Reimagining the Brontës
23 January 2027
10:00am-5:00pm
Rewley House 1 Wellington Square, Oxford, OX1 2JA
Event status:
Applications being accepted
Dates:
23 January 2027
Study Format:
In-person day/weekend
Fees:
£90.00
In-person lecture-style day event
The Brontës have both fascinated and repulsed readers and critics since their earliest publications. Some of their first reviewers were shocked and horrified, even disgusted, by their radical representations of passion and critiques of Victorian ‘morality’ and society, while others were drawn to their captivating strangeness and penetrating insights.
This day event will explore how the cultural mythology surrounding the Brontë sisters continues to evolve through new readings, creative engagements, visual cultures, screen and literary adaptations, biographies and biopics, literary tourism, and modern criticism. Led by Brontë experts, and focusing on themes of power, passion, place, imagination, visuality, otherness, femininity/masculinity, wrongness, and iconoclasm, we will reconsider how the works and lives of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë have been interpreted, adapted, and re-framed across time, and how they continue to shape culture and provoke debate.
Whether you are a lifelong devotee of the classics, a fan of gothic retellings, a student of Victorian legacies and afterlives, or a newcomer curious about the Brontës’s cultural impacts, you will see these iconic women in new lights.
Please note: this event will close to enrolments at 23:59 on 20 January 2027.
Book this course
Book your place online using the button below.
Contact the team
Phone: +44 (0)1865 270368
Email: events@conted.ox.ac.uk
Programme details
9.45am
Registration at Rewley House reception
10am
‘Playing with prefaces: auto/biographical mythmaking’
Dr Amber Regis
11.15am
Tea/coffee break
11.45am
Talking about the Brontës and Health
Dr Claire O’Callaghan
1pm
Lunch break
2pm
Brontës adaptations
Dr Hila Shachar
3.15pm
Tea/coffee break
3.45pm
Q&A and discussion
5pm
End of day
Recommended reading
You may like to familiarise yourself with the Brontës’s novels, but reading them is not compulsory:
Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1847), Shirley (1849), Villette (1853), and The Professor (1857, posthumous)
Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1847)
Anne Brontë’s Agnes Grey (1847) and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848)
Accommodation
If you wish to stay with us before and/or after the event, please contact our Residential Centre for availability and discounted rates.
Call +44 (0) 1865 270362 or email res-ctr@conted.ox.ac.uk
Our accommodation in Wellington Square has been rated as 4-Star Campus Accommodation under Visit England. All bedrooms are modern, comfortably furnished with tea/coffee making facilities, Freeview television, private bath/shower rooms and free WiFi. For more details see our accommodation information.
Fees
| Description | Costs |
|---|---|
| Event Fee (includes tea/coffee) | £90.00 |
| Baguette lunch | £7.90 |
| Hot lunch (2-course) | £22.40 |
Payment
Please see the terms and conditions for our open-access courses.
Funding
If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, or are a care-leaver in the UK, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:
Please use the ‘Book’ button on this page. Alternatively, please contact us to obtain an application form.