Charlotte Brontë
British · 19th century
English novelist best known for Jane Eyre (1847), a pioneering work of female agency and self-determination in Victorian literature.
Connection to Taylor Swift
Her treatment of female independence, agency, and the cultural punishment of assertive women in Jane Eyre provides a literary antecedent for Taylor's exploration of similar themes, particularly the 'madwoman' label applied to women who defy patriarchal norms.
Notable Works
- Jane Eyre, Villette, Shirley, The Professor
Appears in the Archive
Context within the Archive
Jane Eyre
“Got a long list of ex-lovers They'll tell you I'm insane”
Angela & Uncle Jerry draw a thematic parallel between Blank Space and Jane Eyre. Uncle Jerry notes that Jane Eyre says 'I'm short, I'm plain, but I have agency too, I have power too,' and connects this to Taylor Swift embracing the 'insane' label in Blank Space. He argues that Taylor, like Jane Eyre, is criticized for asserting female power and self-determination, and that she is 'in some way the mad woman in the attic.' Charlotte Brontë was criticized for some of Jane's attitude, and Uncle Jerry sees Taylor receiving similar criticism.
Jane Eyre
Uncle Jerry discusses Jane Eyre at length in connection with The Madwoman in the Attic. He highlights two characters: the literal mad woman (Mr. Rochester's wife trapped in the attic) and Jane herself, whose character is subversive as a small, homely heroine who cuts across social norms. The trapping of a woman in the attic rather than treating her is directly thematically parallel to the song's treatment of how women are labeled mad and confined.
Jane Eyre
“she said she was trying, Peter, was she lying? My ribs get the feeling she did”
Community readers trace "My ribs get the feeling she did" to Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, where Rochester speaks of a string somewhere under his left ribs, tightly knotted to a similar string in Jane. The same Brontë image underlies the thread Taylor draws in invisible string, so even as the goddess of timing is exposed as false, the rib still holds a buried cord of connection.