I had another one of those experiences last night. I wake up while it’s still dark and think I can sense a presence in the room. I always look over to the same corner and think there’s just a hint of a dark shape there. I put it down to a shadow and go back to sleep, since the sense is always one of observation rather than malevolence. I used to get the same feeling in a wood close to where I once lived. Maybe it’s dear Emily wanting me to come out and play on Penistone Crags. Serves me right for that time about fifteen months ago when I wanted to drive to Haworth and dig her up. I really did, you know. I had the Emily bug that bad.
I sometimes wonder what part the late night drinking plays. Could it be the alcohol that instigates the phenomenon, or could it be that the alcohol is what helps me to remain blasé about it? Do I care?
When such things appear in The Mists of Avalon, it’s always the Death Crone. But the last time she appeared to Viviene, it was to tell her that she wasn’t about to die. So what’s the point of that?
I think I’ll have an extra scotch tonight. Bring on the pink elephants.
6 comments:
I hope i left my comment on the right post... the one about Emily should be here...
You had me confused for a while there, Andrea. Got you now.
Have you heard that song "Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush? Every time you talk about otherworldly events, Jeff, I think of that song and the "dark lady" who makes her presence known to you so often. Time to read Shakespeare AND more Bronte?
That's always been one of my favourite songs, Wendy. But please don't start me on Wuthering Heights. Please! It's been much on my mind lately. And today I saw a DVD of the recent BBC production. Grrr...
Have you seen the adaptation with Juliet Binoche and Ralph Fiennes? If so what did you think about it? I have to admit that i like it, but i don't think i should. At the beginning Cathy and Heathcliff are too childish, and i didn't like the fact that Juliet Binoche played both Cathy and her own daughter... i'm confused by my own liking of it.
The fact is, Andrea, I doubt I would ever be happy with any adaptation of Wuthering Heights. The reason, briefly:
I first read the book about thirty years ago, having already seen the classic Olivier/Oberon film and a major TV adaptation. To be honest, the book disappointed. Life moved on, and I moved on.
And then, in 2009, I developed a resurgence of an old interest in the Bronte family, and Emily in particular. I took out every book they had in the library and read up on them. It was Emily who grabbed me by the throat because I saw so much of myself reflected there. What Charlotte described as ‘Emily’s peculiarities’ were anything but peculiar to me. Unsurprisingly, I developed a strong sense of who Emily was and what she was about, even though I accept I might be wrong. It was then that I decided to read WH again, and this time I saw it in a totally different way, a way that most people would find radical and way out, but it seemed to fit well with ‘Emily’s peculiarities.’ A theory developed about what she’d really intended, and so I read it again to check certain aspects (like, for example, whether Heathcliff ever exhibits signs of sexual jealousy, which he doesn’t. The recent BBC adaptation starring Charlotte Reilly actually has a scene in which Heathcliff berates Cathy for being ‘unfaithful’ to him when she tells him she’s pregnant. That isn’t in the book and I don’t believe it has any place in an adaptation.)
It was that theory which formed the basis of the article, and it’s the one I’m sticking to until a better one comes along. The problem is that I think it would be difficult, if not impossible, to represent what I believe to be the true nature of the book as a dramatic adaptation. The nature of the Romantic/mystic is, I think, too esoteric. And even if they could do it, I imagine it would have to be an art house film at best, because the concept wouldn’t be sufficiently comprehensible to a wide audience.
None of this has to be a problem, of course. Any dramatisation of a novel can be seen as standing in its own right, and enjoyable as such. I just think it's a shame that what I believe to have been Emily's true intentions are not being seen.
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