BrontëBlog

The Destroying Angel of Tempest

2008-07-26T00:06:00.002+02:00

An alert from the Australian Brontë Association for today, July 26:

Sat 26th JULY

Mandy Swann

THE DESTROYING ANGEL OF TEMPEST

The Sea, Imaginative Excess and Extremes of Passion in the Fiction and Poetry of Charlotte and Anne Brontë.

The latest issue of the Australian Brontë Association journal, The Brontë Thunderer (Volume 4, 2007), is online. This is its table of contents

CATHERINE BARKER Happy Birthday Patrick Brontë 1-26
CHRISTOPHER COOPER The Brontës at the Seaside 27-40
VIRGINIA LOWE ‘As No One Save A Woman Can’: Bleak House and Villette 41-49
CHRISTOPHER COOPER Charlotte and Emily’s Love for Sir Walter Scott 50-52
EDGAR JOHNSON Young Wattie 53-68

Categories: Alert, Journals, Talks

There is always another side, always

2008-07-25T17:50:00.005+02:00

Author Laura Fish chooses Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea as her Book of A Lifetime for The Independent:

Wide Sargasso Sea is not just a great novel, it is many brilliant books in one. Multi-layered and complex, Jean Rhys's prelude to Jane Eyre vividly illustrates how accounts and understanding differ, and creates a sense of the characters' past being inescapable.
In this poignant evocation of the bitter romance between the white Creole heiress Antionette Cosway, of the Jamaican plantation-owning class, and the increasingly cold Englishman Mr Rochester, Rhys creates a relationship that is intense with the rage of desire and marked by deep tragedy.
I first read Wide Sargasso Sea before coming to Jane Eyre. When I did read Charlotte Brontë's story, it seemed to me that the first Mrs Rochester, the discarded wife who ghosted about Thornfield Manor, cast a far darker shadow over Mr Rochester and Jane than Brontë had intended.
Set in wild, magical Jamaican scenery, Wide Sargasso Sea depicts the trouble and confusion on West Indian sugar estates in the aftermath of emancipation. Not only is most of the black population as poor as ever, there are poor whites too. Rhys shows that the movement of the West Indians has not been a progression from colonialism to a racial-political independence, but rather from one form of slavery to another. She explores accounts of tensions between written and oral cultures and, through Antionette's narrative, urges the reader towards an understanding and acceptance of the mad woman in the attic. In my own moments of torment, I am often reminded of Antionette's passionate and haunting story. Her psychological disintegration and descent towards madness is a journey which ultimately becomes the mirror opposite to that of the wholesome goodness of the innocent Jane Eyre, as depicted by Brontë.
Wide Sargasso Sea speaks of the history of cruelty and suffering that lies behind some of the West's accumulated wealth, a history which in Jane Eyre is secret and mysterious, and only appears in brief glimpses. This is a book that gives voice to neglected, silenced and unacknowledged stories, exploring different inflections of marginality – gender, class, race and madness. Where historical events, recorded in written discourse, have shaped the opinions of many of the people of the former British colonies and education is exclusively from a Eurocentric perspective, the recovery of "lost" histories has a crucial role to play in allowing access to events and experiences which have not previously been recorded. This idea of "writing back" by breaking down explanations for events and favouring more localised narratives and perspectives has informed my own work, especially in the voices of the former slaves in my latest novel. Wide Sargasso Sea is an inspiration. Certainly, before the phrase was coined, Jean Rhys was a post-colonial writer whose work reminds us that "there is always another side, always".

The Orlando Sentinel has something to say about Wide Sargasso Sea. Specifically about Wide Sargasso Sea 1993:

I'd always meant to read Wide Sargasso Sea, the prequel to Jane Eyre (set mostly in Jamaica), so I settled for the 1993 movie instead. Pity. The actor playing Mr. Rochester is all wrong, and I hate voodoo stuff about as much I hate vampire stuff. (Commander Coconut)

We doubt that Stuart Jeffries from The Guardian's Book Blog could be one of our readers:

To read for pleasure you have got to be in charge of your reading and that means knowing that it's OK to stop reading if it gets boring. Lots of books drop off halfway through. For me, that includes Brideshead Revisited and Wuthering Heights.

Ideal Digital turns to Jane Eyre to illustrate a story about child abuse (in Spanish).

Diary of a Mad Movie Fanatic posts about Jane Eyre 1996. Reading, Writing, Working, Playing continues its series of posts about Elizabeth Gaskell's Life of Charlotte Brontë and Ruthy is all that and a bag of Cheetos links together Shirley and Andrew Peterson's "Come, Lord Jesus".

Categories: Biography, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, References, Shirley, Wide Sargasso Sea, Wuthering Heights

Mark Ryan and Wuthering Heights

2008-07-25T01:00:00.003+02:00

More Wuthering Heights adaptations in progress. We have novels, operas, ballets, TV series, films, new theatre versions, musical theatre adaptations (Fabio Zuffanti's or Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon's Heathcliff)... and one more musical seems to be making its way. The clues come from Mark Ryan's MySpace blog:

23 Jul 2008
'll also be a guest at the San Diego ComicCon to discuss my new graphic novel "The Pilgrim" with Mike Grell during a panel on Friday, the 25th. I'm really looking forward to the event and I'll be there until Monday morning. If you see me, please come up and say: "Hello!"
I'll also be talking about Wuthering Heights, a new dramatic musical adaptation we've been recording that will be launched online in August. It's got some very cool people involved and it's been really great hearing Emily Bronte's Yorkshire masterpiece of dark passion and romantic obsession come to life in the studio. We may even play a sneak preview...

18 May 2008
While in London we also did some more recording work on the musical project: Wuthering Heights, laying down and editing the Lockwood narration sections. (Who will performs Lockwood will be revealed during the summer) While in the studio we bumped into Paul Knight (RoS Producer) the man largely responsible for my addition to the cast as Nasir. It was great seeing Paul who was in fine form and full of good humor and showbiz banter, as usual!
So! The intention with Wuthering Heights is to release four tracks online during July and follow up with the entire concert version later in 09. I'm really enjoying working on Wuthering Heights and being back in the studio and musical environment once again! We'll be casting for our Catherine, Isabella and Ellen Dean during May/June.

Well, they seem to be a little behind schedule. Today, July 25, at the San Diego Comic-Con 2008 there might be some answers:

11:00-12:00 Print The Legend: Mike Grell and Mark Ryan— Comic-Con special guest Mike Grell (Legion of Superheroes, The Warlord, Green Arrow: the Longbow Hunters, Jon Sable, Freelance) and actor-writer Mark Ryan (Robin of Sherwood, The Prestige, King Arthur, voice of Bumblebee in Transformers), swap outrageous yarns and discuss the secret world behind their new Comicmix.com project The Pilgrim with editor Mike Gold. Join Mike, Mark and Mike for a bit of insanity and Q&A session. Room 2

Categories: Music, Theatre, Wuthering Heights

Agnes Grey in BBC7

2008-07-25T00:03:00.000+02:00

Today, July 25, a new chance to listen to a radio adaptation of Agnes Grey:

Agnes Grey
BBC7 - 7Drama

Fri 25 Jul, 11:00 - 12:00 60 mins
Sat 26 Jul, 05:00 - 06:00 60 mins

Poppy Miller stars in a 60 minute dramatisation of Anne Bronte’s classic. Agnes Grey dismays her family when she decides to earn her own living as a governess. Will her trials lead to true love? This production was directed by Nandita Ghose and also stars Robert Wheelan, Alison Darling, Christine Mackie and Martin Reeve. First broadcast on Radio 4 in June 1997.

More information on previous posts.

Categories: Agnes Grey, Audio-Radio

Mrs Reed, the philanthropist

2008-07-24T19:27:00.005+02:00

The Economist reviews White Heat. The Friendship of Emily Dickinson and Thomas Wentworth Higginson by Brenda Wineapple. The reviewer begins the article with a reference to the other literary Emily:

Rather like Emily Brontë, with whom she identified, Dickinson shrank from contact with the world, scuttling off in her signature white dress as soon as a visitor appeared at the door.

The New Statesman (firm candidate to the most Brontë-referencing magazine) reviews The Dark Knight:

The hero of The Dark Knight is a dour, psychologically flawed champion of the disenfranchised, given to sudden rages, whose war on crime is looking a touch ineffectual. He was once heralded as a force for good but the public now regards him with hostility. And he spends much of his time brooding over news reports of his own demise as his white-haired assistant looks worriedly on. Ring any bells? Yes, Gordon Brown might fancy himself as Heathcliff, but on the strength of The Dark Knight, he's a dead ringer for this embittered Batman. (Ryan Gilbey)

The Wichita Falls Times Record News says the following in an article about the guidelines for Bible classes approved by the Texas school board:

The classic novel “Jane Eyre” contains 176 biblical references. (Ann Work)

It's good (and polite) to quote your sources. The reference comes from the following article: Tkacz, Catherine Brown “The Bible in Jane Eyre.” Christianity and Literature 44.1 (1994): 3-27. The actual quote can be read in this other article:

Jane Eyre contains 176 scriptural allusions: at least eighty-one quotations and paraphrases from twenty-three books of the Old Testament, and ninety-five from the fifteen books of the New [Testament.]

Do you like Wuthering Heights landscape references? We have one today. From the New Zealand Herald describing Luxury Martinborough:

I quickly discover how easy it is to do nothing, but hubby insists we go exploring so we hit the beach along the south Wairarapa coast. It's wild, windswept and very Wuthering Heights. It's also starting to rain, which means we don't make it as far as one of New Zealand's largest breeding colonies of protected fur seals. (Sharon Stephenson)

The Mexican newspaper La Jornada publishes a translation of Muriel Spark's "The Brontës as Teachers," The New Yorker, January 22, 1966, p. 30. Apparently the translation comes from an Italian translation (!).

Let's now list some blog reviews: Star's Reading Blog and Book Addiction review Wuthering Heights. iamnotmyblog talks about Claire Boylan's Emma Brown (in German). Not exactly a review but a show of love for Wuthering Heights can be read on Arte.Rotina (in Portuguese). Francisco Arias Solís posts about Charlotte Brontë (in Spanish) and this Turkish blog does the same thing with Emily Brontë (in Turkish). Freaky Trigger reviews Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights.

Finally, we have to make a reference to an angry reader of The Christian Science Monitor who thinks the following about Jane Eyre:

I always thought that Jane Eyre needed a good swift kick in the bustle, myself. So sanctimonious. Such a misplaced sense of unacknowledged entitlement. In short, the girl was a moanjob, and I always wanted to tell her, “Shut up and get in line, sweet cheeks. Do you have any idea where most orphan girls your age end up without an aunt to take them in and send them off to boarding school? (Pat Padden)

Oh, dear - Mrs Reed as a philanthropist. We need a new Jean Rhys to rehabilitate that poor and mistreated lady.

Categories: Books, Jane Eyre, Music, References, Sequels, Wuthering Heights

Brontë Parsonage Museum 80th Anniversary and August Special Arts Events

2008-07-24T00:05:00.000+02:00

A press release from the Brontë Parsonage Museum:

BRONTË PARSONAGE MUSEUM CELEBRATES 80^th ANNIVERSARY WITH OPEN DAY AND SUMMER OF SPECIAL ARTS EVENTS

The Brontë Parsonage Museum will celebrate its 80^th anniversary by holding a free open day for local residents on Monday 4 August. The museum will also be offering visitors aged 80 years or over free admission to the museum throughout August.

On Monday 4 August residents with a BD21 or BD22 postcode can gain free admission to the museum by presenting proof of address.

Artist Lesley Martin will be working with visitors to create a giant artwork on the Parsonage front lawn, made from natural materials. Visitors are invited to bring along their own flowers and leaves found on walks in the area and to learn about the plants growing around the Parsonage.

The open day will launch a series of special arts events at the museum throughout August, including a chainsaw sculpture created from Charlotte Brontë’s tree and a specially commissioned puppetry theatre performance.

Photographer Kate Potter will be artist in residence at the museum on Tuesday 12 August, as part of a special project photographing twenty-first century visitors as Charlotte, Emily or Anne Brontë using traditional collodion photographic techniques.

Chainsaw artist Dominic Clare will be creating a sculpture from the tree felled in the Parsonage garden earlier this year, on Friday 22 August. The tree was believed to have been planted by Charlotte Brontë as part of her wedding celebrations and visitors can watch Dominic carving the sculpture in the museum garden.

On Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 August, puppetry theatre company Frolicked will be performing a specially commissioned piece based on the Brontës, in and around the museum. Visitors can watch the Brontës’ servants come to life in unexpected places!

These events form part of the museum’s Contemporary Arts Programme and are free on admission to the museum.

Haworth Parsonage was acquired by the Brontë Society in 1927 and its doors opened to the public on 4 August 1928. A crowd of thousands arrived in Haworth to witness the opening of the museum and to see the place where the Brontë family lived and wrote their famous books. (Jenna Holmes)

News also published in The Telegraph & Argus.

Categories: Brontë Parsonage Museum

A bottle of wine, Britney Spears and Carrie Bradshaw coughing

2008-07-23T17:52:00.011+02:00

The Daily Mail announces the next Ilkley Literary Festival where, as has been reported before, Branwell Brontë will, more or less, feature:

Meanwhile, if you're feeling inspired by Justine Picardie's talk on Daphne Du Maurier's fascination with Branwell Brontë and want to learn more about the area's most famous literary family, you could head over the moors to visit the Brontë Parsonage at Haworth. You might even bump into your very own Heathcliff. (Amber Pearson)

More Branwell references. Also in The Daily Mail we found a review of Captivated: J. M. Barrie, The Du Mauriers And The Dark Side Of Neverland by Piers Dudgeon:

Conspiracy theories don't come much loopier than this. (...)
Piers Dudgeon's big theory is that J.M. Barrie, the melancholic creator of Peter Pan, was 'an interloper, a psychological controller, a perpetrator of evil' whose diabolic hypnotic powers continued to ruin other people's lives way beyond his own death. Barrie, he contends, not only killed his own brother but was responsible for the deaths of half the boys who helped him write Peter Pan and even for the death of Scott of the Antarctic. As if this were not enough, 'he brought many of the du Mauriers to destruction' too. (...)
Yet in Margaret Forster's definitive biography of Daphne [du Maurier], J.M. Barrie is mentioned on just eight pages out of 425. So in the absence of proof connecting the two, Dudgeon sifts through all Daphne's fiction, only to find that - hey presto! - every villain is in fact J. M. Barrie in disguise.
Of a book of her short stories, he explains that 'every one ... is about disillusionment and treachery, Barrie's treachery'. How odd that her actual biographer failed to spot Barrie in a single one of them! He even sees Daphne's biography of Branwell Bronte as a coded attack on Barrie: 'Go to The Infernal World Of Branwell Bronte for a biography of Branwell and you may be disappointed, but go to it knowing that Daphne had just come out of a major breakdown over J. M. Barrie's destruction of her family, and you will be enthralled.' Like all seasoned conspiracy-theorists, Dudgeon can spot his villain around every corner, his fingerprint on every corpse. (Craig Brown)

Excuse the long quote, but the Branwell mention needed a bit of context.

DVD Verdict reviews Wide Sargasso Sea 2006. It's a positive and well-argued review:

As good as the 1993 theatrical version was, it disappointed me on several levels. The Jamaican scenery was breathtaking and the acting was adequate enough; still, it seemed to me the director depended more on sex instead of the powerful themes in Rhys' novel. She touches upon racism, colonialism, and (most importantly) identity, while also carefully crafting two complex characters struggling with a union doomed from the start. Antoinette is an outcast, receiving prejudice not only from the white European settlers but also the black Jamaicans who label her as a "white cockroach." This 2006 adaptation puts complete faith in the narrative and surpasses the 1993 version in practically every way.
Screenwriter Stephen Greenhorn has condensed the original text in meticulous fashion, making it flow naturally, with nothing feeling forced. Sure, he largely ignores Parts I (summarizing Antoinette's childhood) and III (Bertha's burning of Thornton Hall) to focus on the marriage gone sour due to outside forces. While there are allusions to voodoo and black magic, Greenhorn is more concerned with the patriarchal, racist society and how it destroys Antoinette's growing happiness and fuels Edward's suspicions—the dramatic crux which drives Rhys' story. He and director Brendan Maher (both veterans of British TV) craft an eloquent adaptation which beautifully mixes faithfulness and dramatization, with neither element compromising the other.
Beyond that, this version of Wide Sargasso Sea is worth watching for the rich performances alone. Rafe (son of Timothy) Spall makes an excellent Rochester, a man without emotion or remorse, who feels the need to take control of his supposedly sick wife. He smiles rarely, giving the character an intense arc, motivated by male power and misplaced musings. Also matching him are the minor—but no less crucial—contributions by Sosanya and Burroughs as the Jamaican housekeepers. Sosanya, especially, gives Christophine just the right amount of concern and empathy, pushing Antoinette to dodge Edward's psychological clutches.
The film's real revelation is Rebecca Hall, however. First off, she eclipses Karina Lombard's somewhat stiff interpretation of Antoinette in the John Duigan version, which failed to exhibit the character's lost innocence and mental deterioration in a satisfying way. Secondly, Hall not only looks the part but lives it, resulting in a devastating performance which pulls out all the emotional stops. You understand her, empathize with her, and ultimately root for her; Hall's final moments solidify a genuine talent which demands attention. High profile directors Christopher Nolan and Woody Allen have already taken notice; in fact, she will play the one of the two title roles in the latter's Vicky Cristina Barcelona, coming out later this year.
This BBC version of Wide Sargasso Sea is given the digital treatment by Acorn Media. Sporting a 1.85 anamorphic print, the picture looks fine for the most part. The director occasionally misuses the lighting, making some scenes darker than necessary; still, the film is easy on the eyes, with some lush colors scattered throughout. Audio-wise, we are treated to a DD 2.0 track. Dialogue is easily heard and Nina Humphrey's score is appropriately pulse-pounding. Subtitles are provided in English only. Special features are unfortunately-if expectedly-minimal, with a biography of Jean Rhys and some cast filmographies as the only goodies. (Christopher Kulik)

Charlotte Stretch from The Guardian's Book Blog uses the page 69 test (although we actually thought it was the page 99 test) with Wuthering Heights:

Heathcliff, returning after three years' absence, visits Catherine and Edgar.
There's no doubt about it: the cracks in the page 69 theory are definitely beginning to show. It's partly down to my own lack of foresight - by choosing a Wordsworth edition (known for cramming as many words as possible on to a page, thus keeping the whole thing short and, more importantly, cheap to produce), I've actually opened the book at what appears to be quite a crucial point in the story. My earlier - slightly rash - assertion that this wouldn't matter seems to have been rather premature. Still, without actually having read the novel, it's amazing how closely I can detect the sexual tension between Cathy and Heathcliff. Edgar, clearly a particularly unwelcome third wheel, makes the whole thing even more compellingly unbearable. All in all I'm feeling quite privileged to be present at such an important moment, although a small part of me does wish I'd turned up a bit earlier.
I can't deny having detected a couple of major holes in McLuhan's hypothesis. For one thing, it seems that choosing the right edition does, after all, make a difference - sometimes. Furthermore, it's not always easy to feel an instant connection with a book if you weren't around for the first 68 pages. But despite these flaws, I've decided to stick with my page 69s; as tasters of things to come, I think they've served their purpose pretty well.
Of course, if you're still not convinced, I suggest you carry out a similar experiment. In fact, I'd like to throw this open to the floor: I want everyone reading this to go away, examine a page 69, and come back to report your findings...

Let's begin now with some weird comparisons. First, iVillage thinks that the couple of characters from Swingtown are the new Cathy and Heathcliff:

Ah, Susan and Roger. Not since Heathcliff and whats-her-face out on the moors has there been such a dithering, fate-tossed non-couple.

Another TV review with a lovely Brontë reference comes from The Guardian's TV blog:

There is some elementary Latin ("Regina mea!") and contemporary Italian ("So! You call me because the fire in your loins is lit once more!") and, as the catacomb fills with gas, a lot of coughing as if we were in for another adaptation of the Brontës. (Nancy Banks-Smith)

But things can get worse, as we read in The Chicago Tribune about Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea:

It's not clear if Rajaa Alsanea's first novel, "Girls of Riyadh," was banned in Saudi Arabia because it became a Middle East best seller or if it became a best seller because it was banned. (...)
In this country [US], the book has been promoted as a kind of "Sex and the City," Saudi-style. It isn't, unless you consider the Bronte sisters to be "Sex and the City" Victorian-style. (Tom Hundley)

If comparing the Brontë Sisters with Carrie Bradshaw and Co. was not perturbing enough, take a deep breath and check out this news item about Britney Spears's possible comeback. From ABC News:

She wants a good time
No need to rewind
She needs to really really find what she wants
She lands on both feet
Won't take a back seat
There's a brave new girl
And she's comin' out tonight

It's no Fiona Apple or Emily Bronte. But the lyrics to Britney Spears' "Brave New Girl," a song she put out in 2003, years before her life spiraled out of control, may finally be coming true now. (Sheila Marikar)

We are speechless. Maybe some alcohol will help us forget. But then again maybe not:

When I take a sip of our Wine of the Week, La Crema 2006 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir ($34), a single image comes to mind.
There's a tall thin well-dressed man with dark hair. He's sitting on a rock on the edge of the sea at twilight, his right elbow resting on his knee, his chin nestled in his hand. There's a band of pale gold stretching along the horizon, and as you shift your gaze upwards, the sky darkens in beautiful degrees of blue. A breeze lifts his hair and as it does, you can suddenly hear his thoughts: Brooding memories of distant love, now out of reach.
He's more Heathcliff than, say, Mr. Darcy, more Bryan Ferry than David Bowie, more Gary Cooper than Cary Grant. My inclination is to get to know him, and so I take another sip. (Michele Anna Jordan in The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat)

Surely the best thing to do is read the book (like Gypsyscarlett has done), but not always. Via Bookninja, we have found this article in The Telegraph with a video asking several writers at the Ways with Words Festival which classic they are ashamed of not having read. Check Simon Sebag Montefiore's statement where he admits having written his O levels on Wuthering Heights without even having read the book, just based on his parents' passion for the book. He scored his school's best marks, by the way.

Anyway, even if you don't want to read the book, you can check its cover. Book Covers Anonymous posts several wood engravings by Fritz Eichenberg for a 1943 boxed set edition of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.

Categories: Books, Illustrations, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, References, Talks, Weirdo, Wide Sargasso Sea, Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights merchandising (II)

2008-07-23T00:05:00.000+02:00

Let's continue with our list of recent Wuthering Heights "merchandising":

Earrings from wicopy:

Heather on the Moor/Wuthering Heights Earrings

Vintage 12mm lilac lucite beads upcycled from a repair necklace, antiqued brass leaf bead caps, tiny Garnet gems, and antiqued brass ear wires.
Earrings are 1 1/2 inches or 38mm including ear wires.

A necklace from vadjutka:

Wuthering Heights - glass bead necklace with vintage button in silver, black and blue colours Dark, passionate, romantic, cruel and wild.
Wuthering Heights was my favourite book at the age of 15.
The necklace consits of blue / aqua and black coloured glass beads and metal beads. The center piece is a metallic vintage button (from the 20s-30s) with a blue ceramic center.

A necklace from NovelForms:

When I was a child, the moors of English novels sounded like the most wildly romantic places in the whole world. This necklace reminds me of such desolate and yet verdant landscapes, like grassy fields after a rain. And most wildly romantic—though hardly a love story in the traditional sense—of all English novels is Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, whose heroine Cathy is as much a force of nature as the landscape around her. This is the only type of necklace I can envision her wearing, besides the flowers of the moors, in the days before she became a refined lady, at odds with her very nature.

Made from jaspers and agates in all manner of wonderful shades of greens, oranges and reds, this choker-length necklace (approx. 16 ½ inches) will make you look (and maybe even feel) like a force of nature. The whole is strung on strong but pliant flexicord, and finished off with a sizable sterling silver S-clasp. A rather weighty necklace, but the whole lies very comfortably on the neck—the weight is oddly very soothing.

Categories: Weirdo, Wuthering Heights

"She didn't feel confident about doing the accent"

2008-07-22T11:06:00.007+02:00

Screen Daily interviews John Maybury and the subject of the Wuthering Heights new film project is discussed. The Yorkshire accent seems to be behind Natalie Portman's drooping the project:

[China] Moo-Young: You're working on Wuthering Heights and Natalie Portman has just pulled out. How difficult is it to cope with setbacks like that?
Maybury: Natalie was very honest and said she didn't feel confident about doing the accent, which she'd been concerned about from the beginning. I'd already signed up Michael Fassbender as Heathcliff before Cannes, and he was being called the new Marlon Brando in Cannes [where he appeared in festival hit Hunger] so it's those film gods again.
When they first approached me they wanted it to be a weird, dark version of the weird, dark tale. We were going to have an all-British cast, maybe unknowns. And then they said,
"We've just set up a meeting for you with Natalie Portman." I thought, "Hmm, she's not exactly unknown, is she?"

Remember this interview to Brian James? According to Publishers Weekly his book The Heights, a modern love story inspired by Wuthering Heights, will be published by Feiwel and Friends next spring.

Claire Armitshead from The Guardian's Book Blog mentions the reference to Jane Eyre in Sam Savage's Firmin (a book that was already discussed here on BrontëBlog):

The eponymous Firmin, of Sam Savage's novel, is the runt of a litter born in a shredded copy of Finnegans Wake in the basement of a run-down Boston bookstore where he develops a passion for literature (lettuce, he complains, tastes much like Jane Eyre).

The Kennebec Journal - Morning Sentinel reviews the current performances of Charles Ludlum's The Mystery of Irma Vep in The Theater at Monmmouth (Maine):

If you're an English major, and who isn't, and you read more than Vanity Fair and People magazines, you'll hear snatches of Ibsen, Shakespeare, Poe, the Bronte Sisters, Omar Khayyam and Oscar Wilde plus the aforementioned two master comics splitting eight roles between them, Dustin Tucker and Mike Anthony playing men, women, mummies and dogs. (J.P. Devine)

The Gwent Gazette (Wales) announces that

EBBW VALE Operatic and Dramatic Society are set to stage a classic next May at the Beaufort Theatre – the Welsh premiere of the musical version of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. (...)
An opportunity exists for young people between the ages of eight and 16 to audition for the roles of young Jane Eyre (aged eight-12), Helen Burns (aged 12-18), John Reed (aged 10-14), and a chorus of 10-15 orphaned schoolgirls (aged eight-16).
If you are interested in auditioning for any of these roles, please contact Jay Jones on 01495 303794.
Auditions take place on Wednesday, September 3 at 5.30pm in Rassau Senior Citizens’ Hall. Audition pieces will be available for collection between 5.30 and 6.30pm thisWednesday, July 23 at Rassau Senior Citizens’ Hall.

The Brontë Society (Region 7) meets today in Alcoa, TN:

When: Tuesday, July 22, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Panera Bread, 733 Louisville Rd., Alcoa, TN (Metropulse)

Categories: Alert, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, Music, References, Theatre, Wuthering Heights

A first edition of Jane Eyre auctioned

2008-07-22T00:20:00.000+02:00

With some delay, we report the auction of a first edition of Jane Eyre some weeks ago.

Lot 94
Bell (Currer) Jane Eyre, 1847, 3 volumes, first edition, half-titles present but bound without adverts, 19th century half calf, marbled boards and edges

From AuctionPublicity:

On Wednesday the 25th June, Yorkshire auctioneers Tennants, brushed away current economic fears with its most successful ever book auction. The Leyburn auction house was packed with prospective bidders and extra seating had to be rushed in at the last minute.

The leading attraction was a first edition of Jane Eyre. The 1847 three volume set, written by Yorkshire author Charlotte Bronte under the pseudonym of Currer Bell, was brought into the Leyburn auction centre by a member of the public. Book specialist Paul Hughes identified it as the rare first edition and advertised the book worldwide. ‘I believed that it would make up to £10,000 but I was delighted for the vendor when a phone bidder pushed the price to £17,500’.

Categories: Brontëana, Jane Eyre

Heathcliff, the life and soul of the party

2008-07-21T19:06:00.007+02:00

You will never guess which topic is discussed today in The Canberra Times. You do? Oh, well... yes, the Heathcliffgate.

The Guardian blog wondered if Brown was not thinking of the book but rather, as those who voted for Wuthering Heights in a Good Read poll, were "actually thinking of the 1939 film adaptation, with Laurence Olivier playing Heathcliff in best matinee idol style... The closest this Heathcliff ever got to violence was squeezing Merle Oberon, playing opposite him as Cathy, just a wee bit tightly to his manly chest.
Surely this must be the Heathcliff ... The Heathcliff who returns halfway through the book is even nastier than before, intent on wreaking revenge on absolutely everyone who previously crossed him, more Arnold Schwarzenegger than Laurence Olivier. Perhaps it's just too much to ask that a politician should pay attention to anything between hard covers. (Colin Steele)

The Spoof! also begins this satirical piece alluding to it:

Gordon Brown today told us that an apparition of former British Labour Prime Minister, James Callaghan, apparently appeared in his bedroom last night, like some sort of Wuthering Heights Heathcliff ghost coming back from the moor. (Clifford Rutley)

The St. Catherine's Standard reviews Ann-Marie MacDonald's Belle Moral: A Natural History, a theatre piece presented at the Shaw Festival Theatre 2008 (Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada):

Belle Moral is a take on the madwoman in the attic Gothic-type of story. Think Jane Eyre. The MacIsaac children -- Pearl (Fiona Byrne) and Victor (Jeff Meadows) -- have gathered to hear their late father's will read. Pearl lives at Belle Moral with her aunt Flora (Donna Belleville), along with the help, created as comedic devices played to perfection by Bernard Behrens (Young Farleigh) and Happer. (Lori Littleton)

Several newspapers publish a press release from Associated Press about the upcoming Broadway debut of Jill Santoriello's A Tale of Two Cities musical. Apparently the composer's first idea was not Charles Dickens:

She was first drawn to "Wuthering Heights" as a subject to musicalize but found the story too depressing.(Michael Kuchwara)

Well, Dickens is not precisely the life and soul of the party neither.

The Brontë Parsonage Blog posts about a recent meeting in Amsterdam of Maddalena di Leo (member of the Brontë Society- Sezione Italiana) and some members of the Brussels Brontë Group:

When we sat down in the small breakfast room of the hotel and after having bravely defied the hotel receptionist’s fury, calming him down by buying some drinks, I started by asking Veronica [Metz, from the group Anois (more information here)] about her musical work on Emily’s poems and about her inspiration for it. She told us that all was due to her visit to Haworth Parsonage some years ago and to the magnificent view of the moors behind it. She kindly handed each of us a CD-demo of her Emily Brontë and the conversation so started was followed by questions and answers dealing with the organization of our two sections, on our meetings, the blogs, the web and the magazines edited by each section.
After a short break with the Anois music filling the air and a really friendly atmosphere among members - all chatting as old friends both in Dutch and English - I gave Helen an Italian ceramic plate commemorative of the event and we all drank a toast with the champagne I brought from Italy for the occasion. I then read my lecture ‘The Brontës and the Sea’, a topic I chose for our being in Amsterdam, thanking all for their presence there. (Maddalena di Leo)

Oxford Reader describes in detail the recent talk by Justine Picardie and Lynne Atwell at Dartington Hall. Frances Wilson's talk about her recently published biography of Dorothy Wordsworth is also discussed. As the readers of BrontëBlog will remember, the book has several Wuthering Heights references.

Reading, Writing, Working, Playing makes a few comments about her current read: Elizabeth Gaskell's Life of Charlotte Brontë. Mól książkowy talks about Wichrowe Wzgórza (Wuthering Heights in Polish). Women in His Image highlights a particular speech by Helen Burns about the Gospel.

Categories: Biography, In the News, Jane Eyre, References, Talks, Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights merchandising (I)

2008-07-21T00:20:00.008+02:00

So many Wuthering Heights things in the air... maybe it's time to suggest some Wuthering Heights (unusual) merchandising:

A Nightshirt from sleepyheads.com:

Carole Hochman Wuthering Heights Ivory Longsleeve Nightshirt

Made of 100% Cotton and is 38" long. Sizes run as follows: Small (6-8), Medium (10-12), Large (14-16), X-Large (18-20)

A Wrist Ruff from hollylynne:

Wuthering Heights Wrist Ruff in Irish Linen Silk and Lace

Faded glamour in rust colored silk and black linen.
Made from 100% Irish grown linen in a rich black color, this hand sewn cuff features two rows of sweet lace, both in black, and a stunning band of natural silk dip dyed ribbon in shades of amber, bronze and black.
The cuff closes with heavy duty, black colored hook and eyes which can be positioned so that the cuff measures 7 or 7 1/2 inches around. It is a bit over 2 1/2 inches wide. The whole cuff is lined inside with strudy interfacing to give it body and durability and the inside panel is finished off with black Irish linen lining.

Vintage Paper from AdoredBefore:

Vintage Paper Parcel Dyed Baby Blue Wuthering Heights
Six soft baby blue hand dyed pages from a very vintage edition of Wuthering Heights ~each page is perfectly aged & measures 7.5" X 9". Pages have been twice dyed...once with a soft sky blue, then watermarked with a deeper blue tone. The bundle is tied with vintage bias tape (or seam binding- depending on what I have!) and finished with a mini flash card that reads 'paperie'. Perfect for scrapbooking, tags , atc's, cards etc...

Categories: Weirdo, Wuthering Heights

Haworth. There are some lovely cemeteries up there

2008-07-20T10:18:00.008+02:00

The Observer describes a trip on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway through Yorkshire:

With pistons thrusting and steam hissing, it has featured in dozens of TV dramas and films, most famously The Railway Children, as it runs from Keighley, a sturdy town once big in wool, to the village of Oxenhope, in the South Pennines. Its major stopping point, however, is Haworth, childhood home of the Brontë sisters ('Oooh, Haworth,' said an old lady I met here a few years ago. 'There are some lovely cemeteries up there.') (Stephen McClarence)

Also in The Observer we found a curious reference to the Brontës in an article about enviromental responsability fundamentalism:

If, crudely, morality is about individual choices and positions, then ethics inevitably involves other people. Given how much emphasis is currently put on 'ethical' choices, the word seems curiously ill-used, since most of the choices advocated are essentially individualistic. They're also mostly negative: not driving a car, turning the house lights down to levels even the Brontë sisters would consider too murky to read by, never eating anything that grew any further away than Carlisle. (Brian Morton)

The Times (South-Africa) talks about John Connolly's latest novel, The Reapers:

The carefully chosen guest- list comprises an interesting and eclectic mix — and, some of Connolly’s favourite fictional characters, he tells me: Lew Archer is there, together with the sexy and exciting Catherine Earnshaw from Wuthering Heights. Jeeves, arguably PG Wodehouse’s best- loved creation, is chatting to Becky Sharp, the minx from Vanity Fair.

Another book with Wuthering Heights references is Out Backward by Ross Raisin. The Toronto Star reviews it:

Accused of sexually assaulting a female student at the school he was subsequently withdrawn from, Sam now harbours a brooding resentment worthy of a 21st century Heathcliff. (...)
Like Bronte's moor-dweller, who directed his tempestuous rage against those who made him feel like a reluctantly adopted mongrel, Raisin's Sam Marsdyke directs his anger against the marauding makeover class. Those people come to the moors for weekend amusement and sound investment, who ramble happily amongst the sheep until they step into the 'shite'. (Geoff Revere)

But of course, what's better than the real thing? The Independent asks several writers about their summer book lists. Actor and writer Julian Fellowes says:

And if there was any space left in my suitcase, I would tuck in a copy of Wuthering Heights (Penguin £5.99) because one cannot read it too many times.

The Heathcliffgate resists to die:

It was in an interview in the New Statesman recently that the interviewer made a comparison with the saturnine Heathcliff, the hero, if you can call him that, of the novel Wuthering Heights. It was on the reading list at school and I failed to get through it, as I have not managed to do to this day.
It was the interviewer who brought this up and not Mr Brown, who treated the reference with self-deprecation. Immediately, Westminster exploded with hilarity, dithering heights being a particular favourite with the legislators.
Curiously, another woman interviewer, in another paper – The Daily Telegraph – had drawn precisely the same comparison a decade earlier when Mr Brown was Chancellor. On that occasion there were no scornful remarks. How apt, people said, how very apt! But then, time changes perspective. (Alan Watkins in The Independent)

Finally, The Guardian reviews Alphabeat's latest album with some Wuthering Heights (à la Kate Bush) references.

Categories:Books, Brontëites, Haworth, In the News, Music, References, Wuthering Heights

National Treasures: The Brontë Award

2008-07-20T00:49:00.003+02:00

An initiative from The Telegraph and the British Library:

This year, 2008, marks the 10th anniversary of the Royal opening of the British Library’s St Pancras building. The Library holds many treasures among its 150 million items, and so to mark the anniversary we have joined forces with the Sunday Telegraph to run a National Treasures competition.

British Library and Sunday Telegraph specialists have nominated shortlists of people who we think deserve the title of ‘National Treasure’ – in Japan and other countries an honour akin to being given an MBE.

The first four categories are based on some of the British Library’s best-known treasures:

* The National Treasure for Public Life - The Magna Carta Award
* The National Treasure for Sciences - The Leonardo da Vinci Award
* The National Treasure for Innovation and Enterprise - The Caxton Award
* The National Treasure for Arts - The Brontë Award
A fifth category offers an opportunity for the public to nominate a person they feel should be included on the list. The winners will receive the award during a special ceremony to be held in September.

We read in The Telegraph:

What distinguishes the Brontë Award (named after the original Jane Eyre manuscripts held in the Treasures’ Gallery at the library) from our other categories is that our nominees are familiar through their work. We could have run the list twice over, and, as our online commentators should note, we might even have had room for Sir Cliff Richard. But, in the words of Sir Tom, “good things, when short, are twice as good”.
These are the entertainers, the showmen and women who make us laugh, cry, scream and shout.

Alan Bennett

Dame Judi Dench
David Hockney

Jools Holland

Sir Anthony Hopkins

Joanna Lumley

Sir Paul McCartney

Ian McEwan

Roger McGough

Sir Ian McKellen

Sir Jonathan Miller

Dame Helen Mirren

Sir Simon Rattle

JK Rowling

Sir Tom Stoppard

You can vote right here.

Categories: In the News

Caged like a go-go dancer

2008-07-19T10:42:00.009+02:00

The Guardian reviews The Oxford Guide to Literary Britain and Ireland, edited by Daniel Hahn and Nicholas Robins. There's an Emily Brontë reference:

Mining for such nuggets is one of the book's chief pleasures. These range from a surprising account of Emily Brontë's fondness for baking, to a moving description of Robert Graves suffering "an oppression of spirit" while in Godalming (who wouldn't?), via a hilarious report of how Coleridge and the Wordsworths were suspected of spying for France while in Nether Stowey (on account of their habit of taking nocturnal walks, and William's alien north country accent. (Sam Jordison)

The Yorkshire Evening Post gives more information about the next 35th Ilkley Literary Festival next October (3 to 19):

A festival spokeswoman said: "Biographies feature strongly, with other authors and subjects including Patrick French on VS Naipaul; Michael Peppiatt on Francis Bacon and Lyndall Gordon on Charlotte Bronte.
"Journalist Justine Picardie will also be talking about the Brontes and her new novel which tells of Daphne Du Maurier's true-life obsession with the literary family. (Charles Heslett)

The Lumière Reader reviews the New Zealand's Stagecraft performances of Polly Teale's Jane Eyre:

IN THE SPIRIT of full disclosure, I will admit that Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre is my favourite ever book. Stagecraft’s latest production is Jane Eyre, but not as we know it. Polly Teale’s adaptation imagines Bertha Mason, the mad woman in the attic, as Jane’s alter ego, with implications that don’t always work, but Paul Kay’s direction masterfully highlights all the areas he wants us to notice.
When Jane (played by Hannah Banks with strength and maturity) and Bertha (Rebecca Parker) speak together, they do so in harmonious stereo, representing the opposite sides of a woman’s nature. How sad it is that Jane must tame the wild and passionate side in order to succeed in life or secure a man, which amounts to the same thing in this play.
Jane only severs her ties, though and does not kill her beast. The physicality of Rebecca Parker as Bertha Mason is simply fabulous. She looks at times like the mad one out of 80s synth-pop-rock band Shakespeare’s Sister. Incidentally, the video for ‘Stay’ could well have been an inspiration for this play.
Trapped in a locked room, Bertha remains on stage for the entire play, caged like a go-go dancer, swinging from bars, rubbing against poles and occasionally writhing on a podium. Dressed in a scandalous red dress, which is simultaneously wicked and sexual, and Rebecca certainly ‘looks hot’ as overheard in the foyer.
This is Victorian England where women who displayed sensuality were locked away in attics and mental institutions, but it is hard to feel sorry for Mr Rochester (Chris O’Grady) as he whines through his ‘poor me – I married a woman who wanted to go dancing’ speech. His hurling of his wife to the floor has shameful echoes of current events, where things are not black and white, but red and grey. (Read more) (Kate Blackhurst)

The reviewer has also posted about the piece on her own blog.

The Brontë influences in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series are well known to the readers of BrontëBlog. The Courier Mail interviews the author:

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''. (Fiona Purdon)

L'angolo di Annarita reviews La bambinaia francese by Bianca Pitzorno, the Jane Eyre spin-off which gives voice to Sophie. Non ci sono problemi... talks about Wuthering Heights (both in Italian). Rapport från en luttrad bibliotekarie reminisces about Wuthering Heights 1967 (in Swedish), where Ian McShane played Heathcliff, and which unfortunately hasn't (yet?) been released on DVD.

Categories: Books, Brontëites, Jane Eyre, Talks, Theatre, Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights Translations

2008-07-19T04:00:00.001+02:00

In our latest posts we have been presenting several adaptations/versions of Wuthering Heights which are now in he works: a ballet, an opera, a new TV series (and we know of some others). Wuthering Heights is very much alive. Also proof are these two translations published this year:

To German:

Emily Brontë
Sturmhöhe
Translation Gisela Etzel
Broschur, 398 Seiten,
Aufbau Taschenbuch Verlag
ISBN 978-3-7466-6116-2
August 2008

To Catalan:

Emily Brontë
Cims borrascosos
Traducció: Montserrat de Gispert (first published 1996)
labutxaca, Grup 62
ISBN 9788496863583
15/05/2008

Categories: Books, Translations, Wuthering Heights

Cathy and Heathcliff reach new Heights for ITV

2008-07-18T17:40:00.004+02:00

A press release directly from Mammoth Screen. Click in the picture to enlarge it.

Cathy and Heathcliff reach new Heights for ITV

A classic adaptation of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights is currently in production for ITV in Yorkshire.

Top UK Indie Mammoth Screen has commissioned leading contemporary screen and television writer Peter Bowker to adapt Emily Bronte’s world famous love story. Two 90 minute episodes are being filmed in Yorkshire, directed by Coky Giedroyc. Tom Hardy will play dark and brooding Heathcliff alongside newcomer Charlotte Riley as Cathy.

Acclaimed television actress Sarah Lancashire will take on the role of housekeeper Nelly, while Andrew Lincoln is Edgar, Cathy’s forlorn husband. Burn Gorman stars as Cathy’s brother Hindley, and Kevin McNally will play Mr Earnshaw.

Wuthering Heights will be executive produced by Michele Buck and Damien Timmer, and produced by Radford Neville for Mammoth Screen. Michele and Damien’s recent credits include Lost in Austen, Agatha Christie’s Marple, the Inspector Morse spin off Lewis and the BAFTA winning Housewife 49 starring Victoria Wood.

Damien Timmer yesterday said:
“Wuthering Heights is one of the greatest love stories in literature. We've assembled a first class team to capture all of the novel's rawness and passion.”
Michele Buck added:
“Peter Bowker is one of the country’s leading contemporary writers and we are privileged to be working with him. He has written a highly emotional piece that remains true to Emily Bronte’s epic story.”
Peter Bowker remarked:
"I was thrilled to be asked to adapt one of the great English novels. Mammoth Screen are the perfect company to work with on a project as adventurous and bold as this. In Charlotte Riley I believe we have found the perfect Cathy and Tom Hardy has the power and charisma to be the definitive Heathcliff."
Wuthering Heights has been commissioned by Laura Mackie and Sally Haynes, ITV’s drama commissioning team.

Wuthering Heights is supported by Screen Yorkshire through its Production Fund.

More information on previous posts.

Categories: Movies-DVD-TV, Wuthering Heights,

Dear MP, which fictional character do you resemble the most?

2008-07-18T10:48:00.008+02:00

Over a week after it began, the so-called Heathcliffgate is still alive and kicking, much to Gordon Brown's dismay, we suppose. Peter Rhodes writes for the Express & Star:

Meanwhile, Gordon Brown may think he resembles Heathcliff, the brooding hero of Wuthering Heights. I have met the man. Take it from me, he’s Eeyore.

And the Financial Times alerts us to David Cameron also wanting to play the fictional character game.

After Gordon Brown invited comparisons with a brooding, intense Heathcliff, David Cameron is positioning himself as a modern action hero, albeit one 10 years out of date. In an interview with the Guardian, Mr Cameron likened his political task to that of Lara Croft in the video game Tomb Raider. (Emma Jacobs)

Don't you know? In the future all British aspiring politicians will be asked to compare themselves to a literary character ;)

Vancouver's Straight.com reviews Jacques Rivette's film The Duchess of Langeais (Ne touchez pas la hache) based on a novel by Balzac, and finds it somewhat reminiscent of Wuthering Heights.

The love story that ensues is as wild and irrational as anything conceived by Emily Brontë. The chemistry between the principals is terrific, and William Lubtchansky’s cinematography is sumptuously intimate (without ever being erotic). (Mark Harris)

And finally the Yorkshire Post reports the news about the Gondal poems notebook and Emily's portrait momentary return home.

Categories: Brontë Parsonage Museum, Movies-DVD-TV, References, Weirdo, Wuthering Heights

More about Chaslin's Wuthering Heights Opera

2008-07-18T00:30:00.008+02:00

A couple of months ago we posted about a new opera based on Wuthering Heights with music by Frédéric Chaslin and libretto by P.H. Fisher. We listened to the overture as it was played on the opening gala concert of the new Oslo Opera House directed by the composer himself (May, 3). Now we have a whole MySpace website full of very interesting details:

Wuthering Heights is an opera composed by Maestro Frédéric Chaslin, on a libretto by P.H. Fisher based on Emily Bronte's novel. The composition started on May 2007 and the samples you can listen to are part of a rehearsal piano recording session in preparation for a complete orchestral recording that will be made in September 08' with the same soloists. You can send your feedback to the composer, fc@chaslin.com or www.chaslin.com and to the librettist, www.millennialarts.com

The afore-mentioned samples are:

Act as If. Performed by Andrew Richards (in the picture), tenor.
Vocalise. Performed by Olga Peretyatko (in the picture), soprano.
Heathcliff's curse. (A. Richards)
Young Cathy Aria. (O. Peretyatko)
Love Duet. (A. Richards & O. Peretyatko)
Dying Duet (A. Richards & O. Peretyatko).

Also with the presence of Wolfgang Rauball (bass-baritone), Rod Gilfry (baritone), Constance Hauman (soprano).

EDIT: You can also check this captivating video:

The librettist's scrapbook of images used for inspiration, set to composer's "Overture to Wuthering Heights" (recorded in live rehearsal session)

Categories: Music, Opera, Wuthering Heights