Brontë analogies

In the press yesterday:

The Signal comments on the subjects that can or cannot be discussed in an election day. Abortion is compared... with Bertha Rochester (!).

I disagree with the argument of a third columnist, who said the current silence on abortion is because we are sick of hearing about it. This observation reminded of a terrible event in the great British novel by Charlotte Bronte, "Jane Eyre." Jane's fiance, Rochester, has treated his first wife much as we treat abortion in this election year. For years, Rochester had kept his wife locked up in a third-story room, even as he prepared for a new marriage to keep up proper appearances.

In contrast, his proposed new wife, Jane Eyre - who was constantly clashing with the people and the fashions of her time - started to think about that faint screaming from the third story. Perhaps, Jane decided, someone should finally ask a few questions about what was happening in this locked-up Rochester household.

The Yearbook of Experts uses another well known phrase from Jane Eyre on this press release about women and leadership:

Is there really a glass ceiling or have women been seduced into thinking it is so? Charlotte Bronte said many years ago that women feel just like men. But women have confined themselves to a lesser role and only within the past 100 years have women taken a stand to be on a level footing with men.

Categories: Jane_Eyre, In_the_News, Charlotte_Brontë