Yet genius of a sort must have existed among women as it…
““Yet genius of a sort must have existed among women as it must have existed among the working classes. Now and again an Emily Bronte or a Robert Burns blazes out and proves its presence. But certainly it never got itself on paper. When, however, one reads of a witch being ducked, of a woman possessed by devils, of a wise woman selling herbs, or even of a very remarkable man who had a mother, then I think we are on the track of a lost novelist, a suppressed poet, of some mute and inglorious Jane Austen, some Emily Bronte who dashed her brains out on the moor or mopped and mowed about the highways crazed with the torture that her gift had put her to. […]any woman born with a great gift in the sixteenth century would certainly have gone crazed, shot herself, or ended her days in some lonely cottage outside the village, half witch, half wizard, feared and mocked at. For it needs little skill in psychology to be sure that a highly gifted girl who had tried to use her gift for poetry would have been so thwarted and hindered by other people, so tortured and pulled asunder by her own contrary instincts, that she must have lost her health and sanity to a certainty.””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
Historical oppression silenced talented women, forcing them into madness or obscurity; their voices remain hidden.
In simple terms: Women’s genius has been suppressed throughout history.
Key Takeaway
Recognize and amplify forgotten women’s contributions.
Themes
gender oppression
creativity
historical erasure
Mood
reflective
hopeful
Type
essay
feminist
When to use this quote
- literary criticism
- education
- mental health advocacy
Key Concepts
feminist theory
psychology
Questions to Reflect On
- How can we uncover lost women writers?
- What support systems help creative women today?
A Different Perspective
Not all suppressed women were doomed; some survived in subtle ways.