A Study Of Feminist Religion On The Bronte Sisters

For literary critics, religion has been the ideological core of western arts and novels. In the 21st century, religious analysis of the Bronte Sisters'works, which has been increasing in foreign literary academics, is still a virgin area for the Chinese academic community. The world classical novels Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights are the representative works which hold the feminist religious ideas, fiercely attacking the Victorian patriarchal religion. This paper aims to exploit and comb the pioneering feminist religion of the Bronte Sisters.The Bronte Sisters lived in the Victorian period which was still a patriarchic society that the entire conceptual systems of theology and ethics have been the products of males and tended to serve the interests of men despite the rulership of Queen Victoria. Women, under the crown of "Angel of the House", gained little freedom to express their thoughts and few opportunities to get jobs to support themselves. As the daughters of Patrick Bronte, a priest in Haworth, they were intimate with and greatly influenced by theological ideas and religious practices, and they had profound thoughts about the impact of religion upon women's psychology. After making a penetrating probe into their works, I find that a new feminist religion, which fights against the male-dominated religion, is budding. However, the road of this feminist rebellion is never smooth. In their works, the Brontes revolt against institutional religion dominated by men, but their feminist religious ideas are based on their perceptual experiences and female fantasies, which lack the religious authority to support their thoughts, so self-contradiction and anxiety can be discerned in their writings and their letters. Therefore, their pilgrimages to spiritual freedom are destined to follow a path of toil and unease full of hardships and obstacles. They are like a butterfly produced by metamorphosis from a caterpillar.Considering these aspects, I make a comprehensive investigation of Victorian religious movements in which the Victorian evangelical revivalism played a vital role upon the human thoughts. Evangelicals believe that everyone, no matter whether men or women, has the power to interact with God directly, and this doctrine gives liberation to women who are labeled as evil and fatal by the western religious tradition. Inspired by the favorable evangelical creeds, the Bronte sisters produce a different understanding of female religion which is embodied in their works. I classify their feminist religious ideas into the following three chapters.Anne Bronte was the first to ponder the religious burdens of women. In her childhood, due to the poisoning of Calvin's negative religion doctrines, she was tortured by the unhealthy doctrine of limited atonement:only a few will be saved. However, she was also nurtured by the positive effects of evangelicalism, demonstrating a reawaking attitude to reveal the corruption of male priests and Victorian men. In her novel, Agnes Grey, she imagines herself as a female preacher who judges the male priests; and in her other novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, the heroine Helen, an angel of the house, musters up her courage to break through the imprisonment of her first marriage, and after undergoing a series of trials and handicaps, finally achieves her life happiness and spiritual freedom.Inspired by evangelicalism, Charlotte Bronte is a rebel who resists the traditional male-centered religion. Her autobiographical novel, Jane Eyre, is a female spiritual pilgrimage from childhood to womanhood under the influence of the Gospel. With the wider social background, her second novel, Shirley, reflects her penetrating consideration of the British religious sects which were partly responsible for the disturbance of society and had no ability to bring calm and peace to people's minds. By reconstructing Genesis, Charlotte Bronte also puts forward a fresh religious concept-"goddess"-which is apparently against the traditional religion. In her last novel, Villette, the heroine Lucy leaves for the imaginary European Catholic city of Villette. Living in a strange city, Lucy suffers a strong sense of alienation, and is suffocated by the crown of "Angel of the House", so depression pushes her to the point of mental breakdown. However, learning about the two dead nuns who are the victims of the patriarchic society, Lucy finally finds the crux of her religious and spiritual problems and liberates herself from the depression of the negative religious tradition. In all Charlotte Bronte's novels, animated by the evangelical religion, the heroines are more active, stirring and rebellious, and baldly challenge the decayed institutional religion, finally developing their own feminist religion during their spiritual pilgrimages.As for Emily Bronte's religion, her own statement is, "I have said that was between God and me." From her works, readers can discern that Emily gives nature a kind of strong power that can destroy, rebuild, and recreate everything; this power is just the embodiment of God. I think that Emily Bronte is a mysterious pantheist who finds her own spiritual power and liberation from nature. In her 193 poems, readers can find hints that God lies in nature, nurturing, comforting, and enlightening the speaker's Holy Spirit (human souls). In Wuthering Heights, the love between Heathcliff and Catherine is based on their same souls which find the strength and freedom in the God of nature. Meanwhile, Emily Bronte also bitterly attacks the hypocrisy and corruption of institutional religion. From her works we can trace that God is just in her breast, caring for her chainless soul.To sum up, the Bronte sisters all demonstrate a strong criticism of institutional religion and open up a feminist religious world which records the pilgrimages of keen-minded women who gradually develop their own understandings of religion. The Bronte Sisters'different interpretations of religion illustrate their different religious personalities and confirm the diversity of personal religious experiences.