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Thursday, November 16, 2006

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


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.

8 comments:

Rachel said...

ohhh~ I love The Pimpernel. Glad he showed up on Bronteana if somewhat inadvertently!

Anonymous said...

Yay! Thank you! :o) By the way, I fixed the clip so that you can embed it here...I thought that might be better!

Mr. Rochester as a Pimpernel-type? Hmm...not sure how I feel about this...

~Alayna :o)

Brontëana said...

to melrose plant:

I confess that I just really wanted to have an excuse to talk about this :)

Brontëana said...

to Alayna:

Thanks! Perfect!

He's not a Pimpy type, is he? Although we might say that all of his stories of his travels might be his daring rescues. And he wears disguises! And likes flowers... waaaaaaaait. This could be fun. ^_^

Anonymous said...

Not quite so perfect I am afraid... Almost all of my Pimpernel videos were deleted. :( I am definetly going to re-upload them under private though, so I am going to friend you if you do not mind. :o)

I cannot wait to see what you do with this idea! This was the bad idea you were talking about, right?

~a slightly depressed Alayna

Anonymous said...

Leslie Howard was the best Pimpernel ever! That aside, I fail to see what Mr Rochester would do in Paris at that time!.. Seriously, though there are no dates mentioned, lest we forget - Jane reads Marmion during the winter as a school mistress at Morton! This should help to "date" the novel's action - after 1808. Yes, Mr Rochester "roamed the continent" for 10 years prior but during the time of Napoleonic wars, some parts of Europe would have been barely accessible - esp. France for an Englishman. I'd put the action in the novel to no earlier than 1820s but we should call to assistance secondary references such as Miss Ingram's hairstyle - when would have "masses of curls" Bronte depicts been in fashion? I know, I take this too seriously but what the heck! - let's be serious when it is appropriate...

Good luck grading papers, you poor grad student! Take care and post often. 8-)

Anonymous said...

I just re-read your last post - where were my eyes! I hope you could get relief for your mother soon! You have my deepest sympathy. Take care!

pennyforyourdreams said...

Aww, hope your Mum gets settled soon, I'm so sorry about your and your mum's situation. Hope it will all work itself out in the end. Big hug, from the UK!