An Idolatrous Imagination? Biblical Theology and Romanticism in Charlotte Brontë's<i>Jane Eyre</i>

Searle, Alison

doi:10.1177/014833310605600104

Christianity & Literature

2006

DOI: 10.1177/014833310605600104

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An Idolatrous Imagination? Biblical Theology and Romanticism in Charlotte Brontë'sJane Eyre

Alison Searle

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Cited by 3 publications

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“…She knows little of the 'unknown world'; she only wants to flee the 'ghost' she thinks will come (JE, pp. [13][14].…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Biblical Theology and Romanticism in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre', supports the idea that Jane's love for Rochester borders on idolatry: 'But, in the light of the first commandment, she fails to prioritize rightly her loves: passionate and craving the love of other human beings, she gradually, almost inexorably, allows her entire happiness to become rooted in her relationship with Rochester'. 13 Jane's yearning for Rochester's love overshadows her devotion to God.…”

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Jane Eyre: Jane’s Spiritual Coming of Age

Sexton¹

2014

Brontë Studies

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“…She knows little of the 'unknown world'; she only wants to flee the 'ghost' she thinks will come (JE, pp. [13][14].…”

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Jane Eyre: Jane’s Spiritual Coming of Age

Sexton¹

2014

Brontë Studies

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BREAKING THE IDOL OF THE MARRIAGE PLOT INYEASTANDVILLETTE

Carens

2010

Victorian Literature and Culture

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Nineteenth-century Protestant culturegenerally held marriage in high esteem, and the notion that marriage was “made in heaven” often explicitly undergirds the conventional resolution of domestic fiction. Despite many indications of a harmonious relationship between human love and religious faith, a countervailing cultural trend reveals a deep conflict between the two. Victorian Protestants worried that passionate love for another mortal creature might lead to heretical extremes, that human love might slip into idolatry, the worship of false and material gods. Jane Eyre memorably confesses that she has “made an idol” of Rochester, although she, of course, looks back upon this transgression from the vantage of marital happiness (274). In this essay, I focus on works in which misgivings about idolatrous love arise with more disruptive force. The marriage plots of Charles Kingsley'sYeast: A Problem(1851) and Charlotte Brontë'sVillette(1853) both abruptly collapse, bringing into sharp focus a Protestant religious anxiety that subverts the conventional device with which Victorian domestic novels achieve closure.

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A Brontë Reading List: Part 2

Ogden¹

2008

Brontë Studies

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This is the second part of an annotated bibliography of essays, mostly in scholarly and critical journals, [2000][2001][2002][2003][2004][2005][2006][2007]. The first part was published in Brontë Studies, 32:2, July 2007. Keywords: Anne Brontë, Branwell Brontë, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë Bibliographical details are followed where possible by summaries and assessments. Entries are arranged under the sub-headings General, Anne, Branwell, Charlotte, Emily, then novel-by-novel, and roughly chronological by dates of publication. Essays that have already been described in this journal, book reviews and most journalistic pieces are not included. Articles published in Brontë Studies and Brontë Society Transactions have been excluded; readers are directed to the publisher's website, www.maney.co.uk, for online access from 2005 and to the Brontë Studies and Transactions indexes on the Brontë Society website, www.bronte.org.uk.

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An Idolatrous Imagination? Biblical Theology and Romanticism in Charlotte Brontë'sJane Eyre

Cited by 3 publications

References 15 publications

Jane Eyre: Jane’s Spiritual Coming of Age

Jane Eyre: Jane’s Spiritual Coming of Age

BREAKING THE IDOL OF THE MARRIAGE PLOT INYEASTANDVILLETTE

A Brontë Reading List: Part 2

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