God and Religion in Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea
Jane Eyre, from Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, and Antoinette Mason, from Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea, both depict very different creeds. While Bronte created Jane with a Christian background, Rhys has birthed Antoinette into a more primitive, confused faith. Analyzing each writer's description of the red room will reveal the religious nature of their characters.
In both texts, the rooms are symbolic of church. As Jane is sent to the bedroom of her dead uncle, Bronte relates it to a place of worship. "A bed supported on massive pillars of mahogany, hung with curtains of deep red damask, stood out like a tabernacle in the center". Due to the vast size and illustrious beauty of the bed, Jane saw itas a "tabernacle", or a place of sanctuary. Often churches contain such platforms, and Bronte hints to Jane's stance on Christianity by enabling her to see the "tabernacle" in the room. "Scarcely less prominent was an ample, cushioned easy chair over the head of the bed, also white, with a footstool before it, and looking, as I thought like a pale throne". This simile indicates the dais of God in heaven. Bronte set the chair over the bed which would be to Jane, a throne awaiting the tabernacle. Therefore, Bronte has used the furniture of the room to represent a house of worship in Jane's eyes, which illustrates her knowledge of the Christian idealogies.
Rh...
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...ms as key religious references, both authors have created dynamic characters who are bound to their distinct beliefs.
Works Cited and Consulted
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1991
Ciolkowski, Laura E.. “Navigating the Wide Sargasso Sea¨ Twentieth Century Literature. Vol 43. 3. 1997:125-140.
Gates, Barbara Timm, ed. Critical Essays on Charlotte Bronte. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1990.
Howells, Coral Ann. Jean Rhys. New York: Harvester Wheatsheaf. 1991.
Macpherson, Pat. Reflecting on Jane Eyre. London: Routledge, 1989.
Rhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea. London: Penguin, 1968.
Wyndham, F. Introduction. Wide Sargasso Sea. By Jean Rhys. London: Penguin, 1996. 1-15.
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