Literary Mugshots

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë  

Ever wondered what your favourite characters from literature would look like in real life? You can now head on over to The Composites to find out. Artist Brian Joseph Davis creates images of literary characters using law enforcement composite sketch software and descriptions of fictional characters.

The following quotations from Charlotte Bronte's book were used as guidelines for the Jane Eyre composite on the left:

I sometimes regretted that I was not handsomer; I sometimes wished to have rosy cheeks, a straight nose, and small cherry mouth; I desired to be tall, stately, and finely developed in figure; I felt it a misfortune that I was so little, so pale, and had features so irregular and so marked…
“Jane, you look blooming, and smiling, and pretty,” said he: “truly pretty this morning. Is this my pale, little elf? Is this my mustard-seed? This little sunny-faced girl with the dimpled cheek and rosy lips; the satin-smooth hazel hair, and the radiant hazel eyes?” (I had green eyes, reader; but you must excuse the mistake: for him they were new-dyed, I suppose)… Having ascertained that I was myself in my usual Quaker trim, where there was nothing to retouch—all being too close and plain, braided locks included.

To date, Davis seems to be operating under a most requested principle. You can find Daisy Buchanan form The Great Gatsby, Humbert Humbert from Lolita, and Sam Spade from The Maltese Falcon. The results are frequently unnerving. The effect of the composite sketch software seems to give all of its subjects a "criminal" aspect, which works well for the venomous Mrs. Danvers from Rebecca but not so well for the significantly less villainous Julia from 1984. It makes me wonder how useful this technology really is in law enforcement.

Children's literature characters are largely under-represented on the site. I put in a request for Jo March from Little Women a couple of months back and am still waiting to see that one:

Fifteen-year-old Jo was very tall, thin, and brown, and reminded one of a colt, for she never seemed to know what to do with her long limbs, which were very much in her way. She had a decided mouth, a comical nose, and sharp, gray eyes, which appeared to see everything, and were by turns fierce, funny, or thoughtful.

If you want so see more of your children's literature favourites on the Composites Tumblr, then do take a wander over and put in a few suggestions. Having examined the evidence, I'm starting to think I prefer to imagine them for myself.

Heathcliff, Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë