Evidence: | 'The hero seems to me superior to the Rochester or the Louis Moore type, who are all rather lay-figures. Nor do I admire the sister?s work [Wuthering Heights] so much as you do. I see in it more violence than real strength & more rant than genuine passion. However all this is a matter of taste. I will remark, by the way, that I think there is some excuse for the charge of coarseness, as, e.g., the scene where Jane Eyre is half inclined to go to Rochester?s bedroom. I don?t mean coarseness in the sense of prurience; for I fully agree that Miss Bronte writes as a thoroughly pureminded woman; but she is more close to the physical side of passion than young ladies are expected to be?There is also some coarseness in the artistic sense in Jane Eyre. The mad wife is I fancy, unnecessarily bestial? I don?t think justice is generally done to C Bronte now & I shall be glad for that reason to insert your eloquent article.' |
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Century: | 1850-1899 | ||||||||||
Date: | 1873 | ||||||||||
Country: | England | ||||||||||
Time: | n/a | ||||||||||
Place: | n/a | ||||||||||
Type of Experience (Reader): |
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Type of Experience (Listener): |
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Reader: | Leslie Stephen |
Age | Adult (18-100+) |
Gender | Male |
Date of Birth | 28 Nov 1832 |
Socio-economic group: | Professional / academic / merchant / farmer |
Occupation: | Literary critic, historian, journalist, biographer |
Religion: | Christian |
Country of origin: | England |
Country of experience: | England |
Listeners present if any: (e.g. family, servants,
friends, workmates) |
n/a |
Additional comments: | n/a |
Author: | G. B. Smith |
Title: | The Brontes |
Genre: | Essays / Criticism |
Form of Text: | Manuscript: article |
Publication details: | n/a |
Provenance: | owned |
Record ID: | 4024 | |
Source - | ||
Author: | Leslie Stephen | |
Editor: | John Bicknell | |
Title: | The Selected Letters of Leslie Stephen Vol. 1 1864-1882 | |
Place of Publication: | Ohio State University Press | |
Date of Publication: | 1 | |
Vol: | 1996 | |
Page: | 123 | |
Additional comments: | Letter from Stephen to G. B. Smith accepting his article 'The Brontes' which appeared in the July 1873 number of the Cornhill. |
Citation: | Leslie Stephen, John Bicknell (ed.), The Selected Letters of Leslie Stephen Vol. 1 1864-1882 (Ohio State University Press, 1), 1996, p. 123, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/reading/recorddetails2.php?id=4024, accessed: 07 December 2023 |
Reading Experience Database version 2.0. Page updated: 27th Apr 2016 3:15pm (GMT)