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Tag Archives: Anne Bronte

The 200th Birthday of Charlotte Brontë

22 Friday Apr 2016

Posted by ChristianVictorianLiterature in Misc.

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agnes grey, Anne Bronte, Charlotte Bronte, Charlotte Bronte and Christianity, Christian Victorian women writers, Jane Eyre

In honour of Charlotte Brontë’s 200th birthday today, Karen Swallow Prior at The Gospel Coalition illuminates this Victorian writer’s faith and explains why Jane Eyre (1847) is a deeply Christian novel in Jane Eyre and Our Age of Authenticity.

Here are some interesting facts about Charlotte Brontë’s life at CBC.ca and two previous posts about Anne, Charlotte’s sister.

Introducing “Agnes Grey” by Anne Brontë

Fruits of the Spirit in “Agnes Grey” by Anne Brontë

 

 

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Marriage, Divorce and Universal Salvation in “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall” by Anne Brontë

22 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by ChristianVictorianLiterature in Analysis

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Anne Bronte, marriage and divorce, teachings of christ, tenant of wildfell hall, universal salvation

Quotes, Scriptures and Questions for Book Club Study

 Divorce

“‘But, Helen!’ I began in a soft, low tone, not daring to raise my eyes to her face – ‘that man is not your husband: in the sight of Heaven he has forfeited all claim to – ‘ She seized my arm with a grasp of startling energy.” –The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Scripture

-“I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel.  Malachi 2:16

-Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning.I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” Matthew 19:8-9

-Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Romans 13:1

-The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”   Hosea 3:1

Questions for Discussion

1. Since Helen can’t legally divorce her husband, what is Gilbert suggesting in the above quote? How would such behaviour contradict the teachings of Christ?

2. How are Brontë’s beliefs about divorce counter-cultural today? Why would society find them radical and oppressive?

3. If Brontë’s beliefs about divorce find their source in Christ’s teachings, how important then is the protection of the marital institution to Christ and why would he be so stringent about allowances for the dissolution of marriage?

4. How is Arthur Huntingdon like Hosea’s wife in the Bible? What is the broader theology of Hosea’s marriage?

  

Marriage 

“‘I will give my whole heart and soul to my Maker if I can,’ I answered, ‘and not one atom more of it to you than He allows. What are you, sir, that you should set yourself up as a god, and presume to dispute possession of my heart with Him to whom I owe all I have and all I am, every blessing I ever did or can enjoy – and yourself among the rest.'” The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

 Scripture

-“You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3

-Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment.” Matthew 22:37

-Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 2 Cor. 6:14

 Questions

1. Helen doesn’t heed her aunt’s warning about marrying a man without principles and good sense. She overlooks Arthur’s faults and determines to see the best in him. Once struck with the reality of marriage, she believes she can try and reform him with her influence. Is such a pursuit of a husband (or wife) Biblical? What does the Bible have to say about choosing a spouse?

2. Since Arthur is not following the Lord, Arthur and Helen have an “unequally yoked” marriage. How does the novel show the consequences of such a union?

3. Why does God not desire “unequally yoked” marriages? What are the larger theological implications of such an understanding of marriage? Why did God create marriage? 

4. Can a spouse ever be justifiably jealous of his or her spouse’s devotion to Christ?

Universal Salvation

“The novel’s espousal of universal salvation was, as Anne explained in a letter, something which she had ‘cherished…from my very childhood – with the trembling hope at first, and afterwards with a firm and glad conviction of its truth. I drew it secretly from my own heart and from the Word of God before I knew that any other held it.'”

-from the Introduction to The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Wordsworth Classics edition

 Scripture

-For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Col. 1:19

-“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Matthew 25:46

Questions

1. Anne says her belief that all sinners will gain heaven, but those who are not saved will suffer temporarily in purgatory, is scriptural. What verses might she refer to to support such a viewpoint? What verses could you use against it? How would you explain verses that seem to suggest universal salvation, such as Col. 1:19?

2. Why might Brontë – or anyone – desire that universal salvation be true? What would it suggest about the character of God?

3. Why do you think purgatory (a temporary place of suffering) is not sufficient for God’s wrath? Why eternal separation?

Rounding out the discussion: Does the metaphor of marriage and divorce help illuminate the issue of salvation and damnation, or complicate it? How/why?

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Introducing “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall” by Anne Brontë

10 Saturday Aug 2013

Posted by ChristianVictorianLiterature in Introducing...

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Tags

Anne Bronte, christian review, tenant of wildfell hall christianity

I wrote that Anne Brontë‘s first book, Agnes Grey, was anything but gothic, especially in comparison to her sisters’ novels Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. Anne’s second and only other novel, however, could be considered the most gothic tale of all the Brontës’ works because of its frighteningly realistic subject matter. Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights border on the spectral, but in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, the specter comes to life like a waking nightmare.

The real-life monster that haunts Wildfell Hall is an abusive and degenerate husband, and more generally, a corrupt legal system that protects such tyranny (at this time women were not allowed to divorce on the grounds of adultery, so legally Helen is bound to her husband, Arthur Huntingdon). The horrors of Jane Eyre and Wutherings Heights are imaginary creations inspired by an eerie setting (the moor), but Hungtingdon is not a figment of the imagination and will not dissipate like the ghostly vapour off the moor. His haunt is not the wilderness or the gloomy castle, but the English drawing room, and this makes him the most frightening monster of all.

I’ll leave you with a quote from the novel’s devoutly Christian protagonist:

“Then I saw the eternal stars twinkling down on me; I knew their God was mine, and He was strong to save and swift to hear. ‘I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee,’ seemed whispered from above their myriad orbs. No, no; I felt He would not leave me comfortless: in spite of earth and Hell I should have strength for all my trials, and win a glorious rest at last!”

Read scripture-based book club discussion questions in “Marriage, Divorce and Universal Salvation in ‘The Tenant of Wildfell Hall’ by Anne Brontë.”

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Introducing “Agnes Grey” by Anne Brontë

23 Thursday May 2013

Posted by ChristianVictorianLiterature in Introducing...

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Tags

agnes grey, Anne Bronte, literature

There is no mad woman in the attic or slinking maniac on the moor in this Brontë novel. In fact, Agnes Grey is not very gothic at all, unlike its cousins Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, literary offspring of sisters Charlotte Brontë and Emily Brontë, respectively.

Agnes Grey, a plain and sensible governess (not unlike Jane Eyre) with a fitting name, tries to supplement her impoverished family’s income by attempting to instruct wild, unruly and spoiled children of wealthy parents. Her employers undervalue her moral instruction and care mostly about matching their older daughters with rich suitors and keeping the younger children out of sight.

In Agnes’ lonely and friendless life appears an equally conscientious and principled young rector, stirring the governess’s heart to flame with hope for a future of Godly companionship.

Once you’ve finished the book, read an in-depth literary analysis “Fruits of the Spirit in ‘Agnes Grey’ by Anne Brontë.”

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