Bridging Arts

Tuesday 10 May 2011

Defences and embroidery

In Cornwall - on a coastal footpath - a spectacular view of St Michael's Mount. It looks a perfect place to build a fortress or well-defended castle. Originally, I guess, that is why a monastery was built there.

Funnily enough later in the day there's a resonance with Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights and the embroidery that Victorian women seem so often to be engaged in - in fiction and otherwise. Watched the 1939 version with Laurence Olivier as Heathcliff and Merle Oberon as Cathy.
Cathy, married to the feckless Edgar Linton, of course always loves Heathcliff. In this scene Heathcliff storms into the marital home having made his fortune - and wanting Cathy back. And Cathy's tapestry is used as a defence - almost literally coming between her and the two men seeking her affection.