_ciaranmoss's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Colonisation, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Physical abuse, and Gaslighting
ramseyhootman's review
5.0
This book is absolutely an academic text, but I devoured it in two days. I probably would have read it cover to cover in one sitting if the real world (ahem, children) hadn't demanded attention. My interest in disability studies and my love of Jane Eyre probably makes me the ideal target, although I'm quite sure it's primarily intended for use as a university textbook.
In any case, Jane Eyre is a book which quite obviously deals with both disability and mental illness, and the eight essays included in this collection tackle those elements in various ways, all of them interesting and, I found, quite illuminating. Some gave me historical context I would not have gotten otherwise, while others pointed out parallels and connections between various elements in the narrative that I had never noticed.
An example: I had always thought that Bronte's choice to both blind Rochester and amputate his hand was an odd combination. Why one and not the other? Why just the one hand? In this book, I found not one but two compelling answers. One essay talked about a set of sculpted figures which appeared over the gates of Bedlam hospital and were quite well-known in Bronte's time, depicting what were understood to be the two aspects of madness: raving, and melancholy. The "raving" figure holds his hands in fists and is shackled; the "melancholy" figure has his hands hidden. So apparently this was a common depiction of melancholy (or deep depressive mental illness) at the time. (The connection is more complex than this, but I'm trying to keep my review brief!) Another essay pointed out the connection between Rochester's disability and a Biblical passage actually referenced in Jane Eyre - if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out; if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. (Matthew 5:29-30.) This is just one example, but honestly I felt like every essay in this book illuminated some really fascinating historical context or connection within the text that I had never noticed myself.
I came to this book having just watched the most recent Jane Eyre film production, and I'm now quite excited to re-read the book for the first time in years. I don't normally do that, but I feel like I've gained so much from The Madwoman and the Blindman that I really will be revisiting the text as if it were brand new. And what more can a fan ask for than to be able to experience a beloved story as if for the first time?
In any case, Jane Eyre is a book which quite obviously deals with both disability and mental illness, and the eight essays included in this collection tackle those elements in various ways, all of them interesting and, I found, quite illuminating. Some gave me historical context I would not have gotten otherwise, while others pointed out parallels and connections between various elements in the narrative that I had never noticed.
An example: I had always thought that Bronte's choice to both blind Rochester and amputate his hand was an odd combination. Why one and not the other? Why just the one hand? In this book, I found not one but two compelling answers. One essay talked about a set of sculpted figures which appeared over the gates of Bedlam hospital and were quite well-known in Bronte's time, depicting what were understood to be the two aspects of madness: raving, and melancholy. The "raving" figure holds his hands in fists and is shackled; the "melancholy" figure has his hands hidden. So apparently this was a common depiction of melancholy (or deep depressive mental illness) at the time. (The connection is more complex than this, but I'm trying to keep my review brief!) Another essay pointed out the connection between Rochester's disability and a Biblical passage actually referenced in Jane Eyre - if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out; if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. (Matthew 5:29-30.) This is just one example, but honestly I felt like every essay in this book illuminated some really fascinating historical context or connection within the text that I had never noticed myself.
I came to this book having just watched the most recent Jane Eyre film production, and I'm now quite excited to re-read the book for the first time in years. I don't normally do that, but I feel like I've gained so much from The Madwoman and the Blindman that I really will be revisiting the text as if it were brand new. And what more can a fan ask for than to be able to experience a beloved story as if for the first time?
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