Jane Austen vs Emily Brontë: The Queens of English Literature Debate with Dominic West 

Austen for ME, because she mastered 3 personal passions: interpersonal psychology, iconic prose and humor. That said: Bronte was an oracle when describing the passion & rawness of the human condition. Placing them in battle is a fun exploration of literature, but it's just a tool. They dwelled in such different areas that meaningful comparison seems illogical for a reader. In my (irrelevant) case: both influenced a tomboy of color growing up in the modern American South. That power to transcend culture, era and personal reality, proves them both literary giants. I am grateful for both.

Persuasion by Austen is a gripping novel in that the heroine sees the love of her life slipping away and the hope of a marriage of lovers gone forever. It breaks my heart. The ending sends you to the moon in happiness. Who can write words that take you on such a trip?

I love his conclusion, which begins at 1:43:44 and ends with a marvelous sentiment that sums up my feelings: You can compare and contrast geniuses all day long, but in the end, we're fortunate to have any at all.

I like both, Jane is light and happy, Emily is torment and storm. You can not have light without darkness, you can not have darkness without light. They are like vanilla and chocolate ice cream, both taste different but both are ice cream, delightful and I will not choose between them, but enjoy both.

When I was younger, I preferred Bronte's novel because everything sounded more vivid and passionate, but as the years went by, I began to enjoy Austen's stories more and more, particularly her latest works. Beneath all that comedy, impeccable settings, sugary words and apparent happy endings, we sometimes overlook how brilliant she was in everything else: her social critique, how she tackled difficult topics with apparent levity, her disenchanted view of the world... The more I know of Jane Austen, the more I appreciate her work. Bronte imprinted her youth and vigor in her writing, but Austen is more mature and subtle... and yet, we can still feel there's a strong pulse behind it all, someone who desperately needs to live beyond her own confinement. Mrs. Smith, the sickly widow in Persuasion is perhaps the character that represents her best: someone who has lived in the world long enough to understand how people around her think and feel, who sees and suffers injustice, who is confined because of sickness and poverty, all the while depending on the charity of others, and still someone who finds comfort in the little things that other people never fully appreciate.

I am so happy I came across this debate. Admittedly I am more of an Austen fan, but I now have more of an appreciation for both writers. Also the actors were brilliant.

I was very irritated by the repeated sneer that Austen was only “romantic” because all her novels end with marriage. She is the very opposite of romantic and merciless in probing the shortcomings of marriage. In that very lecture we saw the scene between Mr and Mrs Bennet, in which his early romantic attraction has given way to the awareness he has married a very silly woman. On the other hand Bronte strikes me as all that is wrong with romanticism: the principal criterion for judgement is intensity of feeling, to the extent to making an abusive sadist a hero.

It's a pity that Austen passed away when Charlotte Bronte, one of her most condescending and vocal critics, was only a year old. The acclaim that women's literature started getting after Austen, made way for future female writers and the Bronte sisters are beneficiaries of that. To demean Austen's works as "simply romantic," as was repeated annoyingly enough in this video shows a decided lack of understanding of the period and her writing. She had an uncanny ability to make the readers feel intensely despite seemingly commonplace plots.. the Bronte sisters on the other hand depended upon intense plots to evoke that. Both are great styles of storytelling. Austen's magic was that she made the ordinary extraordinary and I for one am glad to be part of the global Janeite community.

What a wonderfully entertaining way of spending nearly 2 hours.

I just have to say, that even if I like the Brontes better than Austen, I would have voted for Austen on this one, because the of the John Mullan. He was so fantastic here, I'm going to buy that book that he wrote about Jane Austen

Bravo to all on the stage! What a great evening of entertainment and education. Thank you

As a lover of novels, and literature, this was an absolute treat and pleasure to watch. The actors were simply stunning with their recitals, and both the debatees were a credit to the sides they were representing! Thoroughly enjoyable. Thanks so much for having this! :)

I just want to say, I cannot recommend highly enough the book A Jane Austen Education, by William Deresiewicz. He does an incredible job of analyzing and explaining the deeper lessons in Jane Austen's writing, and exposing the powerful emotions. Once you look at her works in that light, you no longer see them as "romance novels", where the only goal and happy ending is marriage. There's so much more to her than that.

Very interesting debate! I understand the comparison between Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights and Jane Austen's greater works but I do not get the point the competition since both were geniuses. It is impossible and unnecessary to find out who was the better genius since it is a matter of taste whether one prefers Bach, Beethoven or Mozart. It is like comparing a flute with a trumphet in the orchestra of life.

Jane Austen hands down. Bronte's novel is brilliant but it is a one off and it does not have the wit and the piercing intelligence that one sees in Austen's novels. Austen's characters, like Shakespeare's, reveal all of man's foibles, strengths, weaknesses, charm, intelligence, folly, tragedy, etc. There is so much depth in Austen's novels, especially when taken as a whole body of work. As John Mullan noted, there is not just one novel to assess Austen's brilliance. Bronte's work is a love story with underlying themes, brilliantly realized, but it does not transcend centuries in the way Austen's work does. Austen's work is universal and timeless. Bronte's work is stuck in the 19th century with it's Romantic Period themes. If there had been no Jane Austen, it makes you wonder if there would have been the Bronte sisters. She paved the way for women novelists throughout the 19th century and onward with her genius.

Emily is for those with great emotionality, for those who love Nature even in its threatening aspects, for those who understand the underground depth of the human heart. Emily is for unconventional people, as was she. I love you Emily!

No comparison should be there between those impeccable storytellers .I salute them.

Hace muchísimos años; cuando en el colegio religioso nos prohibían leer, incluso diarios y revistas. Mi madre viuda de 28 años de edad, vino a visitarme al internado. Salimos a recorrer las calles de Lima, y noté que tenía un libro en su cartera. Ella se dio cuenta de mi interés y me lo alcanzó, diciéndome: «Me lo han obsequiado como una propuesta de amistad..., pero nunca pude pasar del 1er capitulo.» Llegamos a la casa de una tía y salieron a realizar compras. En ese lapso, leí los tres primeros capítulos y quedé impactado. Tenía once años de edad y era la primera vez que leía algo. Tuve que esperar cerca de treinta años, para comprarlo y terminar de leerlo; porque no recordaba el nombre de la autora y menos el título. En una feria de libros, preguntando a vendedores expertos y con la anuencia de ojearlos lo encontré. Era "Cumbres Borrascosas" de Emily Bronte.

This man made me undust my Austen books! ❤ Persuasion hello old friend!

The first half of WUTHERING HEIGHTS does not take place in Victorian times as the Bronte advocate says. Also, she misses the fact that while a moody and atmospheric novel, there are funny parts in it (that often go unnoticed). Also, super important is the fact that the two narrators are both unreliable so the reader must read between the lines--an element that further makes the book unique and way ahead of its time. The Bronte advocate misses the point about Austen too. The topic of marriage is more about survival than finding a "happy ever after" in a frivolous way. Why she wants to diss Austen for this is odd since WUTHERING HEIGHTS ends with a happy ever after marriage.

This was very enjoyable! The actors were exceptional, and added such nuance to the excerpts they read. The debaters were also very persuasive. So well done! As to the relative value of the two authors, I can only say they are both unique! No one does what Jane Austen did better than she, and likewise, Emily Brontë was one of a kind who drew a vivid response from her readers, unlike that which anyone had done before. I deeply admire both. But I must say: Wuthering Heights exhausts me! I've read it and re-read it, but it wrings me out and leaves me feeling battered emotionally. I must be in a certain mood before I dare approach it, as the debater said who argued on behalf of Jane Austen, because by the end of reading Wuthering Heights you're going to be in that mood, like it or not. With Jane Austen, I can pick up one of her novels while in a rotten mood, but by the end I'll definitely feel better. That is the totally selfish and wimpy reason I much prefer to read Jane Austen.

I've never read a so-called romance novel in my life, but Wuthering Heights caught me and held me, surprised me and then absolutely blew me away. And has continued to do so in readings over the past 20 years.

Although I ADORE both authors, for me Ms. Austen holds my ❤️ forever! Loved the readings by my favorite actors too! Thank you!💖💖💖💖

Austen readers didn't do justice to the text excerpts as they were unable to control their own emotions (amusement/laughing/giggling) during the dramatic reading during the coach ride. Austen is not only about marriage - it is about behaviour the melodrama of human self denial and self misunderstanding.

Give me dark, gothic, depressive, morbid tone of the Bronte sisters any day and I'm happy! ❤️❤️❤️

It's been a long time since I have enjoyed an intellectual debate this much. I am motivated to read the works all over again with a new point of view . Thank you very much for this enlightening event

The splendour of english literature is its luxury of formidable writers whom became custodians of word artistry even for literature written in other languages. what a riveting debate! Awesome.

I think both writers are greatest in their fields - Emily Bronte, with just a single novel made something absolutely fantastic, headstrong and disturbing in every way; whereas Austen wrote some very humorous social commentary, especially about the storm business of courtship. They are the best at what they do. I am always a die hard Austen fan, but I also love the book Wuthering Heights - which I think is miles better than Jane Eyre. Wuthering Heights is unsettling and very strong in its imagery. I love it all - whereas Austen makes me feel a lot of things; the books make me feel very passionately about courtship and the very nature of love and how very easily some people can be manipulated by their feelings.

Those "Wuthering Heights" actors are so splendid here! They brought me to tears, which is a rare thing in a movie or play. They are both great writers, but I definitely agree that Emily Bronte is greater--she really moved the novel forward as an art form.

Jane Austen all the way. I have studied both authors and have read most of their books (referring to Austen), but my mind had been made up long ago because of her humor, compassion, and subtle way of poking fun of her society.

I love English Literature

Austen, Austen, Austen. The characters are so varied, so full, so recognisable. Her writing witty, gripping, intelligent. Austen hands down!

Wasn't Austen's Northanger Abbey a satire/parody of gothic fiction? I'm sure this kind of debate had been going on before even then, but with other gothic writers in her lifetime.

The whole idea of competitive ratings between two great authors bothers me. I have both on my bookshelves. It seems that this premise was used to stimulate a discussion, which is a worthy objective, but the idea that one's better then the other is pernicious. Celebrate them both.

Why, when allowed to ask questions, do so many people refuse to do so and instead give their opinion?

All the "don't know" people were Bronte fans trolling.

I don't know where the people who said Brontë is more famous abroad than Austen are gathering their information from. How about you ask a real foreigner about that? The truth is, people in Asia, especially those who are in my age group (20 something) and younger, don't read classic english novels that much, and yet people know who Jane Austen is. As for Emily Brontë, I didn't even know she was the arthur of Wurthering Heights until today (thought it was Charlotte Brontë) and I'm actually the lone few that read lots of classic novels. There would have been more of a debate if it were Jane Austen vs. Charlotte Brontë, in my opinion, because Jane Eyre is a very popular novel. But I will choose Austen every time, because she's the only author I've ever wanted to read through all her works simply because I was hooked to one.

Wow this was a great debate! I was absolutely moved to tears by the Wuthering Heights argument. John Mullan showed a wonderful side to Jane Austen that I have to admit I never thought of, and now I want to go back and read some more of her work as I have never really been a true fan. I tend to lean more into the darker gothic writing of the Brontes. I felt Kate Mosse summed it up beautifully when she said Wuthering Heights is a complete story that cannot be extended nor shortened. It is exactly how it should be and to me will always be the most perfect novel ever written.

How could a writer be so clueless to the point of saying that Jane Austen is "confined"?? My gosh! Jane Austen's text's filled with irony, and even its "prince charming happy end" she talked about is ironical (if you really peel the layers)... It broadens itself everytime you read it. It's a very good debate, though :) I really liked it.

To be honest you would put up Charlotte rather than Emily against Jane. Jane wrote more and better novels and so would win. Though Jane Eyre v Pride and Predjudice would be the ultimate heavyweight championship.

This was so very good! But how can we ensure to have more productions like this for all to see and experience? This debate opened my eyes to not only the brilliance of these two authors, but perhaps more importantly, it showcased how best to use platforms like RU-vid, etc. for artistic objectives.

Personally, I enjoy both writers, depending on my mood but, to me, Austen will always be the best. If you think that the Bronte sisters wrote on more serious subjects than Jane Austen did, or that Austen is all about balls and drawing rooms, you haven't been reading closely enough. She deals with premarital sex (Pride and Prejudice), unwed motherhood (Sense and Sensibility), emotional abuse (Mansfield Park), infidelity (again, Mansfield Park), forbidden romance (Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion), and the consequences of choosing a partner unwisely (every bloody thing she ever wrote, lol). She writes about good people, terrible people, and people never forced to chose between good and evil; she writes about good decisions, bad decisions, and every kind of decision in between. She writes about knowing when to stand on your convictions and knowing when to bend. The difference is that she doesn't need to beat you over the head with misery to get her point across. Plus, unlike anything by the Bronte's that I've ever read, Jane Austen knows how to make a reader smile and even laugh in a way that the Brontes and their misery porn never really could.

Wuthering Heights is a pretty violent novel. I can understand Heathcliff's character. Essentially abandoned as a child, lost the only father he had, looked down upon. I can see how he could become so violent. But he goes off the deep end. Too violent for me.

The relationship between Mr and Mrs Bennett reminds me so much of the relationship between my grandparents

and a wild Demelza Poldark appears to do a reading

Emily Bronte hands down. Yes Austen will be voted best, because there are five good novels to go at, which all appeal to slightly different people. But the passion, incisive portraits and just sheer living life. Too many of Austen's characters are so ordinary. In Wuthering Heights you live the people, you want to meet everyone not just the nice people, because when you meet them, you are living life to the full.

It isn’t really fair to pit Emily Brontë against Jane Austen as Emily only had one published novel and a few poems whereas Jane had a bigger body of work. Austen vs Charlotte Brontë would have been a better comparison.

Wonderful arguments, excellent acting- laughing and crying! Just off to read all the novels again!

How can you compare them? They were so very different as authors, one sharply ironic and queen of happy endings and the other so very gothic and poetic in her intensity. Both geniuses in their own way although my favorite author of the period will always be Charlotte Bronte.

These are the best readings from these novels I've ever heard. They should be doing the audiobooks like this

So glad I found this. Watching from Wyoming-thank you!🙋🏼‍♀️

For me, Wuthering Heights will always be "the one", even tho between the both of them is no "winner" because Austen is incomparable and unique and so is Bronte.

Not only I am delighted to listen to this brillant intellectual production about two famous authors, but I enjoyed very much most of the comments, old and recent ones. I hope this YT video will keep being appreciated and shared. Bravo, c'est génial, rassurant et stimulant !

Jane Austen held up a mirror to the pretentious artifice of social class and shook it about, she taunted that society and rewrote its inevitable narrative, giving us endings that were light rather than dark (her own ending was darker). That she has lived on is a credit to her remarkable work, she is not dust or muslin, she is light. Emily Bronte found in the storm of the natural world and poured it into humans being and struggling. She roused and raised the passion of the natural world and showed that we are more wild than tamed that social constructs may be strong but it is our inner struggle against dark and light that links us to the natural world. That is our struggle and when I look at our world today I know that Jane and Emily would have much to write about. So much has changed. So much is the same.

Entertaining, well done. Never in a million years would I be exposed to these authors. A random glitch in the RU-vid algorithm brought this to my attention. My first thought to dismiss the video was changed by the excellent interpretations by the actors, description of the dialogue and subsequent debate.

to me Emily Bronte and Wuthering Heights is a jewell in the crown of God.

Nothing has made me cry or feel harder than the Bronte's. But Austen is my favorite author.

Thank you so much for this video. I enjoyed it so much. Everyone was wonderful and I am glad that it was Kate Mosse who spoke up for Emily. "Wuthering Heights" is my favorite novel. I love the passion.

What a wonderful debate...so much fun and lovely to hear the lines delivered with so much joy.

Thank you for a wonderfully inspiring and entertaining debate. Like Samuel West, I am grateful for the works of Austen and Bronte. I love both of these talented writers; however, from my very first introduction to Wuthering Heights, I was hooked for life. All the Bronte sisters have won a place in my heart and imagination that no other writer has ever usurped.

Lovely to hear this friendly debate

I think the part about Wuthering Heights is breathtaking.

Bram Stoker vs Mary Shelly

Splendid! Wuthering Heights is the best novel ever !

This was very enjoyable.Thank you and great job to everyone involved!

As a Janeite, I feel actors the played the theatrical drama of Brontë so much more deftly than they played the subtlety, wit, and comedy of Austen. They did EB a beautiful turn with their performances, but they left so much of JA's brilliance on the page.

as entertaining as this was I think it's technically wrong. it's like comparing two different genres of writing.

Not a fair comparison as Emily Brontë only produced one novel whereas Jane Austen produced many and they wrote in different genres.

honestly John just radiates this nervous yet extreamely smart energy which reminds me to movie Mr. Darcy (2005) and i think it's just wonderful

I don't believe in either / or--or one author against another. I know this debate is just a vehicle through which we can see some of the brilliant aspects of each of these women as writers. But it will always be "and" for me. Austin AND Bronte, either Bronte sister. I wanted to say that Jane Austen did not "just" write about love and marriage. This is a huge misrepresentation of her work. Austen wrote about marriage because it was the only way a woman could secure a comfortable future for herself and sometimes also for her family. Jane Austen, herself, and her sister became homeless when their father died. They was completely dependent on the kindness of relatives and whatever assistance their brother could provide. In characters like Miss Bates in Emma, the entire family of Fanny Price, and the Bennett sisters, Austen shows that a woman's security - - and even a man's - -hangs by a thread. Without the benevolent assistance of wealthy relatives, people without financial resources could suffer destitution. Marriage wasn't mainly about romance around the turn of the 19th century. It was about securing a home and one's estate through marriage and children. Austin may have portrayed her characters as having the romantic ideal, because she herself had been in love and suffered a broken heart because that relationship did not result in marriage. It seems strange to us, but the idea of going out and getting a job to support oneself was almost not even option for gentility. The idea of working for a living was the antithesis of gentility and respectability. One man could have a larger fortune than another, but if he gained that fortune by working in a business, even his own business, he was not considered a gentleman. He was not respected. This is illustrated in Chapter 8 of Pride and Prejudice. Austin writes that Bingley's sisters were polite to Elizabeth to her face. But on this particular evening, when Elizabeth left the downstairs to be with Jane, who was recovering from an illness, Austen writes that they began abusing her the moment she left the room. They criticized both of Jane and Elizabeth's uncles because one was an attorney and the other had a business near cheapside. Bingley says if they had many uncles near Cheapside, it would not make Jane less attractive to him. But Darcy sums up their societies conflict between being a working man and being a gentleman with this potent statement. "But it must very materially lessen their chance of marrying men of any consideration in the world..." For women with no independent fortune or inheritance, getting married was not just a way to maintain or advance social position, it was the difference between financial security and destitution. Austen knew this from personal experience. She displayed marriage as a social justice issue, emphasizing the importance of marriage as a matter of life and death, as an injustice at best and tremendous hardship at worst, in their society. It was such a necessity, that a very practical woman like Charlotte Lucas chose to marry without love or romance, simply to secure financial stability and to hopefully have children. One of the reasons why Virginia Wolf wrote that Jane Austen was difficult to catch in the act of greatness, was that Austin's writing style had the same polite restraint expected of women in her time period. All of the emotions seethe under the surface and sometimes break out in characters like Lydia Bennett and Maria Bertram (Mansfield Park). The passions, frustrations, joys and furies are all there, but they are held in check, with great restraint. For this reason, the novels of Austen and Bronte's Wuthering Heights make a fascinating comparison. But it is Austen AND Bronte, not Austen versus Emily Bronte. We need both, and, with an understanding of their societies and customs, we can appreciate the superlative skills of both writers.

Thank god for British culture (and YT for making it accessible to the US) -- *thanks* *immeasurably* for uploading.

Jane Austin is the Beatles, Emily Bronte is more like Rolling Stones) or Siouxsie and the Banshees.

If Jane Austin and Emely Bronte are Queens of Literature then what about George Eliot?

this is now my favorite channel

I don't I realized before quite how much Mr Elton drags Harriet in Emma. "Miss Smith?! Why, I never! I suppose everybody has their level..." 😂😂😂

What a delihht to see and hear the actors. Loved that the narrator is there, unlike in the screen adaptation

What a fabulous debate. I'm running out to my bookstore to purchase both authors. It would be wonderful to get lost in both their worlds again.

I've loved Wuthering Heights since I was a kid. And I totally think Wolverine is Heathcliff :-p

This is amazing! Great job everybody! I love how these women are celebrated for their brilliant contribution in literature!

I read emily and i got upset closed the boom a few times. It is such a disturbing book. Jane on the other hand ^_^ i will love lizzy always. So both novelists have a special appeal to me and their work have a special place on my bookshelf

For me neither. I would always say George Eliot. However, I do think that both Jane Austen and Emily Bronte are fantastic writers; but in a sense, they are too diametrically opposed for this debate to work.

Thnx very much for this erudite presentation

Why can't we read and love both? I do.

I enjoyed this immensely, but for the constant use of the phrase, "if you like."

What a brilliant debate that was truly light hearted. As a reader of Jane Austen (over and over again - all of her novels) as well as a reader of the 3 Brontes (all the novels over and over again - Even Villette and The Professor), I would not be able to say one better than the other - oh, except Jane would win over Emily but not over the whole Brontes. I love all the novels by all these authors. Each is like a friend. Each one has inspired my own writing too.

I find it ironic that Jane Austin novels are all about discernment especially when it comes to marriage and friendships. I cannot believe that in this day and age people still defend novels that promote and defend toxic people and actions and encourage women to accept this co dependency as LOVE! Jane Eyres Rochester is full of deceit and error! He could have gotten an annulment from the Church of England and yes they had them in those days!

i think it’s not fair to tear jane down the way kate does for writing stories within the confines of the world that she lived in. women and men were separate in her novels because that’s how they were in the world. wuthering heights does appeal to me greatly but the attacks on jane just show a complete lack of understanding of the regency era and subtle emotion. why would the characters be yelling and screaming in the regency era? emotions were forced to be diluted. but i think that’s a powerful thing in it’s own right to feel something as strongly as a heathcliff or cathy but be forced to shove it down while your throat kills you because you feel like you’re about to cry. plus even with all of jane austen’s regency culture, the meaning and the emotion cuts through. when i read the end of pride and prejudice where mr.darcy and elizabeth are saying “how did you feel when this happened? did you know about this? oh you must’ve been so mad when i said this!” (paraphrasing clearly lol) i was blown away how much it felt like the beginning of my relationship with my boyfriend like i honestly felt so transported back to all the moments of knowing we liked each other and reminiscing and everything. also the point about jane austen’s works being to be rewritten and recycled and people wanting to put their own spin on it and how supposedly that can’t be done and wouldn’t be done with wuthering heights. as an example death comes to pemberly to me is just like “imagine if a jane austen novel was a [another genre]” and of course you could do that to wuthering heights! i could turn it into a comedy or a classic romance or anything! that doesn’t mean it would be as good as it is already but you could definitely change it and i don’t think curiosity about changing it means that the book as it is isn’t good already i think it just means you love the book and want to explore the universe even more and in different ways. after all, they always do it because they’re a fan to start with. random side note: wow that mark twain quote… while everyone was laughing i was just thinking “oh my gosh isn’t this like horrifying and actually a bit sexist?” hahah. also i’m telling you right now i did not proofread this i just can’t. i just woke up. so if i wrote something wrong you can have this apology: I AM SORRY

I enjoyed this program. I didn't know much about Emily Bronte and have never read her but have read all of Jane Austin's novels. I still vote Jane all the way but I so enjoyed the readings.

oh the BIG WORDS used here... ;) it is no more complicated than...LIGHT AND DARK ROMANTICISM..just that plain ... both beautiful ..both heart wrenching..both TRUE romance LIGHT AND DARK..

I love the way Austen is so succinct. Elinor (in Sense & Sensibility) asks her weeping sister Marianne (Willoughby has just dumped her) - if Willoughby had said that he loved her.. Marianne replies "Yes....No.....It was EVERYDAY IMPLIED BUT NEVER DECLARED". Brilliant. In the same book the character of Lucy Steele is horrific. A masterpiece of desperation, slyness and so cruel to Elinor, - speaking as if she doesn't know about Elinor's feelings for Edward. She digs in the knife at every opportunity. Hideous creature. And as for Mansfield Park! -Choc-a-bloc with sex, seething passions and fancies going on backstage in the theatricals - Phoar!!! I love the way Mrs Norris gets her come uppance at the end! My favourite is Mr Darcy's comment (Pride & Prejudice) when he and Elizabeth are talking about when they realised they were in love. He says "I was in the middle before I knew/realised I had begun! Lovely. On a different note - I always laugh at the description of the stout Mrs Musgrave in Persuasions when she's being over-dramatic and maudlin about something (not Louisa's fall). Jane Austen writes that Wentworth was very polite about her 'fat sighings'.😅😂 Oh - and I find myself thinking a lot of a sentence in Emma these days,- "Vanity, working on a weak mind, produces all kinds of mischief' (spoken by Mr Knightley). The wonderful Jane Austen. Once read, you carry her words with you through life. 🤗😃👍

Eleanor Tomlinson is looking unbelievably beautiful.

This was really interesting and enjoyable. I enjoyed the presenters and the actors. It did not change my personal opinion. I find there are great depths of thought and feeling in Jane Austen's novels that are thought provoking and touching. Wuthering Heights, however, left me cold. I wanted to slap them both silly and tell them to grow up. I didn't make me feel any deep feelings...except, perhaps, deep irritation. Yes yes, it's all very teenagery emo and melodramatic; but it's also "Sound and fury, signifying nothing."

I am so glad this subject was broached I always find myself comparing the two and I always have to stop myself because they're so different but none the less I always do probably because I love them both SO much so I found this absolutely fascinating.

We live in a world where both exists. Both of them are great. Jane and Emily. Samuel, we agree. Thank you for this wonderful feast of information and knowledge.

Love both. Wuthering Heights is strong Whiskey, cathartic, while Jane Austen is fine wine, ages well. It is Jane Eyre that really wasn't up to the test of time. But anytime I read either author, it's a treat.

We did seven "set texts" for A Level English and of all those books it's Jane Austen's Emma that has stuck in my head and come back to me the most over the years. I so wish we could have done Wuthering Heights as well!

Wonderful debate

Such a Fascinating debate... I enjoyed and learnt a great deal Thank you!

This is pretty incredible, I’ve watched a few times. Dominic West is amazing- going from Mr. Bennett to Heathcliff in a matter of moments, two such different characters. And the W Heights pieces here are stirringly performed. It’s kinda hilarious watching Mr. West’s reactions throughout. Bravo, all! Edited to add since I couldn’t resist, that questioner who says she is an ‘avaricious’ reader - haha, I believe she means ‘voracious’ Anyway, great program!

You either get Wuthering Heights or you don't. I get it - from the first time I read it, more than 45 years ago. Emily Bronte was a genius. As the moderator said, she only produced one novel - but it was one for the ages. And so was its author.