The Effects of the Evangelical Reformation Movement on Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte as Observed in Mansfield Park and Jane Eyre

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.