The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte

2009-07-21T14:49:00.008-04:00

Firstly, I would like to thank the good people at Avon- Harper Collins for sending me a review copy of Syrie James' new book, The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte.

I have been savoring this book for the past week, and many were the times I stopped to smile at the scenes as they unfolded. It's a delightful read, and at times the thought occurred to me that it would make the perfect companion novel to the BBC's mini series 'The Brontes of Haworth.'

The novel does a fairly good job of guiding the reader gently through the affairs of the Bronte household from shortly after Charlotte's return from Brussels. From the start, there is no question that the crux of the story will be Rev. Bronte's curate, Mr. Nicholls and, more particularly, his relationship with Charlotte. A very interesting story, and one in which the literary repercussions of this relationship shadow the main actors without overwhelming them.

This novel is especially appropriate for someone who is not familiar with the circumstances of life in the Bronte family as the first two chapters include enough biographical details to set anyone up for what is to come.

The characters are all well drawn and it is interesting to see the ease with which fact and fiction merge as the novel bends situations, postpones revelation, and otherwise tweaks events to create a novel which is not quite a biography.

The text of the book is also accompanied by substantial footnotes, maps, and an appendix with excerpts from Charlotte's letters and other important documents such as Emily's poems. The book is also suitable for book clubs: there are discussion questions included in the appendix.

The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte can be purchased for $10.19 from Amazon.com or £6.99from Amazon.co.uk.

Fashionable Make-Over for Wuthering Heights

2009-07-05T11:45:00.004-04:00

Fashion illustrator Ruben Toledo has designed an expressive cover for the newest penguin deluxe edition of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights.

The book is available for pre-ordering from Amazon.com, and will be released August 25th.

Jane Eyre takes the Stage in Beijing

2009-07-02T20:57:00.005-04:00

A new theatrical adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre is taking the stage in Beijing at the National Centre for the Performing Arts.

Chinese born Wang Luoyong went to the United States in the 1980s and was recognized as one of the rare Asian faces in Broadway for playing the lead in "Miss Saigon". When the show closed in 2001 as one of the longest-running hits in Broadway's history, Wang had led some 2,500 performances.

The story of Jane Eyre and Rochester has inspired a variety of films and dramas. Generations of directors and actors have taken relentless attempts in translating the chemistry between Jane and Rochester. The two won't be held back, as they help each other find their true selves.

A video clip can also be viewed on the main article here, from cctv.com.

The Twilight Series and Jane Eyre

2008-07-19T15:44:00.005-04:00

Stephanie Meyers' popular teen vampire novels have a surprising connection to the Brontes, it turns out. This article from The Courier Mail contains an interview with the author who claims Jane Eyre as an influence, although not an inspiration, for her work:

Speaking to me over the phone from her home in rural Arizona, Meyer, 34, revealed that Twilight's vampire Edward Cullen, a literary creation set to rival Harry Potter, is a subconscious combination of her three favourite leading men _ Jane Eyre's Edward Rochester, Pride and Prejudice's Fitzwilliam D'arcy and Anne of Green Gables' Gilbert Blythe.

[...]

Meyer says it was only when she finished Twilight that she realised there were similarities with Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. And that Edward Cullen was a combination of her favourite romantic protagonists, especially Jane Eyre's Edward Rochester, because the two Edwards see themselves as ``monsters''.

I am actually more surprised at the idea of a vampire with elements of Gilbert Blythe's character, and I do wonder what Lucy Maud Montgomery would think of it all!

Mr.Charlotte Bronte: The Life and Times of Mr. Arthur Bell Nichols

2008-07-08T17:53:00.003-04:00

McGill-Queen's writes to us to announce the release of an interesting new biography of Charlotte Bronte's husband:

McGill-Queen’s University Press is pleased to announce the release of Mr. Charlotte Brontë: The Life and Times of Mr. Arthur Bell Nichols.

This book was written by a direct descendent of Mr. Bell Nichols and establishes him as an important, rather than ancillary, figure in the Brontë saga. It also provides fresh information about his upbringing, his family and his pre-Haworth years in Ireland while including never-before-published material from the Bell Nicholls family.

Mr. Charlotte Brontë: The Life and Times of Mr. Arthur Bell Nichols would be an excellent addition to your collection of Brontë-related books and memorabilia.

Pricing and order information and can be found by clicking on the hyperlink above!

Well, that was interesting...

2008-05-10T18:42:00.003-04:00

Apparently Natalie Portman is out of the Wuthering Heights project:

Natalie Portman has walked out of new film ‘Wuthering Heights’.

The Hollywood actress has reportedly left movie bosses fuming after quitting her role as Cathy Earnshaw in the big screen adaptation of Emily Bronte’s classic 1847 novel, despite having “seduced” them into giving her the part.

A movie insider told Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper: “It’s fair to say we were seduced by her and we should have been on our guard.”

Portman is said to have made a concerted effort to convince director John Maybury and producers Ecosse Films and HanWay Films to give her the role of Cathy, even convincing them to allow her casting approval over the choice of actor to portray her character’s lover Heathcliff.

‘Wuthering Heights’ producers refused to comment on Portman’s decision to pull out of the project.

Maybury is now looking for a new lead actress. Sienna Miller and Keira Knightley - who both star in his upcoming film ‘The Edge of Love’ - were both previously linked to the project.

That sounds pretty bizarre. If this is true, and she was so taken with the project, why give it up so soon? As an aside, I continue to find it amusing that Keira Knightley is suggested as the ideal actress- in some circles, mind you- for both Cathy and Jane. Maybe we need to have a few more actresses of substance out there to choose from? I don't know- I am still living under a pile of spiral bound notebooks.

No Thanks.

2008-05-08T11:18:00.004-04:00

The news of yet another adaptation of Jane Eyre is not going down well at all, if the buzz on the internet is any indication of the novel's fanbase. There seem to be very few who are looking forward to the film with anticipation, largely because it has only been two years since the BBCs hugely popular mini series. In short, it looks like fans of the novel are full and are perfectly willing to pass on seconds. In fact, a common response is to demand an adaptation of one of the other Bronte novels: Villette, or Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Villette has become a great favourite as an alternate film project. But, unless the BBC release their old Villette mini series, we probably will not be seeing one for some time yet.

Today, the news is all about trouble in the British film industry. Like the novel's fanbase, they are none too pleased with the new film but this time, the trouble is with casting.

"No one is doubting Ellen Page's acting abilities but why a BBC movie of Jane Eyre couldn't have a British actress in the lead is pretty hard to stomach," says a 'film industry insider' in the Daily Express.

Well, it was just two years ago that the BBC made a very nice mini with British actors in the lead roles.

A little recap...

2008-05-07T12:24:00.003-04:00

Ellen Page will be our new Jane in a big screen adaptation of Jane Eyre.

Alison Owen of Ruby Films, who most recently produced "The Other Boleyn Girl," is working with BBC Films to develop the new adaptation of Bronte's classic 19th century romance. It's the story of a mousy governess who softens the heart of her surly employer Mr. Rochester, only to discover that he's hiding a terrible secret.

Moira Buffini has written the screenplay. No director is yet attached, but the producers are aiming to set the project up to shoot this fall.

Natalie Portman will be our new Cathy in a big screen adaptation of Wuthering Heights.

Natalie Portman is to play heroine Catherine Earnshaw in a new big-screen adaptation of Wuthering Heights.

The Jacket director John Maybury will helm the Ecosse Films production from a script by Olivia Hetreed (Girl With a Pearl Earring), claims The Hollywood Reporter.

Emily Bronte's 1847 novel revolves around the turbulent love affair between headstrong Catherine and her brooding adopted brother Heathcliff.

Keira Knightley and Lindsay Lohan were previously reported to be vying for the role, famously played by Merle Oberon opposite Laurence Olivier in 1939. A 1989 version starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliet Binoche performed poorly at the box office.

-From Digital Spy.

And, of course, we're still waiting on the Bronte biopic, the ITV Wuthering Heights, a touring version of Jane Eyre: The Musical, and an adaptation of Shirley.

Ellen Page to Star in New Jane Eyre Film

2008-05-07T01:49:00.002-04:00

Thanks to Thisbeciel and Annie for the heads up. I might dig myself out of my thesis-bound semi-retirement to cover this one. I think my contacts in Los Angeles should come in handy...

By Steven Zeitchik

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Jane Eyre could be taking another swoon on the big screen -- with Ellen Page playing the iconic character.

BBC Films has signed on to develop an adaptation of the Charlotte Bronte novel and has attached Page to play Jane. Moira Buffini wrote the screenplay; a director has not yet been chosen.

The role would mark the first period piece for Page, who has signed on to a number of contemporary films since her Oscar-nominated turn in "Juno," including the roller-derby comedy "Whip It!" and the dramatic thriller "Peacock." She opted out of Sam Raimi's supernatural tale "Drag Me to Hell" this year, citing scheduling conflicts.

Bronte's 1847 novel tells the love story of a governess and her master, Edward Rochester, with Gothic flourishes. It's among the most-filmed English novels of all time, with well over a dozen productions reaching the big and small screens, including BBC-produced miniseries in 1973 and 2006. Among the actresses to play the title character over the years are Joan Fontaine, Susannah York and Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

New Paul Gordon Website Launch

2008-01-04T19:37:00.000-05:00

Paul Gordon has launched a new website where you can catch the latest developments on his current and upcoming musical projects. Hopefully we will hear more news of the much-anticipated premiere of Jane Eyre: The Musical in Tokyo, Japan in 2009 as well as the ongoing development of a big chamber version of the piece. Visiting the "Songs" section provides you with a small sample of music to get a taste for Jane Eyre: The Musical (along with his other projects, such as an adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma).

3 Rooms Bronte

2008-01-03T19:09:00.000-05:00

From the D'Amelio Terras website:

Cornelia Parker’s work often deals with deconstruction of monuments, be it people or places. The photographic works on view are from her series “Brontëan Abstracts” in which she examines the mythology surrounding the Brontë sisters – Anne, Charlotte and Emily. Parker uses an electron microscope to scan artifacts and objects owned by the Brontës such as a lock of hair, a quill pen, a needle. The magnification both abstracts them and reveals their essence. Other photographs focus on both the conscious and subconscious marks left by the sisters — such as ink blots on the lined paper, deletions from the original manuscripts and holes in the pincushion.

Cornelia Parker has held numerous solo exhibitions including at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, TX; Royal Institute of British Architects, London; Galleria Civica D’Arte Moderna (GAM), Turin, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Chicago Arts Club and the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia. She was a Turner Prize nominee in 1997.

3 Rooms - Cornelia Parker, Massimo Bartolini, Dario Robleto
PICK

D'Amelio Terras
Chelsea

525 West 22nd Street, 212-352-9460
January 5 - January 9, 2008
Opening: Saturday, January 5, 6 - 8PM

I'm not quite finished yet.

2007-12-10T01:15:00.000-05:00

The thesis: it will be finished when it is finished, I think. It doesn't help matters that there is another version of the Gordon/Caird Musical in the works. A good friend of mine has a copy of a script-in progress but since it would not be fair to analyse something that hasn't even been written out yet, I am refraining from pestering her for a peek.

The thesis hit a set back this summer when I needed to rearrange several chapters which involved extensive revisions. These are ongoing, so I will probably still be only an intermittent blogger for now. The other challenge is that I am returning to the libraries to do more research.

I would like to thank everyone for their very lovely emails sent during my absence. I cannot possibly get caught up on everything, but I will try to find my way through them and all of the bizarre junk mail that has grown like a primordial jungle in my inbox. Half of the emails are in languages I do not understand and many are not even in the Latin alphabet. One addresses me as "dear sir" and others reference anatomy which is not owned by me, and several claim to be from extremely rich but imperiled Arabs- which is a scam I find to be in very bad taste.

SO, a very quick round-up for Bronte news!

Cranford is great, I guess? And I suppose Jane Eyre adaptations are generally dreary, but otherwise, I pish at dismissing the story as being about tight breeches and corsets (although, I still have to shake my head at our last BBC series. The DVD case in particular... 'heaving bodices?' *sigh*). I haven't seen Cranford because I still don't have a television! (Yes, I haven't watched television- outside of youtube and DVD sets) in... 6 years now). I also still despise Mrs. Gaskell for being so very cruel to Charlotte's family after her death. (I am joking. She was cruel, though). Some friends and I tried to read 'North and South' but gave up from boredom or frustration. But adaptations are a different thing from novels, as we know! So, the show's probably alright. And knowing how everyone loves to cry that THIS, THIS is finally what a REAL adaptation of a REAL novel is... It's probably... just like the rest?

The writer of the article gets a tip of the hat from me for the use of the word "huzzah."

And auditions are being held for a musical version of Jane Eyre at St.Ives!

Jane Eyre: The Musical to get a "re-Think"

2007-08-20T00:29:00.000-04:00

Oh, you had to go and do this to me, just when I'm putting the finishing touches on my thesis!

From Playbill:

Jane Eyre, the 2000-01 Broadway musical by composer-lyricist Paul Gordon and librettist John Caird, is getting a serious "re-think" by the authors, who aim to make a chamber version of what was previously seen as a 22-actor, large-set epic.

Songwriter Gordon told Playbill.com that he and Caird (of Les Miserables fame) have been huddling with director Rob Ruggiero (Ella, William Finn's Make Me a Song) about getting back to the essence of the novel by Charlotte Bronte — and the essence of what the collaborators created in earlier versions of the show, prior to Broadway.

Gordon said he and Caird are seeking to restore some song and book elements of the pre-Broadway Toronto version of the musical. For starters, they want to sharpen the narrative point of view so Jane is telling her own story, rather than the ensemble taking over that device. Some recitative between brooding Rochester and governess Jane will likely return, too, as will an important melodic section that linked Jane's mother to the future, Gordon said.

Caird and Gordon will meet this fall to hammer out a new 10-actor version of the show that would require perhaps five musicians. Gordon said the largeness of the Broadway production necessitated adding some fat into the writing that isn't necessary.

Gordon and Caird's goals now are "tweaking, shortening and clipping" and then presenting a version to Ruggiero for further collaboration. Hartford-based Ruggiero is the in-demand regional director who works all over the country (his next gig is staging 1776 for Goodspeed Musicals, followed by a New York mounting of the William Finn revue, Make Me a Song, a hit in Hartford).

Ruggiero told Playbill.com he's in discussions with regional theatres about giving fresh life to the "new" Jane Eyre in 2008-09.

The Broadway version of Jane Eyre is licensed through Music Theatre International and has had almost 90 North American productions since 2002, according to MTI. Its first post-Broadway staging was at TheatreWorks in Palo Alto, CA, where Gordon's Emma, based on the novel by Jane Austen, is getting its world premiere Aug. 22. Gordon penned book, music and lyrics for it.

Jane Eyre has had a winding journey, not unlike the character herself — the show was seen in many readings; a Wichita, KS, staging; a La Jolla Playhouse run; a production at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto; and on Broadway, where it snagged Tony Award nominations for Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book, Best Lighting Design and Best Actress in a Musical for Marla Schaffel as the unglamorous orphan/governess/romantic figure/mistress of the house.

"Since Broadway," Gordon told Playbill.com, "I don't think I've ever stopped rewriting Jane Eyre. "John and I always imagined it as a more intimate experience..."

On the road to Broadway, there was a push — for better or worse — to make the 19th-century gothic romance bigger, better and shinier. "It lost that intimate feel," Gordon said.

Will the re-tooled Jane Eyre be spare, lean and actor-driven?

"Rob has interesting ideas about how to move the storytelling along," Gordon said.

For now, for the writers, it's about experimentation and exploration.

Gordon said, "We're going to look at every inch of the show. John calls it a 're-think.'"

Oh, the New York Times!

2007-08-02T11:21:00.000-04:00

From an article on upcoming Jane Austen films:

And however much society has changed, Austen’s heroines — unlike the Brontës’ — deal with the believable, timeless obstacles of class, money and misunderstanding, which make her works adaptable to any era. As Ms. Huff said: “Everyone thinks she’s Elizabeth Bennet; not everyone thinks she’s Jane Eyre. Everyone knows a young woman trying to decide if the guy she’s attracted to is Mr. Right. Not everyone meets a Mr. Right who has a mad wife in the attic.”

This amused me greatly, dear readers. It amused me even further that the films in question adapt Austen for our age by trying to sex them up. And, flirtatous glances aside, the picture used to illustrate the article bears a striking resemblance to scenes from several Jane Eyre adaptations I could mention.

Poor Jane and Lizzy! Their entire lives, personalities reduced to how they sorted out with the menfolk!

Eyre Apparent in Baltimore

2007-07-11T14:52:00.000-04:00

Go see the Eyre Apparent exhibit, which showcases memorabilia related to Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre. The exhibit shows the novel's cultural significance and the different ways in which it has been interpreted. The exhibit is at the George Pea body Library, 17 E. Mount Ver non Place. Admission is free, and the library is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Call 410-659- 8179 or go to http://www.georgepeabodylibrary.jhu.edu/.

Eyre Apparent: An Exhibition Celebrating Charlotte Bronte'sClassic NovelThe George Peabody Library Exhibition GalleryJune 18 - October 31, 2007Hours: Monday – Friday 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.;Sunday, 12 p.m. - 5 p.m.

This exhibition celebrates the enduring popularity of Charlotte Brontë’s most famous novel. A favorite with Victorian readers, Jane Eyre became a staple of the school curriculum and remains a cornerstone of the English literary canon today. From series books to comic books, dolls to playing cards, Eyre Apparent follows the novel from the mid-19th century to the present, revealing how shifting cultural contexts have shaped the book’s meaning, and the ways in which Jane Eyre continues to inspire our imaginations.

Not only is this exhibit fabulous, so is the library!

No Place Like Home

2007-06-14T23:32:00.001-04:00

I have officially passed the minimum page-count for my thesis, and am preparing to round it off into a neat working draft. It has no introduction or conclusion; those will come later once I straighten out the argument. Tomorrow I am going to visit my thesis advisor for the last time.

I'm going back home. The graduate powers that be have approved it, and if all goes according to plan I will be there on the 22nd. This is good news for you because once there, I will have access to my books and my scanner so I can pick up work on the Bronteana Resource site. I have come across a lot of fabulous material which ought to be available there. There were casualties... My mother tells me that my desktop hardrive was stolen. Chances are I will never relocate everything that was stored on it.

But what remains is very shiny and interesting! For instance, there are these beautiful illustrations from Jane Eyre, an edition illustrated by F. Townsend, and dated circa 1896. In the image below, Mr. Rochester begins to regain some of his sight.

Oh How True!

2007-06-09T13:30:00.000-04:00

The Guardian publishes today an interesting article about portraiture in the arts. Specically, how authors seems to give readers mere 'corner of the eye glances' when describing characters. Few authors go through the trouble of expending lengthy description on faces. There seems to be a practical reason behind this:

You can see why so few authors choose to make the attempt. Listing every feature will not only fatally hold up the narrative, but may antagonise the poor confused reader who can't remember what "aquiline" means and thinks that an "almond" eye must be brown and nutty. Besides, what purpose will it serve to expend 500 words on the tilt of this particular nose and the set of this particular jaw? No, indeed. Facial detail is rarely kept in mind at all by a reader. A devotee of Jane Eyre tends to remember that, say, Mr Rochester is a dark sort of man, and that Jane is a short sort of woman, and this is quite enough to go on - especially when one's attention keeps being caught by such things as cackles from the attic and beds catching fire.

This amuses me somewhat in light of how often I hear of how handsome Mr Rochester is. Oh, there are dozens of reasons why he is not ugly, believe me. Charlotte didn't really know that her character was handsome all along, or that she is just showing that Jane really didn't know what real love was until later and then he sort of prettifies. Or that she doesn't actually describe him as ugly at all ("He was rather an ugly man"), or... Nevermind the long sections of the novel concerned with how worthless is valuing people based on their appearance.

Mr Rochester is a darkish man, and Jane is kinda short. I can live with this.

Wuthering Heights at York Theatre Royal

2007-06-07T19:22:00.000-04:00

The following article is from The Press.

SUE Dunderdale surveys the task of directing Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte's windy, wild tale of ill-fated love and vengeance.

"It's a fantastic story and it's a Yorkshire story," says Sue, whose production of Jane Thornton's adaptation opens at York Theatre Royal on June 2.

"All the cast, the stage management and me, we all went up to Haworth, walking up to Top Withens, which they say may be the site of Wuthering Heights, though it's now a ruin.

"It was the first time I'd been there in 20 years; the last time I was there, there was a French film crew making a film about the Brontes. Isabelle Huppert was in it, of course; she seems to be in every French film."

Revived by Yorkshire pudding and onion gravy, Sue returned to the work in hand: staging Thornton's compact adaptation of the tragic story of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, first performed on the much smaller Hull Truck stage in 2003. "Damian Cruden the Theatre Royal artistic director had already decided on using this version, partly because it has a cast of only five, which has its advantages and disadvantages and we're focusing on the advantages," says Sue.

"I've gone for a young cast because it's very much a teenage love story. They feel that if they don't marry, they will die. Cathy married at an extremely young age; she was 17 when she married Edgar, and once she dies, Heathcliff feels dead too. He may be walking around, but he feels dead inside. Cathy died partly because she stopped eating, and so did Heathcliff."

advertisementRecords show the average age of death in Haworth at the time the Brontes lived at the Parsonage was 26, the same age as the cast's average age. "I think that makes it right that it's a very young company," says Sue.

Among her casting selections is Joel Fry for the mixed-race role of Heathcliff.

Sue Dunderdale
"I think he's an extraordinary actor. I spotted him at RADA three years ago, when I was working on a course on acting on camera.

" I was doing various film scenes, and one was from Neil LaBute's In The Company Of Men, and there was this extraordinary-looking young man, who didn't stop moving before we started, but once he was on camera he had this incredible stillness about him. That was Joel.

"I then saw him playing Abraham Lincoln in The American Play, and again he was remarkable in that."

No doubt she will be looking to bring out the intensity in Joel Fry that she found in the book. "It's the intensity that strikes you. When I read the novel again, it was like reading one of the Russians. It's like reading a Yorkshire version of Dostoevsky. It's not Jane Austen," says Sue.

"It's the expression of her soul. When you read that all Emily Bronte's life was an interior life, where all she did was walk on the moors, you realise her freedom was in her imagination and in her spirit, and that's what draws you in.

"No two people should be more together than Cathy and Heathcliff, but she makes the major mistake of her life and that destroys them as they miss out on each other.

"We may all like to pretend that we've never done that in our lives, but in her writing Emily has no such pretence. Cathy's decision destroys her life and lives around her."

What Emily did was to frame the story in her inner being and in the world she knew, says Sue.

"Edith Wharton wrote about the same subject, so did Henry James, and they were very different from Emily's spirit, which was close to Dostoevsky, but they all deal with missed opportunities - but Wuthering Heights is more cruel than the rest, extremely cruel.

"There's a grimness and a dryness that make it so Yorkshire," Sue says.

"It's all about being thwarted and thwarted is such a Yorkshire word, isn't it!"

Wuthering Heights runs at York Theatre Royal, June 2 to 23. Box office: 01904 623568.

Second Edition Life of C.B. Goes on Sale

2007-06-02T01:36:00.000-04:00

According to the Yorkshire Post, an exciting auction is in the making this weekend:

A RARE copy of a biography about the life of Charlotte Brontë which created a scandal in 19th century society is to go under the hammer tonight as a part of a weekend of activities celebrating Yorkshire's most famous literary family.
The second edition print of Elizabeth Gaskell's The Life of Charlotte Brontë is the prized item among a collection of 90 books which are being auctioned off at the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth.

The book, which dates back to 1857, triggered two threats of libel action when it was printed and is expected to fetch hundreds of pounds.

The threats came from a woman who was said to have had an affair with Charlotte's brother Branwell Brontë and from the family which ran a school near Kirkby Lonsdale which the biography claimed had been the inspiration for Low Wood in Jane Eyre.

Now Brontë fans can get their hands on a 19th century copy of the book which was part of a collection bequeathed to the Brontë Parsonage Museum by Arthur D Walker, a librarian at Manchester University.

Museum librarian Ann Dinsdale said: "It is very rare to find a second edition copy of the biography. The book resulted in libel actions being threatened and was very controversial at the time.

"The rest of the collection includes scholarly editions and literary criticisms of the Brontës."

The auction opens the Brontë Society's annual weekend which runs until Tuesday. Tomorrow night four Brontë biographers will explore some of the stories which surround the family at a panel discussion in West Lane Baptist Chapel (7.30pm).

Juliet Barker, Edward Chitham, Rebecca Fraser and Lyndall Gordon will take part. Brontë Parsonage Museum deputy director Andrew McCarthy said: "It promises to be a fascinating evening."

Bronte Birthplace on the Auction Block

2007-05-18T22:42:00.000-04:00

The following news is courtesy of Richard Wilcocks, chairman of the Bronte Society and editor of the Bronte Parsonage Blog:

Barbara Whitehead, owner of the Brontë Birthplace in Thornton, wants it
to be known that it is to be auctioned by Eddisons on 21 June. She
apologises for the short notice. The auctioneer's website is at
www.eddisons.com

The auction will be held on 21 June 2007 in the Banqueting Suite of the
Leeds United Football Club at Elland Road in Leeds. I am told that the
catalogue is still being prepared. If you want one, phone Eddisons at
the Leeds office with your details: +44 113 243 0101

The guide price is 200,000 pounds

Bronte's Back...

2007-05-16T20:54:00.000-04:00

According to Variety, the 'Bronte' biopic is back on track and due to start filming in September:

Michelle Williams, Bryce Dallas Howard and Evan Rachel Wood are lining up to star in "Bronte," a biopic written and to be directed by Charles Sturridge.
Pic is set to shoot in September.

Icon Entertainment Intl. has picked up foreign sales for "Bronte," with ICM representing the project in North America. Alastair Maclean-Clark and Basil Stephens of AMC Pictures are producing. Sturridge's screenplay is based on an original script by Angela Workman.

The Bronte sisters and their brother Branwell grew up in isolation on the Yorkshire moors and went on to write some of the most enduring novels in the canon of English literature -- Charlotte's "Jane Eyre," Emily's "Wuthering Heights" and Anne's "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall."

As children, they created epic fantasy worlds to entertain themselves, led by the charismatic Branwell, but when he descended into alcohol and opium abuse, the sisters had to find their own way in a world dominated by strict patriarchal conventions. This initially forced them to disguise their identities by publishing under male pseudonyms.

Sturridge commented, "My family comes from Yorkshire, and I grew up with five sisters, so this is a story I have always wanted to tell."

Costume Show at Haddon Hall

2007-05-14T21:31:00.000-04:00

From Matlock Today:

HADDON Hall is currently home to an exciting collection of costumes from last year's BBC adaptation of Jane Eyre filmed in the area.

Eight outfits are on display throughout the hall placed in rooms where they would be most appropriate.In the banqueting hall Jane's governess dress takes pride of place next to Rochester's everyday outfit.

(...)

Designer Angela Galer said: "The important thing is the script, I look for what will fire me up.

"When you meet the actors you get a better idea of what to do. The actress who played Blanche was very blonde and suited light colours, while Lady Ingram suits darker, more dramatic colours."

Adaptation: the Cage Match

2007-05-07T16:30:00.000-04:00

Forgive the silliness of this post but the news today is a little silly, and having just finished the coursework for my master's degree, I am ever so slightly giddy this afternoon. The MA colloquium at Dalhousie University was last friday. I presented a paper on 21st century adaptations of Jane Eyre on a panel about 18th and 19th century constructions of gender, authorship, and identity. It all went well, after the equipment arrived for the video clips... During question period, comments came simultaneously from the Victorian moderator and one of the ph.d's about- of all things- the elements of Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea which they claimed were obvious in the clips I had chosen! This is the beautiful thing about conferences - getting a totally new perspective on your work. I always take notes during question period, but I had to ask them to slow down so I could get everything.

This brings me to a bit of silly from The Herald:

Perhaps TV bosses feared the wrath of Wellsian literary purists, who have consistently complained that Lee Evans, playing the drama's underdog hero, Alfred Polly, is much too much the knockabout prole.

Then again, no TV exec ever paid any heed to literary purists, as the latter are mostly blinkered, vinegar-faced, nit-picking plonkers who do nothing but complain - as I know from having incurred such folks' wrath in reviewing Jane Eyre (at this point, allow me to wave two fingers at all the blinkered, vinegar-faced, nit-picking plonkers who run the website bronteblog).

(You will probably find a retort from said BB here, or at the sidebar link). I am quite glad that I didn't get into criticising critics in this case. I do enough of that as a graduate student. I must say, I'm not enjoying writing academic papers on adaptation simply because most of the critical writings go something like this:

It's unfaithful! It's corrupt, and debased, and sacriledge!!
Hey, adaptations can't be just like the book. In fact, adaptation is a hugely complicated issue which leads absolutely nowhere.
It's the best version evaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!
That means absolutely nothing.
Yeah, well, so does saying that it's hugely complicated.
Touche.
Sacriledge!!

It might be better if we adopted an American Gladiators sort of forum to settling the matter, at least then it would be entertaining.

Theif Makes off With Tsunami Aid Lace

2007-05-04T18:04:00.000-04:00

Last year we were thrilled to learn that the then upcoming BBC production of Jane Eyre was creating jobs for tsunami survivors by helping to rebuild the lace industry. Unfortunately, there are some really low people in this world:

Fashion raiders leave aid project in tatters

Ed Thomas

A FASHION designer from Belsize Park is distraught after thieves stole an entire collection of clothes that were going to raise funds for tsunami survivors.

Andrea Galer, who famously tailored Richard E Grant's overcoat for the film Withnail and I, has lost months of work and thousands of pounds following the break-in at her studio in Haverstock Hill.

Burglars entered on Friday night and made off with unique samples due to be marketed to leading fashion stores and sold to aid Sri Lankan survivors of the 2004 tsunami.

"Every single item in the collection has gone, about 20 pieces of clothing," said Ms Galer, who set up the Power of Hands Foundation to help Sri Lankan lace makers.

"It constitutes everything I have been working on for the past four months. I have financed this entire project by myself and built it up over two years.

"The clothes were just getting ready to be presented to the big fashion stores.

"Now the whole collection is lost. This project was designed to save lives. It makes me very sad."

Ms Galer's clothes have graced the silver screen for productions including Jane Eyre, Mansfield Park, Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie's Poirot and Spooks.

Having started out her career 30 years ago in a shop in England's Lane, she has become a leading designer highly sought-after by film and television directors.

As well as designing for the big screen, she is also passionate about helping the traditional Sri Lankan lace makers rebuild their lives following the tsunami disaster.

"I am the only person in the world who is helping this group of people," she added.

"The Power of Hands Foundation is a huge project, and these were the first samples aimed at helping the lace makers rebuild their lives.

"The whole collection has been taken by someone who either doesn't know what they've got their hands on or who is deliberately trying to sabotage the project.

"It looks like a professional job. The door wasn't forced open but may have been opened with a special key."

Police have launched an investigation into the burglary.

A spokeswoman said the break-in took place around 11pm, just at the time when the nearby pub would have been closing up.

"Given this was on a Friday night, there is a strong chance that witnesses might have seen something suspicious.

"All the ladies' items were made from Sri Lankan silk. No arrests have been made at this stage and enquiries are continuing."

If you have information which might help the police, call 020-7404 1212.

Please, tell me more.

2007-04-29T22:31:00.000-04:00

This reviewer has a most interesting opinion of Jane Eyre: part genius, part 'drivel.' Indeed?

Rereading Jane Eyre confirms memory's hunch that the first half is wonderful and the second half is drivel.

That said, it deserves a prize for both its opening sentence and its last. "There was no possibility of taking a walk that day" should be studied by anyone who wants to write a novel. It is a sentence that is quiet, modest, matter-of-fact, but that draws you in immediately. By the end of the second sentence, we have met Jane's odious aunt Mrs Reed, and the wretchedness of Jane's orphan childhood and her lovelessness among the Reed cousins begins to unfold.

advertisementProbably as many people believe that the novel ends "Reader, I married him" as there are who think Sherlock Holmes was always saying: "Elementary, my dear Watson." In fact, the closing words of the book are, "Amen; even so, come, Lord Jesus!" You can't get further over the top than that, and I love to think of a modern novelist trying to make a hit by imitating the Jane Eyre formula and copying this device.

That sounds like a challenge- don't tempt me!

As with so many Victorian novels, the best bits of the book are not in fact concerned with the man-woman relationship but rather with childhood. I was surprised, on this reading, to discover that Jane's horrible experience of tantrums with the Reeds, her being locked in the Red Room, and her being sent to Lowood, the hateful evangelical school, are so short. They are the bits that had stayed most vividly in my mind.

When interviewed by Mr Brocklehurst for her place at the school, Jane is asked, " 'And what is hell? Can you tell me that?' 'A pit full of fire.' 'And should you like to fall into that pit, and to be burning there for ever?' 'No, sir.' 'What must you do to avoid it?' I deliberated a moment; my answer, when it came, was objectionable: 'I must keep in good health, and not die.' "

Nothing in the book - not the midnight prowlings of Mrs Rochester nor the drama of Jane's interrupted wedding - quite exceeds the brilliance of this exchange. But, though the second half of the story is so unsatisfactory and in parts so boring, it is not unrelated to Jane's talk with Mr Brocklehurst. Jane Eyre is not merely a justly popular novel. It is also one of the great documents of 19th-century Protestantism.

Dear Readers,

2007-04-25T01:37:00.000-04:00

Never fear, more Bronte posts will be coming along shortly. I have only just finished the coursework section of my master's and am plunging into the thesis. My advisor is doing a great job keeping up the pace with the writing, however I don't find time for much else nowadays. For instance, I am required to present a conference paper based on the thesis (what there is so far...) at a colloquium next week. So, as I toil away on that, I will have to post here only intermittently, and depending on how difficult I find revision.

I do have some news- quite a lot, but this will have to wait. I will mention that the highlight is that I have corresponded with Dr. Jo Baker who is currently working on the first film adaptation of Charlote Bronte's Shirley since the 1920s- and, when it is released- the only available adaptation of the novel. There isn't much to tell, except that she is still working on getting the script right. Encouraging news, nevertheless, for those of us waiting in breathless anticipation. It is still on track!

April 20th, 2007

2007-04-20T12:48:00.000-04:00

Please take a few moments to remember thirty two lives today.

While you live, shine; for life is short and time will have its tribute.

-inscription from an ancient Greek stele.

L'heure passe, l'amite reste. (Time passes, friendship remains).

-Class of 1921 momento, Dalhousie University.

(all pictures were taken by me on April 20th- offical day of mourning for Virginia Tech).

Clips from the Dutch Version of Jane Eyre the Musical

2007-04-16T08:34:00.000-04:00

Thank you to Robas for sending along the links to these rehearsal clips from this Dutch language production of Paul Gordon and John Caird's Jane Eyre: The Musical. This production is currently running in the Netherlands until April 30th. For more information, visit the show's homepage here.

Ruth Wilson Nominated for BAFTA

2007-04-12T09:04:00.000-04:00

Nearly eight million viewers tuned in on Tuesday night for the final episode of Life On Mars to find out whether DI Sam Tyler was mad, in a coma or back in time. And now John Simm has reaped the rewards of his journey back to 1973 after being nominated in the best actor category at the Bafta awards.

The hit series also received a nod for best drama and audience award, although John's talented co-star Philip Glenister, whose character Gene Hunt is famed for his macho policing techniques and one-liners, lost out on a mention. He'll have another chance at Bafta glory though, as he's the star of next year's sequel Ashes To Ashes.

Victoria Wood, meanwhile, will be celebrating after earning a record 12th Bafta nomination for best actress in Housewife 49, a drama she wrote and starred in about a real-life Lancashire housewife's wartime diaries. The 53-year-old comedian has only won once, in 1986, for best light entertainment performance with An Audience With Victoria Wood.

She is up against The Virgin Queen's Anne-Marie Duff, Samantha Morton for Longford - a drama about the moors murders which leads the nominations with four nods - and Ruth Wilson for Jane Eyre. Businessman Alan Sugar and fiery chef Gordon Ramsey are up against each other in the features award category for their programmes The Apprentice and The F Word, while others battling it out include Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant in the comedy performance category for Extras.

Ever popular Dawn French is also nominated for her comedy role in The Vicar Of Dibley while the hit series' Christmas special is up for the audience award - the only one to be voted for by the public. Best entertainment performance is being fought out between Ant and Dec for their Saturday Night Takeaway, Stephen Fry, Paul Merton and Jonathan Ross.

The Baftas award ceremony takes place at the London Palladium on May 20.

Hungarian Jane Eyre Illustrations and Adaptation

2007-04-03T20:50:00.000-04:00

Bronteana reader Ancsa writes to tell us about her blog containing some wonderful illustrations she produced of Jane Eyre, such as the one at right.

The illustration is based on a Hungarian stage adaptation of Jane Eyre. I would love to know more about it, because it seems like one of the most unusual adaptations I have come across, from what I can gather from the production photos. It looks like the entire show takes place in bed:

Sir, please be serious now, I must make the bed!

Jane wins in the end, after knocking Mr Rochester off the bed.

The gypsy scene, or 'this little piggy.'

Jane Eyre on Alibris

2007-04-03T20:44:00.000-04:00

Alibris.com is a wonderful website for buying used and well-loved books, but going through the catalogue today, while trying to find an elusive item for someone interested in Jane Eyre musicals, I can across this bizarre catalogue copy:

Jane Eyre. By Jim Collins

About this title: A discussion of several UFO sightings including a description of the objects and speculations about their origins.

...No, I'm not seeing the connection here. Everyone is free to snark at will (it has been some time since there was real snark on Bronteana). I know I found those Star Wars parallels with the 2006 adaptation of Jane Eyre, but this might be getting silly.

Bronte Land: the Place to Be!

2007-03-31T22:00:00.000-04:00

From Summit Daily News, the Bronte Land hoax makes second place of best April Fool's day media hoaxes:

2) Bronte Land

My friends in Haworth, Yorkshire, shared this one with me. A few years ago, during the week of April first, one of the weekly newspapers ran a front page cover story claiming that the entire village of Haworth had been sold to an American company - I believe it was Disney - and would be turned into a theme park, to be called "Bronte Land."

(For those of you scratching your heads over this one, the mid-19th century literary Bronte sisters not only put their hometown of Haworth on the map - thanks to the success of novels such as "Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights" - but also have continued to be the main industry for the village, making it the number-two literary tourist attraction in England, after Shakespeare's Stratford-upon-Avon).

Anyway, the highlight of "Bronte Land" was going to be a huge monorail, stretched out over the entire length of the moors above the village. Every so often, a local will bring up the "Bronte Land" hoax again and, with a profound shudder, show you a copy of the newspaper.

My dear readers, Glaukopis- my Cambridge friend and fellow Classicist- and I had planned an intricate and (hopefully) amusing hoax for you, but since we have gone to grad school, our lives have shrivelled up into pathetic nothings and trips to the library. Our plan was to create a fake audio demo for a musical version of Jane Eyre. We had difficulties... no men were willing to take part, and both of us wanted to play Mr Rochester (although she has by far the best Bertha laugh). We began writing our own songs, in fact, and also modified some pre-existing songs with new lyrics (our favourites were: 'Mawidge is glowious!' from A Perfect Match, and 'Deep in my secret soul, I'm-a kill him!' from Secret Soul, just to give Bertha more than some spooky trilling in the background).

I mention all of this because it is fairly certain that we will never, ever, ever, record it (although I still have recordings of her singing As Good As You). I was writing a ballad for Mr Rochester's 'Nameless Bliss' song. It would have been brilliant, believe me... if I could write music.

You can listen to the original, non-bastardised versions of these songs from the fabulous Toronto cast recording below:

Secret Soul
Perfect Match (the guilty pleasure. This song is terrible, but so fun- Gilbert and Sullivan meet George Frederick Handel).

Wuthering Heights on Sale

2007-03-30T23:03:00.000-04:00

I made another trek to Bayer's Lake today, lured by the siren song of classic literature (so difficult to find in my hometown, where the shelves are stocked instead with home fondue-kits, coffee books, or trashy novels). I finally surrendered to my desire to read Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, unabridged, in French (yes, after the thesis...).

I still hate Chapters, but they have Wuthering Heights on sale. They have a special offer of three books for $25.00 including Wuthering Heights and several other classics ranging from Jane Austen to James Joyce.

Speaking of Jane Austen, and of worthwhile purchases, I would recomend purchasing this little edition of Wuthering Heights by the Collectors Library. It's only $5.00 but a quality book- well bound and beautiful. The series also has Jane Eyre, however, they are completely sold out of Charlotte's novel. I purchased their edition of Northanger Abbey today, and am very pleased with it. It is also illustrated, but I cannot say whether or not the Bronte novels are as well. They are pocket-sized and very handy for emergencies (such as long bus rides). NA has gold gilding, burgundy cloth binding, and a matching silk ribbon bookmark. These pages are certainly not going to fall out easily!

The Libertine and John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester

2007-03-28T23:46:00.000-04:00

It has been a long while since I mentioned John Wilmot, earl of Rochester. The notoriously elusive film, The Libertine, has come and gone with hardly any fanfare. Not even the Restoration professors I knew, keen to see a depiction of he life of Rochester on the big screen (and starring Johnny Depp, no less!), confessed that by the time it finally reached Canada, they no longer cared enough to see it.

I thought my readers would be interested to take a glimpse at the production. First, a reminder: John Wilmot has been put forward by a very small circle of critics as the namesake of Mr Rochester. There are some intriguing connections between the two men, however, it is clear that Wilmot is not a model for Mr Rochester; their relationship is more problematic than that. Rochester was the consumate rake. He wrote terrible poetry- despite what the film says about his claims to genius. I refer you to this old post where I discuss some of the connections between Wilmot and Mr Rochester in more depth.

Secondly, I must warn my readers that while the first clip is for general viewing, the second- which is the prologue of the film- contains explicitly sexual language which might not be suitable for younger readers.

Thirdly, the one element of Rochester's life absent from any of these clips is his famous death-bed conversion. In Charlotte's time, he was celebrated for this reformation- which of all things, probably aligns him with Mr Rochester most. From these clips you might get the idea that he was a misunderstood Casanova-type, rebel without a cause, etc, etc... Believe what he says- there's nothing likable about him.

The Trailer:

The Prologue:

How Nancy Drew Saved My Life

2007-03-26T23:00:00.000-04:00

Or how to succeed in publishing without really trying. Answer? Copy Jane Eyre.

Not only is Jane Eyre (in a severely stripped form) the official template for some publishing houses specializing in serial romances, but it is a favourite novel to be just plain ripped off. No copyright, no problem.

The following is a summary of 'How Nancy Drew Saved My Life' by Lauren Baratz-Logsted:

In her fourth novel, Baratz-Logsted, author of The Thin Pink Line (2003), offers the charming tale of a literature-loving nanny. At 23, Charlotte Bell has just had her heart broken by the married man she unwisely fell in love with. She decides to take another position, as nanny for the American ambassador in Iceland. Once she takes up residence in the large, creaky house and meets her imperious, forbidding employer, Edgar Rawlings, she can't help but feel like literature's most famous governess, Jane Eyre. But Charlotte turns to Nancy Drew (channeling the girl detective) for help investigating the more puzzling aspects of her situation, such as the silence surrounding Edgar's mysteriously absent wife and the strange laughter she hears coming from behind a closed door. To make matters worse, Charlotte is starting to fall for Edgar, whose engagement to an Icelandic ice queen seems imminent. Readers who appreciate classic love stories will enjoy the old-fashioned dialogue and Charlotte's fanciful imagination. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Old fashioned dialogue stolen directly from Jane Eyre, according to this reader:

I was really enjoying this book when I realized that it was practically an EXACT replica of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. Even some of the dialogue is the same!
I was rather shocked when I began reading about where Charlotte goes into the library to meet Mr. Rawlings for the first time (which is actually the second because she met him a few hours earlier when he almost runs her over) and they have the same conversation that is in Jane Eyre; where he asks her if she likes presents and she replies that she has had little experience with them. I shut the book right there!
The names of the characters are extremely parallel too, which is even more annoying! Charlotte Bell is the main heroine=Charlotte Bronte. The hero is Edgar Rawlings=Edward Rochester; the housekeeper is Mrs. Fairly=Mrs Fairfax, the dog is Captain=Pilot....it goes on and on.
I just can't believe that she actually got a publisher to publisher her book with the blatant copying of the the characters and the story-line are amazingly unbelievable!

Not to mention, Jane Eyre was written under a pseudonymn. The full title was: Jane Eyre: An Autobiography Edited by Currer Bell.

ETA: I realise that the wording of this post is stronger than I had intended. I did not mean to imply that the author of this particular book has plagiarised Jane Eyre (ex. 'stolen,' 'rip off.'). In addition, I want to make it clear that I have my information from a third party, and have not read the book myself.

More on Textmessaging and the Brontes

2007-03-25T12:16:00.000-04:00

From the New York Times Sunday Book Review:

They lived happily ever after, and maybe things would have been easier for Emily Brontë too. You can see her, can’t you, mischievously texting her older sister across the garden at Haworth; scholars guess that, many years after Emily’s tragic early death, her sister Charlotte was raising a literary memorial in the text-messaging lingo that plays so crucial a role in “Jane Eyre” (“Hlp! Im in the attc!”).

O.K. Maybe not. I first read “Wuthering Heights” in ninth grade and loathed it; I would have been glad for a hundred pages less of the stuff. Lately I’ve come around — not only to Emily’s queer, savage novel, but also to the realization that cellphones, while they might have their uses in what we are pleased to call “real life” (though I’m still to come to a final verdict on that), are nothing but an albatross around the neck of any writer who wants to tell a story.

Yes, I can see how cellphones would have obliterated Western Literature! Jane would return from the Morton Schoolroom and find her cell phone full of calls and messages from E.Rochester, Cathy would have fired off a message to Heathcliff preventing him from running off before she could marry Edgar Linton.

Related post: Jane Eyre in textspeakOMG! (Do you think me handsome? No sir. LOL OMG WTF?).

When will the hurting stop?...

2007-03-24T12:28:00.000-04:00

This morning I went shopping with a friend of mine. Strolling down an aisle, I noticed the North American release for Jane Eyre 2006. After showing it to my friend, I returned it to its place, then gaped in horror, and snatched it up again...

Absent from this image is an endorsement, and the cause of all my distress.

"...style and substance with just the right amount of heaving bodices.
-The Guardian"

What soul agony was this? And yet, I can't deny that it is a somewhat accurate depiction for this sexed up version. And yet, my response was still, as I said to my friend: "The right amount of heaving bodices, being... none?"

15 Minutes of Jane Eyre a Day?

2007-03-23T01:17:00.000-04:00

Lately there has been an outpouring of books and articles against homework. Critics call homework a form of child abuse and say that it prevents children from engaging in wholesome activities. Government surveys say that most students spend an hour a day or less on homework. Yet the campaign against homework never seems to abate.

When do students have time to read a book other than when it is assigned as homework? There is no time in school to read a book. A recent news article about the case against homework cited a high school teacher who said that she would tell her students to read no more than 15 minutes a day in their assigned novel (Jane Eyre). How stupid is that? How can anyone, young or old, get engaged in a novel if he or she spends no more than 15 minutes a day reading? At that pace, it seems like this class will be reading the same novel all year, if they manage to finish it at all.

I wonder what happens if you get caught up in the book and read for 16 minutes. Perhaps I should not be suggesting such things. I wouldn't want to cause headaches, or facial hair- as the 18th century experts would have it (women were said to grow facial hair and develop poor eyesight and cross expressions from reading books). I first read Jane Eyre in less than 24 hours, and you can see what happened.

Jane Eyre: The Musical Classic (Doyle/Harris)

2007-03-22T10:06:00.000-04:00

Bronteana reader Claire sent us the link to these clips from the Doyle/Harris Jane Eyre Musical Classic. My little Jewish Helper (Lillie, who so often supplies me with Janery), sent me her copy of the DVD. Neither of us have been able to watch it all the way through. She dared me to make it past intermission, and so I struggled through to that point- but no further.

Bertha's song... 'Pretty, Pretty Fire'

Who can resist the cuckold dance? And Rochester doing the tango with Blanche!

The proposal- 'You Were With Me Then'

More on Mr (Mad Bertha) Brown

2007-03-22T01:55:00.000-04:00

This political saga is starting to get amusing, even for a humble Canadian Bronte Scholar like myself:

He's the mad Mrs Rochester. That's what the Blairites call Gordon Brown - Mrs R. They are convinced he is a lunatic, ranting and raving in the attic, desperate to burn down the New Labour estate, determined to wreak revenge for being locked up for so long. Yesterday, Andrew Turnbull seemed to prove them right. On the eve of the Budget, the former Cabinet Secretary accused the Chancellor of running riot.

But Mr Brown is no Mrs Rochester. Nor is he like Mr Rochester, although he does have the windswept hair and damaged eye. The Bronte character whom he most resembles is St John Rivers, the zealous clergyman who rescues Jane Eyre from the moor. Mr Brown is a passionate prophet who wants to save the world. He is on a mission to help the poor, educate the ignorant and reform the wicked. He is almost religious in his fervour, believing passionately that he is the only one who truly understands what Britain needs. In the same way that St John spent his life wanting to go to India as a missionary, Mr Brown, since his teens, has wanted to reach Number 10.

From the Opinion column of the Telegraph.

O Seclum Insapiens et Infacetum!

2007-03-22T01:50:00.000-04:00

From This is London:

Dozens of schools have rejected gifts of free classic books because today's pupils find them too 'difficult' to read, it has emerged.

Around 50 schools have refused to stock literary works by the likes of Jane Austen, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens after admitting that youngsters also find them boring.

[...]

Critics said the figures are a damning indictment of the quality of state education in the UK and come at a time when fewer than half of all teenagers are achieving basic standards in GCSE English.

A total of 4,150 schools have received large packages of books under the scheme, which aims to encourage youngsters to read great literary works.

The titles include Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, George Eliot's Middlemarch, Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist and JR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

But Helena Read, librarian at Cotelands school in Linconshire, said: "The bottom line is getting the pupils to read, whether it's a newspaper, comic novel or magazine.

"In an ideal world, I would love it if the pupils came into my library and requested some of the classics, but the fact of the matter is that pupils today are living in a different world."
[...]

Another school, which rejected the free 'Everyman's Library' books, wrote: "The paper jackets are ugly and unattractive and the binding is dull and boring.

"What is needed is the familiar paperback format with attractive jacket and abridged versions."

Another school complained: "The books are so unattractive they are unlikely to tempt any pupil."

The figures came as a new CBI report revealed that many business leaders are complaining that school leavers are lacking in basic literacy, numeracy and other 'employability' skills.

Shadow Education Secretary David Willetts said: "These books are the birthright of every child in our country and schools should not be depriving them of the enjoyment of discovering them.

"These book were not considered too difficult. It is shocking that they are being described in this way and children who have been taught properly should have no problem enjoying them.

"It can only mean that standards of literary are much lower that the government claims."

Dear Reader(s)...

2007-03-22T01:46:00.000-04:00

Do not be alarmed if you witness strange phenomena of a pictoral nature in the next few days, perhaps weeks. My friend Thisbeciel and I are working on a new layout for Bronteana and there are a few kinks to work out. These shouldn't be disruptful, but I thought a warning was appropriate.

And feedback on the changes would be very welcome.

New Jane Eyre Adaptation at Festival

2007-03-20T11:52:00.000-04:00

This September a new adaptation of Jane Eyre will be featured at the Guthrie Theater festival in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The play will star Stacia Rice as Jane Eyre, and will be directed by John Miller-Stephany. It runs from Sept. 8-Nov. 10.

"We are producing plays on all three of our stages year-round, and the Guthrie will be a constant hub of creativity, discovery and artistry," [artistic director Joe] Dowling said. "There will be very few dark days at the Guthrie this season."

Alan Stanford's new adaptation of "Jane Eyre" opens the season in September. Twin Cities actor Stacia Rice stars in the Charlotte Bronte story.

Charlotte Brontë’s beloved tale of romance and suspense receives a new adaptation by Alan Stanford, whose version of Pride & Prejudice earned rave reviews by subscribers and critics alike. Jane Eyre accepts a position as a governess to a ward at Thornfield Manor and wins the love of her employer Edward Rochester, a kind, yet mysterious man. But soon, Jane’s love, strength and determination are tested as Rochester’s long-kept secrets are unveiled.

New season subscriptions range in price from $60 to $504. On sale May 7, 2007.

Single tickets for Wurtele Thrust Stage and McGuire Proscenium Stage shows (except A Christmas Carol) range from $24 to $69. On sale June 20, 2007. (Jane Eyre will be performed at the Wurtele Thrust Stage).

Victoria Eyre?

2007-03-20T11:47:00.000-04:00

And, here we have another odd reference to the Brontes, this time the buzz is over celebrity book clubs:

According to the Star, Vicky’s Hollywood pal Katie Holmes is just dying to learn more about British classics. And with the Bronte sisters dead and Jackie Collins indisposed who better to ask than Victoria Beckham?

A source tells the paper: “Victoria has made plans for five of her female friends, including Katie Holmes and Jennifer Lopez, to meet at each other’s houses to discuss the British canon.

Books on the agenda include Jane Austen’s oeuvre and the works of Charles Dickens and Thomas hardy.

Interesting that this news should come on the same day the fruity-toned thespian Stephen Fry tells Radio Times magazine: “I shouldn’t be saying this but I sometimes wonder if Americans aren’t fooled by our accents into detecting a brilliance that may not really be there.”

Can it be that the great and good have stereotyped Vicky, turning her into a plain Jane Eyre, the girl who grow up Posh and then married her Mr Rochester, aka Day-vid?

The plot thickens…

Old Bear Brewery honours the Brontës and Nelson

2007-03-20T11:40:00.000-04:00

Yorkshire brewer’s experiment pays off

Brewers at the Old Bear Brewery in Keighley, West Yorkshire, UK, have taken the wraps of their latest creation – a 12.5% ale that lends more than a nod or two to both the Brontës and Admiral Nelson.

The Duke of Brontë ale was created by Head Brewer Ian Cowling who put together a new brew which was fermented to nine per cent before racking and adding champagne/wine yeast.

The ale was initially brewed as a one off for a beer and music festival at the Flowerpot pub in Derby, but word has spread and it is now set to make an appearance at the Leeds Beer Festival between 15 and 17 March, and the Darlington Beer Festival which falls on the same weekend.

A batch of the special brew will also be bottled and sold at selected off-licences.

The beer’s name comes from Lord Nelson who was given the title of Duke of Brontë by the King of Naples, as a thank you for helping restoring him to his throne in 1799.

It is also the name of an Italian estate in eastern Sicily, close to Mount Etna, which was granted to Nelson by the King.

Old Bear’s Head Brewer Ian Cowling, said: “Patrick Brontë, or Brunty as he was originally called, was a huge fan of Nelson who at the time was this great national hero.

“So when he arrived in England from his native Ireland in the early 1800s, he opted to change his surname to Brontë in honour of him.

“We racked our brains for ages, looking for a name for our special beer that on one hand would have a good Yorkshire connection, but on the other would be relevant in other parts of the country, and Duke of Brontë fitted the bill perfectly.”

From Blue Sky PR. You can also visit the Old Bear Brewery homepage, here.

Bronteana in the News

2007-03-13T13:19:00.000-04:00

My Cornish correspondent, Aidan Brack, has just informed me that Bronteana has been voted 29th in a BBC poll for Best Drama Website of 2006! (The homepage for Jane Eyre 2006 came in 6th). I am very grateful to my readers for this totally unexpected honour. Bronteana came in just after 24, and ahead of Emmerdale, Judge John Deed, The Line of Beauty, Monarch of the Glen, New Tricks, Outpost Gallifrey, Sea of Souls, Silent Witness, and Waterloo Road.

Since coming to Halifax, I have not had the time to keep up to date on how Bronteana is being recieved, but it did come to my attention that the mirror blog I constructed on Wordpress has been a featured site for quite some time! The site is meant only to be a backup archive, but it is still very gratifying to know that my work is appreciated by the staff at Wordpress.

To all of my readers, thank you for your continued support!

ETA: While we're at it, Jane Eyre 2006 has won a top spot in all of the other categories: the production placed 3rd as overal most popular drama, Ruth Wilson has placed 2nd for best actress, Toby Stephens has placed 3rd for best actor, and the reunion of Jane and Rochester placed 2nd for favourite moment.

First Among Sequels

2007-03-13T13:14:00.000-04:00

There is more news about the newest installment of Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series which began with the best-selling 'Eyre Affair.' Most of the books incorporate some Bronte references, although this one doesn't seem to focus on the Bronte novels. He sometimes will slip Mr Rochester into a book without fanfare, so we will have to keep a lookout:

It is fourteen years since Thursday Next pegged out at the 1988 SuperHoop, and the Special Operations Network has been disbanded. Using Swindon's Acme Carpets as a front, Thursday and her colleagues Bowden, Stig and Spike continue their same professions, but illegally.

Of course, this front is itself a front for Thursday's continued work at Jurisfiction, the Policing agency within the bookworld, and she is soon grappling with a recalcitrant new apprentice, an inter-genre war or two, and the inexplicable departure of comedy from the once-hilarious Thomas Hardy books.

As the Council of Genres decree that making books interactive will boost flagging readership levels and Goliath attempt to perfect a trans-fictional tourist coach, Thursday find herself in the onerous position of having to side with the enemy to destroy a greater evil that threatens the very fabric of the reading experience.

With Aornis Hades once again on the prowl, an idle sixteen-year-old son who would rather sleep in than save the world from the end of time, a government with a dangerously high stupidity surplus and the Swindon Stiltonistas trying to muscle in on her cheese-smuggling business, Thursday must once again travel to the very outer limits of acceptable narrative possibilities to triumph against increasing odds.

For more information, be sure to visit Jasper Fforde's website!

Jane's too Tough for KISS' Students?

2007-03-13T12:04:00.000-04:00

KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons recently spoke to WizardUniverse.com about all things comic, the status of KISS today and whether he's ever turned down sex to read a comic. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

And here is the relevant exchange:

Wizard: Was it just Spider-Man, or were there other titles?

Simmons: No, just Spider-Man. [My students] didn't want to read Jane Eyre. Their mom was on crack, their dad was out pimping or whatever and there was drugs and violence, and so they couldn't relate to anything. So I was trying to just get them to be literate. Here was a guy who was hunted by the cops, but he was really a good guy and that's what they felt like, you know?

He speaks as through there is no drugs and violence in Jane Eyre! Perhaps they would have enjoyed Villette a bit more (although it is light on violence... but the drugs are there!). Actually I had a similar problem when I read Wuthering Heights. My family were a very angry lot. When I finished the book, I vividly remember putting it down slowly, and wondering why anyone would write such a book 'full of angry people.' Thankfully I read it again in university.

Interview with Ruth Wilson, and Tony performance of Jane Eyre: The Musical

2007-03-13T11:39:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Pennyforyourdreams, here's a BBC Breakfast interview with Ruth Wilson to go with the Toby Stephens interview we posted months back.

Here is also a much better quality clip of the Tony Award performance of 'Sirens' from Jane Eyre: The Musical, featuring Marla Schaffel and James Barbour.

Jane Eyre illustrations 1890 (part two)

2007-03-12T14:37:00.000-04:00

Thanks go out to Bronteana reader ChrisV for pointing out that a copy of the illustrated 1890 edition of Jane Eyre mentioned a few days ago is for sale on ebay until thursday. The ebay page features seval additional illustrations, some of which are stunning:

Brussels Bronte Group Website

2007-03-12T14:21:00.000-04:00

We have a new addition to the links list at left: the Brussels Bronte Group website, associated with the Brussels Bronte Blog. This website is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in the Brontes, and particularly with the city Charlotte and Emily studied in. Their time in Brussels was crucial, especially for Charlotte who went on to include her experiences there in most of her novels. The site boasts what is probably the most extensive collection of information on Monsieur Constantin Heger (who was her inspiration for Mr Rochester), and the pensionat available online, including some fascinating images, such as these of the pensionnat gardens Charlotte immortalises in Villette. Below is an image of the gardens Charlotte refers to in Villette as the allee defendue.

Book Releases and More on Chapters

2007-03-10T11:21:00.000-05:00

We have a few new editions and other books to look forward to next year. But first, there are a few new editions available today including:

The Bloomsbury Editions, reported here back in June, and known for their quirky marketting to teen readers.

Villette by Dover publications. And another edition by Oberon Books.

New editions of Shirley, and a 3 CD audio book of Jane Eyre will be available March 15th and August 1st, 2007.

Alas, Chapters, when will you believe that Charlotte Bronte did not, ever, write In Her Nature, a novel about werewolf sex. How it even got on their catalogue is baffling, but why it has stayed there... Here is original post from when it first came to our attention.

I Have Failed You

2007-03-10T10:57:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I travelled north with a friend of mine to do a little shopping. There is a shopping centre in Bayer's Lake which has several 'big box' stores and the like. There is a branch of Chapters there. Chapters is the only major mainstream bookstore left in Canada, if I'm not mistaken. Long time readers will know my feelings about them and their practices, but I went all the same. To my relief, their selection was a slight improvement on the one back home (although an entire section on poop was unnecessary... It was called 'the scoop on poop.' What the deuce...)

Anyway, to my delight, I kept bushing up against Bronte novels. Back in my part of the country, it took me months to find a copy of Agnes Grey, and the Chapters stocked a grand total of one copy of Villette, three of Jane Eyre and two of Wuthering Heights. They had some very nice editions of the collected works.

And here is where I have failed you all. As my eyes glittered with the book lust, I neglected to note any information on the publisher or other details. Priced at about $30 was a hardcover edition of the Bronte novels- illustrated. Illustrated with images from turn of the century editions of the novels. My only complaint was that the book was laid out in the same way as the editions of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, with the text in two columns on the page.

I also had the chance to personally handle one of those Jane Eyre journals I reported last year. The journal is made to look like bugundy, aged leather with a page from the Jane Eyre manuscript embossed in gold on the front. Interestingly, the page chosen for the journal is from the interrupted wedding scene and begins somewhere near Mr. Brigg's first lines about the 'impediment.' Not exactly what I expected. Also, the signature they chose was probably one of Charlotte's messiest, but messy is in. In fact, at first glance I could not even read it... I would suspect that it was fabricated, but that the cross on the T is very high. Yes, I may be just a little too methodical.

Jane Eyre Illustrations - 1890

2007-03-09T01:03:00.000-05:00

These really are extraordinary illustrations. These are from the Thomas Crowell 1890 edition of Jane Eyre. I have often wondered when the first illustrations appeared. Charlotte Bronte was approached by her publishers to illustrate the novel herself, but she refused saying that her characters were so unattractive that she could not think there would be any interest in illustration. I don't think that I have come across older representations. They form part of an online project at the University of Nebraska called Love and Seduction, part of the Nineteeth Century Studies Resources for an Interdisciplinary Curriculum.

"You do not hesitate to take a place at my side, do you?"

Bowling down the Drive

2007-03-08T23:25:00.000-05:00

One of my dearest friends has allowed me to post her license plate, sans number. It is a tribute to Bronteism, is it not?

Jane Eyre the really Big Musical

2007-03-08T22:55:00.000-05:00

I don't know how else to title this post. It is not easy to conceive a mental image of a production from a sound track alone, but there is one song from this... 'Jane Eyre: The Musical' (v. 4? 5?) the Skousen, Thompson, Kilpatrick version, that is. There is a song called 'Morton,' which consists of stanzas ending with the cry: "MORTON!" It is all very cheery, as all Jane Eyre musicals before Paul Gordon seem to be. It is entertaining enough to be enjoyable, however, which is the main thing.

Morton!

Mr Rochester's song 'It Takes a Woman' strongly recalls Victorian ideals of 'The Angel in the House': "Why are some women always right- those that are pure like an angel of light?"

Bertha has her own song: 'Sever Them.' Of all such songs, there's probably the most character development. Parts of it have a surrealness to them, but the hag-like voice ruins most of the effect.

This production has its own homepage, here.

Day in the Life of a Bronte Scholar

2007-03-05T12:17:00.000-05:00

I have received some mail asking for updates on how my thesis is progressing. A few weeks ago I submitted a proposal to the graduate committee at Dalhousie University, and received the approval letter and comments today. So far everything seems to be going well.

I am very nearly finished the coursework section of the master's degree, then I will spend the next few months writing the thesis, and probably watching Jane Eyre many many times.

In other news, my novel is very near completion. Using my rough plan, there ought to be five to six more chapters. It will not be following the plan. There could be another ten but we will see how the plot unfolds and go from there. I'm very excited because this is the section I have been looking forward to since I started. This would be my Jane Eyre experiment. A few of my readers will remember that I set out last year to explore a question about the novel by writing one of my own. I will soon have results. I hope that I have proved myself wrong!

I am also preparing a poetry manuscript, hopefully, for publication (if you are wondering when I sleep, the answer is that I don't. It's difficult to sleep when a hoard of drunken teenagers charge past your door at three in the morning so one might as well be productive. At the moment I am going on four hour's sleep!). I have been published before but only in anthologies. I hope this will be my first 'real' work.

I neglected to mention, last night I wrote two chapters of my novel which explains the four hours' sleep. I can't sleep when I am inspired. If I don't write, I will just lie there visualising or hearing it until it is all worked out anyway.

Lastly, my good friend Thisbeciel has again supplied me with an adaptation of Jane Eyre. It says something about the state of my collections when I could not tell if I had heard this one before. Hopefully I can provide a review this evening or tomorrow. She tells me that it is horrible but fun to listen to. I like that almost better than a work of art.

Jane Eyre Finally gets to See 'Jane Eyre'

2007-03-03T12:39:00.000-05:00

From the ToledoBlade:

Seventy years ago, a little girl named Jane Eyre was looking forward to a big treat.

Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Eyre, who lived on Walbridge Avenue, had promised to take their daughter to see a production of Jane Eyre, starring Katharine Hepburn and Orson Welles, which was coming to the Paramounton March 4, 1937. But young Jane never got there.

As Jane Eyre Kittle recalls, her sister came down with whooping cough, and the entire household was quarantined.

"At that time, they posted a big red ticket on your door, meaning no one could go out or in," she said in a telephone interview from her home in Hillsdale, Mich.

Learning of the child's disappointment, Hepburn sent Jane a large autographed photo, which she hung in her bedroom.

Seven decades later, almost to the day, Jane Eyre is returning to Toledo, and Mrs. Kittle will be attending the show in the Valentine Theatre with her husband, two daughters, and sister Donna, the one who had whooping cough.

They won't be seeing Katharine Hepburn, but Mrs. Kittle doesn't really care. "I just love the book so much," she said. "And I'll probably even enjoy it more now than I would have when I was 6. I probably wouldn't have understood much, then."

As for Hepburn's photograph, "Somehow it got lost," Mrs. Kittle recalled, so she wrote to both Hepburn and Welles, in hopes of getting another one. Hepburn never answered, but Welles did, and Mrs. Kittle still has his gift.

Mrs. Rochester, MP?

2007-03-03T12:37:00.000-05:00

From The Guardian:

Mrs Rochester

Mr Brown came under fire from shadow chancellor George Osborne who claimed his "personal pollster" had pointed to "public dissatisfaction" over the government performance on the environment.

And Mr Brown was again mocked as "Mrs Rochester", the mad first wife imprisoned in an attic in the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë.

But Mr Brown hit back, highlighting differences in the Tory leadership over tax breaks for married couples.

New Clips from Wichita Jane Eyre: The Musical

2007-02-26T02:58:00.000-05:00

These clips are from the first public version of Jane Eyre: The Musical as performed in Wichita, Kansas in 1996. Marla Schaffel is Jane, Anthony Crivello is Mr Rochester.

Secret Soul

'Oh God' A piece cut from the show (and new to me!)

The Proposal

10th Anniversary for Bronte Country Website

2007-02-23T14:22:00.000-05:00

This month the Eagle Intermedia Bronte Country website celebrates its 10th birthday.

Launched back in February 1997, the Bronte Country website was originally set up by Eagle Intermedia Publishing Ltd. as an initiative to help promote theBronte Birthplace and its environs in Thornton on the outskirts of Bradford. However the site quickly expanded to include tourist information on Haworth, Bradford, Kirklees and Calderdale, as well as other places in the West Yorkshire and East Lancashire Pennines having associations with the Brontes. The area was of course already world famous for its literary connections, but the internet has proved a highly effective medium in communicating interest and helping visitors plan their travel arrangements.

Today Eagle Intermedia's Yorkshire websites attract hundreds of visitors a day from all over the world. Says Roger Poultney (Internet Marketing Consultant): "The Bronte Country website has gone from strength to strength, and several spin-off sites covering specific places within the region (including Haworth, Bradford and Saltaire) have subsequently been developed, as well as separate websites for the nearby Yorkshire Dales, the North York Moors and Yorkshire Coast. I have no doubt whatsoever that Eagle Intermedia's online marketing efforts have made a significant contribution to local tourism in raising the profile of the area at home and abroad, not only to the benefit of clients who advertise on the Bronte Country website, but also to the West Yorkshire tourism economy as a whole..."

This view is backed up by the website's advertising clients, which include hotels, guest houses and self-catering holiday cottages in the area. Says David Sisley, of the Apothecary Guest House in Haworth:

"I am delighted with the bookings and interest which I have received since joining the Bronte Country website. Bookings have increased, and I am receiving enquiries from all over the world because of my listing. Congratulations on the 10th anniversary, and looking forward to seeing how the site develops over the next ten years !"

These links will also be available shortly, once I have reconstructed our links, on the left-hand sidebar of this blog.

Bronte Country
http://www.bronte-country.com

Haworth Village (in Bronte Country)
http://www.haworth.yorks.com

And thank you to Dr.Poultney for contributing this news item.

Blogging in Brussels

2007-02-23T14:12:00.000-05:00

I would like to welcome the latest Bronte blog to join us online. The Brussels Bronte Blog has just started publishing this month. Be sure to add it to you lists!

http://www.brusselsbronte.blogspot.com/

The Brussels Brontë Group was originally formed by Brontë Society members in Belgium and the Netherlands to bring together people interested in the Brontës and in the Brussels places with Brontë associations. It soon grew to include members of many different countries and nationalities: British, Belgian, Dutch, French, German and others. We welcome anyone in any country who is interested in the works and lives of the Brontës (and 19th century literature in general) and would like to know more about the history of the Pensionnat Heger (the school where Charlotte and Emily Brontë stayed in 1842-43 and which inspired Villette and The Professor), the Quartier Isabelle where it stood, and the city of Brussels in the 19th century.

The Blog provides a forum for members to keep in touch with one another, and we welcome contributions by anyone who is interested in our Group.

Jane Eyre: The Musical in Dorset

2007-02-23T14:08:00.000-05:00

The Big Little Theatre School’s production of Jane Eyre – The Musical Drama is being staged at the Regent Centre, Christchurch, Dorset from April 11th – 14th. Tickets are available from the Regent Centre box office on 01202 499148.

For more information, read this post on the Bronte Parsonage Blog.

Bronte Spirit

2007-02-20T13:26:00.000-05:00

Brontë Spirit is the name of a partnership between Haworth Parish Church and The Brontë Society. Its aim is to lease, redevelop, maintain and administer the School Room building, which is owned by Haworth Parish Church.

We are concerned with the preservation and restoration of this Grade II listed building in which Charlotte Brontë taught.

We are hoping to open up the building, which is situated on the other side of Church Street from the Parsonage Mueum. We hope and intend to heighten awareness of the Brontë heritage through the successful education programme of the Parsonage Museum, to develop education in all areas of the Arts, provide space for artists and crafts people and a place for local community groups to meet.

So far we are in the planning and fundraising stages.

We are going to add information to this website periodically to keep you informed, so look at it regularly to find out about the progress we are making.

To find out more about the projects, you can visit their blog at: http://www.brontespirit.blogspot.com/

The Brontë Influence

2007-02-20T13:19:00.000-05:00

From Yorkshire Today:

THE Brontës' lives and their books have been inspiring writers, They will look at the remarkable power of the Brontës' writing and its influence on their own work.
The event, organised as part of the Brontë Parsonage Museum's contemporary arts programme, will bring together a number of writers who have acknowledged a debt to the Brontës, including Booker Prize nominated novelist Michele Roberts.
Rather like the Brontës', Roberts's writing has often been referred to as "feminist", although she has stated that it is primarily about "food, sex and God". She has won many literary prizes and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1999. Other panelists will include Patricia Duncker and Stevie Davies.Andrew McCarthy, deputy director, Brontë Parsonage Museum, said: "The Brontës' influence on other writers has been profound and it's wonderful to have contemporary writers of such prominence here in Haworth to talk about the Brontës in relation to their work. The writers who will be joining us are hugely talented."

Bronte Digest

2007-02-20T12:56:00.000-05:00

In an effort to catch up on recent news, I have compiled one of my Bronte Digests. This should also save stress on those who receive Brontëana post through a feed (and especially Livejournal).

The Acting Company's production of Jane Eyre at Ball State University.
When: 8 p.m.
Where: Emens Auditorium
Cost: $5 for Ball State students

And in North Carolina:

JANE EYRE: An adaptation by Polly Teale of Charlotte Bronte's novel; 8 p.m., Farthing Auditorium, Appalachian State University, Boone. Presented by The Acting Company. Admission $16, $14 for seniors, $8 for students. Call 800-841-2787 or 828-262-4046.

See this post for other scheduled performances.

A glowing review of the North American DVD release of Jane Eyre 2006, praising its non-canonical approach:

[Jane]'s damaged, and this makes her undemonstrative to a fault – a bit of a pain, actually. She has to go on a journey to find her true character.
...
This Rochester is wrestling with a highly-developed dark side, losing, and rather enjoying it.

This article on muses is remarkable for mentioning dear Monsieur Heger:

A muse is used regularly by many well-known male artists. However, there are few instances where female artists have turned men into muses. The few examples include Charlotte Brontë's unrequited yearning for the married Monsieur Constantin Heger, her tutor, who became the model for Mr Rochester in Jane Eyre and for Paul Emmanuel in Villette, and Emily Dickinson's passion for her unidentified "Master" to whom she addressed some of her most fevered poems.

The times, they are a changin'? Apparently people are less interested in love nowadays:

Heather Schell, an assistant professor of writing, picked up similar attitudes when she taught a course called "Love, American Style" at George Washington University. Her female students loved to discuss the chick-lit book "Bridget Jones's Diary" and the sexual follies of Jones and her boss, Daniel Cleaver. But they were not enthralled with Edward Rochester's lengthy courtship in "Jane Eyre." Quick flings, or hookups, were okay, "but love was rarely mentioned in class discussions," Schell says.

Their favorite assigned reading? A poetry anthology called "The Hell With Love."

Science (and literature?) show that money can't buy love:

And there are precedents. Jane Eyre could only have Mr Rochester after he had lost his money and been blinded. Cathy's passion for Heathcliff deepened as he went mad and destroyed everything about him. Scarlett only loved Rhett when he was down on his luck. Could it be that there is something seriously damaged in the feminine psyche?

Multimedia Exploration of Jane Eyre in Bartlett.

2007-02-09T15:25:00.000-05:00

When a classic novel is brought to life on the silver screen, things change. One such great book gets a through examination of its media conversions at a captivating lecture.

Plymouth State University's Dr. Gaye Gould is presenting a multimedia exploration of Charlotte Bronte's classic romantic novel, "Jane Eyre." This popular novel has been adapted to the screen several times, each with its own distinct perspective. Delve into the story and its renditions on Tuesday, Feb. 13 at Bartlett Library.

Gould has chosen clips from a variety of these movies to compare them with the novel. A movie never seems to do justice to a book, yet with over a dozen media renditions there is something that is fascinating about capturing the essence of a book on film.
The "Jane Eyre" media exploration is at 7 p.m. Refreshments will be served.

Maintenance Note

2007-02-06T12:25:00.001-05:00

For those of you reading Bronteana without benefit of feeds, you should have noticed some changes to the format. Blogger has finally made a beta big enough for this journal, but switching over to the new system hasn't gone smoothly so far. I've managed to wipe out all of the links along the side of the page, including all of my vain attempts to provide some order to the anarchy of the archives (which are still a hopeless mess). I hope to find the time to restore the links list and etexts before long. In the meantime, there is a new visitor map, which should be fun. If you scroll to the bottom on the blog you will now see a map showing where some of the visitors are from!

2007-02-03T11:03:00.000-05:00

Jane Eyre 2006: Deleted Scenes

Denarios has posted clips of the deleted scenes from the BBC's mini-series. There are several clips included in each of the following:

Deleted Scenes from Episodes 1 and 2:

Deleted Scenes from Episodes 3 and 4:

2007-02-03T10:38:00.000-05:00

Performance Schedule for Jane Eyre: The Musical

Thanks to Mrs. Dionysius O'Gall:

CHARLOTTE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
CHARLOTTE, NC US From 3/8/2007
Until 3/10/2007

HIGHLANDS RANCH JR SR HIGH SCH
HIGHLAND RANCH, CO US From 4/12/2007
Until 4/21/2007

HOMESCHOOL PERFORMING ARTS
ALTO, MI US From 4/26/2007
Until 4/28/2007

NIAGARA-WHEATFIELD HIGH SCHOOL
SANBORN, NY US From 3/29/2007
Until 3/31/2007

NOCCA/RIVERFRONT
NEW ORLEANS, LA US From 3/14/2007
Until 3/18/2007

VIEWMONT HIGH SCHOOL
BOUNTIFUL, UT US From 3/9/2007
Until 3/17/2007

WATERTOWN LYRIC THEATER PRODUCTIONS, INC.
WATERTOWN, NY US From 5/3/2007
Until 5/5/2007

WESTMINSTER ACADEMY
FT LAUDERDALE, FL US From 3/16/2007
Until 3/17/2007

2007-02-02T22:25:00.000-05:00

Win a DVD of Jane Eyre 2006

Digital Spy is giving away three copies of the region 2 version of the new BBC mini-series:

Charlotte Bronte’s novel is brought to life in this lavish and complex adaptation. Newcomer Ruth Wilson (Jane Eyre) and Toby Stephens (Edward Rochester) head up an all-star cast including Francesca Annis, Tara Fitzgerald and Pam Ferris.

After a wretched childhood as an orphan and two years of being a teacher, Jane Eyre yearns for new experiences. She accepts a governess position at Thornfield Hall, where she tutors a lively French girl. She soon finds herself falling in love with the brooding owner of Thornfield, the dark and impassioned Mr Rochester. Jane gradually wins his heart but first they must overcome the dark secrets of his past before they can find happiness as man and wife.

When Jane saves Rochester from a fire, which he claims was started by a drunken servant, she begins to suspect that she has not been told the whole story. Her fears are confirmed when Rochester’s secret past is revealed, forcing Jane to flee Thornfield. Penniless and hungry, she finds shelter and friendship in the shape of a kind clergyman and his family, but she is soon shocked to uncover the hidden truth of her own past.

Adapted by Sandy Welch (North and South), produced by Diederick Santer (Much Ado About Nothing) and directed by Susanna White (Bleak House).

As well as all four 50 minute episodes, this 2-disc DVD includes extras such as interviews with cast and crew, commentaries on episodes 1 and 4, deleted scenes, photo gallery and BBC trails.

2007-02-02T21:54:00.000-05:00

A Brief Note About Emails Etc.

I have only just begun to tackle the emails that have built up inside my inbox (there's only 841 new messages now!). It's slow going. I hope that no one's message gets lots but if you have sent word to me and I have not replied, remind me please. I am also aware that I am behind in replying to comments as well. It is more difficult to keep up with those.

This week is going to be quite hectic. I will be readjusting my Bronte thesis proposal. I've met with my advisor who has advised me to trim it down to two adaptations. The reasoning behind this decision is that I have such a huge amount of new material I could contribute it seems wasteful to retread adaptations which have already been studied. These two adaptations will be the 2006 mini-series and the 1996-2001 musical by Paul Gordon and John Caird. (Which reminds me, Anthony Crivello, if you're reading this, I have been carrying the package I prepared for you in my backpack for months now. I WILL post it! I feel like the world's worst fan...).

To make matters more interesting, I am once again in the middle of marking essays (some of which make my brain feel like bursting and not in a good way), I have a paper of my own due monday, and I will be presenting my first lecture on thursday (it is on Dickens, monomania and class tensions in Victorian England. I only briefly contemplated throwing in a Wuthering Heights reference but I've been good about sticking to Mr. D's work).

2007-01-25T16:51:00.000-05:00

Film Adaptation of Shirley?

From today's News and Star:

40k Euros to develop screenplay

A CUMBRIAN-educated lecturer has been awarded 40,000 Euros to develop her screenplay of Charlotte Bronte’s Shirley.

Dr Jo Baker, who attended Queen Elizabeth School at Kirby Lonsdale and now lectures in English and Creative Writing at Lancaster University, won the funding from the Irish Film Board.

The screenplay is now in development with the independent production company Green Park Films.

Dr Baker said: “It was a great sense of satisfaction to be taken seriously for my screenplay because I’ve never done anything like this before and it’s very exciting.

“I have my own dream wish list of who I’d like to be in the film but it’s early days yet. But the fact that we’ve got investment makes me feel more confident.”

Published in 1849, the novel is set the industrialising England of the Napoleonic wars and Luddite revolts of 1811-12.

Illustration from the Bronteana Resource Site. Other illustrations can be found here.

2007-01-22T23:00:00.000-05:00

The Unexplainable

It is true that PBS aired the BBC's Jane Eyre 2006 the other day. I can only tell you that it is also true that this was accompanied by an event so unexpected that it can only be one thing: spookiness. Yes, spookiness. For it is winter and I have seen the Snow Toby. The Snow Toby was not there when I went to my office hours today, it was not there when I returned. Neither was it there when I went to class, but then I returned again that was when I saw it. If only I had brought my camera! Tomorrow I start off early for the class I teach, and then I hope no one has defiled him in my absence.

Okay, enough. What's a Snow Toby? Well, it's rather like a crop circle only in the snow and instead of a circle it is shaped precisely and spookily like "TOBY." It was spooky in an extra spooky way because I could see no footprints leading up to the Snow Toby. Ravens and red squirrels are the only other creatures in the area and they don't get PBS.

So, tomorrow I go hunting for the Snow Toby. If I succeed, I will post a picture of it here. If I don't return it is best not to send a search party unless you direct them into the library somewhere (might want to check in British Lit under 'B').

ETA:

2007-01-22T07:59:00.000-05:00

Jane Eyre (by Polly Teale) Touring Schedule

Belatedly, here is the revised performance schedule for The Acting Company's production of Polly Teale's Jane Eyre.
Thanks to Paula Raymond, design and communications coordinator for sending this in:

Jan 18, 2007 Rockville, MD Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center
Jan 20-22, 2007 Flushing, NY Queens Theatre in the Park
Jan 27, 2007 Purchase, NY Purchase College Foundation-The Performing Arts Center
Jan 30, 2007 Ogdensburg, NY George Hall Auditorium - Ogdensburg Free Academy
Jan 31-Feb 1, 2007 Manchester, NH Dana Humanities Center - St. Anselm College
Feb 2, 2007 Burlington, VT Flynn Center for the Performing Arts
Feb 3, 2007 Durham, NH Johnson Theater - Univ. of New Hampshire
Feb 6-7, 2007 Pittsburgh, PA Byham Theater
Feb 8, 2007 Houghton, NY Houghton College Chapel Auditorium
Feb 10-11, 2007 Hampton, VA Hampton Arts Commission-American Theatre
Feb 13, 2007 Charlottesville, VA The Paramount Theater
Feb 14, 2007 Fairfax, VA Center for the Arts - George Mason University
Feb 16, 2007 Boone, NC Farthing Auditorium - Appalachian State University
Feb 17, 2007 Spindale, NC West Auditorium - Isothermal Comm. College
Feb 20, 2007 Muncie, IN Emens Auditorium - Ball State University
Feb 21-22, 2007 Holland, MI DeWitt Center - Hope College
Feb 23, 2007 Greenville, MI Greenville Area Community Center
Feb 24, 2007 Elyria, OH Stocker Fine Arts Center - Lorain County Comm. College
Feb 26, 2007 Cincinnati, OH Aronoff Center - Jarson-Kaplan Theater
Feb 27, 2007 Notre Dame, IN O'Laughlin Aud. - St. Mary's College
Feb 28, 2007 Flint, MI The Whiting
Mar 2, 2007 Toledo, OH Valentine Theatre
Mar 3, 2007 Windsor, ON Capitol Theatre & Arts Centre
Mar 5, 2007 Decatur, AL
Mar 6, 2007 Starkville, MS McComas Hall Theatre - Miss. State University
Mar 8, 2007 Arkadelphia, AR Arkansas Hall Auditorium - Henderson State Univ.
Mar 9, 2007 Pine Bluff, AR Arts & Science Center - Univ. of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
Mar 13, 2007 Natchitoches, LA Northwestern Theatre - Northwestern State Univ. of LA
Mar 15, 2007 Ruston, LA Howard Auditorium - Louisiana Tech. Univ.
Mar 16-17, 2007 Baton Rouge, LA Magnolia Perf. Arts Pavillion - Baton Rouge CC
Mar 19, 2007 Tupelo, MS The Link Centre Concert Hall
Mar 20, 2007 Wesson, MS Rea Auditorium - Copiah-Lincoln Comm. College
Mar 22, 2007 Thomasville, GA Cultural Center Hall
Mar 23, 2007 Jacksonville, FL Wilson Center for the Arts - Florida Comm. College Jacksonville
Mar 25, 2007 Newberry, SC Newberry Opera House
Mar 26-27, 2007 Talladega, AL Antique Talladega - The Ritz Theater
Mar 30-Apr 2, 2007 West Palm Beach, FL Kravis Center for the Performing Arts
Apr 10, 2007 Lakeland, FL Florida Southern College-Branscomb Auditorium
Apr 11, 2007 Clearwater, FL Ruth Eckerd Hall
Apr 15, 2007 Jefferson City, TN Gentry Auditorium - Carson-Newman College
Apr 17, 2007 State College, PA State Theatre
Apr 18, 2007 Annandale-on-Hudson, NY Bard College - Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts
Apr 20, 2007 Duxbury MA Duxbury Performing Arts Center
Apr 23-May 5, 2007 New York, NY Baruch Performing Arts Center Full Rep

And so it begins...

2007-01-13T00:42:00.000-05:00

I have an outline. Thus begins the Jane Eyre adaptation MA thesis. I'm very excited about finally getting to work on this piece which has been at least a year or two in the making. Thanks to my many minions and un-paid research assistants I have a ridiclously huge number of Jane Eyre adaptations to choose from. This thesis can only be the size of a small book, so I've had to leave out a few dozen adaptations, notably all of the radio adaptations and audiobooks, foreign works, and novels, paintings, illustrations, squirky spin-offs and a large amount of etcetera.

The winning adaptations are as follows:

1857:
Mad, mad, mad, and dancing farmers. Wohoo!

1934:
Slightly less mad, slap-stick, and 'uncle Edward.'

1944:
The classic. Highly aestheticised.

1952-62:
Westinghouse elecronic clarifiers and Charleton Heston.

1957:
Letchery, kinkiness, and more letchery- and Patrick MacNee.

1970:
Rather bizarre, aesthetic and restrained.

1973:
Perfection.

1982:
Kinda perfection and 'the handsome Mr Rochester.'

1996:
Very aesthetic, unusual interpretation.

1997:
Barking mad Mr Rochester- literally.

1996-2000:
Jane (and everyone else) sings!

2006:
Very aesthetic, fanfic-y.

One last note. I hope to get around to answering the increasing backlog of emails. Now that I'm settled in here I feel much better, more myself and less like a soul-less drudge. Ahem. I'll also try to get to answer all of the comments from the previous posts.

ps. Before I get any hate mail, bear in mind that I am only kidding and that it's almost 2:30 AM.

2007-01-10T22:46:00.000-05:00

The Return of Jane Eyre

With the American premiere of the BBC's newest version of Jane Eyre imminent, the wires are again buzzing (slightly) with news. Not exactly news, but articles of some interest. I especially like this one which includes a few snarky comments about adaptions:

That's Edward Rochester. Bronte uses such words as "dark," "stern," "heavy brow" and "ireful and thwarted"; filmmakers prefer cute.

There's also this odd little tidbit from Matlock Today:

The shop has also bought the bed featured in the recent television series Jane Eyre. The bed is burnt during one heart stopping scene and will be displayed at the shop too.

Remember, it may be all well and good to watch Jane douce the raging inferno on Rochester's bed but please do not try it at home.

2007-01-05T10:15:00.000-05:00

The Commercialism of the Local Library

In a new cost-savings measure the local libraries of Fairfax county, Virginia are using computers to target books which have not been circulating in the last two years. One of the victims of this 'purge' which has taken a heavy toll on classic literature, is Jane Eyre:

The Fairfax libraries are now using new computer software programs to identify titles that have not been checked out in 24 months. Victims, to date, include the speeches and writings of Abraham Lincoln, The Education of Henry Adams, poems of Emily Dickinson, and, according to the Washington Post's Lisa Rein, "thousands of novels and nonfiction works" that were swept up in the computer vacuuming.

Other books that have been "weeded" from the shelves of various branches of the Fairfax County Public Library system or haven't been checked out in 24 months and could be discarded include: The Works of Aristotle, The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy, For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, and The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams.

Other selections expunged from various branch libraries are Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, and Virgil's The Aeneid.

Among the more contemporary authors excluded from some libraries are the likes of Kate Millett, Jack Kerouac, and Maya Angelou.

The top 25 books checked out in December, from Fairfax County libraries, were best-sellers by John Grisham, David Baldacci, James Patterson, Nelson DeMille, Stephen King and Alice McDermott, among others. Most are entertaining, but only a few will be considered classics in 25 years.

I have mentioned here before that the school board in my hometown (in southern Ontario) had a policy of destroying books which had not circulated in the last four years. The librarians covertly ignored or otherwise circumvented these rules. They were appalled, but also had practical reasons for not complying. Circulation of books in these libraries does not rely on interest alone. Knowing that bookstores are increasingly slashing their stock (Chapters cut 3 000 titles from their catalogue this year while they have all but obliterated independent bookstores across the country where readers might otherwise obtain the books they want), it is especially alarming to hear that another venue for reading less popular works might be closing. Remember my quest to find a copy of Agnes Grey? I eventually had to order it online. It was not in the library system for the entire county- and my hometown, while not a major city, is still larger than Halifax which is a provincial capital! None of the bookstores carried it: neither Chapters nor the poor remnants we have of second-hand and independent shops.

What if I had been unable to afford such a luxury? What if I had not been computer literate?

2007-01-05T09:40:00.000-05:00

Back at Last?

I hit a wee snag a few days ago. I've moved three times in as many days. Moving back to my old dorm room I found the ceiling had suffered serious water damage and had sprouted black mold. I moved back to my lovely little Annex, then here:

The interior is very fine too:

Hopefully I can now get back to my normal schedule of bloggery and graduate toils. Speaking of which, the time has come for me to begin work on my Bronte thesis!

2006-12-30T21:15:00.000-05:00

How Did It Know?

Hallo! I've been tucked away from the world for the last two weeks. The residences closed and I moved into an annex behind an Edwardian residence. It was lovely! I got to sleep- like- all night. Wow. I'll be moving out soon, and back to my regular schedule within the next few days. In the meantime, there are these movie quotes which seem strangely appropriate! I wonder if one might not write a short script using this meme...

I know this sounds crazy, but ever since yesterday on the road, I've been seeing this Edward Rochester.

Which movie was this quote from?

What do you want to marry Edward Rochester for, anyhow?

Which movie was this quote from?

Get your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty St.John Rivers.

Which movie was this quote from?

2006-12-23T12:02:00.000-05:00

The French Dancer's Bastard

Ha! Here we go again:

THE WILDLY DIFFERENT settings of post-revolutionary Paris and 19th-century Yorkshire provide much of drama in Emma Tennant's novel, a historical fiction about the life of one of literature's bit players: little Adèle Varens, from Charlotte's Brontë's Jane Eyre.

Not that the tale is without drama in the first place. Why did Brontë introduce Varens into her novel? She needed a child for Eyre to teach, a reason for her going to Thornfield Hall and meeting Rochester, certainly. But Brontë was also enough of a craftswoman to realise that another intriguing back story for Rochester, besides his stay in the Caribbean, would not only add to the exotic nature of his past, it would add another nail in his coffin of dubious moral values - values that Eyre ultimately restores to him.

Tennant is not happy to rest with Adèle as either plot device or moral counterpoint. As she tells Adèle's story, we see the Paris where she spends her early childhood, a bohemian, artistic Paris that is about as far from industrialising Yorkshire, hemmed in by wild moors, as it is possible to get.

It is here, in this convivial atmosphere, that Adèle lives with her adored mother, Celine, a beautiful actress and performer who flirts with counts and has mime artists and political agitators for friends. The haphazard presence of the dour Englishman, Rochester, who pops up from time to time, disrupts this easygoing life for little Adèle, who doesn't approve of his attentions taking her mother away. But this is nothing compared to the moment when her mother leaves Paris. Adèle is abandoned and only Rochester can look after her now - there's a clear implication that he is the child's true father.

But Adèle never adapts to Yorkshire; the meek little girl obsessed by ribbons and bows that Brontë paints, hides a vengeful, angry child in Tennant's re-visioning. On the surface Adèle plays the stereotypical child of Paris that her new "family" expects, vain and frivolous. Inside she is hardening, though, perhaps claiming that part of her that is the moors, the only part of her that is English. When she comes across the lonely Antoinette in the attic, she is at first overjoyed to meet another foreign soul, then horrified to discover who Antoinette really is. And so it is back to Paris that Adèle runs, after Thornfield Hall is destroyed by fire, returning to a much more politicised city, where her mother's friend, Jenny, introduces her to the feminist cause.

This is an interesting and ingenious twist - Jane Eyre has long been read as a proto-feminist text, full of symbolism about a young girl's adolescence (Jane's imprisonment in the red room by Aunt Reed, for example) and statements about female independence and how women are erroneously judged by their beauty alone. Now Adèle becomes the independent woman, making a living for herself on the high wire ("I was also ecstatic in my new career, neither woman nor child as I swung and pirouetted above the crowd"). This is the time of radical clubs and George Sand, easy to remain ignorant of out in the wilds of the Yorkshire moors.

Tennant uses a number of viewpoints to dramatise her story, giving Adèle, Rochester, creepy Grace Poole and Mrs Fairfax, their own voices. It's a strategy that works well, offering competing versions of the same events; more importantly, it allows us to see the change in Rochester and the emerging maturity of Adèle directly, rather than by report.

Fans of Brontë's classic can be assured that Tennant's story - even when she gives new interpretations of well-known events - is a fascinating complement to the great original.

Fascinating? ...Surely you jest? This was the most hilariously bad novel I've ever read. Although the reviewer deserves a gold star for tactfully avoiding any references to the inane plot (and plot holes unless this is a revised version of 'Adele' which she published some years ago). No mention of the gratuitious nudity (why wouldn't there be a hole in the bathroom large enough for Adele and Bertha (on a rocking horse) to look down at Mr Rochester while he takes a bath? Personally I find it all very fascinating. I also enjoy contemplating why he stands naked in the street earlier as well. And why Mrs Fairfax wants to kill Jane.

I must say that I am growing irritated with authors republishing their own novels under different names, trying to palm them off as new works. Is there a shortage of writers trying to get published? Not a few writers have approached me for assistance in publishing so that can't be the reason.

More to the point, why would a publisher choose to republish Adele? Would the delightful new title really make the book more appealling? Maybe if we republished Jane Eyre as Poor Starveling Possible Tramp we'd get more people to read it?

2006-12-20T22:48:00.000-05:00

BBC Jane Eyre 2006 on Pre-Order in the US

The PBS Shop has the details on the January 8th release of the two disc set:

$29.98

The dark romantic mystery of Jane Eyre returns to the screen in this lavish new version for Masterpiece Theatre. A lonely young governess falls in love with the handsome, brooding father of her new student at Thornfield Hall, but neither Jane nor Mr. Rochester can escape the mysteries of their past lives. Toby Stephens, Ruth Wilson, and Francesca Annis bring Charlotte Brontë's timeless classic to vigorous new life.

2006-12-12T11:21:00.000-05:00

Villette Hell: Postgrad Adventure Game for Commodore 64

It is that time of year again. As I sit at my desk, trying not to think about the manila envelope bursting with in-class-essays for me to mark, I blog. It is all one can do, unless you do this. And since it mentions Villette in passing, it qualifies for inclusion here! I suppose you could call this a TA simmulation too. Some brief excerpts:

>read essay
With trepidation, you lift aside the cover sheet. Suddenly, the world around you seems to melt away...

Hell
You are in a maze of twisty little paragraphs, all alike. The path ahead of you is littered with sentence fragments, left broken and twitching at your feet as their pathetic spaniel eyes implore you to put them out of their misery. Dangling modifiers loop happily through the branches overhead. In the distance, that sound of undergraduate feet has turned into a heavy, erratic thwump - swoop - THWUMP you recognise immediately - it's a badly-indented long quotation, and it's coming closer.

>run
You wish.

A flock of commas scampers past, squeaking in a high-pitched, giggly way.

>inventory
You are carrying:
a purple pen
your grading criteria
a copy of Villette
5 crumbled dog biscuits
your TA contract
18 monographs you promised your supervisor you'd already read
a large amount of what-the-hell-am-I-doing-with-my-life angst
half a potato

>get commas
Tricksy little things, commas. These ones have embedded themselves in the comforting thicket of a nearby sentence.

>search for commas
Where do you want to search for the commas?

>search for commas around subordinate clauses
Surely you jest.

>search for commas prefacing speech
You spy a clutch of young semi-colons here, looking slightly confused.

>get semi-colons
You have the clutch of young semi-colons.

>throw semi-colons in direction of my own writing
I don't think you need any more of those, young lady.

>but I'm a Victorianist!
That's no excuse.

>search for commas at randomly-chosen intervals in middle of sentence in places where NO COMMAS SHOULD BE because despite correcting this THREE TIMES NOW and doing writing workshops in class and handing out links to resources like confetti it was all in vain
Ah, there they are! You gather up the commas, making sure you don't get bitten in the process.

>n
You head north.

[...]

>look for thesis statement
Okay, I'll humour you on this one. Where do you want to look for this 'thesis statement' of yours, in a first-year essay, in the dreaded Batch #3, written by a student whose previous two essays just scraped a pass...

>read TA contract
TA Contract, paragraph 5.2(b): "Any grumbling, weeping or tearing out of hair that is not actively homicidal in nature is considered par for the course, sucker."

>sigh
Indeed.

>look under lampshade
Which lampshade, the fake-satin lampshade of irrelevant biographical detail or the frilly velvet lampshade of waffle?

>look under frilly lampshade
You find a thesis statement clinging to the underside of the lampshade. It is very small and appears to be ashamed of itself.

[...]

A flock of rogue its/it's soar past you, their cawing sound echoing across the desolate landscape.

>shoot down wrongly-apostrophised plurals
With what?

>shoot down wrongly-apostrophised plurals with laser-eye beams of TA wrath
Sizzling slightly, they plummet to earth.

2006-12-11T16:32:00.000-05:00

Jane Eyre: The Musical Touring Company

From Avid Touring Group Ltd:

You will fall in love with this lush piece of musical theater storytelling and sweeping, unforgettable melodies by Paul Gordon.

A troubled young orphan wishing for liberty and the strength to rise above the hardships of her childhood grows to learn that true love and forgiveness do indeed overcome obstacles. As an ambitions young woman, Jane soon meets the gregarious and wealthy Edward Rochester. Their destiny unfolds when a deep, secret bond grows between them. But will class distinctions keep them apart, or can their hearts beat strongly enough to bring them together? And when a darker family secret and haunting tragedy unfold, will they be brave enough for love?

Star Casting to be announced shortly.

There are, of course, no dates for the tour yet but I'll keep you posted. Thank you, jess_squirrel, for the tip!

2006-12-10T20:34:00.000-05:00

Reminder About Air Dates for Jane Eyre 2006

Here's a brief reminder that the most accurate information will be available from your PBS station's schedule, as each station's air dates will differ. Here is one for the KQED station, for example. (This station covers northern California):

Jane Eyre - Part One (#3701) Duration: 1:56:46 CC Stereo DVS TVPG
After a wretched childhood, Jane Eyre arrives at Thornfield Hall to take over her duties as a governess. She soon falls in love with the brooding owner of Thornfield, Mr. Rochester. However, as Jane gradually wins his heart, her integrity and independence are pushed to the limit when Rochester's dark secrets emerge from his past. In part one, Jane embarks upon a career as a governess and takes residency at Thornfield Hall, where she and Rochester become instantly attracted to each other. However, some mysterious screams, untold secrets and upsetting gossip quickly emerge, imposing some unseen barriers between Jane and Rochester -- some that they might never overcome.

Channels and Airdates
KQED Channel 9
Sun, Jan 21, 2007 -- 9:00 pm
Tue, Jan 23, 2007 -- 3:00 am

KQED Encore
Mon, Jan 22, 2007 -- 12:00 am
Mon, Jan 22, 2007 -- 4:00 am
Mon, Jan 22, 2007 -- 8:00 am
Mon, Jan 22, 2007 -- 12:00 pm
Mon, Jan 22, 2007 -- 4:00 pm
Mon, Jan 22, 2007 -- 8:00 pm

KQED Life
Sat, Jan 27, 2007 -- 9:00 pm

Jane Eyre - Part 2 (#3702) Duration: 1:56:46 CC Stereo DVS TVPG
In part two, Rochester admits he has no intention of marrying Blanche and instead proposes marriage to Jane. As their wedding day arrives, events take a turn for the worse as Rochester's previous wife makes a surprising visit.

Channels and Airdates
KQED Channel 9
Sun, Jan 28, 2007 -- 9:00 pm
Tue, Jan 30, 2007 -- 3:00 am

KQED Encore
Sun, Jan 28, 2007 -- 9:00 pm
Mon, Jan 29, 2007 -- 12:00 am
Mon, Jan 29, 2007 -- 4:00 am
Mon, Jan 29, 2007 -- 8:00 am
Mon, Jan 29, 2007 -- 12:00 pm
Mon, Jan 29, 2007 -- 4:00 pm
Mon, Jan 29, 2007 -- 8:00 pm

2006-12-10T16:49:00.000-05:00

Mr. Rochester is Still Mr Rochester

Everyone else has had their names translated, it seems, in this very rare find brought to you by the indefatigable biedroneczka. This adaptation was produced in 1972 in Czech.

Jana Eyrová CSSR
1972
A miniseries in four parts Directed by: Věra Jordánová
Cast: Marta Vancurová - Jana Eyrová
Jan Kačer - Edward Rochester

Mrs. Fairfaxova pours tea for Jana.
Mr Rochester meets Jana Eyrova in Hay Lane.

Mr Rochester tells Jana about Adele's mother Celine Varensova....Keeping warm.
Grace Poolova, who has been listening at doors!

Lady, Mary, and Blanche Ingramova.

He doesn't let the tear fall to the flag this time.
She doesn't talk like a gypsy...

2006-12-10T16:38:00.000-05:00

Possible Professional Tour for Jane Eyre: The Musical and Japanese premiere in '09

Today is the anniversary of the official opening of Jane Eyre: The Musical. I thought it was fitting to share these few words from Paul Gordon, the composer of Jane Eyre: The Musical. Last week he informed his devotees that Jane Eyre is continuing its long journey... There is still hope that the show will be revived professionally for the tour circuit or concert venues:

Still discussing the possibility of a Jane Eyre tour. No word yet when it will happen but maybe 08'. There is a production slated for Tokyo in 09'.

2006-12-10T16:32:00.000-05:00

Jane Eyre 2006 Viewing Schedule

Thanks to LERO member Annamir:

PBS, the foundation- and viewer- supported TV channel in the USA, has optioned the BBC's latest adaptation of "Jane Eyre" for it's "Masterpiece Theatre" series. MT is broadcast on the first two sundays & "Mystery!" on the last two or three. The Jan '07 MT broadcast dates are as follows, Part I (parts 1 & 2) Sunday, January 7th, at 8pm to 10 pm*Part II (parts 3 & 4) Sunday January 14th, at 8 pm to 10pm**Viewers Beware!: some states do not participate in the Daylight Savings program, in which we set our clocks back an hour in the autumn and ahead one hour in the spring. I think they are Arizona, Iowa, and Rhode Island. People living in these states must add an hour to the schedule: 9pm to 11pm. Check your local listings - this is especially important for Part II!

2006-12-07T14:53:00.000-05:00

Newly Published Letter from Patrick Bronte

The loving side of 'stern' Bronte father
By Clive White

A previously unpublished letter has thrown new light on the character of the clergyman father of the famous Bronte authors.

It now appears the Reverend Patrick Bronte was not the "cassocked savage" as branded by Elizabeth Gaskell, his daughter Charlotte's biographer.

It shows him to be, in fact, a loving and courageous dad.

The letter is among the archives at Lambeth Palace, London, and was written to Charles Thomas Longley, former Archbishop of Canterbury, who was a friend of Patrick.

In the letter Patrick says: "I have lived long enough to bury a beloved wife and six children - all that I had, I greatly enjoyed their conversation and company.."

"Now they are all gone - their image and memory remain and meet me at every turn - but they themselves have left me."

The significance of the four pages has been revealed by Bronte scholar and author Brian Wilks, of the Bronte Society.

It was written ten days after the death of Charlotte, the author of Jane Eyre and the sixth of Patrick's children to die before him.

The 78-year-old was left to grieve at Haworth Parsonage, and the letter gives a deeply moving account of the tragedies that struck his gifted family, said Mr Wilks.

The vicar lost his son Branwell, aged 31, in September 1848, Emily, who wrote Wuthering Heights, three months later, aged 30, his daughter Anne, aged 29, in May 1849, having already suffered the grief of losing his wife and two elder daughters some years earlier.

Mr Wilks, who intends to publish the letter in the Bronte Society Journal next autumn, said: "I have always supported the idea that Patrick was a compassionate man.

"It was fashionable to think of him as a bad tempered man and there may have been some of that, but overall he was very compassionate.

"The best thing about the letter is what he says about missing the company and companionship of his family.

"The letter is a missing piece of the jigsaw and will startle and delight Bronte enthusiasts."

It was sent to Longley in 1855 while he was Bishop of Ripon, thanking him for his words of comfort, but also reveals how Patrick's faith had been challenged by the devastation.

He says: "The Lord gave and the Lord took early awaybut I have often found and find in this last sad trial that it is often frequently extremely difficult to walk entirely by faith and sincerely to pray They will be done on earth as it is in heaven.'"

The sentiments in the letter contradict comments made by Mrs Gaskell in a magazine article. She said Patrick was a "cassocked savage who ought to be have been taken out into the garden and shot."

Ann Dinsdale, the Bronte Parsonage librarian, said the letter revealed Patrick as a loving father.

"Elizabeth Gaskell had an axe to grind. The Bronte novels at the time were perceived as brutal and shocking and she was trying to protect Charlotte.

"The way she did it was to make the case that what else could they write about when they were living in this backward place with a half-mad father and alcoholic brother?"

In reality Patrick was a compassionate father who suffered and missed his children, she added.

With a new biopic of the Brontes in the works, I can only hope that we will no longer see Patrick Bronte depicted as an abusive father. It is surprisingly difficult to escape from Gaskell's malicious portrait. So many editions of the Bronte novels state in their tiny penny paperback bios how their father was brutal, or severe. This letter does not surprise me in the least. Some of the well-known letters from Patrick are very warm, and sometimes even silly (as when he wrote a letter to Charlotte under the guise of one of the family dogs. Charlotte was so amused that she forwarded it to her friend). Needless to say, I have little love for Gaskell. Who, incidentally, didn't just say that Patrick ought to have been 'taken into the garden and shot' in a magazine article- she villified him in the biography she wrote for Charlotte at Patrick's request. It is well known today that she relied on the testamony of servants who had been dismissed and had their own 'axes to grind' as well as her own prejudices (she seems at a loss to understand how an Irishman could be so calm- he must have irrational 'volcanic' outbursts of rage while in private- such as shredding his wife's dress or throwing his children's boots into the fire). My point is, then that this letter is not so 'startling' as the article suggests...

2006-12-04T23:53:00.000-05:00

Upcoming Productions of Jane Eyre: The Musical

Thanks to Mrs. Dionysius O'Gall for the tip!

CAPILANO COLLEGE
NORTH VANCOUVER, BC CA
From 12/15/2006
Until 12/15/2006

CHARLOTTE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
CHARLOTTE, NC US
From 3/8/2007
Until 3/10/2007

HIGHLANDS RANCH JR SR HIGH SCH
HIGHLAND RANCH, CO US
From 4/12/2007
Until 4/21/2007

HOMESCHOOL PERFORMING ARTS
ALTO, MI US
From 4/26/2007
Until 4/28/2007

PITTSBURGH IRISH AND CLASSICAL THEATRE / PICT
PITTSBURGH, PA US
From 11/30/2006
Until 12/23/2006

STAGECOACH PRODUCTIONS
MONT VERNON, NH US
From 1/19/2007
Until 1/21/2007

VIEWMONT HIGH SCHOOL
BOUNTIFUL, UT US
From 3/9/2007
Until 3/17/2007

WESTMINSTER ACADEMY
FT LAUDERDALE, FL US
From 3/16/2007
Until 3/17/2007

2006-12-04T11:52:00.000-05:00

Everyone's a Critic...

I cannot understand the absolute drought of Bronte news lately. All that is coming over the wire are scraps of news items from months ago, and trivia which is in no way interesting. I have come to think that theatre critics are some of the most viciously snarky people there are. This comes from a review of Les Miserables by a critic who has never liked Les Miserables:

This time I did my best to set aside my previous experiences and see the show fresh. And what do you know, Hugo’s great story rings through loud and clear. I have new admiration for Boublil, who has told this complex tale with economy and emotional directness—Schönberg is clearly the person on the creative team who rubs me the wrong way. Well, him and co-director John Caird, whose direction of "Jane Eyre, The Musical" is one of the most heinous crimes against the theater and literature that I have suffered.

And... that's it. Nothing more substantial than this, folks. My final projects should be in next week after which I will start to delve into my archives again for bloggy material until the news picks up again.

2006-11-26T20:00:00.000-05:00

Napoleon and the Spectre

Oh, hello! Virago Press? Hi, there's a little something you might want to look into- The Virago Book of Ghost Stories edited by Richard Dalby:

We have 31 stories here, all by women (as you would expect from Virago, even though the editor is a man) and almost all good. Indeed, there is only one utter dud, the first in the book, Napoleon and the Spectre by Charlotte Brontë; this is indescribably feeble and I am baffled by its inclusion.

Indeed, sir, I find myself quite baffled. Charlotte did not write 'Napoleon and the Spectre', it was one Branwell Bronte who is not a lady (forgive my ignorance on the subject- there could possibly be a novel out there about Branwell being a lady. You can never say for sure about these things).

My apologies but this was, honestly, the most fascinating or amusing Bronte item to come across the wire all week.

Emily's Journal

2006-11-23T09:17:00.000-05:00

A new fictional diary of Emily Bronte, focusing on a tragic teenage love affair, has been praised by Bront researchers.
In her book "Emily's Journal", historian Sarah Fermi suggests the novel Wuthering Heights was based on the author's own doomed romance.
Experts have praised the plausibility, skill and detail of Sarah's 236-page portrayal of Emily's thoughts and motivations.

The Cambridge writer completed "Emily's Journal" after 15 years of research into unanswered aspects of the Bront family's lives.
She explored the theory that Emily experienced a profound and tragic relationship as an adolescent, social circumstances keeping the couple apart. The experience was said to have affected the rest of Emily's life and became the emotional source of both her poetry and Wuthering Heights.
Sarah looked at census records, parish registers and wills as she tried to match real-life evidence with the contents of Emily's works.
She chose to put forward the theory as a fictional journal, exploring Emily's life in minute detail, rather than as a biography.
Sally Wainwright, writer of TV drama At Home with the Braithwaites, this year turned the theory into a Radio 4 drama.
Sarah said her book was already selling well at the Bronte Parsonage Museum.
She said: "It might be of interest to the general public as an entertaining read and a completely new look at the Bront sisters.
"A great deal of research went into its creation and the theory is both possible and indeed probable."
Margaret Smith, editor of the Letters of Charlotte Bronte, said she was sceptical when she first started reading "Emily's Journal".
But she said: "I was gripped by the skilful interweaving of fact and possibility, and the way Sarah brought historic places and people to life."
Bob Duckett, editor of Bronte Studies, described the book as a superb mixture of historical research and plausible gap-filling.
Dr Heather Glen, who has written about Charlotte Bronte, said the compelling "Emily's Journal" was based on an extraordinarily detailed knowledge of the social history of Haworth.
She added: "Sarah really does convince us that something like what she describes could have happened and gives an intriguing glimpse of what the Bronte family dynamics might actually have been."
"Emily's Journal" is published by Pegasus, at £8.99 in paperback.

Read more about Emily's Journal by visiting the Bronte Parsonage Blog here.

Also, in a news brief from Canadian Christianity.com: The Department of English at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) has published its third annual issue of Soul in Paraphrase: A Journal of Literary Arts and Critical Inquiry. This year the theme is 'literary homage,' and it embraces the writing of 22 CMU students who analyze writers they have studied in their English courses. The journal contains parodies of famous poems; adaptations of famous passages; and drawings and photographs based on the novel Jane Eyre.

Buttons, Buckles, Ruffles and Lace Represent the Human Race!

2006-11-16T13:44:00.000-05:00

I have been searching high and low for an article I read some time ago about the setting of Jane Eyre. Both sides in the debate are convinced they are right (that it ought to be set in the Regency, or the Victorian period). This article was in the Victorian camp, and mused on what Mr Rochester might have been doing in France during the Revolution (I have never read articles which have seriously considered why he would be chewing bon bons and dating ballet dancers in Paris during the Terror). Well, they said he'd probably be something like the Scarlet Pimpernel.

This is funny. Yes, it is. And also fortuitous for me. The Gordon/Caird musical had been continually compared with three other musicals: Les Miserables, The Secret Garden, and The Scarlet Pimpernel. The comparison with Pimpy makes little sense besides the flouncing white shirts, cravats, and breeches- unless we use our imagination to indulge in the Regency Jane Eyre theory.

It also gives me an excuse to call a post 'buttons, buckles, ruffles and lace represent the human race' which is just one of many fabulous lines from the show. It also gives me an excuse to share these scenes: witness the fop love below:

Or watch Alayna's beautiful clip here (I almost cried at the end from the funny):

And an editor's note: I hope regular postings will be resuming soon. It is the end of term, and naturally my life is in shambles. I have papers to mark, a ph.d proposal, this publishing project, two papers, and to top it all off I am officially homeless. That was the family crisis I spoke of earlier. Yesterday my mother was evicted back home, so I don't officially have one anymore. She's alright for the moment, but I've been desperately trying to find her a permanent residence from 1000 miles away. She might be settled as early as tonight.

2006-11-13T18:05:00.000-05:00

Own the Manuscript of Jane Eyre for only $14.95!

Well, a reasonable fascimilie... okay, only one page in facimile but you have to admit that as Bronte gifts go this one is even cooler than the Bronte Berry lip balm and falls just short of action figures. What Bronte fan would not want a journal like this? It also comes in Shakespeare (yes, that's right. Out of the entire British canon they chose Charlotte Bronte and Shakespeare!). They're available for purchase from the New York Public Library bookstore online.

Lovely old literary manuscripts of famous novels and other works are reproduced on the covers of these distinctive and charming journals. The hardcover journals are embellished with gold foil and embossed details, and feature the signature of each writer on the back.

A page from a Jane Eyre manuscript. Hardcover journal, 160 lined pages, 7" x 9 1/4."

2006-11-13T09:30:00.000-05:00

New Adaptation of Wuthering Heights

Here we go again! This time ITV has commissioned a new adaptation of Emily Bronte's novel. There is another version being planed by the company producing 'Becoming Jane.'

The three-hour adaptation of the nineteenth century novel will be screened either in late 2007 or early 2008, after a series of Jane Austen dramas next year.
It was commissioned by Laura Mackie, ITV's controller of drama, and will be produced by Mammoth Screen, a new independent production company set up by former ITV drama producer Damien Timmer.
The writer is Peter Bowker, who was behind the BBC's 'Blackpool' musical thriller and 'The Canterbury Tales: The Miller's Tale'. It has not yet been cast.
Classic costume drama remains a reliable crowd-puller, with the BBC's recent four-part adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's 'Jane Eyre' attracting 6.7m viewers for its final episode.
ITV has already lined up three Jane Austen novels for next year: 'Mansfield Park', 'Northanger Abbey' and 'Persuasion'.
'Wuthering Heights', the only novel by Charlotte's sister Emily, is a darker tale of the twisted relationship between Heathcliff and Cathy, who comes back as a ghost to haunt her lover.
The last TV version of the book was filmed in 1998 by LWT and starred Sarah Smart and Robert Cavanah. Film versions have starred Ralph Fiennes and Timothy Dalton as Heathcliff, and there are reports of Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie having been lined up to star in a new version.

2006-11-10T19:57:00.000-05:00

No Brontes? No Problem!

I have been on a little sabatical this week, and not a pleasant one. All final assignments are coming due, there is much researching, writing, and more writing to be done- there was even the tedious task of marking over a thousand lines of poetry with ETI code (like English literary html). On top of this my family is going through yet another crisis (which will soon be resolved and has nothing to do with ill-health).

What is a graduate student to do but play Oregon Trail? If you're not from North America, or were not a young'un in the 90s you might not know of the appeal this educational game has over 20-somethings. I was deprived of Oregon Trail as a child, not being American and there being no Canadian equivalent (like... Jesuit Adventure). Anyway, I downloaded a trial today but gave it a Bronte twist:

It is 1848, and you are going to settle in the wild west. Where, and how are almost entirely up to you but choose carefully because at every turn you will encounter disaster and death. I lead Jane, Mr Rochester, Adele, and St.John to Salt Lake City, Utah. Well, I tried to lead them there. Each character was surprisingly consistent: Mr Rochester wasn't far along the trail before he spained his ankle, Jane was bitten by a snake but soldiered on after sucking out the poison, and St.John caught cholera, broke his leg, and almost drowned after falling through the ice of a frozen river we were trying to cross. His accidents had nothing to do with my being leader of the expedition. Somewhere in the deserts of the midlands we lost poor little Adele. None of our fellow settlers would trade us water and she died of thirst! There is no justice! But that's the 1840s for you.

I proved handy as a hunter, fisherman, and food gatherer but then I was mauled by a hamster (prairie dog, actually) and had to travel across state 'bleeding and in pain.' Then there was the time I accidentally shot myself...

Next time, Charlotte, Emily, Anne and Branwell move to Sacramento!

Bronte News

2006-11-06T16:58:00.000-05:00

Bronte news has been very thin lately. Here is a selection of the most interesting items:

The Philipine Daily Inquirer recomends Wuthering Heights as cinema therapy for a 'stupid, ill-fated love affair.'

And Catherine Watson discovers the compelling nature of literary pilgrimage in her quest for 'a deeper connection' with the Brontes and other literary 'heroes.'

The Brontes at Haworth

2006-11-06T09:51:00.000-05:00

Our fearless leader, Bronte Society Chairman Richard Wilcocks at the Bronte Parsonage Blog interviews Parsonage Librarian Ann Dinsdale about her newly published book, The Brontes at Haworth.

For research I didn’t have to stir beyond the library here, which of course contains the best collection of Brontë material in the world. I had access to parish records, contemporary accounts, newspapers, everything. After seventeen years I am quite familiar with what there is.

[...]

Some new or little-known items might stick in the reader’s mind, for example some of the contemporary views of the Brontë novels. One reviewer said that Wuthering Heights would ‘live a short and brilliant life and then die and be quickly forgotten’.

Then there’s the transcript of the account book of the local joiner William Wood, a good name for a joiner I think. He made coffins. His spelling gives an idea of how he spoke.

When ‘Miss Branwell’ died in 1842, her ‘coffen’ cost £5.12s.6d. When Branwell died in 1848 the ‘coffen & scroud making’ totalled only £3.15s. Then there is this:

Emlea Jane Bronty. Died Dec 19th 1848 in the 30 year of hir Age. Coffen 5ft 7” long 16” broad.

If you would like to purchase the book, it is available for order from the Bronte Parsonage online store.

2006-11-03T22:51:00.000-05:00

Brontes of Haworth

It seems to be a running theme in most of my recent posts that I have very little time for blogging. And this month seems to be getting more complicated with each day. I ought to be in bed, resting up for tomorrow. Today was spent in a crash course in ETI, SGML, and XML, and then a ph.d proposal workshop. I think my work was tore apart by six or seven professors one after another- I can't remember how many exactly. To illustrate my state of mind at the end of it all: I stumbled back to the dinning hall forgetting that I had office hours during the workshop!

These clips I uploaded a few days ago but haven't had the time to post. I think this is a wonderfull series but it is hardly known. This first clip is one of my favourites in the series. Anne Bronte arrives at Thorp Green to take up her position as governess to the Robinson children.

And in this clip Charlotte discovers Emily's poetry, and the plan forms to attempt their first publication: