The researcher and wordsmith was inspired to write An Admirable Point: A Brief History of the Exclamation Mark! after realising how much negative feeling surrounds this powerful piece of punctuation.

An exclamation point ( ! ) is used to end a sentence expressing strong emotion or commands (Stop!), and may be used to close questions that are meant to convey extreme emotion (What were you thinking!

Later in the novel, Jane confronts Mr Rochester about their feelings for one another. Charlotte Brontë uses both question marks and exclamation marks in this quote to emphasise Jane's passion ...