Religion and Jane's Search for God
In Jane Eyre, religion is embraced through a series of spiritual explorations. Bronte portrays Jane's character and zest for religion by revealing Jane's transitions from Gateshead to Lowood, Lowood to Thornfield, and Thornfield to Moor House. Jane ultimately rejects everyone of these organized styles of worship. However, that does not mean that she rejects all their beliefs. She is forever changed by each experience and they have helped mold her view on religion and her relationship with God. Each location plays a significant role in the development of Jane's perspective on religion. Jane struggles to acquire true faith in God, which will help her overcome the obstacles of her nomadic life. Within Jane Eyre, Bronte shows a feeling of anti-Catholicism through the character of Jane's cousin, Eliza Reed. The novel portrays Eliza as a picture of rigidity: Two young ladies appeared before me; one very tall, almost as tall as Miss Ingram,--very thin too, with a sallow face and severe mien. There was something ascetic in her look, which was augmented by the extreme plainness of a straight-skirted, black, stuff dress, a starched linen collar, hair combed away from the temples, and the nun-like ornament of a string of ebony beads a
Helen explained, "Life appears to me too short to be spent nursing animosity, or registering wrongs. John Rivers, a priest who lived occasionally at Moor House with his two sisters. Before she leaves her room, she checks to make sure that everything is neat and orderly. At Lowood she learned the strict adherence to the religious and moral values that were taught there. Jane searched for comfort and security by virtue of her own strong will, without the faith of God. Bronte considered the belief that this type of Catholic contrition will save your soul as ridiculous (Rife). John believes in his profession and his duty as a clergyman to serve Him. Although Jane questioned the existence of God's heavenly kingdom, she undoubtedly believed she would be reunited with Helen in God's love after death. After she first arrives at Thornfield Hall, and she is ready to go to bed, she "offered up thanks where thanks were due; not forgetting, ere [she] rose, to implore aid on [her] further path, and the power of meriting the kindness which seemed so frankly offered [her] before it was earned" (Bronte 129). For days Jane wandered over unknown territory without a cent to her name and without the only love she had ever known. "Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour, stringent are they; inviolate they shall be. She learned freedom from sin and immorality is the most important component in a successful Christian life. John urged Jane to sacrifice her emotional needs for the fulfillment of her moral duty.
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