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The woman describes the “Invisible; the Unseen… truth” (Bront, 1846, line 49) that manifests itself as a winged soul that is “nearly free” toward the end of the poem (line 51). The poetry is engulfed in freedom, serving as a symbol of courage for the imprisoned women. Even though the captive’s realignment with her senses and rationality, when “the eye begins to see… the brain to think again” (Bront, 1946, lines 55–56), is “agony” (line 54), she finds strength in her perception. She admits she would “lose no sting, would wish no torture less / The more that anguish racks, the earlier it will bless” (line 58–59), in this sense making it seem as though the captive is empowered by

Guimares (2006) perceived Bronte’s life as an ongoing expression of her “passion for freedom” (pg. 2), implying a contrast between Browning, whose literary expressions adhered to the patriarchy, and Bronte, who wished to express disdain for patriarchal confinement. Indeed, Cecil Day Lewis believed that “the source of her proud recalcitrance, her preoccupation with themes of captivity, was the patriarchal system”.

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