Bookmark this independent blog

Thursday 9 March 2006

Barker v Fermi

Check that you have RealPlayer (if you haven't, download it free from www.real.com), then go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/02/2006_10_thu.shtml to find an interesting conflict of opinions.

Wherever you are, you should be able to listen to this, broadcast earlier today on BBC Radio 4. Sarah Fermi explains why she thinks it possible that Emily could have had a dangerous liaison with a weaver's son on the moors, with references to her research and her belief in the power of the circumstantial evidence.

Juliet Barker faces her across the studio, with her belief that Fermi has got it all wrong. For Barker, Wuthering Heights is not so much about love as about power, control and revenge : "I find it extraordinary that in this day and age we can't accept that a woman had the ability, intelligence and the imagination to write a book like Wuthering Heights without having to find a real-life lover!"

Your comments are welcome.

1 comment:

mysticgypsy said...

Whether she had a real-life lover or not, I truly believe that the powers of the Imagination can never be under-estimated. It is only real thing there is.


It matters less to dwell on such a matter as a "real-lover" than to probe into the power of the Imagination.