Jane_Eyre

Jane Eyre’s Religious Motivations In the novel Jane Eyre, Jane is introduce to many motivations throughout her life. Some which are in large parts religious. Jane is religiously motivated by three different characters, which are Mr. Brockelhurst, Helen Burns, and St. John Rivers. With their unique approaches and attitudes towards religion motivated Jane to further her practice of religion. The first character that positively influences Jane into thinking about religion is Helen Burns. Jane meets Helen at Lowood. She saw Helen as shy and quite but eventually became friends. Helen would tell Jane why and how she dealt with the punishment that Jane was struggling with. She told Jane not to argue back, and later “Read the New Testament, and observe what Christ says, and how he acts--make his word your rule, and his conduct your example”(Bronte, Charlotte 61) . In telling her to do as Christ did makes Jane think about following his teachings and do what is right rather than what she feels. Helen also states that prayer is another great way to get closer to God, that is very important and can be a private matter. The final influence Helen had on Jane was right before her death. With Helen’s positive attitude towards death which showed when she said she believed it was her time to go and it wouldn’t matter because she would be in heaven with God and would see Jane later in life. Once Helen died, Jane was thinking about her and how she was inspired and decided to think about seriously trying to practice her religious beliefs. Although Jane did not care for Mr. Brocklehurst , he was another character who motivated her, but in a way of how not to view religion. Jane sees Mr. Brocklehurst as hypocrite because even though he was preaching privation and the master at Lowood which encouraged religion, he was actually cruel and dishonest. He was preaching what Christians should do, yet he was not religious himself. Jane realizes Mr. Brocklehurst is not religious when they have a conversation about “what is hell”(82). Brocklehurt’s negative attitude of not caring and harsh punishment encourages Jane into pursuing her ideas on religious practices so she does not have the same views as Brocklehurst. Unlike the other characters, Brockelhurst did not take religion to heart even though he was the master at a school, that went to mass every Sunday. He was unkind and cruel. With his behaviors Jane is motivated to be the exact opposite, in which she takes her religion to heart. Jane’s cousin, St. John Rivers is another motivation, where she learns to take her religion seriously and devotes herself more. With St. John’s belief that his devotion to religion is more important than happiness , shows Jane that she should show devotion even though she disagrees with his teachings. After Jane’s time at Thornfield, she went to Marsh End with St. John, Diana, and Mary where she learned to become more in touch with her religion. Jane says she “admire and emulate his courage and devotion and vigour: accommodate quietly to his masterhood; smile undisturbed at his ineradicable ambition” (482) about john in which she is characterizing his devotion to the things he wants and is truly passionate about, like his faith. St. John’s decision to leave for India also motivates Jane. With John’s devotion, Jane also learns that happiness is equally important in religion and decides not to go with him. St. John River’s devotion and Jane’s better understanding of the importance in both devotion and happiness encourages her to take religion more seriously. In Jane Eyre the three very different views on religion from the characters, Helen Burns, Mr. Brockhlehurst, and St. John Rivers motivate Jane to become more serious about her faith one step at a time. Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. New York: Barnes & Noble, 2003.