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Joy Shin

Dr Nelson

Honors Research/Writing

30 May 2017

Reflection on Feminism and Christianity in Jane Eyre

INTRODUCTION

Nearly two hundred years since its publication, Jane Eyre is still widely read and loved

by readers of all ages.Throughout the novel, we find many themes that are still relevant in our

lives today, such as love and marriage, religion, class status, and relation between a man and a

woman. Charlotte Bronte, determined to portray the underdog of the society, shapes a tough and

independent woman who pursues true love and equality at the same time. Jane is not a

stereotypical Victorian angel that majority of the novels in the nineteenth-century portrayed. In

fact, Jane is far from a perfect heroine. Unlike other young women of her age, Janes main aim is

to preserve her identity and her freedom in a male-governed society. Jane does not merely follow

the conventional female subject-position of the period, but strives to discern for herself, not from

any other male authorities, what she perceives to be Gods will. Here, Charlotte Bronte suggests

that Christianity and Feminism are not necessarily contradictory with each other, but that these

movements work together in a way that helps Jane throughout her journey. Through Janes

struggle with Rochester and St. John, Bronte portrays the challenges Victorian women of faith

had to battle with in trying to balance their spiritual integrity with cultural norms of domesticity

and femininity (Lamonaca 246). Janes feminism is made complicated by her faith, and her
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desires often threaten to overtake her moral judgement, but this very imperfection is what makes

her character still so compelling and vivid after all this time.

VICTORIAN PERIOD

Jane Eyre was written in the Victorian period, a period when the society was

man-dominated, and women were subjects to the voice of men. The idea of womanhood in

nineteenth-century England was described by the image of angel in the house (Peterson 677).

Wives were expected to provide the home environment that promotes her husbands and

childrens well being. Women were seen as a delicate and sweet, but rather a passive and

unintellectual creature, whose life revolves entirely around social engagements, domestic

management, and religion (Peterson 678). It is no wonder then that the readers of Victorian

period were appalled when Jane Eyre was first published, as Janes resistance to complete

subjection to male authority is shown clearly throughout the novel, defying the conventional

female role at the time. The novel was radical in its intimacy with the private workings of a

womans mind. And it wasnt of any average womans either. It was the mind of a woman who

struggles continually to achieve equality and overcome the class hierarchy.

From the beginning to the end of the novel, Jane doesnt quite fit the conventional image

of a passive, sweet, and devoted wife figure. Even as a young child, Jane was constantly told to

acquire a more sociable and childlike disposition, a more attractive and sprightly

mannersomething lighter, franker, more natural as it were (p. 24). Jane is portrayed as an

independent, passionate, and strong willed woman who does not merely follow the conventional

female subject-position of the period. However, Bronte does not stop at portraying an
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outrageously different heroine. She goes even further to defy the religious authorities of the

Victorian period by introducing spiritual discourses outside the orthodox doctrines. The question

must then be asked: what was the contemporary Christian response to such an unorthodox

discourse shown throughout Jane Eyre? And what was Brontes defense to this response?

In the Quarterly Review, journalist Elizabeth Rigby harshly criticized Charlotte Bronte

and her novel, complaining that the novel is preeminently an anti-Christian composition,

claiming that there is a proud and perpetual assertion of the rights of man, for which we find no

authority either in Gods word or in Gods providence (Shapiro 683). In response to this

criticism of Janes as well as her own devotion to God, Bronte defends herself in a preface of the

books second edition: To pluck the mask from the face of the Pharisee, she writes, is not to

lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns (Bronte 3).

LIFE OF CHARLOTTE BRONTE

Autobiographical elements are evident in Jane Eyre. Charlotte Bronte, though not an

orphan like Jane, lost her mother at the age of five and was left with a stern father who the

children had little communication with. With no one to care for Charlotte and her siblings, they

went to Cowan Bridge school, a boarding school for poor clergymans daughter. During their

first year of being away from home, Charlotte loses her two close sisters from tuberculosis, just

as Jane loses her dearest friend Helen Burns from the same disease. After the deaths of the two

older sisters, Charlotte is left with a narrower circle of interaction, as well as the responsibility of

taking care of the rest of her siblings. From the age of nine to fifteen, Charlotte remained at

home, and had no choice but to be the mother of the little flock, even though she herself never
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had a mother figure to look up to. It is believed that Charlotte never knew what it was to have her

affectionate care returned in full measure by any member of her familyand it is no

exaggeration to say that her family was her world (Dooley 230). It is no wonder then that

Charlotte was slow and cautious to trust the affection of friends until the last days of her life.

Looking at this tragic childhood of Charlotte Bronte, we can fathom why she desired to

be independent, placing herself out into the world where she can earn her own livingas Jane

Eyre did. Having had the experience with outrageous treatment toward her because she was poor,

uneducated, and female, it was inevitable for her to be rebellious against the society where the

oppressions toward the minorities were the cultural norm. To imply that the condition for the

minorities should and could change for better, in Jane Eyre, Bronte tells a story that protests

against the cruel and frustrating limitations imposed upon the oppressed, especially women.

ANALYSIS OF JANE EYRE

Jane Eyre is a fictional autobiography featuring the journey of a lonely, prudent, and

independent young governess, Jane. The novel has been regarded as a gothic or a psychological

novel, a romance or a Bildungsroman. But to interpret Jane Eyre as a simple romance novel

would be undermining Brontes motive behind writing the book. From The Professor and Jane

Eyre through Shirley, Charlotte Bronte wrote fictions that exposed and criticized the strict social

hierarchy of Victorian England in nineteenth century.

Jane, raised as an orphan, and later a charity child and a governess, is born to serve and

submit, constantly warned to be kind, patient, and assiduous. Throughout the novel, she is forced

to move from house to house constantly, none fully her home until the last: from Gateshead Hall,
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where Janes cruel aunt and cousins reside, to the Moor house, where she takes refuge from

Rochester, Jane faces obstacles that challenges her faith, doctrines, and beliefs. Perhaps because

of this constant moving, Jane Eyre is very much the story of Janes quest to be loved. Jane

searches, not just for romantic love, but also for a sense of belonging and of being valued. Thus,

Jane says to Helen Burns: to gain some real affection from you, or Miss Temple, or any other

whom I truly love, I would willingly submit to have the bone of my arm broken, or to let a bull

toss me, or to stand behind a kicking horse, and let it dash its hoof at my chest (p. 72). Yet, over

the course of the book, it is critical that Jane learns how to gain love and approval without

sacrificing and harming herself in the process.

Aven though accepting Rochesters proposal will provide Jane of reciprocal love,

admiration, material comfort, and interactions with other people, the very things she longed for

all her life, her fear of losing autonomy motivates her to refuse Rochesters marriage proposal.

Jane comes to conclusion that marrying Rochester while he is legally a husband to another

woman would mean rendering herself a mistress and sacrificing her own integrity for the sake of

emotional appeasement. When Jane flees to the Moor House, she is yet again faced with a test

that challenges her autonomy. Even though she enjoys economic independence and engages

actively in useful work, she lacks emotional sustenance she had with Rochester. When St. John

proposes marriage, offering her a partnership built around a common, Godly purpose, Jane

knows their marriage will remain loveless. The events of Janes stay at Moor House turns out to

be necessary tests of Janes autonomy, as only after proving her self-sufficiency to herself can

Jane marry Rochester without being dependent upon him as her master.
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CHRISTIANITY AND FEMINISM INTERWOVEN TOGETHER

The primary spiritual discourse in Jane Eyre is Christianity. Throughout the novel, Jane

struggles to find the right balance between moral duty and earthly desires, between obligation to

her spirit and attention to her body. She encounters three main religious figures: Mr.

Brocklehurst, Helen Burns, and St. John Rivers. Each figure represents a model of religion that

Jane ultimately rejects as she forms her own ideas about faith and principle.

Mr. Brocklehurst illustrates the dangers and hypocrisies that Charlotte Bront perceived

in the nineteenth-century Evangelical movement. Mr. Brocklehurst adopts the rhetoric of

Evangelicalism when he claims to be purging his students of pride, when his method of

subjecting them to various privations and humiliations is entirely un-Christian, such as when he

orders that the naturally curly hair of one of Janes classmates be cut so as to lie straight. Mr.

Brocklehurst, alongside Mrs Reed, is represented as cruel, greedy, and hypocritical Christian. On

the other hand, Helen Burns' Christianity, though it gives Jane an insight of self-sacrifice and

endurance, is too passive and meek for Jane to adopt as her own, no matter how much she

admires Helen for it.

Many chapters later, St. John Rivers provides another model of Christian behavior. His is

a Christianity of ambition, glory, and extreme self-importance. St. John urges Jane to sacrifice

her emotional deeds for the fulfillment of her moral duty, offering her a way of life that would

require her to be disloyal to her own self. St. Johns lack of spirit and feeling gives Jane the

reason she requires to not abandon half [her]self but to claim her whole self, saying at last to

St. John: I scorn your idea of love I scorn the counterfeit sentiment you offer: yes, St. John,

and I scorn you when you offer it (pp. 356, 359). St. Johns attempts to convince Jane to marry
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him as part of her missionary duty becomes more audacious as he tries to own her: I claim

you, St. John says, not for my pleasure, but for my Sovereigns service (p.354). When Jane

realizes that St. John places himself above other men and puts himself a hero on a level with

God, she sees how fatal weakness he has and rejects his proposal.

Although Jane ends up rejecting all three models of religion, she does not abandon

morality, spiritualism, or a belief in a Christian God. When her wedding is interrupted and the

decision needed to be made, Jane decides to listen to a voice from above that tells her to flee

[from] temptation wins over her emotions (p. 345). Janes decision clearly indicates that she is

autonomous in her judgement, but a conservative who believes in the virtual unity of divine,

civil, and moral law (Allen 222).

In the end, Jane ultimately finds a comfortable middle ground. Her spiritual

understanding is not hateful and oppressive like Brocklehursts, nor does it require retreat from

the everyday world as Helens and St. Johns religions do. For Jane, religion helps curb

immoderate passions, and it spurs one on to worldly efforts and achievements. These

achievements include full self-knowledge and complete faith in God.

CONCLUSION

Although Jane does marry Rochester in the end, based on Helens advice, Jane comes to

realize the importance of valuing Gods love above her earthly desires, and is able to resist an

idolatrous relationship which would cut Jane off from God. Throughout her journey, Jane

discovers that it is no passive exercise when discerning Gods will; rather, it requires a

continuous struggle to be self reliant and be the active agency of oneself. Janes willingness to
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follow what she, not male authorities, thinks to be Gods will is an ultimate act of independence

that sets her apart from the traditional Victorian women. Some would argue that despite Janes

effort to be free from any human dominance, she is still confined by the society, trapped in a role

of a wife and a mothera conventional domestic life of good household angel. However, this

confusing ending of the novel should not guide the reader to interpret Jane Eyre as a novel that

supports female restraint. It should not be the ending of the novel that we base our decision of

whether Jane Eyre is a book of female liberation or female restraint. What matters is that

throughout the journey, Jane is resolved to resist any kind of oppression, even if it means she has

to give up the thing she desires the most, in order to independently follow Gods will. As she

experiences struggles with Mr. Rochesters and St. Johns attempt to subordinate her into a mere

wife figure, her desire to do what is right in the eyes of God make her skeptical of her own

power of reasoning and observation. Then after years of doubts and anxiety of whether she is

following her vocation, Jane finds peacefulness of mind that comes from marrying her love. It is

not Mr. Rochester who made Jane marry him. It is Jane herself that made the decision; Bronte

even emphasizes this by starting the last chapter of the novel with a sentence Reader, I married

him, instead of he married me (p. 488). For the first time, Jane no longer complains about her

status in life or feels like an outsider in the environment. Instead of unrealistically transforming

the heroine of the novel into an independent female whose vocation is to change the society,

Charlotte Bronte puts Christianity and Feminism together by portraying Jane as one of the many

Victorian women who refuses to bend to class and gender prejudice.

Bibliography

Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. London, David Campbell Publishers, 2000.

Dooley, Lucile. Psychoanalysis of Charlotte Bront, as a Type of the Woman of Genius. The
American Journal of Psychology, vol. 31, no. 3, 1920, pp. 221272, accessed 4 Nov,
2016.

Lamonaca, Maria. Jane's Crown of Thorns: Feminism and Christianity in Jane Eyre. Studies
in the Novel, vol. 34, ser. 3, 3 Nov. 2002, pp. 245263. 3, accessed 4 Nov, 2016.

Shapiro, Arnold. In Defense of Jane Eyre. Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, vol. 8, no.
4, 1968, pp. 681698, accessed 4 Nov, 2016.