I had the pleasure of watching To Walk Invisible The Brontë Sisters the other night on PBS and I loved it. Three remarkable, brilliant sisters, two of whom died (spoiler alert!) very young at 29 and 30 of tuberculosis, all of whom wrote lasting works of literature and poetry. Think how much richer our world would be had they lived longer! As women, they had such limited options that they had to write under men's names to be published and to be taken seriously. I'd like to think we have come so far, but when I consider that Joanne Rowling was highly encouraged to write under the name J.K. Rowling for the same reason, I feel a bit discouraged. Ultimately, Charlotte reveals herself to be Currer Bell and enjoys popularity and fame during her lifetime. I highly recommend this beautiful period drama.
Written and directed by Sally Wainwright (Happy Valley, Last
Tango in Halifax), To Walk Invisible depicts
the evolution of secluded, dutiful clergyman’s daughters into authors of the
most controversial fiction of the 1840s. The drama stars Finn Atkins (Eden Lake) as Charlotte, who shocked society
with her edgy epic, Jane Eyre; Chloe
Pirrie (War and Peace) as Emily, author of
the darkly gothic and disturbing Wuthering
Heights; and Charlie Murphy (Happy Valley)
as Anne, whose penned the true-to-life love story The
Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
Also starring are Jonathan Pryce (Wolf Hall) as their distracted father, Reverend
Patrick Brontë; and Adam Nagaitis as the sisters’ only brother, Branwell, whose
wild and dissipated life contributed to vivid characters in each of their
novels.
Based largely on Charlotte’s letters, the
film follows the Brontë sisters in the eventful three-year period that saw them
rise from ordinary, unmarried women, taking care of the household and their
widowed father, to the secret authors of the world’s most sensational literature.
How did I miss the Bronte show? I see it is on their website until 4/10, if anyone else missed it. :(
ReplyDeleteYes, do catch it online if you can. I only saw it because I record Masterpiece Theatre.
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