This thesis attempts to clarify how the authors incorporated their theological beliefs in their writing to more clearly discover, although modern audiences often enjoy both authors, why Charlotte Bronte was unimpressed with Jane Austen. The thesis is an examination of the ways in which Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte interact with the Evangelical Reformation within the Anglican Church in their novels Mansfield Park and Jane Eyre, respectively. Both authors, as daughters of Anglican clergymen, were aware of and influenced by the movement, but at varying degrees. This project begins with a brief explanation of the state of the Anglian Church and beginnings of the Evangelical Reformation. The thesis then examines George Austen's influence on his daughter and the characters and text of Mansfield Park to observe the ways in which traditional Anglicanism and tenets of Evangelicalism are discussed in the novel, revealing more clearly where Austen's personal beliefs aligned. Similarly, the project then analyzes Patrick Bronte's influence on Charlotte Bronte and evaluates the characters and text of Jane Eyre to mark the significance of the Evangelical movement on Charlotte Bronte. After studying these works and religious components of their lives, the thesis argues that Austen's traditionally Anglican subtlety with the subject of religion did not appeal to Bronte's passion for the subject, clearly inspired by the Evangelical Reformation. / Master of Arts / Charlotte Brontë was unimpressed with the writing of Jane Austen, which is surprising as the audience for one author usually also enjoys the other author as well. Although the specific reason for Brontë’s distaste for Austen is unknown, this thesis proposes that Brontë disagreed with how Austen portrayed Evangelicalism. Both Brontë and Austen were Anglican clergymen’s daughters, and they both grew up with an awareness of the Evangelical Reformation occurring in the Anglican Church. Brontë was influenced by the movement more, which this thesis shows after first outlining the Evangelical Reformation, exploring Austen’s relationship with it and how it appears in Mansfield Park, and then examining Brontë’s relationship with the Reformation and how it appears in Jane Eyre as well. This thesis contains brief historical and biographical sketches of the authors and their families, literary examinations of the novels Mansfield Park and Jane Eyre to study how the authors interacted with the Evangelical ideals, and an analysis that looks at faith in these two novels in a comparative way to explain why Brontë might have disagreed with and therefore disliked Austen’s writing.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/93256 |
| Date | 23 August 2019 |
| Creators | Harjung, Anna Joy |
| Contributors | English, Graham, Peter W., Gardner, Thomas M., Metz, Nancy Aycock |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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