Brontë Summer Seminars
We are really excited to be running a new online Brontë course,
Afterlives of Jane Eyre: Celebrating 175 Years in Print this summer
. The course will be led by Dr Amber Pouliot and will be delivered via six online sessions on Tuesday evenings (7pm – 9pm BST) from Tuesday 7 June to Tuesday 12 July.
Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre was published in October 1847. It became an instant best-seller and is today widely considered to be one of the greatest love stories ever written. In the 175 years since its arrival on the literary scene, Brontë’s first-published novel has enjoyed an almost unwavering popularity that now spans the globe.
Not only has Jane Eyre been translated into at least 57 languages, and at least 593 times. But Brontë’s story of a poor, plain, disconnected governess valiantly making her way in the world has captured the imaginations of scores of writers, artists, and producers who have adapted her novel for a wide range of media including ballet, radio, film, theatre, and television.
During this six-session course, we will explore the fascinating history of Jane Eyre in adaptation, charting its transformation in relation to philosophical shifts (feminism, postcolonial theory), literary trends, and new technologies.
The course costs £180 for all six sessions.
Priority booking for Brontë Society members is now open and any remaining spaces will be released on Monday 9 May. Places are limited to sixteen, so early booking is recommended!
Please contact sassy.holmes@bronte.org.uk to find out more, or contact our Visitor Experience Administrator on 01535 640192 or via bookings@bronte.org.uk to book a place.
Session 1. During the first session, we will discuss the publication history of Jane Eyre, read early reviews in the periodical press (provided in a course packet), and begin to sketch an historical overview of how the novel changed in adaptation from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century.
Session 2. In our second session, we will discuss two radically different Victorian adaptations of Jane Eyre: John Brougham’s Jane Eyre: A Drama, in Five Acts (1849) and Bret Harte’s “Miss Mix” (1867).
Session 3. One of the most popular reinterpretations of Jane Eyre is Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca (1938), a Gothic novel that became a classic in its own right and was itself later adapted for film.
Session 4. On day four, we will discuss Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), a postcolonial prequel that sympathetically focuses on the marital experience of Bertha Mason, the colonial “other” whom Brontë presented as a speechless, monstrous foil for her heroine, Jane.
Session 5. On day five, we will watch and discuss clips from a selection of the many film and television adaptations of Jane Eyre, while building on our earlier discussions of Brougham’s theatrical adaptation.
Session 6. On the final day of this course, we will discuss The Mexican Gothic, a modern day horror novel described as ‘Jane Eyre meets Dracula’.