'Meeting held at 22 Cintra Avenue, Northcourt Avenue, 25th April 1945
F. E. Pollard in the chair.
[...]
2. The minutes of the last meeting were read & signed.
5. Alice Joselin introduced the subject of the evening with a biographical study of
the Brontė family. Contrary to her expressed idea that she could do little more
than recite a list of dates, Alice Joselin drew for us a vivid picture of the life at
Haworth Rectory and the way in which the three sisters took the literary world by
storm.
6. After adjourning for refreshment we turned our attentions to a study of the
works of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontė. First Margaret Dilks read from
Vil[l]ette the description of Mme. Rachel, the famous actress. Since this passage
is the only contribution Charlotte Brontė is allowed to make to the Oxford Book of
English Prose, it is presumably considered great by someone who should be
qualified to judge. But when the reader had finished, the only audible comment
from this learned gathering was Can someone tell me what all that means?
7. F. E. Pollard then gave us the benefit of his discerning criticism of the works of
these writers. Describing himself as of a naturally romantic & sentimental turn of
mind (cheers and prolonged applause) he championed Jane Eyre and Shirley.
There followed a lively discussion in which nearly all members took part. The
excessive wordiness of which both Emily & Charlotte are sometimes guilty, was
attributed to the bad influence of the continent on the Englishmans [sic!] natural
restraint. Several members of the fair sex expressed a distaste for the horrors of
Wuthering Heights, one even going so far as to suggest that the author was
probably mad. Cyril Langford, reading from a newspaper article, put forward an
interesting theory that the book was the natural psychological reaction of one
whose life was mainly occupied in household duties; and Thomas Hopkins crowned
all by telling us that he had once been presented with Wuthering Heights as a
Sunday School prize. Cyril Langford also drew our attention to Jane Eyres
description of her own paintings, which were clearly the forerunners of surrealism.
Other readings given were:-
Howard Smith from Wuthering Heights[,]
Rosamund Wallis from Shirley[,]
& Howard Smith from The Gondal Poems[.]'
Unknown
Century: 1900-1945 Reader/Listener/Group: Howard Smith
