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By Belinda Lyons-Lee
August 31, 2020 — 7.00pm
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I read recently of a widower who had a unique method of dealing with his children. He’d shut the door of his study and pull out a mask - like a full face mask, perhaps made of fabric, or a white Phantom of the Opera style one, I don’t know.
The child would put the mask on and the father would (and in my imagination the father is seated in a leather wing-back) begin to ask the child questions to try to ascertain how the child was really feeling, what he or she thought about their siblings, if the punishment he as a father was giving was fair.
Sound strange? Perhaps. But perhaps this factual story of Mr Bronte and his child-raising techniques with his future famous children, Charlotte, Emily, Anne and Branwell, have more in common with today than at first glance.
Mr Bronte believed the mask enabled truth-telling.
From behind a mask - truth-telling or a lack of civility? Credit:AP
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Mr Bronte tapped into something in the psyche in the 19th century that is still prevalent today. It’s helped me understand the recent experience of Melbourne actor Shane Jacobson, who has been targeted for appearing in a government ad encouraging people to wear a face mask during the pandemic.
A mask, whether literally or metaphorically, can liberate the consciousness and the mouth of its wearer so they say things they wouldn’t ordinarily say. I connect the physical mask of Mr Bronte’s with the mask of the screen. Some, naturally, would argue that being behind this screen encourages bravery. There is a body of blogs, websites and ..
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