Wuthering Heights at International Film Festival Rotterdam

On 29 January 2012 at the International Film Festival in Rotterdam I saw the first screening in the Netherlands of the newest film-version of Wuthering Heights. I found it impressive. It is real and rough. The director and screenwriter Andrea Arnold made the right choices. Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange are farms, not mansions. And Heathcliff, Cathy, Hindley and all are played by amateurs/non-actors. The film is made from Heathcliff’s point of view, because the director asked herself why he would do the bad things he does. He becomes as bad as the weather: it rains or storms all the time, there’s mud everywhere: earth has a leading role. And never music, except when Cathy is singing. And never a sunny day. But the director also makes very subtle scenes, like the one when Cathy goes mad and pulls the feathers from her pillow: you only see the feathers inside the house from outside through a window. This way of using windows to tell certain scenes made me think that Andrea Arnold knows Emily’s writing very well. And it makes me wonder what people who did not read the book (half the audience) make of these kind of scenes.

The director was interviewed before the screening and she told the audience that she read the book in girlhood and that it made a profound impression on her, like on many readers. But she also thinks that she and all the directors before her are mad to try to make a movie out of Wuthering Heights. It’s a stupid thing to do, not a sensible decision. Nobody can master this book! Leave it alone!

Well fortunately she didn’t and though I can never forgive her (nor the other directors) for not telling the story of the second generation, I still think you should see this film.

And I like this director not only for her film but for the best advice she gave her audience in Rotterdam: Read the book!

Marcia Zaaijer

Jane Eyre on the Brussels Stage, 1855.

The film Jane Eyre is currently being shown at all the major cinemas in Brussels, and is receiving enthusiastic reviews in the Belgian press (e.g. Le Soir, 11 January 2012). Perhaps it is an opportune moment to point out that Jane Eyre had its first representation in Brussels as far back as 1855, the year of Charlotte's Brontë's death. On 29 November 1855, the drama Jane Eyre was premiered at the Théâtre du Vaudeville, on the Rue de l'Evêque, 23 (near the present day Place De Brouckère). It was a play in five acts, co-written by the Paris-born Alphonse Royer (1803-1875) and the young Brussels writer Victor Lefèvre (1822-1904).

Dramas inspired by Jane Eyre had already been performed before this date, notably in England and in Vienna, where in 1853 a version written by Charlotte Birch-Pfeiffer entitled Die Weise von Lowood (The Orphan of Lowood) was first performed. However, the Royer/Lefèvre production was the first version of any Brontë work to reach the Brussels stage. The text of their work was published in Brussels by Parys in 1855, but it has proved impossible to find a copy in Belgium. Apparently there are copies held at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, and Utrecht University Library, which we hope to check out in the near future.

As with the 2011 film directed by Cary Fukunaga, the 1855 theatreproduction received very positive reviews in the contemporary press. The anonymous theatre critic writing in Méphistophélès (02 December 1855) finds but a few "petits défauts" in the piece, and praises the elegant and flowing quality of the dialogue. He is especially pleased by the performance of the two main actors, Mademoiselle Magnan playing Jane, and Monsieur Quélus as Rochester, declaring " ils ont triomphé sur toute la ligne".

Meanwhile Eugène Van Bemmel in the Revue Trimestrielle ( Volume 9, 1856) states that it is a long time since he has witnessed the public so enthralled by a drama. Interestingly, he observes that there is no need to explain the subject matter of the play, "which is known to most of our readers ". It's not certain of course, to what extent Van Bemmel's readers knew that the author of Jane Eyrehad lived in their city, often feeling lonely and unhappy, a mere twelve years or so before.

The drama was so successful that in December 1855 it moved to the larger Théâtre des Galeries St.Hubert, for a further series of performances. This theatre, built in the 1840's, had a capacity of about 850 places, and has survived to the present day. It is located but a few hundred metres away from where the Heger-Parent pensionnat once stood. Heger and his wife were very fond of theatre, and who knows, perhaps they may have attended the show based on the work of their ex-pupil. What an experience this would have been for Constantin, to behold on stage the character of Rochester, in part modelled on himselfl!

Despite the acclaim it received in 1855, Royer and Lefèvre's Jane Eyre doesn't seem to have been presented again on the Brussels stage. If the original text of the work could be located, perhaps a new production could be envisaged some time.

The Brussels production in 1855, though little known about, had at least one major influence on the history of world literature. At the same time as the play was being performed in Brussels, the legendary French author Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) was putting the final touches to his own drama based on Charlotte's novel. However, when Dumas got news that Jane Eyre was already being played on the Brussels stage, he promptly abandoned his own version. The text of Dumas' work went missing soon after, and has never been recovered. Unless it turns up some day, we're unlikely to ever know how the great Dumas chose to interpret Charlotte Brontë's novel.

Brian Bracken.

More Adventures in NYS. Two Frederika Macdonald letters in Syracuse

Since my last article I have experienced more adventures, but hardly related to the subject of this blog. I have done quite some travelling, and have even been in two other states, for a conference about the Dutch at the Delaware. In that area Swedish settlers also tried to create a New Sweden. In the summer I went to the southeastern end of this state, the eastern end of Long Island, to visit Sue Lonoff, and had the pleasure of swimming there in the ocean. In October I was at the northwestern end of the state, the fantastic Niagara Falls.

I went there with a friend from Syracuse, situated halfway between Albany (the train stops at places like Amsterdam and Rome) and the Falls, where I was staying for a few days. This trip also allowed me to see two letters written by Frederika Macdonald, in 1913, to Marion Spielmann, which I knew were held in the collection of Syracuse University Library. Thus, on Friday morning 14th I was at its Special Collections Dept.; having announced my visit the box with the letters stood ready for me.

Frederika Macdonald wanted to publish Charlotte’s ‘love letters’ to M. Heger in her forthcoming book, The Secret of Charlotte Brontë, about her adventures at the Pensionnat. But she was under pressure from Clement Shorter, who claimed the copyright of the letters, as well as every Brontë manuscript, even those as yet undiscovered. In the background the notorious duo Wise and Symington may have played a role. Frederika being a woman, whose views on the letters differed to those of the chauvinistic Shorter, also didn't help. She turned to Spielmann for support.

The first letter is written from “The Limes – Newport – Isle of Wight 3 Dec 1913”. Macdonald refers to an earlier letter she wrote to Spielmann on 21 November, following the advice of the Principal Librarian of the British Museum, to whom Charlotte’s letters had been given some months earlier that year. She wonders if that letter had arrived, "…because I enclosed a letter from Mlle. Heger to me which I value extremely; & which I asked you to return to me - As I judged you to be a friend of the Heger family, I sent you this letter to convince you that I had their confidence & was myself entirely devoted to the rectification of false judgements passed upon both Mr & Mme Heger by un-critical devotees of Charlotte who have accepted Villette too literally - Mlle Heger's letter to me proved that I was recognized by her as a trustworthy witness; & for this reason only I sent it to you, with a stamped & addressed envelope, so that no trouble nor delay might occur in its being returned. Please let me know about this & if the letter is in your hands.”

By Sunday 7^th she had received a “kind letter” from Spielmann, who wrote that he had not received her 21 November letter. She writes back to him on the same day. “I am afraid there is no use in my writing to the General Post Office,” she sighed. “I wish it had been anyone else's letters[to go missing]- let us say Mr. Clement Shorters! What a trouble he is to me at the present moment - you will see by the letters I'm enclosing from these dreadfully nervous publishers of mine, who you will see, are not satisfied with the Times and the Principle Librarian of the British Museum - & want me to do what I am convinced would be a mistake - that is to say recognize Mr Clement Shorter's claim [to copyright of all Charlotte's writings] -which if he meant to assert it should surely have been made against the publication in the Times? It appears to me clear that the Times gave the Letters by publication - to the public? & Dr. Heger gave them to the British Museum - for the use especially of historical & literary critics? I have the consent of both these authorities to the use of these letters as I am employing them by long quotations...Now will you be very kind & if I am right in my view of the case - write me a short note in this respect that I can send to these nervous publishers…”

It is not clear how the Library acquired the Macdonald letters. In 1970 the University established a new library, and these letters were found in the old collection. It is well possible, I was told, that they were acquired in the 50s or 60s by a director who was an avid collector. Two old catalog cards, typewritten, accompany the letters. As these are not cards of the old library these may well have been made by the book and manuscript dealer who sold the letters. It’s also likely to have been an English dealer. I remember such cards from a long time ago, when I had ordered books from England. Spielmann, at this time, was actually staying in Brussels, in the Carlton Hotel.

It is strange that the letters got separated from Spielmann’s large collection of Brontë related papers which are kept at the Parsonage Museum. I saw these papers in 1993, but my research priority then was the Pensionnat and the Quartier Isabelle. I remember however a number of holiday cards from Louise Heger, and of course the one letter in which Louise wrote to Spielmann that Frederika was ‘a dangerous machine to set in motion’, something which one should bear in mind when reading these two letters. It would be very interesting to have another look at these Spielmann Papers to see if they shed further light on matters addressed in the Syracuse letters.

The cards, aforementioned, do state that Frederika Macdonald died in 1923, something which in all of my twenty years of research I had never been able to find. It’s not conclusive evidence, but there’s also little reason to distrust it. In this respect too, these letters are an interesting contribution to our knowledge of the historiography of the Brontës and Brussels.

Macdonald did get her book published, with the letters, in the next year, 1914. In it she acknowledges Shorter's kind permission in letting her use the letters, without referring to all the trouble he had caused her.

Eric Ruijssenaars; with thanks to Brian Bracken for the transcriptions.

Brontë Christmas lunch and entertainment

This year 40 of us assembled in the same venue as last year for our now traditional Christmas lunch and entertainment. There was a great atmosphere and we had a varied programme of performances organised by Jones Hayden, who also devised the quiz.

Graham Andrews kicked off with a rendering of “The Wild Rover”. Another Irish item was “A Piece of a Play”, written and read by Pat Weldon, based on Flann O'Brien's writings on “The Brother”. Alex Reis read an amusing spoof biography of the Brontë family, especially commissioned for our event, written by Derek Roberts (Brussels humourist well-known in musical expat circles and author of the song “Belgian commune blues). As always we had a raffle, with prizes including DVDs of Brontë TV adaptations, books, and framed calligraphy work by Marina Sagerman, who also designed the Christmas card distributed to each attendant. After Jones Hayden’s taxing quiz, the proceedings concluded with carol singing led by José Miguel Arranz and Beth Blount.

Photos:
Graham Andrews (in the foreground, Margaret Malone and J-C Samuel) (photo by Marina Saegerman)
Alex Reis (photo by Paula Cagli)
Pat Weldon (photo by Marina Saegerman)
Yanakieva Tzveta drawing the raffle tickets, with Helen MacEwan and Jones Hayden (photo by Marina Saegerman)
Jones Hayden (photo by Paula Cagli)
José Miguel and Beth leading carols (photo by Paul Cagli)
Helen Dicker, Sharon Rowles, Myriam Campinaire and Jan Kelley (photo by Marina Saegerman)
Joana Betson, Michael and Connie Dunhill (photo by Marina Saegerman)
Paul Gretton and Córa de Paor (photo by Pual Cagli)
Valeria Schirru (on right) (photo by Marina Saegerman)

Exhibition and Lecture at Museum M, in Leuven

On October 27, 2011 several members of the Brussels Brontë Group went to Leuven to an exhibition of paintings and drawings by two Belgian women artists, Isala van Driest (1842-1916) and Louse Heger (1839-1933), and in the evening to a lecture by Professor Sue Lonoff of Harvard University on Louise Heger and Charlotte Brontë.

The exhibition was called ‘Isala & Louise, Two Women Two Stories’. Remarkably their surnames were not part of the title, probably to stress the invisibility of women in the professions at the time, for its theme was how these two gifted women overcame prejudice and forged a way into what were conventionally regarded as male preserves – Isala van Driest as a medical doctor, and Louise Heger as an artist specializing in landscape painting and drawing.

Louise Heger was, of course, the daughter of Constantin Heger, Charlotte and Emily Brontë’s teacher at the Pensionnat in Brussels in 1842 and Charlotte’s alone in 1843. Her work is known to have been extensive, yet there were few examples of it on display. What we saw was very worthwhile and made one wish to see more. The catalogue tells us that on March 19, 1903 Louise Heger received a Knighthood in the Order of Leopold (Ridder in de Leopoldsorde) for her oeuvre. So though neglected and all but forgotten after her death, she did receive recognition in her lifetime. Even work that was exhibited at the time is hard to find, but occasionally turns up in auctions and sales, and there is ongoing research to track down the lost paintings. Louise Heger is again coming into her own as a distinguished and professional artist.

Also of interest to Brontë enthusiasts was the oil painting of the Heger family, father, mother and 6 children, which is so often reproduced in Brontë literature in black and white. It is very colourful and large (123x86cm) and was executed in 1846 by Ange Francois. (see picture below).

The exhibition was a link to the lecture by Professor Lonoff whom we had already heard speak in Brussels last year about the devoirs that Charlotte and Emily Brontë wrote for M Heger which she edited and translated into English. The lecture opened with her tribute to the work of Eric Ruyssenaars and Brian Bracken, without whom, she said, her lecture could not have been given. These two archivists and historians are members of the Brussels Brontë Group. Eric is spending a year on a research grant in the United States and Brian was present in the hall.

The speaker then drew some similarities and distinctions between the two families, the Brontës and the Hegers. The most striking and shocking is of course the fact that Patrick Brontë survived into a ripe of old age, having lost the entire family before any of them had lived to be anything like old. Whereas most of the Hegers achieved a normal life-span. And Louise lived to be 93.

Sue Lonoff said that Louise always claimed she could remember Charlotte at the Pensionnat in 1842/3 (she was born on July 14, 1839). Although it seems improbable, it is possible as she was nearly 4½ when Charlotte finally left Brussels. Charlotte herself is known to have been fond of little Louise and portrayed her in Villette as Georgette.

Of crucial interest was the role Louise played many years later when her parents were long dead, namely what was to become of the letters Charlotte wrote to her teacher M Heger when she had left Brussels for the last time. Louise knew that at least some of them had been kept, having first been torn up and subsequently pieced together, perhaps by Mme. Heger. The actual facts are not really known. But Louise did know that her mother wanted them to be preserved and had therefore bequeathed them to her. Even during Mme Heger’s lifetime Charlotte Brontë had become a very famous author and Mme wanted to scotch any insinuation that her relationship with her husband had been anything other than a schoolgirl’s crush. So it was Louise who initiated the quest to preserve the four letters for posterity – on the one hand to exonerate her father altogether and on the other, as part of British literary heritage. She discussed the case with her brother Paul who knew nothing about the existence of the letters. They decided to consult an eminent English art-critic, Marion Spielmann, and at his suggestion donated the letters to the British Museum (they are now in the British Library) in 1913. Later on they were published in The London Times -- and caused a sensation.

In his writings on the subject Spielmann seems to play down Louise’s role in the preservation of the letters, possibly, as Sue Lonoff implied, because he had a tendency to disregard the female in any but a conventional role; on the other hand, Louise herself may have been too modest a person (we might say under-assertive) to claim her true position. More might come to light as research is done on the life and work of Marion Spielmann.

I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition and the lecture and was glad to see and greet so many people from our group, particularly as many had had to travel to Leuven in the evening after work.

Maureen Peeck