Please, tell me more.

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,

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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?...

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?

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)

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

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!

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)...

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

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?

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…