Tag Archives: Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre and tuberculosis

August 15, 2022

Afsheen Zafar Rawalpindi, Pakistan   I had just put down my pen after the last patient left the room. She somehow reminded me of the Brontë sisters. She had been diagnosed with tuberculous axillary lymphadenitis after a biopsy but otherwise seemed to be in perfect health. Apparently she was not much disturbed by the diagnosis […]

Why ‘nurse’ Grace Poole is the greatest puzzle in Jane Eyre

January 30, 2018

Sarah Wise London, United Kingdom   Plate 5 (V), unnamed artist, illustration in Dr Alexander Morison’s Outlines of Lectures on Mental Diseases, 1826, purporting to show:‘Monomania With Pride, a female in whom, although a pauper, ideas of wealth and grandeur are predominant. She is liable to violent fits of fury when her delusions are called into […]

Reason vs. Emotion in Charlotte Brontë’s Shirley

March 4, 2017

Mila Whiteley Fairfax, Virginia, United States   Portrait of Charlotte Bronte, 1873. (Painted by Evert A. Duyckinck, based on a drawing by George Richmond, University of Texas Collection.) Charlotte Brontë’s 1849 Shirley is often considered a “Condition of England” novel, due to its exploration of various social, political, and religious issues of the time. One […]

Remembering Charlotte Brontë

February 1, 2017

Vasudha Chandra Sydney, Australia   Portrait of Charlotte Brontë by George Richmond, 1850 This year marks the 200th birthday of celebrated author Charlotte Brontë. Born April 21st, 1816, she lived for most of her life in the village of Haworth.1 The Brontës’ house was at the top of a hill, above the church and backing […]

Literature in medical school: why, how, and if

January 29, 2017

Tabitha Sparks Montreal, Canada      Photography by studioapril1982 Do literature courses in medical school make better doctors? Will the doctors be more sensitive, display more empathy? If so, how is this achieved? And what is the evidence it does so? Since 1980 many educators have supported the integration of humanities coursework into medical school curricula. […]