On today's episode of The Literary Life Podcast with Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks, we continue our series on Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. Before jumping into chapters 6-12, Angelina and Thomas re-cap chapter 5 so that they can keep the entire Lowood School storyline together. They discuss the character of Helen and how she mirrors Jane, as well as the images of fire and ice throughout this book. In looking at the character of Miss Temple, they also highlight her as the picture of a well-ordered person. When Jane arrives at Thornfield, we find more fairy tale and Gothic novel elements, specifically the reference to the story of Bluebeard. Finally, when Mr. Rochester is introduced, Angelina shares some thoughts on the medieval understanding of the soul and the passions.

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Please visit our podcast website for the full show notes on this episode: https://theliterary.life/320.

Welcome to The Literary Life Podcast with Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. This week we begin our much-anticipated series on Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë! After sharing their commonplace quotes, Angelina and Thomas set the stage for this book by covering some of Charlotte Brontë's personal and literary background. Angelina points out some symbolic things that we will be looking for in this book, as well as the important fact that it is a journey story. They also discuss the history and characteristics of the Gothic novel.

In discussing the first five chapters of Jane Eyre, Angelina again highlights repeated scenes that will show Jane's spiritual development throughout the story, while Thomas makes some comparisons of this book to other stories such as Mansfield Park and Pamela.

You can check out all the latest offerings of mini-classes and webinars, both upcoming and recorded in the past, at HouseofHumaneLetters.com.

Click here to find the episodes we published covering Anne Brontë's book Agnes Grey. You can also listen to our series on Mansfield Park here.

For the full show notes on this episode, including book links, today's poem, and commonplace quotes, please visit https://theliterary.life/319.

Today on The Literary Life podcast, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks are here to offer some helpful ideas for reading Shakespeare plays and how to approach the Bard. They start off sharing their own stories of first being exposed to Shakespeare. Next, Thomas and Angelina address the idea that Shakespeare is too high-brow for the ordinary reader. Angelina also gives her hot take on whether you should watch or read a Shakespeare play first. She also tells some stories about reading the Bard with her children and students. Some other helpful topics they cover are the different types of plays and their forms, the cosmology behind the plays, and potential problems with some modern interpretations of Shakespearean drama.

Please visit our website to view the full show notes for this episode with links to previous episodes we have done on Shakespeare, as well as the books mentioned as resources in this discussion: https://theliterary.life/318.

Join us back again here next week when we begin our series covering Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë!

You can check out all the latest offerings of mini-classes and webinars, both upcoming and recorded in the past, at HouseofHumaneLetters.com.