In the final chapter of Jane Eyre, our heroine is reunited, after a year’s separation, with the only man she ever loved, Mr. Rochester. The feeling is mutual. Indeed, Mr. Rochester’s joy at return is palpable: “You make me feel,” he says to Jane, “as I have not felt these twelve months. If Saul could have had you for his David, the evil spirit would have been exorcised without the aid of a harp.”[1]
This metaphor beautifully captures the man’s emotions in the moment. And I doubt that neither he nor Ms. Bronte, the author of this tale, would be troubled to learn that David never played the harp for Saul—or for anyone else, for that matter.
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Continue reading “David and Saul: The Origin of Politics”