Classic Debate: Austen vs Brontë

You're listening to the Sunday debate on Intelligence Squared. This week we revisit a lively discussion about two literary greats, Jane Austen versus Emily Bronte. Our chair, Erica Wagner, was joined by guests including the author Kate Moss, Professor John Mullen, and actors Maria Gale, Samuel West and Dominic West. They discuss and debate each writer's influence, and now let's go to the podcast with the host, Erica Wagner. Well, thank you all very much for coming.

I am delighted and excited to be here. Welcome to this Intelligence Square debate, Jane Austen versus Emily Bronte, the queens of English literature. We'll see whether our conversation remains as civilized as one of our authors tonight or grows as wild as the other. For this evening we'll be setting two of the greats of English literature against each other. In one corner Jane Austen,

Sense and Sensibility, Pride in Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, I don't have to tell you more. In the other corner, Emily Bronte, whose sole novel was Wuthering Heights, published just a few months after her elder sister Charlotte's bestseller, Jane Eyre. However, though Emily only wrote one novel, as we all know, it turned out to be one for the ages. As with all Intelligence Square debate, you've been polled as you entered the hall, and you'll have the chance to vote again at the end of the evening when you've heard the arguments, so be prepared to change your mind. And to make the arguments on behalf of our Queens, we have two highly distinguished advocates.

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