Quakerism in Jane Eyre :: Jane Eyre Essays

Quakerism in Jane Eyre Quakerism is mentioned many times in Jane Eyre. Beyond the explicit descriptions of Quaker-like appearances or behaviors, many parts of Quaker lifestyle are also used in a less obvious manner in Jane Eyre. Quakerism would have been known in the Yorkshire moors where Charlotte Bronte grew up and near where Jane Eyre lived, especially since that is where the pietism began (Moglen 19 Barbour and Frost 27). As a to a greater extent moderate approach to denying the self than Evangelicalism, Quakerism seems to be embraced in the novel. Unlike Mr. Brocklehursts or St. John Rivers philosophy (Bronte 95, 98 ch. 7), Quaker simplicity does not mean asceticism or forbidding earthly joys, though it does mean rejecting indulgence (Barbour and Frost 44). Jane frequently associates herself with the Quakers, more formally known as the Society of Friends, particularly in her clothing and manners. She says of herself, I was myself in my usual Quaker trim, where there was nothin g to retouch-all being too shut and plain, braided locks included, to admit of disarrangement (160 ch. 14). Later she says she is merely Mr. Rochesters plain, Quakerish governess (287 ch. 24). Simplicity is one of the Quakers testimonies, which included plain clothing of black, brown, or gray (Barbour and Frost 44). Jane wears black for her day-by-day outfit and her more formal exercise is of gray (151 ch. 13). Even when Mr. Rochester insists on buying her new silk dresses, she persuades him to purchase only black and gray ones (296 ch. 24). Jane resembles the Quakers in more than what she tells us. Her childhood sympathies mirror Quaker teachings. From her earliest childhood, she sees her disposition as passionate, but not vindictive, and not inherently bad, as Mrs. Reed does (64-5, 68-9 ch. 4, 267 ch. 21). The Quakers believe that babies were born clear and that children retained their innocence until they reached an age of reason (Barbour and Frost 115). The taint from origin al sin is not embraced by Jane nor by Quaker doctrines. Furthermore, Jane sympathizes early on with the charter of slaves (43 ch. 1, 44, 46 ch. 2). Quakers think slavery is barbaric, cruel, and inhumane, and were one of the first religious sects to denounce it (Barbour and Frost 119). Part of Quaker education is to study the Bible and to learn how to dress and speak plainly, to control ones temper, to accept moderation in outward desires, and to act with a becoming sobriety of manners (Barbour and Frost 190, 115-6).