#and the potato version of pope francis

[anti-potato]

eating cold mashed potatoes straight out of the fridge while watching food recipe videos on youtube is peak frociaggine behaviour

[eyreguide]

Jane Eyre’s Library

The novel Jane Eyre is full of literary references, allusions, and quotations that enrich the story and showcase how well-read Charlotte (and consequently Jane) was.  This post highlights those literary references and gives a bit of context for each work that might help illuminate their use in the book.  I have done my best to note all instances where Charlotte references a literary work (not including references to historical events) but I probably missed a few.  If you know of any I missed and the particular quote, please let me know!

I thought it would be interesting to start this post with Charlotte’s recommendation of books to read to her friend Ellen Nussey.  Charlotte was eighteen when she wrote this letter.  I can’t say I was as well-read at her age!

“You ask me to recommend some books for your perusal; I will do so in as few words as I can. If you like poetry let it be first rate, Milton, Shakespeare, Thomson, Goldsmith, Pope (if you will, though I don’t admire him), Scott, Byron, Campbell, Wordsworth and Southey.” (letter dated July 4, 1834):

The Bible: I must acknowledge that there are many references to Biblical passages and characters in Jane Eyre but I have decided not to list them here, as it would be a lot of work.  It’ll be something I’ll save for a future post.

Greek and Roman Mythology: Another omission are the references to mythology throughout the novel.  Something else I’ll save for another time.

History of British Birds by Thomas Bewick

“Where the Northern Ocean, vast whirls, Boils round the naked, melancholy isles Of farthest Thule; and the Atlantic surge Pours in among the stormy Hebrides.”

A History of British Birds is a natural history book, published in two volumes. Volume 1, "Land Birds", appeared in 1797. Volume 2, "Water Birds", appeared in 1804.  The quote is from the second volume.

Pamela or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson

Referenced in the novel as being one of the stories Bessie tells young Jane. Published 1740, Pamela was is an epistolary novel and was a best-seller in it’s time.  But the story about a young maidservant who endeavors to resist her employer’s advances and ends up marrying him in the end, was a controversial novel at the time.

The History of Henry Earl of Moreland by John Wesley

Also called The Fool of Quality this is another novel that Bessie (probably more appropriately) tells stories from to Jane.  It follows the life of Harry Clinton and his attempts to better his lot.  There are frequent intervals in which the author offers philosophical digressions and commentaries.  The final two-volume set was published in 1781.

History of Rome by Oliver Goldsmith

“I had read Goldsmith’s History of Rome, and had formed my opinion of Nero, Caligula, etc.”

Originally published in 1838, this is a definitive work on the History of Rome.

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

”Bessie asked if I would have a book: the word book acted as a transient stimulus, and I begged her to fetch ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ from the library.”

Gulliver's Travels, or Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships is a prose satire of human nature and the ‘traveller’s tales’ literary subgenre. It was an immediate success when published in 1726.

The History of Rasselas by Samuel Johnson

“I could see the title - it was ‘Rasselas;’ a name that struck me as strange, and consequently attractive.”

The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia, originally titled The Prince of Abissinia: A Tale, though often abbreviated to Rasselas, is an apologue about happiness, published in 1759.  The story is a philosophical romance with similarities in theme to Voltaire’s Candide.

The Arabian Nights

”That night, on going to bed, I forgot to prepare in imagination the Barmecide supper of hot roast potatoes, or white bread and new milk, with which I was wont to amuse my inward cravings”

The Arabian Nights is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales and is also known as One Thousand and One Nights.  The stories have been collected over many centuries but they are all framed by Scheherazade telling these stories to her husband, the King.  In one story Barmecide invites a beggar to an imaginary feast.  Also, Mesrour is the name of an executioner in the book.

The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan

“He may be stern; he may be exacting: he may be ambitious yet; but his is the sternness of the warrior Greatheart, who guards his pilgrim convoy from the onslaught of Apollyon.”

The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come is a 1678 Christian allegory.  Greatheart and Apollyon are characters in this work.  It is often cited as the first novel written in English.

"La Ligue des Rats" by Jean de la Fontaine

‘Assuming an attitude, she began ‘La Ligue des Rats: fable de la Fontaine.’

This French poem was first published in 1692.  Jean de la Fontaine is famous for his Fables and was one of the most widely read poets of the 17th century.  Read the original tale in French here.

Macbeth by William Shakespeare

‘Yes - “after life’s fitful fever they sleep well,” ‘ I muttered.

“She stood there, by that beech-trunk—a hag like one of those who appeared to Macbeth on the heath of Forres.”

Macbeth was first performed in 1606 and dramatizes the physical and physiological effects of political ambition.  The first line is a reference to Macbeth’s words concerning the dead Duncan.  And the second refers to the three witches in the play.

Bluebeard by Charles Perrault

”I lingered in the long passage to which this led, separating the front and back rooms of the third story: looking, with its two rows of small black doors all shut, like a corridor in some Bluebeard’s castle.”

“Bluebeard” is a French folktale, the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault and first published by Barbin in Paris in 1697 in Histoires ou contes du temps passé. The tale tells the story of a wealthy man in the habit of murdering his wives and the attempts of one wife to avoid the fate of her predecessors. An interesting example of foreshadowing from Charlotte.  Read this fairy tale here.

Francis Bacon’s Essays

‘I see,’ he said, ‘the mountain will never be brought to Mahomet, so all you can do is to aid Mahomet to go to the mountain; I must beg of you to come here.’

This is in reference to a proverb that has been traced to Francis Bacon’s essays: “Mahomet made the people believe that he would call a hill to him, and from the top of it offer up his prayers for the observers of his law.  The people assembled: Mahomet called the hill to come to him again and again: and when the hill stood still, he was never a whit abased, but said, “If the hill will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet will go to the hill.”

It is unclear if this is a true legend of Mohammed or an English invention.  The Essays were published in 1625.

"Fallen is Thy Throne" by Thomas Moore

“Like heath that, in the wilderness, The wild wind whirls away.”

I could not find a publication date for the poem, but the poet Thomas Moore lived 1779-1852.  The poem these lines are from is about the fall of Israel.  Read this poem here.

Duncaid by Alexander Pope

“Yes, just as much good as it would do a man tired of sitting still in a ‘too easy chair’ to take a long walk; and just as natural was the wish to stir, under my circumstances, as it would be under his.”

The Dunciad is a landmark mock-heroic narrative poem published in three different versions at different times from 1728 to 1743. The poem celebrates a goddess Dulness and the progress of her chosen agents as they bring decay, imbecility, and tastelessness to the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Paradise Lost by John Milton

This pale crescent was ’The likeness of a Kingly Crown’; what it diademed was ‘the shape which shape had none.’

“Some natural tears she shed’ on being told this, but as I began to look very grave, she consented at last to wipe them.”

Paradise Lost is an epic poem with the first version published in 1667, and the second edition in 1674.  The poem is about the biblical story of the fall of Man with the temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden.  The first quote in Jane Eyre concerning Jane’s paintings is a direct echo of the description of Hell in the poem: “If shape it might be call’d that shape had none/ Distinguishable... What seem’d his head/ The likeness of a Kingly Crown had on”

The second quote describes Adele’s disappointment at not joining the party and is inspired by the line about Adam and Eve departing Eden: “Some natural tears they dropp’d”

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

“Rise, Miss Eyre: leave me; “the play is played out.”

Twelfth Night, or What You Will is a romantic comedy, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night’s entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centers on the twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated in a shipwreck.  This is believed to be the source of the above line from Jane Eyre.

The Scornful Lady by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher

“She never did so before,” at last said Bessie, turning to the Abigail.

“In the servants’ hall two coachmen and three gentlemen’s gentlemen stood or sat round the fire; the abigails, I suppose, were upstairs with their mistresses; the new servants, that had been hired from Millcote, were bustling about everywhere.”

The Scornful Lady is a Jacobean era stage play, a comedy first published in 1616, the year of the author Beaumont's death. It was one of the pair's most popular, often revived, and frequently reprinted works. The term abigails, meaning ladies’ maids, comes from a character named Abigail in The Scornful Lady.

King Lear by William Shakespeare

‘There, then - “Off, ye lendings!”

King Lear is a tragedy where King Lear decides to leave nothing to his honest, third daughter who refuses to flatter him like her two sisters have done.  It a story of human suffering and kinship.  The first known performance of the play was in 1606.

Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare

“It’s a mere rehearsal of Much Ado About Nothing.”

Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy and thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599, as Shakespeare was approaching the middle of his career. In Shakespeare’s time the word “noting” (which sounds close to “nothing”) meant gossip and rumor which is what leads Benedick and Beatrice into falling in love, and Claudio into rejecting Hero at the marriage altar.  Mr. Rochester uses that quote above to indicate to his guests that nothing is wrong.

The Turkish Lady by Thomas Campbell

”It was now the sweetest hour of the twenty-four: -- ‘Day its fervid fires had wasted,’ and the dew fell cool on panting plain and scorched summit.”

The poem’s author, Thomas Campbell, lived from 1777-1844) and the poem “The Turkish Lady” is about a captive English knight who is visited by Eastern lady who releases him from captivity and he takes her away as his bride.  A fitting reference given that this quote is used in the chapter where Rochester proposes to Jane.  Read this poem here.

A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare

”Is this my pale, little elf?  Is this my mustard-seed?”

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy written in 1595/96. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of Theseus, the Duke of Athens, to Hippolyta, the Queen of the Fairies. Mustardseed is one of the fairies in the play.

King John by William Shakespeare

’I might as well “gild refined gold.”

The Life and Death of King John is believed to have been written in the mid 1590s and dramatizes John, King of England, who ruled 1199-1216.  The quoted phrase is but one of several examples of “wasteful and ridiculous excess” in the play.

"Bonny Wee Thing" by Robert Burns

“Yes, bonny wee thing, I’ll wear you in my bosom, lest my jewel I should tyne.”

A 1791 poem (also written “The Bonie Wee Thing”).  This poem has also been set to music.  Read this poem here.

Lay of the Last Minstrel by Sir Walter Scott

”Looked to river, looked to hill.”

Published in 1805, Lay of the Last Minstrel is a long narrative poem in which an aging minstrel tells of a sixteenth-century border feud between England and Scotland.

The Robbers by Fredrich Schiller

“‘Da trat hervor Einer, anzusehen wie die Sternen Nacht.’  Good! good!” she exclaimed, while her dark and deep eye sparkled.  “There you have a dim and mighty archangel fitly set before you!  The line is worth a hundred pages of fustian.  ‘Ich wäge die Gedanken in der Schale meines Zornes und die Werke mit dem Gewichte meines Grimms.’

This quotes from the first drama by playwright Schiller, published in 1781.  The story revolves around two aristocratic brothers, Karl and Franz.  Franz is beloved by his father and Karl plots to wrest away his inheritance.

A translation of the lines:

Da trat hervor Einer, anzusehen wie die Sternen Nacht. - One stepped forward to look at how the night was filled with stars.  

Ich wäge die Gedanken in der Schale meines Zornes und die Werke mit dem Gewichte meines Grimms. - I ventured the thoughts in the shell of my wrath and the works with the weight of my ferocity.

Lalla Rookh by Thomas Moore

To live amidst general regard, though it be but the regard of working people, is like “sitting in sunshine, calm and sweet;” serene inward feelings bud and bloom under the ray.

Lalla Rookh is an Oriental romance, published in 1817. The title is taken from the name of the heroine, the daughter of the 17th-century Mughal emperor Arangzeb. The work consists of four narrative poems with a connecting tale in prose.

Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field by Sir Walter Scott

“Day set on Norham’s castled steep, And Tweed’s fair river broad and deep,  And Cheviot’s mountains lone; The massive towers, the donjon keep,  In yellow lustre shone”—

Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field is a historical romance in verse of 16th-century Britain, published in 1808. It concludes with the Battle of Flodden in 1513.

"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Coleridge

The sternest-seeming stoic is human after all; and to “burst” with boldness and good-will into “the silent sea” of their souls is often to confer on them the first of obligations.

“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”  is the longest major poem by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, written in 1797–98 and published in 1798 in the first edition of Lyrical Ballads.  Read this poem here.

[biofunmy]

A Paris Theater Reopens, With Acrobats and Stunts

PARIS — You might call it a French welcome. On the day the venerable Théâtre du Châtelet was scheduled to reopen after a two-and-a-half-year renovation, Paris’s public transportation system was paralyzed by a strike. The much-hyped street procession to celebrate the venue’s makeover attracted only a thin crowd; inside the auditorium for the first stage performance, there were even some empty seats.

The Châtelet’s new artistic director, Ruth Mackenzie, looked unfazed when she came onstage at the end of the evening. If her goal was to entertain the attendees, she had every reason to be satisfied: “Parade,” the opening show, which encompassed outdoor and indoor performances, was big, inclusive and crowd-pleasing. On the other hand, those looking for a more fully articulated statement of artistic intent for a great Paris theater were probably disappointed.

What the new team delivered was, well, mainly a cheerful parade.

Perhaps it was unfair to expect more. Who doesn’t like oversize marionettes? Who doesn’t feel a thrill at gravity-defying acrobatics? “Parade,” directed by Martin Duncan, kept the feel-good performances coming over the course of the evening, which was divided into three parts: The outdoor festivities, led by the Marionetas Gigantes puppet company from Mozambique, were followed by a series of free installations around the Châtelet’s public spaces. Then came the main-stage performance, open only to ticket holders.

The program was loosely inspired by a famous circus-themed ballet that had its premiere at the Châtelet in 1917: “Parade,” choreographed by Léonide Massine for the Ballets Russes. References to Massine’s legendary creative partners — Jean Cocteau, Erik Satie and Pablo Picasso — abounded in this reboot. The opening procession was led by an animated “Cocteau Machine,” designed by Francis O’Connor, which looked like a three-dimensional Cocteau drawing mounted on a bicycle. Picasso’s stage curtain for the ballet, which shows circus artists enjoying a meal, also appeared in a video projection onstage.

The composer got the finest tribute, however. “Satie’s World,” the series of installations peppered throughout the theater, gave Parisians a delightfully surreal reintroduction to a much-loved venue. In the Grand Foyer, a stack of piled pianos nearly reached the ceiling, and mermaids sang as a pianist played a selection of Satie pieces. In the Diaghilev Salon, a room off the foyer, an actor playing Sergei Diaghilev, the Ballets Russes impresario, popped up for a chat in bed with his musical collaborator. Up on the theater’s grand terrace, clowns peeled potatoes for an all-white dinner, since the eccentric Satie ate only white food.

In the 1917 “Parade,” the street entertainers end up giving away all their best tricks in a bid to attract paying customers. Similarly, this modern reimagining didn’t reward those who stayed for the stage performance, an uneven, trick-heavy collage featuring mostly circus acts. Marionetas Gigantes’ puppets briefly re-emerged, followed by a segment credited to the French circus artist Stéphane Ricordel and the production company Boîte Noire and then by Streb Extreme Action, an American ensemble known for its daring physical feats.

Of the two, Mr. Ricordel’s contribution proved to be the more theatrical performance, its aerial work vividly complemented by DakhaBrakha, a Ukrainian musical quartet weaving together folk and punk influences. Tatiana Mosio Bongonga, a tightrope walker, and Alexandra Royer, seen flipping on a narrow plank and spinning on an aerial hoop, both let the music color the mood and rhythm of their performances.

Streb Extreme Action never quite achieved the same artistic spell. Their stunts are undeniably jaw-dropping — or stomach-churning, in the case of the performers rotating around a high metal pipe like a propeller, somehow held only by the soles of their heavy boots.

Still, while the company is trained in modern dance, its daredevil appeal has little to do with the Châtelet’s musical and choreographic legacy. France already has a thriving circus scene elsewhere.

In Streb’s final scene, pairs of performers tied by ropes took turns climbing a wall and performing aerial figures, acting as counterweights for each other. As dance, the back-and-forth was often visually clumsy and lacking in coordination. A French choreographer, Mourad Merzouki, taught the exact same technique to hip-hop dancers last year for “Vertikal,” a work that was seen at the Lyon Dance Biennial. He spun much more poetry out of it.

Similarly, while Marionetas Gigantes’ puppets fulfilled their purpose, the level of sophistication achieved by the French company Royal de Luxe, with their supremely well-articulated giants, is the gold standard in the country.

Ms. Mackenzie’s outlook is a global one, however, and in many ways that’s a welcome change of pace for a French national institution. Her vision is also strong on community engagement, with local amateurs involved in “Parade.” France has long valued artistic goals over outreach, and it will be fascinating to see what role the Châtelet plays on the national arts scene under her leadership.

Another recently reopened theater, La Scala Paris, inaugurated its season with more conventional fare: a new production of Brecht’s “Life of Galileo” by Claudia Stavisky. It serves as a star vehicle for an exceptional stage actor, Philippe Torreton, but he isn’t the only Galileo in town. In June, Eric Ruf staged an ornate version of the same play at the Comédie-Française, which will return at the end of this month.

The duplication doesn’t feel merely like a coincidence. The central conflicts in “Life of Galileo” — between science and religion, moral responsibility and personal comfort — speak to our moment. In the 17th-century astronomer, Brecht created a hero and an antihero at once. The character’s willingness to compromise and lie, whether to further his work or for fear of torture when the Catholic Church deems his theories unacceptable, is a reminder that factual evidence doesn’t always win the day.

Not that it makes the play an easy sell: Many scenes are static and heavy on dry scientific debate. Mr. Ruf’s production struggled to inject life into the proceedings, despite strong performances. The sumptuous sets and costumes by Christian Lacroix often felt like the raison d’être of the evening rather than a bonus. The most arresting scene had the pope being robed ever so slowly by assistants, each element of his costume exquisite in its own right, in a visual demonstration of power dressing.

Ms. Stavisky’s “Life of Galileo” looks pared down by comparison. Its simpler costumes and high walls, with faint light streaming through narrow slits, clear the way for a serious, insightful production, with nothing extraneous in Mr. Torreton’s performance.

From the beginning, when he undresses wearily after a long night of work and dunks his face in water for an uncomfortably long time, to his final encounter with a disgruntled former assistant, Mr. Torreton inhabits the role with focused simplicity. His character can’t see past his excesses — until it’s too late.

“Unhappy the land that is in need of heroes,” the elderly astronomer says shortly before the curtain falls — words that linger in the mind far longer than any stunts.

Parade. Directed by Martin Duncan. Théâtre du Châtelet. La Vie de Galilée. Directed by Claudia Stavisky. La Scala Paris, through Oct. 9. La Vie de Galilée. Directed by Eric Ruf. Comédie-Française, from Sept. 30 to Jan. 19.

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