How Does Bronte Use Religion In Jane Eyre

During the 19th century, Jane Eyre was often seen as a sacrilegious and blasphemous text because throughout the novel Bronte often criticises the place of religion is Victorian society. She uses Jane Eyre’s controversial regard towards her own religious fate as a prompt for readers to reflect upon the place of religion in their own lives. Because of these blasphemous themes, the novel was regularly banned from churches, schools and also in many households. One of the most common criticisms of the time, was that Jane too often gave in to desire instead of upholding the will of God. As a child, the young heroine directly challenges Mr. Brocklehurst, who is portrayed as a key religious figure in the novel. Because of his religious persona in

Contrarily to Jane, St John is willing to sacrifice all for the church and upholds self-imposed constraints which stifle all humanity and desire. He is reproached by Jane for not marrying Rosamond Oliver, despite their mutual infatuation, a decision which puts religion before all else. Jane increasingly feels as if St John is stripping her of freedom due to his strong religious ideologies and attempts to mold Jane into a suitable wife. He desires her to be passive, obedient and overall religious: the desired traits of a 19th century woman. Jane, however, takes control over the situation and puts her emotions before St John's: ““I daily wished more to please him: but to do so, I felt daily more and more that I must disown half my nature, stifle half my faculties, wrest my tastes from their original bent, force myself to the adoption of pursuits for which I had no natural vocation" (p.462). Furthermore, Jane refuses St John’s proposal of marriage, which demonstrates to the reader that Jane has surmounted the ever present obstacle of religion and has chosen her own desires over what is considered an acceptable decision for a woman of this time