A panel discussion in association with BAVS
An event in partnership between the Brontë Society and the British Association for Victorian Studies (BAVS).
Join our expert panel for a zoom event bringing discussions of the Brontës and feminism up-to-date. For years, famous quotes such as ‘I am no bird and no net ensnares me’ have become the mantras of pins and tea-towels, but in what other ways do women wield power in the Brontë texts and their legacies?
Our panellists - Professor Dinah Birch, Dr Jessica Cox, actor Melanie Marshall and Diane Fare of the Brontë Society - will join event chair Dr Emma Butcher in each selecting an object from the extensive Brontë Parsonage Museum collection. These items will act as starting points for a conversation about their current thoughts on feminism in the Brontë texts and legacy, and spark discussion about their experiences of understanding and exploring figures like Bertha Mason and Jane Eyre in their own work.
Tickets £6 / £4 for concessions and members of the Brontë Society or BAVS.
Professor Dinah Birch CBE is Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Cultural Engagement and Professor of English Literature at the University of Liverpool, and President of the British Association for Victorian Studies. Dinah chairs the International Strategic Delivery Group of the LCR Cultural Partnership and the Editorial Board of The Conversation. She has published widely on Victorian fiction and poetry, and on the work of the critic John Ruskin.
Jessica Cox is Senior Lecturer in English Literature at Brunel University, London. She has research interests in the Brontës, Victorian sensation fiction, neo-Victorianism, and the maternal body in nineteenth-century literature and culture, and has published widely in these areas.
Melanie Marshall is an actor and performer across stage, film and television. Trained at the Royal College of Music, Melanie played the role of Bertha in Sally Cookson’s production of Jane Eyre at Bristol Old Vic in 2014, reprising the role at the National Theatre in 2016, and as part of the production’s UK and international tours.
Diane Fare is the Audience Development Officer in charge of at the Brontë Parsonage Museum, where she leads on our Outreach programme, developing partnerships and projects to bring new and diverse audiences to the Museum.
Dr Emma Butcher is a Lecturer in Literature and Cultural Heritage at Edge Hill University. In 2017, she was chosen as a BBC New Generation Thinker and has published and spoken widely on the Brontës, war and childhood. Her first book is out now, titled ’The Brontës and War’.