Friday, October 28, 2016

Book Blogger Hop No. 72: Classic Literary Character Costumes for Halloween





Welcome to the Book Blogger Hop, 
Halloween Edition,
hosted by Billy @


For more information, and 
to find out the topic of next week's question, click HERE.


This Week's Question

 You've been invited to a costume
party, and the theme is
classic literature characters.
Who would you go as?

(submitted by Billy @ Ramblings of a



My Answer

What a GREAT question! The one classic literary character I can relate to the most, as well as the one I admire the most, is, hands down, Jane Eyre. She's the protagonist of a novel by the same name, penned by the 19th-century English writer -- and one of my literary idols -- Charlotte Brontë. 

Aside from the fact that Jane is my favorite character, I would never pick anyone scary or creepy to portray on Halloween, since I can't stand the horror genre. So I think that Jane would be just perfect for me! 

The following is a picture from Wikimedia Commons. While it depicts the author herself, and not her immortal character, I feel this is exactly how Jane would have looked in the real world. I LOVE this image! According to the Wikipedia attribution, this is "an idealized posthumous portrait by Duyckinick, 1873, based on a drawing by George Richmond". It's SO well done! 

Anyway, this image gives some idea of how the women of the author's time dressed, and, since Jane has so much in common with her brilliant creator, then, to me, this image represents Jane Eyre, as well as the woman who so masterfully brought her to life -- Charlotte Brontë.

A couple of people (see the comments below) have raised the question of how my character could be identified, since it wouldn't be immediately obvious who I was portraying. My solution to that would be to carry the novel Jane Eyre with me to the party. Then, when asked who I was supposed to be, I would hold up the novel and say something like, "You can read all about me in this book." I'm pretty sure that would take care of this issue. Lol. 

I got this idea from the picture below. The author is holding a book in her left hand. So I immediately thought of doing the same! And of course it would be the great literary masterpiece she herself wrote. 

I would be honored and PROUD to wear such a costume to a Halloween party, or any other type of costume party!



Portrait of Charlotte Brontë



What are your thoughts on
this topic?
Please leave a comment!
If you're participating in this meme,
I'll go comment on your 
own BBH post.
If not, I will then comment on one 
of your blog posts!
Thanks for visiting!!! 





10 comments:

  1. This is a fun but interesting topic.

    Jane Eyre is a great choice. I think hen it comes to many literary characters the only issue with Halloween customers is that it may be unclear as to who one is dressed as.
    This gives an "advantage" to science fiction and fantasy characters.

    Have a happy and fun Halloween Maria!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree with your observation. That was the first thing that occurred to me when I tried to sift through my mind for a literary character I would like to dress as. Jo March came to mind at once...maybe she ought to have a huge patch of soot on the back of her dress, and one glove in hand!:D

      Delete
    2. Hi, Brian!

      I LOVE this topic! Billy, the host of this blog hop, came up with two GREAT, and very original, topics this Halloween season -- the one from last week was about creating homemade bookmarks to give to trick-or-treaters, instead of the usual candy, and then the topic for this week!

      While I do agree that science fiction and fantasy characters would be more recognizable, I have the solution for this particular costume: I would simply carry a copy or the novel "Jane Eyre" with me. Then, when somebody asked me who I was supposed to be, I would just hold up the book and say, "This is my life story." Lol.

      I just can't imagine any other classic literary character I would rather be! Of course, if it was a matter of more recent literary characters, then Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series is DEFINITELY my favorite! And I already have that costume. Some people would consider the series a classic, but to me, a classic is a novel that's been around for at least 30 to 50 years or more.

      Thanks for the great comment!! :)

      Delete
    3. P.S. Happy Halloween to you, too, Brian! :)

      Delete
  2. I love Jane Eyre for her sound sense and strong will. She's a lovely person to want to represent. But, how would you make her stand apart if someone were to guess your character?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Risa!

      The first character that came to my mind was Jane Eyre. If not, it would have been Jo March.

      As I told Brian above, the problem of identifying my character is easily resolved just by carrying a copy of "Jane Eyre" with me. And I would also tell people, "You can read all about me in this book!" Lol. The only little problem would be that Jane never wore glasses, and I do. Oh, well....

      Thanks for stopping by and commenting!! :)

      Delete
  3. That would be a lovely person to be for Halloween.

    Would you make the dress, find it in a vintage store, or just improvise?

    I was thinking I would have to be creative with my costume since I want to be Mrs. Danvers. :)

    Have a great weekend.

    Happy Hopping!!

    Elizabeth
    Silver's Reviews
    My Blog Hop Answer

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Elizabeth!

      I'm glad you like my costume idea! Thanks!! :)

      Of course, this would be a hypothetical scenario. I don't have bookish friends in 'real life', so I wouldn't be invited to a Halloween party featuring literary character costumes. Lol.

      Now, if I DID have such a party coming up, I guess I would have to research where to get this dress. I would have to find some place that actually sold or made such dresses. I don't think I would be able to find one in any vintage shop in Miami, so I'd probably have to find an online place that either sold or made such a costume. And that would probably be quite expensive.... Ah, I just thought of something! Perhaps I WOULD be able to find this dress, or one very close to it, in a secondhand shop that sold theater costumes. I wonder if there would be any of those in Miami. Hmmmm....

      Fortunately, I don't have to worry about getting this dress, lol. I could just wear my Hermione Granger costume, which is ready made, and hanging in my closet! I bought the components on Amazon, and even have a self-illuminating wand to go with it! (Except that I won't be able to wear it this year, as Halloween falls on a work day, and the school where I teach adults at night doesn't allow anyone -- whether teachers or students -- to wear any costumes on Halloween.) Oh, well..... :(

      As for your costume, yes, you would have to be creative with it. But hey, you could carry a copy of the novel "Rebecca" with you, in case people couldn't identify you, either! Lol.

      Hope you have a great weekend, too! Happy Hopping to you, as well!! Thanks for dropping by and leaving such a great comment!! :)

      Delete
  4. Wonderful choice! Hope you have a great week, and Happy Halloween!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Shandy Jo!

      Glad you like my choice! I just think that Jane Eyre is such a FABULOUS role model for all of us women!

      Hope you have a great week as well! Happy Halloween! Thanks for dropping by and commenting!! :)

      Delete

THIS IS NOW AN AWARD-FREE, AND TAG-FREE BLOG. Thanks for the compliment, though! : )

As of today, 9/23/18, I have permanently enabled comment moderation, due to a sudden rash of SPAM comments. I appreciate your patience!

Thanks for your thoughts on my posts! I always reply here, as well as comment back on your blog. Have a WONDERFUL day!! :)