Nineteenth Century Views on Charity as Depicted in Charlotte Bronte’s Life and Novel, Jane Eyre :: Bronte

Nineteenth Century Views on Charity as Depicted in Charlotte Bronte’s Life and Novel, Jane Eyre In the nineteenth century, the role of charity was portrayed differently by many individuals depending on what religion they followed. On one hand, many people felt obligated to help the unfortunate to comply with religious responsibility and to become better individuals. On the other hand, Others, felt that the misfortunes of the poor weren’t their responsibility. The different concepts of charity can be viewed in Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre, as she reveals to us the various experiences Jane underwent as an orphan. Many of the instances that Bronte mentions in her novel are references to some of the incidents she encountered in her school years. To know why charity was significantly one of Bronte’s main focuses in the novel, we will look at the conceptions that the Anglicans and other Christian groups had of charity in the nineteenth century, as well as a history of Bronte’s familial background. The Anglicans and other Christian groups viewed charity differently in the nineteenth century. Each religion had and preached its own concept. We learn that the Anglicans’ views are more in opposition to charity when Cheryl Walsh indicates that, "Through this type of religion, there was very little encouragement for the development of a social conscience—of recognition of any kind of responsibility for the welfare of fellow human beings"(353). Walsh also mentions that Anglicans "Felt neither responsible for the suffering of the poor nor called on to help alleviate that suffering"(353). The belief of not being responsible for the misfortunes of the poor and not attempting to help them in any way draws the notion that Anglicans clearly didn’t favor charitable acts. On the other hand, according to St. Paul, Christianity’s view on charity was more an act of duty than the expected one of kindness. Christianity propagated charity as one of the necessary acts that a good Christian should follow. Graham Gordon believes that in Christianity, "Charity is considered chief of the Christian virtues," and that "Charity is commended by St. Paul for being the true way to the end which religious practices seek"(10). We can see that in being a chief virtue, charity is highly encouraged in the sense that helping others is considered to be a great deed of good doing. Therefore, we can draw the notion that those who wish to follow the "true way to the end," are those that contribute the most to the poor, as opposed to those mentioned by Walsh who see themselves as "not responsible for the welfare of human beings.