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.

Summary

This quote suggests that throughout history, there have been many talented individuals, particularly women, whose creativity and potential may have been stifled or overlooked. It highlights the possibility that some of these individuals, who could have been great novelists or poets, were silenced, marginalized, or even driven to madness because society did not recognize or value their gifts. The quote invokes the names of renowned authors Jane Austen and Emily Bronte to illustrate the idea that there could have been other brilliant but unknown writers who suffered for their art.

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