Brussels Bronte Group Website

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.

Marketting The Professor

I came across this cover for The Professor by Charlotte Brontë and had to pause over it. To me it seems like an odd choice for the book, and yet I can well understand what motives might have gone into the choice. I am not sure, firstly, who this is supposed to depict. Is this supposed to be William Crimsworth? Is this Mr. Hunsden? Why is Mr. Hunsden on the cover of 'The Professor'? It doesn't seem to be of any particular character, I think. But it does seem to say: "tall, dark, mysterious man + Charlotte Brontë novel." And this will draw attention to an otherwise quite passionless book.

I have the penguin edition of The Professor. The cover depicts a rather studious looking man with round glasses, and an uncertain expression. It is a portrait of the artist's brother. He looks like he might be a school-teacher, or a clerk. In other words, he might be William Crimsworth, the professor. When I look at this cover, I think this is the story of an ordinary man which is what Charlotte had tried to do with The Professor.

This Wildside Press paperback cover reminds me of current advertisements for the 1934 Jane Eyre, which is heralded everywhere as a gothic horror classic. Anyone who has seen this film will find it difficult not to laugh at such a statement. It is like a comedy of manners, with a confused quaker living in one of the rooms ("Oh Edward! My husband! You've decided to get married again? [to Jane] Are you one of the guests?"). Here are some of the other covers for the sake of comparison: