Evangelicalism in Application to Jane Eyre

Evangelicalism Part 2: Application to Jane Eyre

In continuation to this presentation I will be discussing evangelicalism’s application to Jane Eyre. One of the more prominent examples of Evangelicalism can be found in chapter 4 of the novel. This is the scene in which the reader is first introduced with Mr. Brocklehurst, and within the first few moments of conversation with Jane he asks; “no sight so sad as that of a naughty child, especially a naughty little girl. Do you know where the wicked go after death?” (39), in which Jane replies; “they go to hell […] a pit full of fire” (39). Mr. Brocklehurst then continues on in his questioning of Jane by asking “what she must do in order to avoid going to hell”, in which she responds that “ she must keep in good health and not die” (39). He is appalled by Jane’s answer and continues interrogating her with questions of if she prays every day and whether or not she reads the Bible (40). This can then be viewed as an example of evangelicalism as Jane clearly does not follow the practices of Mr. Brocklehurst who can be viewed as a more main stream religious character, and as Sarah mentioned before ‘Evangelicalism is a sect of Christianity that follows the gospels and their teachings and puts more emphasis on an individual’s personal relationship with God, and not on their Church attendance. For Evangelicals, the Gospels were the most important part of learning religion’. Jane enjoys the books of Revelations, Daniel, Genesis, Samuel, Exodus, Kings, Chronicles, Job, and Jonah (40). However because she doesn’t enjoy the book of Psalms, as Mr. Brocklehurst does she is said to “have a wicked heart, and she must pray to God to change it and give her a new and clean one to take away her heart of stone and give her a heart of flesh” (40). Mr. Brocklehurst can then be viewed as a more Anglican religious follower in which he is more concerned with church attendance and giving more focus to what he is told to enjoy, opposed to what he finds more enjoyable about his own religion. Jane, with a more evangelical approach to religion builds a more personal relationship with her God and her religion as she pays more attention to the Gospels in which she most enjoys in the Bible regardless of the Gospels she is told to like or dislike.
A second example of Evangelicalism within “Jane Eyre” is Lowood School itself. As Evangelicalism is concerned with being humble, and as Sarah mentioned earlier, “it stresses the importance of conversion, of missionary work, and of humanitarian activism” Lowood School itself is a charitable institution, this can be found in chapter 5 in which Jane is acquainted with Helen Burns and they discuss how Lowood School operates. Helen tells Jane why the girls are called ‘charity children’ (60); “all the girls here have lost either one of both parents, and this is called an Institution for educating orphans […] we pay or our friends pay, fifteen pounds a year for each […] because fifteen pounds is not enough for board and teaching, and the deficiency is supplied by subscription […] from benevolent-minded ladies and gentlemen in this neighbourhood and London” (60). Therefore this can then also be seen as an example of evangelicalism as it demonstrates the humility within the community as well as humanitarian acts of kindness.

Bronte, Charolette . Jane Eyre. London: Penguin Classics, 2006. Print.