Brontë Studies.Volume 37. Issue 4

The new issue of Brontë Studies (Volume 37, Issue 4, November 2012) is already available online. The issue contains the proceedings of the 2011 Brontë Society Conference: The Brontës and the Bible: Influences both Literary and Religious. We provide you with the table of contents and abstracts:

Editorial
pp. iii Author: Pearson, Sara L.

The Religion of Patrick Brontë
pp. 267-271(5)   Author: Winnifrith, Tom
Abstract:
Patrick Brontë’s strong religious faith was firmly based on the King James Bible, quotations from which are freely found in his correspondence and fictional works. Doubts about the reliability of this version or the veracity of some of its statements do not seem to have troubled him. Unlike his daughters he seems to have had no difficulty with the Old Testament doctrine that the wicked will be punished in this world or the New Testament doctrine of eternal punishment hereafter, but he did reject predestination to damnation and was no mean bigot in dealing with Catholics or Nonconformists. Nor would he have approved of the facile optimism of some modern Christian thinking which he would have dismissed as unscriptural.

Charlotte Brontë and `The Treasures of the Bible': Roe Head, the `Infernal World' and `Well of Life' 
pp. 272-285(14)   Author:  Alexander, Christine
Abstract:
As in her other writings, Charlotte Brontë’s ‘Roe Head Journal’ illustrates her use of the Bible to articulate her concerns at times of crisis, as well as to express the tension between passion and restraint that underlies her fictional representations of similar crises in the lives of her heroines. Her journal also reflects her theological fears about her attachment to her creative, ‘infernal’ world, while at the same time portraying her artistic life as divinely inspired.

`I Began to See': Biblical Models of Disability in Jane Eyrepp. 286-291(6)    Author:  Joshua, Essaka
Abstract:
The Bible demonstrates a range of attitudes towards disability. Some references are negative (its association with sin and punishment), and some are positive (its association with discipleship and spiritual worth). The allusions to biblical disability in Jane Eyre emphasize the spiritual gains associated with it. Charlotte Brontë centres her discussion of biblical disability on the spiritual role of sight, blindness and madness, and on the physical body’s relationship to the spiritual self. Reading the novel with attention to its use of biblical references to disability provides a more positive understanding of the novel’s account of disability than has hitherto been suggested. This paper argues that if we read Jane Eyre with attention to Charlotte Brontë’s consistently redemptionist agenda in her selection of biblical allusions, Edward Rochester’s disability is not a punishment, but is an indication of his spiritual well-being.

Rending the Veil of Sin: Idolatry and Adultery in Jane Eyre in Light of Ezekiel 16, I and II Corinthians
pp. 292-298(7)   Author:  Nickelsburg, Marilyn.
Abstract:
The Reverend Charles Simeon and the Reverend Patrick Brontë utilize certain biblical texts and phrases (ii Corinthians 6. 14‐18, Matthew 5. 29‐30/Mark 9. 43‐48) to ground their Anglican Evangelical views with regard to forming ‘a proper connexion’ in the selection of a marriage partner. In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë alludes to these same passages and incorporates the harlot image from Ezekiel 16 to depict Jane’s idolatrous relationship with Rochester. She cites i Corinthians 6. 18 to justify the severing of Jane’s improper connection.

‘The Coming Man’: Revelations of Male Character in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre
pp. 299-305(7)   Author: Pearson, Sara L.
Abstract:
In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë alludes to the Second Coming of Christ as depicted in the Bible as a means of characterization for three men in her novel: Mr Brocklehurst, Mr Rochester and St John Rivers. Through these allusions, she depicts Mr Brocklehurst as an Antichrist, Mr Rochester as a false Christ and St John Rivers as the bride of Christ: adaptations of the Bible’s eschatological imagery that would have potentially surprised and even shocked her contemporary audience.

Bricolage, Brontë Style: Atypical Typology in Jane Eyre
pp. 306-311(6) Author:  Jenkins, Keith A.
Abstract:

Biblical types were deeply ingrained in the Victorian mind, and their traditional interpretations often reinforced the subordination of women. Charlotte Brontë creates a new kind of typology that allows her to retain the power of biblical imagery and language, while channelling it in new directions. The Garden of Eden story and biblical images of a heavenly afterlife are among her favourite sources in Jane Eyre. By transferring the locus of blessedness from an otherworldly paradise to the everyday world of work and leisure, of sexual fulfilment and romantic disappointments, Charlotte Brontë rejects the narrow, male-dominated Christianity of her day and offers in its place an alternative vision in which paradise is a present possibility and male and female are truly equal. Neither her inability to articulate this ideal consistently nor her reluctance to embrace all of its implications can finally invalidate her glorious vision.

`A Poem in a Foreign Language'?: Jane Eyre, the King James Bible and the Modern Reader
pp.  312-317(6) Author:  Stoneman, Patsy
Abstract:
It is frequently said that modern readers’ lack of knowledge of the Bible must ‘impoverish’ their response to nineteenth-century novels. In this paper, I argue that modern readers who cannot identify specific biblical allusions nevertheless respond to the memorable rhythms and vivid imagery of the King James Bible, which have passed into everyday usage, treasured, repeated and adapted through time because they shape and heighten recurring human emotions. Charlotte Brontë’s knowledge of the Bible was so thorough as to amount to a ‘mother tongue’, and in this paper, drawing on scholarly analyses of the Bible and of Charlotte Brontë’s prose, I demonstrate that the characteristic style of Jane Eyre, especially in moments of high emotion, echoes biblical forms of sentence structure, vocabulary and imagery, and I argue that specific allusions to the Bible are less important in her work than the powerful emotional force carried by a biblical style.

`Just As If She Were Painted': Interpreting Jane Eyre through Devotional Imagery* 
pp.   318-325(8)   Author: Miller, Emma V.
Abstract:
The aim of this article is to consider Charlotte Brontë’s interest in theology and her fascination with the Oxford Movement and Roman Catholicism. She likely included material on these religious movements in her novels, particularly in Villette, for several reasons: her own curiosity about and attraction to them, her own personal experience of them during her time in Brussels and her desire to broaden the scope of her novels to include topics of current interest to her readers.

The Professor and the Search for Divine Guidance
pp.   326-333(6)   Author: Rockefeller, Laura Selene
Abstract:
In this paper I plan to illuminate the importance of three presences in The Professor that could be said to embody the Word of God in the protagonist’s, William Crimsworth’s, life. These are his inscrutable friend Mr Hunsden, who has more the air of a biblical prophet than a Yorkshire manufacturer; William’s Conscience — very specifically Conscience with a capital ‘C’ whose voice has strong biblical echoes; and William’s dreams, with clear messages and images that are saturated with biblical imagery. The importance of this scriptural presence in William’s life cannot be overlooked in a novel that examines so closely the dangers of the power that a confessor can have over his congregation. Through William’s observations, Charlotte Brontë strongly advocates a personal connection to and relationship with God as he is revealed to the individual through the Bible. 

Villette: The Biblical/Theological Impulse
pp.   332-328(6)   Author: Wilks, Brian
Abstract:
The aim of this article is to consider Charlotte Brontë’s interest in theology and her fascination with the Oxford Movement and Roman Catholicism. She likely included material on these religious movements in her novels, particularly in Villette, for several reasons: her own curiosity about and attraction to them, her own personal experience of them during her time in Brussels and her desire to broaden the scope of her novels to include topics of current interest to her readers.

Anne Brontë and her Bible
pp. 339-344(6)  Author: Thormählen, Marianne
Abstract:
The aim of this article is to consider Charlotte Brontë’s interest in theology and her fascination with the Oxford Movement and Roman Catholicism. She likely included material on these religious movements in her novels, particularly in Villette, for several reasons: her own curiosity about and attraction to them, her own personal experience of them during her time in Brussels and her desire to broaden the scope of her novels to include topics of current interest to her readers. 

The Critique of the Priest in Anne Brontë's Agnes Grey
pp. 345-351(6)  Author: Leaver, Elizabeth
Abstract:The aim of this article is to consider Charlotte Brontë’s interest in theology and her fascination with the Oxford Movement and Roman Catholicism. She likely included material on these religious movements in her novels, particularly in Villette, for several reasons: her own curiosity about and attraction to them, her own personal experience of them during her time in Brussels and her desire to broaden the scope of her novels to include topics of current interest to her readers.

Fact to Fiction: Anne Brontë Replicates La Trobe's Biblically Inspired Advice in Scenes from Agnes Grey
 pp. 352-358(6)  Author: Leaver, Elizabeth
Abstract:The aim of this article is to consider Charlotte Brontë’s interest in theology and her fascination with the Oxford Movement and Roman Catholicism. She likely included material on these religious movements in her novels, particularly in Villette, for several reasons: her own curiosity about and attraction to them, her own personal experience of them during her time in Brussels and her desire to broaden the scope of her novels to include topics of current interest to her readers.

There Are Many Mansions in my Father's House: Wuthering Heights as God's Celtic, Supernatural Abode
pp. 359-365(7)  Author: Obed, Leonora Rita V.
Abstract:The aim of this article is to consider Charlotte Brontë’s interest in theology and her fascination with the Oxford Movement and Roman Catholicism. She likely included material on these religious movements in her novels, particularly in Villette, for several reasons: her own curiosity about and attraction to them, her own personal experience of them during her time in Brussels and her desire to broaden the scope of her novels to include topics of current interest to her readers. 

What Thou Art: Emily Brontë's Visionary Religion
pp.366-372(7)  Author: O'Neill, Michael
Abstract:The aim of this article is to consider Charlotte Brontë’s interest in theology and her fascination with the Oxford Movement and Roman Catholicism. She likely included material on these religious movements in her novels, particularly in Villette, for several reasons: her own curiosity about and attraction to them, her own personal experience of them during her time in Brussels and her desire to broaden the scope of her novels to include topics of current interest to her readers.