Guided walk in area near Bozar with Dr Christophe Loir

The Brontë-related area around the Bozar was the subject of a fascinating guided walk by Dr Christophe Loir from the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) on Saturday 3 June 2023. In this walk, devised specially for the Brussels Brontë Group, Dr Loir talked about the rue Isabelle and its environs and the redevelopment of the area in the first half of the 20th century. 

Dr Loir conjured up the area as it was in the 1840s when the Brontë sisters were there, with the help of street plans of the period, travel guides, engravings, early photographs and press articles. 

Just a few questions about 'Emily'

Once I saw a beautiful film about the French writer Colette. So beautiful that I watched it again when it was on television. I knew and still know very little about Colette, so I could enjoy the movie without thinking about the historical facts of her life or the international reception of her books. 

Now there is Frances O’Connor’s film Emily about Emily Brontë, a writer of whom I like to think I know a lot more. This is also a beautiful film. But I have a few questions. 

'Emily' and Top Withens

For a special reason, I viewed Frances O’Connor’s film ‘Emily’ not once but three times. It was inevitable that I should see this movie. I first read Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights more than half a century ago. But it wasn’t until 53 years after reading the book that I visited Haworth for the first time. 

Jean de Wolf with his model of Top Withens

Brussels Brontë Group and Matrimony Days

The Heritage Days have a firm reputation in Brussels, but recently there has been an addition to the program which focuses specifically on the women-centered heritage and history of our city. Since 2019, the non-profit organization L’architecture qui dégenre, has started organizing the Journées du Matrimoine (Matrimony Days), with ‘Matrimony’ signifying a ‘tangible or intangible good of artistic or historical importance inherited from women.’ 

Especially for the Matrimony Days, we have developed a guided walk in the city center that focuses on the feminist elements in the work of the Brontë sisters. 

Frances O’Connor’s ‘Emily’ and the French connection

Frances O’Connor’s film Emily is full of surprises. This is perhaps only to be expected in a movie that the writer-director herself describes as a story inspired by the Brontës’ lives, not factually based on them – a fictional story inspired by real-life people. 

For me, one of the film’s more agreeable surprises is how much French there is in it. Not only are we startled to find Patrick’s curate William Weightman, with some difficulty, unlacing Emily Brontë’s corset in a scene of passion as they embark on a love affair; we are also taken aback to find him tutoring her in French in a deserted Haworth schoolroom.