Jane EyreKatrina Madrinan and

Shannon YapThird Period

November 21, 2013

References to God in

By: Charlotte Brontë

“God is mentioned at certain points and not others. What if something determines if he is mentioned? What events surround references to God? What is the rhythm of spiritual awareness or comment in the book? Is Jane present when God is mentioned? Has she changed between peaks of mention? If so, how?”

Our Prompt

Our prompt is asking us to find how God, or any celestial being, the story or characters, especially Jane. The prompt wants us to find out how the way religion is mentioned reflects the way Jane’s character is changing.

*FUN FACT!*“God” is mentioned 110 times

throughout the course of the novel.

Here, we have one of the first references to God in the book. This is where Jane is ill and depressed while staying in the Red Room. Bessie tries to comfort her by singing a song about God who watches an orphan child as he travels through the hardships of life. The song ends with “God is a friend to the poor orphan child” (Brontë 23). This could foreshadow the rest of the book, saying that Jane will be okay and she will be able to overcome any obstacles that she faces.

Poor Orphan Child

This character represents hypocrisy. Brocklehurst preached “the word of God”, his actions did not come match-up accordingly. In chapter 4, he tells Jane that she has “a wicked heart”, something that a kind, God-loving person would say (Brontë 33). In chapter 7, Brocklehurst says the girls living in Lowood are not allowed to know “the habits of luxury and indulgence, but to render them hardy, patient, and self-denying (Brontë 62). Yet, when his wife and daughters appeared, “they splendidly attired in velvet, silk, and fur” (Brontë 64). This also reflects the rhetoric of Evangelism that Brontë perceived in the19th century.

Brockclehurst

Unlike Brocklehurst, Helen is a clear representation of a heavenly being. Although she is put through mistreatment at Lowood, she is still kind and gentle, with a really strong faith in God. She is the main source of Jane’s optimism during her stay at Lowood. Prior to her death, Helen tells Jane that she “is going to God” (Brontë 80). She tells Jane that heaven exists and they will see each other again in the after life. After Helen dies, Jane now has a guardian angel looking after her, another friend to look after“the poor orphan child.”

Helen

St. John is another character that depicts Christian characteristics. He holds God up to very high importance, but rather looks up to him as if he were an Army general and must obey every order that he is given. When he asks Jane to move to India and be his wife, she rejects, because the two do not love each other (plus they’re cousins, ew). This causes St. John to become angry and he tells her that rejecting his proposal is rejecting God and that she “should be numbered with those who have denied the faith, and are far worse than infidels” (Brontë 384).

St. John

At the beginning of the book, there is a peak mentions where she is feeling lost and confused about her life. After getting out of Lowood, she finds work and has a whole other adventure. She learns to be independent and conquers many of her own dilemmas (especially with Rochester). The next peak of mentions is when she moves in with the Rivers and meets St. John. However, Jane has since outgrown this strong dependency for a religion. This is why she is able to walk away from St. John when he asks for her hand in marriage to do it for God (plus she loved her some Rochester). Nonetheless, Jane could still have faith, just not the same way that the Rivers or Helen had.

Mr. Rochester reveals to Jane that he has actually loved her, and proposes to her.  

“‘I offer you my heart, my hand, and a share of all my possessions… because my equal is here, and my likeness.  Jane, will you marry me?’” (241)

Jane marries someone with a far higher societal stature than hers, demonstrating to her that love can truly prevail in a harsh class-based society.  Jane’s view on the equality between men and women is enhanced with her marriage to Mr. Rochester.  When Mr. Rochester has confesses his love to Jane, reveals that his intention was to marry her all along, and finally proposes to her, Jane’s confidence is increased, as she is persuaded that she can be and do anything she desires.  This fuels her idea that people are not limited to the life others think they should live. The remainder of Jane’s life from this point will be ruled by the idea that women should be free from the confinements of what a gender-segregated and class-based society deems acceptable.

The Proposal

The wedding is called off when it is revealed to Jane that Mr. Rochester has an existing, insane wife.

“’The marriage cannot go on: I declare the existence of an impediment…It simply consists in the existence of a previous marriage. Mr. Rochester has a wife now living’” (275).

“Jane Eyre, who had been an ardent expectant woman – almost a bride – was a cold, solitary girl again: her life was pale; her prospects were desolate… My hopes were all dead, struck with a subtle doom…I looked at my love: that feeling that was my master’s – which he had created; it shivered in my heart” (281).

Jane loses confidence in herself and the people that surround her from this point, as she lets herself to simply conclude that some things are not meant to be understood, but rather to be accepted. She is decides to leave Thornfield, not because she falls out of love with Mr. Rochester, but rather because she is so devasted with Mr. Rochester’s neglect to disclose his identity and past and is feels betrayed that she has been let down by someone she trusted most and loved for the first time. This affects Jane later down the road as she loses trust in people and allows her newfound lack of motivation and confidence to affect her future goals.

The Secret

Jane’s gets into a fight with her cousin John that lands her in confinement in the Red Room.  

“The cut bled, the pain was sharp: my terror had passed its climax; other feelings succeeded…‘Take her away to the red-room, and lock her in there’”(5).

“This room was chill, because it seldom had a fire; it was silent…solemn, because it was known to be seldom entered” (7).

Jane’s character is established in this event, as her resilience, integrity, and strong-willed determination is evident through her interaction with Aunt Reed and her altercation with her cousin, John Reed.  The character of her guardian, Aunt Reed is also established, as we se her cruel treatment towards Jane when she blames her for the altercation and punishes her alone.  Jane’s experience in the Red Room helps to establish a mysterious and supernatural atmosphere.  The Red Room is also the first form of imprisonment that the Jane faces.  The Red Room is also symbolic of Jane’s isolation from society in general.

The Red Room

http://fyeahjaneeyre.tumblr.com

http://cliffnote.comhttp://sparknotes.comBrontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. 1847. NY: Penguin, 1966.

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