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Words of the day: hebdomadal: weekly moiety: half surtout: man’s long close-fitting overcoat tuckers: piece of lace or cloth in neckline of dress divers: various #brontefest

060

Mr Brocklehurst, an impenetrable dark force: “black pillar” (Ch 4) “black column “ “black marble clergyman” #brontefest

160

Jane’s sarcasm is refreshing. “My first quarter at Lowood seemed an age, and not the golden age either” #brontefest

160

“Sir, here’s the door, this is Lucentio’s house, My father bears more toward the market-place; Thither must I, and here I leave you, sir.” #theshrew2026

041

Alison @alisonjaye.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Thank you, Lisa. Enjoying for the 3rd time and catching more with each read.

140

The beginning of Jane’s agency. “hitherto, I had only been a spectator of the proceedings at Lowood, I was now to become an actor therein.” #brontefest

071

Alison @alisonjaye.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

“Now, by my mother’s son, and that’s myself, It shall be moon, or star, or what I list” #theshrew2026

021

Alison @alisonjaye.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

“O, sir, his lackey, for all the world caparisoned like the horse; with a linen stock on one leg, and a kersey boot-hose on the other, gartered with a red a blue list; an old hat, and The humour of forty fancies pricked in’t for a feather, a monster, a very monster in apparel” (III, 3) #theshrew2026

Marriage = poison pen “a woman who was too ugly not to be his lawful wife” “What prospects has he with such a wife and two such horrible brats?” #balzactogether

230

The weather continues to set the mood. “Raw and chill,” “wet and somewhat misty,” “wild wind,” “darkness filled the air,” “furious gusts,” “rain fall in torrents,” “bitter cold,” wintry blight and brown decay,” “drizzling yellow fog” #brontefest

160

Brontë captures so well Jane’s rootlessness. I hardly yet knew where I was…my past life seemed floated away to an immeasurable distance. The present was vague and strange, and of the future I could form no conjecture.” #brontefest

050

“a little coarse,” “not a little fierce,” “harsh and grotesque,” “purple, weather-beaten and overworked” Jane makes a quick assessment of her teachers, “none of whom precisely pleased me” (tough judge). Because she is a watcher and a thinker, her powers of description are honed. #brontefest

060

You can never get enough! 😁📚

“Our purses shall be proud, our garments poor: For ‘t is the mind that makes the body rich” #theshrew2026

Little Red Riding Hood (Big Bad Wolf) vibes: “what a great nose! and what a mouth! and what large, prominent teeth!” #brontefest

051

Words of the day: poltroon: spiritless coward ruth: compassion for the misery of another #brontefest

One of the reasons I love Jane is that she is so quick on her feet! “And should you like to fall into that pit, and to be burning there for ever? No, sir. What must you do to avoid it? I must keep in good health, and not die.” #brontefest

140

Mrs Reed, a sort of Cyclops: “her usually cold, composed gray eye” “formidable eye” “an eye devoid of ruth” “her eye of ice continued to dwell freezingly on mine” “that eye of hers” Fun fact: in Greek mythology, Brontes is the name of one of the three original elder Cyclopes. #brontefest

272

“After an hour the poet left the Cénacle, tortured by his conscience which was crying out to him: ‘You’ll be a journalist!’ as the witch cries out to Macbeth: ‘Thou shalt be king hereafter.’ #balzactogether

Young adult literature - Wikipedia

I didn’t realize the term dates back to the 1940’s. I don’t remember this designation in the library when I was growing up. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_a...

en.wikipedia.org

130

I never knew it was considered YA. I wonder if it is even taught in HS anymore.

230

Despite all, Jane has a sense of humor. “Abbot, I think, gave me credit for being a sort of infantine Guy Fawkes.” #brontefest

271

Mental health/PTSD “ear, eye, and mind were alike strained by dread” “it only gave my nerves a shock, on which I feel the reverberation to this day…to you I owe some fearful pangs of mental suffering.” “my worst ailment was an unutterable wretchedness of mind” “my racked nerves” #brontefest

Who can you trust? “Well, I see that you are entering the world of literature and journalism with your illusions intact. You believe in friendship. We are all friends or enemies according to circumstances.” #balzactogether

050

“Why, this was moulded on a porringer; A velvet dish;—fie, fie! ‘t is lewd and filthy; Why, ‘t is a cockle, or a walnut-shell, A knack, a toy, a trick, a baby’s cap; Away with it, come, let me have a bigger.” #theshrew2026

“Come, tailor, let us see these ornaments” #theshrew2026

“Go, get thee gone, thou false deluding slave” #theshrew2026

Agree. I remember the story more than any of these themes.

150

Word of the day: resolve “…I felt resolved, in my desperation, to go all lengths.” With a capital R: “and Resolve, equally wrought up, instigated some strange expedient to achieve escape from insupportable oppression…” #brontefest

060

“I resisted all the way: a new thing for me…” #brontefest

181

“O, sir, I do; and will repute you ever The patron of my life and liberty.” #theshrew2026

Yes! My edition from college.

240

One of the coastal towns in NJ had so much flooding over the weekend, someone filmed a small shark swimming down the road.

101

Look interesting. Think I’ll order as well.

120

Loved Norway, but didn’t go this far north. Covered Denmark, Sweden and Norway in one trip.

110

We can see why Jane relates to the book by the words that are used and how they reflect her circumstances: “solitary,” “bleak,” “forlorn,” “dreary,” “broken,” “desolate,” “ghastly,” “haunted,” “phantoms,” “terror,” “gallows” #brontefest

070

The weather immediately sets the mood in Chapter 1. “There was no possibility of taking a walk that day…The cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre and a rain so penetrating…” #brontefest

180

“he felt a terrible itch to dominate this world of potentates and believed he had the power to overcome them.” Amazing what good food and wine can do! #balzactogether

I read the intro today. Interesting. She definitely puts Brontë on a pedestal in comparison to other Victorian writers.