Link to artifact: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/vyt65q5w
The artifact I chose for this entry is a nine-page doctor’s report regarding a small-pox outbreak in a Catholic school for girls in Manchester. This report and outbreak occurred in 1888 and was centered around the St. Joseph’s Certified Industrial School for Roman Catholic Girls. The report is written by Dr. David Page and is addressed to a Mr. George Buchanan of an unspecified medical department (most likely London). Coincidentally, the document was printed for Her Majesty’s Stationary Company by Eyre and Spottiswoode. The contents of the report focus on the girls who were infected at the institution, the vaccination status of most of the “inmates” at the school, and the sanitary arrangements and regulations put in place at the institution. I chose this artifact because it reminded me of Jane’s experience at Lowood when a typhus epidemic spreads. It also reminded me of Charlotte Bronte’s own history where a similar experience left her two sisters dead of consumption while at school. These experiences made me think of the prevalence of outbreaks, especially in religious schools for girls. It makes me think of whether Bronte included her own experience within Jane Eyre in order to raise awareness for the sanitation requirements at institutions aimed towards girls. I also think that this awareness fits into Bronte’s own feminist approach to writing, as she writes the women at Lowell with individual traits and minds that may have been lost during the 1800s. Women were often neglected and thought of as second-class citizens, so it doesn’t seem too far-fetched to reason that regulations and health requirements of schools for girls weren’t held to high standards. In her own way, Bronte may have included sections of Jane Eyre to push for better health care standards for women. Even though the event at St. Joseph’s school happened after the publication of Jane Eyre, it can still be reasoned that outbreaks like this and at Lowood were relatively common. Regarding Jane Eyre‘s feminist theme, I think health-care for women is also an important aspect of the novel that doesn’t seem to be touched upon often while analyzing this work.
