Mid-October
Read-Along Summaries, Sylvia Plath & Ted Hughes, Emily's Little Stool
Mid-October Notes…
The Natural History of Wuthering Heights
My seasonal close reading of Wuthering Heights is undergoing a transformation—I can feel it shifting and evolving. I’ve published the first fourteen essays (Volume One) and written the next twelve—only eight more to go! What began in September as the 2025 Read-Along of Wuthering Heights is developing into The Natural History of Wuthering Heights. Flora, fauna, fungi & folklore—my Nature-loving heart is full.1
The Influence of Emily Brontë on Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes
Earlier this month The Brontë Parsonage Museum hosted Claire O’Callaghan and she presented the The Brontë Society’s annual lecture. This year’s lecture was, “‘A happy Heathcliff and Cathy:’ The Influence of Emily Brontë on Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes.”
I’ve been a fan of Plath since high school, read The Bell Jar in graduate school but only recently, have I learned about the poet’s intense obsession fascination with Emily Jane and Wuthering Heights. Claire’s lecture was certainly interesting! I’m infinitely curious about the number of female artists and writers who reframe themselves in the image of Emily Brontë and/or Catherine Earnshaw. I was shocked to learn Ted Hughes even embraced the Heathcliff vibe—he apparently adopted the brooding, introvert persona and was recognized as, working it to his advantage.
The whole thing sort of surprises me, seeing as how I’ve always known Plath met him at a wild Cambridge party and neither behaved anything like brooding introverts. And, if one was going to slip into the role of Brontë’s ever-vampiric Heathcliff, it should be Plath—she bit Hughes so hard on the cheek upon meeting him, she drew blood!
No matter. The lecture was entirely interesting and I look forward to O’Callaghan’s forthcoming book (her working title: Almost Haunted) exploring Emily’s influence on writers and artists across generations.
Emily Jane Brontë’s Little Stool
Over the weekend I emailed Dr. Murray Tremellen, Curator at The Brontë Parsonage Museum. He has been patiently answering my inquiries regarding Emily Jane Brontë’s little wooden stool. I wrote about it this summer.
My soon-to-be twenty-one-year-old son, Benjamin is a furnituremaker. We never sent him to school, and so, he pursued his passion and taught himself the craft. He has had his work exhibited two years consecutively in the Australian Wood Review Maker of the Year competition, in which, he was commended for his Curly Maple Wall Shelf (2023). Benjamin’s Carved Walnut Wall Cabinet was exhibited in and purchased from The Art of Craftsmanship (2024), a juried show at Peters Valley School of Craft; he is featured in the printed catalog. This year (2025), he’s built a staked arm chair, another wall shelf, and two tables. Next, he is going to reproduce Emily’s little stool!
We’ve begun our research into the stool and it has been intriguing, to say the least. I am so grateful to Dr. Tremellen, he could not be any more kind. In fact, he is taking measurements of Emily’s stool for us tomorrow (while the museum is closed), so that Benjamin can make the most accurate reproduction of the stool in its current state. I am eager to write about and share images of the process. Until then, we are thinking about where to best source the timber and poring over past issues of Brontë Studies, seeking bits of information to support our knowledge of the stool’s provenance.
Lastly…Thank You
I’ve been delighted to see so many new faces on my Subscriber list—thank you to everyone who has joined me. Whether you found me through a Recommendation from a fellow Substacker (I’m lookin’ at you Bea Stitches and haley larsen, phd!), thinking about reading Wuthering Heights after seeing a teaser for Emerald Fennel’s “Wuthering Heights,” or, you are a proud member of #TeamEmily…I’m glad you’re here. ♡
Cover Image: Pomegranates, 1871, Gustave Courbet, People’s Palace and Winter Gardens
Each year on All Hallow’s Eve my family each eat three pomegranate seeds. ♡
"I am eager to write about and share images of the process." Thrilled you're taking us along for the manifestation journey of Emily's Little Stool.
Love your son's furniture designs! The Peters Valley School of Craft looks wonderful. And, yeah, Ted Hughes does seem to have fancied himself as a bit of a Heathcliff. What an intense couple! Brilliant minds, but so volatile and self-destructive too. The stars must have shuddered on the night they first met.