes a governess in the household of the wealthy and mysterious Mr. Edward Rochester (Michael Fassbender).Dealing with some of the same themes of class disparity and forbidden love, Jane Eyre takes place in an earlier historical period (the 1810s), but features similarly stunning costume design and melodrama. Wasikowska’s portrayal of Jane’s quiet dignity is pitch-perfect, making this film one of our favorite literary adaptations. (Sophie Hessekiel)
From Yoshishige Yoshida to Kate Bush to Emerald Fennell, Wuthering Heights has inspired adaptations across time, medium, and culture. The central couple, Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, are the heart of the story. Widely regarded as one of the greatest books of all time, it’s no mere romance. Told from the perspective of Nelly, a second generation servant in the Earnshaw household, Wuthering Heights examines gender, class, cycles of abuse, and desire itself. It’s no small thing to put it all on screen.Too often, Catherine – Cathy – is more of a ghost on screen than the Cathy on the page. Where Cathy haunts the narrative of any version, adaptations tend to make her overly light-hearted to prove Heathcliff’s darker nature (Juliette Binoche, Wuthering Heights, 1992) or reduce her to an opaque, aesthetic ideal that moves like a ghost while she’s still alive (Kaya Scodelario, Wuthering Heights, 2011). But PBS Masterpiece Theatre’s Wuthering Heights casts Charlotte Riley in a truly complex portrayal. [...]A crucial part of this is in how it embraces sensuality. The adaptation adds steamier scenes on the moors that are only loosely implied in Brontë’s romantic descriptions, but you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who would deny that sex is part of the wildness explored in the book’s themes. Most adaptations ignore this. In 1992’s Wuthering Heights, kisses are primarily reserved for Cathy’s deathbed. In Andrea Arnold’s 2011 film, Heathcliff assaults Cathy when they’re still children, a particularly severe interpretation of their relationship and the themes of sadomasochism throughout the novel.Riley and Hardy's chemistry is primarily playful. Even without explicit scenes on the moors, it’s clear these are two people who want to be affectionate with one another. When they are loving, it’s often at Cathy’s initiation. She’s not just there to soothe Heathcliff – she’s hungry for him. Teasing him until he grabs her, taking his hand, pressing into him, tracing his face, this all communicates that she isn’t just comfortable with Heathcliff. She enjoys physically being with him. More than just expanding the moor's representation of wildness, the added sexuality in Giedroyc’s version further solidifies Cathy as Heathcliff’s mirror. She’s as sensual, dark, and doomed as he is, and her recklessness is often demonstrated through these sensual desires. For Cathy and Heathcliff, a sexual connection becomes another way that they reject the gentility of Victorian society and choose one another. In the film, the corrupting nature of class and hierarchy is seen and felt in these physical expressions.Despite literally haunting the narrative, Cathy is alive more than she is dead in PBS Masterpiece Theatre’s Wuthering Heights. It’s a rare adaptation that shows that Wuthering Heights was a hostile environment before Heathcliff ever came along, and even before her father’s death. Instead of making Cathy an unrealistic exception to her family’s dysfunction and an unwilling victim of a one-dimensional revenge scheme by Heathcliff, she is shaped by her family and desperately wants to eschew expectations and join him.Riley’s easy laughter and frenetic shift to Cathy’s heavier emotions makes you truly miss Cathy when she’s gone, which makes Heathcliff more empathetic. In the end, the heartbreak of Wuthering Heights has nothing to do with the toxic tropes of modern dark romance, and everything to do with two people lashing out because lashing out is the only thing in their control. (Miranda Adama)
Taking over the iconic Canberra institution on Saturday 26 July, The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever (TMWHDE) is celebrating its ninth year of raising funds for Domestic Violence Crisis Service (DVCS) in the capital.A whimsical global tribute to Kate Bush and her iconic 1978 hit Wuthering Heights, the global event was inspired by UK performance art group, Shambush. (Erin Cross)
More MWHDE celebrations in Nation Cymru, Los Alamos Daily Post, WABE (Atlanta)...
As a teenager, I much preferred Brontë’s Wuthering Heights and its unhinged, wild, surreal spirit; the relationship between Cathy and Heathcliff stirred my soul, whilst Elizabeth and Darcy left me cold. But I’m aware that I’m in a minority here…
Meanwhile, Britain is the home of Heathcliff and Darcy – and their 1995 counterparts, the Gallagher brothers. As viewed from across the pond, Brits can be cool and romantic, fun and enigmatic. We share a language, we’re up for a laugh and we have windswept moors at our disposal. We can’t promise that you’ll meet a lord with a castle. But we can find you someone with a hot accent and great eyebrows. (Daisy Buchanan)
[Robert] Eggers has said that one of the major inspirations while writing the Nosferatu (2025) script was Wuthering Heights, as he saw a similarity between Heathcliff and Count Orlok. However, while Heathcliff is an Other, he is not an essential Other. Unlike Orlok, whose monstrosity is depicted as innate, Heathcliff’s demonization stems from the way he is treated by those around him. From the moment of his arrival at Wuthering Heights, he is subjected to abuse, especially by Hindley. After the death of Mr. Earnshaw, Heathcliff is forced into servitude, denied an education, and made to labor in the fields. As Nelly observes,“He seemed a sullen, patient child; hardened, perhaps, to ill-treatment: he would stand Hindley’s blows without winking or shedding a tear, and my pinches moved him only to draw in a breath and open his eyes, as if he had hurt himself by accident, and nobody was to blame.”By being continually portrayed as demonic and subhuman, Heathcliff gradually transforms into the image others have imposed upon him. He conforms to the role society assigns him, not because he is inherently monstrous but because monstrosity is the only way left to assert agency. In Wuthering Heights, the figure of the Other functions not as a permanent outsider, but as a mirror reflecting society’s own prejudices and contradictions. For example, when Catherine tells Nelly about a dream in which she goes to heaven and feels utterly miserable, only to be cast out by the angels and return joyfully to the earth, it reveals how the Other disrupts conventional notions of order and moral idealism. Catherine understands that she becomes an Other by loving Heathcliff and she chooses to marry Edgar Linton, believing that doing so would help both herself and Heathcliff materially. (Read more) (Maliha Iqbal)
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhysis a gorgeous work of literature written by Jean Rhys in the 1960s. It takes place in Jamaica and is filled with colorful, sensory details that’ll make you feel as though you’ve escaped your current setting and have entered the charming atmosphere of the island, filled with the lush scent of blossoms and salty ocean breeze. (Bre Avery)
CTV streams Jane Eyre 2011 for Canadian viewers. Stay at Home Artist has posted a new Brontë story: An Ember in the Ash.
Unless explicitly said
