Religion in Silas Marner

Silas Marner is one of George Eliot’s finest novels, first published in 1861. Religion is mentioned here, and it is considered one of the most important themes. Moreover, in this novel, George Eliot presents her thoughts about religion, and for this reason, this novel holds great importance. If we judge this novel from a religious perspective, the thing we need to understand is that though Christianity is mentioned here, it refers to a specific sect of Christianity.

Silas Marner was a Calvinist Christian. He was a member of a small local church, and here, we can see for the first time that Silas Marner was convicted by his own religious brethren, even though there was no strong evidence against him. As a result, Silas Marner became very disheartened and left his village, moving far away to a place that had no relation or connection to his homeland.

In this novel, we can see the themes of sin, punishment, and redemption repeatedly. We cannot say that Silas Marner was exactly a sinner in that sense, and we will discuss his character in more detail shortly. However, other characters—especially Dunstan Cass, who was greedy and would like to drink alcohol—were punished for their sins. He stole Silas Marner’s gold coins and died later. On the other hand, Molly Farren, who was a drug addict and not a very good person, also died. That is, they were punished for their sins.

If we look at Silas Marner, we have to say that he did not commit any sin in that sense. Rather, he was guilty only of original sin—that is, the sin committed by Adam and Eve, which resulted in the original sin carried by all humans at birth. Silas Marner was punished without any real evidence, and the punishment was extremely severe. Before his eyes, his beloved and fiancée abandoned him and married his friend—the very friend who had framed Silas Marner with a false accusation. That is why it was deeply heartbreaking for him, and, unable to bear it, he left his homeland and went far away.

According to Calvinistic Christians, life is a journey. Life on this earth is full of suffering, and God will test us regularly with various sufferings and hardships. We must endure these trials patiently and stay on the path of God. Only then will our lives become meaningful and beautiful. We can see this doctrine reflected in the character of Silas Marner in George Eliot’s novel. Silas Marner strives to remain on the path of honesty and truth, but he is defeated again and again—but even then, he does not abandon the path of God.

Towards the end of the novel, we see that Eppie and Aaron are building a garden after their marriage. This garden is much like heaven because, according to Christian belief, heaven is often described as a garden. So, although Silas Marner suffered many hardships in his life, his daughter Eppie and son-in-law Aaron enjoyed the rewards. Both Eppie and Aaron were good people, which is why they received this blessing.

It is not that George Eliot was a complete devotee of Christianity. In this novel, a conflict emerges between destiny and free will. The suffering that Silas Marner endures seems very much like his destiny as if it was written in his fate—that he was meant to suffer and be punished. However, Silas Marner used his free will every time and consistently tried to stay on the path of honesty. He never deviated from the path of righteousness. For this reason, in the conflict between destiny and free will presented in the novel, it seems that George Eliot took the side of free will.

The kind of God we see in the novel Silas Marner is kind and just. Here, truth triumphs, and falsehood is defeated. Silas Marner followed the path of honesty, and he turned out to be the most fortunate and victorious. On the other hand, the other characters were not as virtuous as Silas Marner, and they did not become as happy. Therefore, we can say that the victory of Christianity is portrayed here.

Sometimes it seems that George Eliot has praised Christianity in a very simple way in this novel. On the other hand, it also seems that the story of this novel is very complex, and here, humanity is celebrated more than religion. Silas Marner is expelled, but he wins in life by virtue of his humanity. Another explanation could be that those who are truly religious, like Silas Marner—whether they go to church or not, whether they perform religious duties or not—try to remain honest, and God loves them. In other words, George Eliot may have meant that God loves those who give more importance to human qualities such as kindness, honesty, and love than to observing religious rituals or rites.

Religion in Jane Eyre

Religion is one of the main themes of Charlotte Bronte’s famous novel Jane Eyre. Throughout the novel, we can see the presence of religion. The first major theme of this novel is love. The novel also represents the condition of women in Victorian England. At the same time, the influence of science was increasing and the influence of religion was decreasing. In England, there were two major branches of Christianity, Catholic and Protestant, and these are still present today. Catholics were minorities. In this novel, Jane Eyre showed that she was not a strong supporter of Catholicism. There is some level of strictness in Catholic Christianity. For example, Catholic priests cannot marry. On the contrary, Protestant Christianity was not so strict. They could marry. In this novel, Jane Eyre indirectly showed her support for Protestant Christianity. 

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But this does not mean that Charlotte Bronte strongly supported Protestant Christianity. All she tried to say is that there must be a balance between religion and human life. In this regard, we can take a look at the two male central characters of the novel- Edward Fairfax Rochester and St. John Eyre Rivers. St. John Eyre Rivers was a good person. He was very much devoted to religion. Due to his strong devotion, he wanted to become a missionary and went to India to spread Christianity. He did not love Jane Eyre very much. However, he wanted to marry Jane Eyre for his own interest. We can see that his self-interest was very important to him. He understood that Jane Eyre was a good woman, and if he got married to her and took her to India, his life would be very comfortable.

On the other hand, from a religious standpoint, it cannot be said that Edward Rochester was a good person because he was already married and his wife was mentally challenged. He was leading a very unhappy married life. Yet, he fell in love with Jane and wanted to marry her. He did not tell her about his wife. On the day of their wedding, this painful secret came out in front of everyone and their wedding stopped. Jane Eyre received a major shock and stealthily left Rochester’s house. But after this incident, Rochester became a changed person. At one point, he lost his eyesight. He felt bad about himself and tried to become a good person. In this way, he redeemed himself. Despite being a bad person, Rochester earns readers’ love and respect. Rivers may be a good person from a religious point of view, but readers do not find him attractive.

Jane Eyre herself was a religious person. She could have continued her relationship with Rochester even after knowing about his first wife, but it would be an immoral relationship on religious ground. So, she did not do that. She herself was a religious and moral person. Instead of marrying Rochester, she leaves him. When she came to know about Rochester’s accident and the death of his wife, she returned to him and married him. Like a good wife, she fulfills all her duties towards her husband. The moral sense that we see in Jane Eyre is very much similar to that of Christianity.

It cannot be said that Charlotte Bronte wholeheartedly supported Christianity. She showed that many clergymen were not good. Mr. Brocklehurst, the self-righteous clergyman who runs Lowood School for Girls, was a major example of such a person. He often quotes from the Bible, but in real life, he does not care about religion but his self-interest. He humiliated little Jane for no reason. He did not provide any facilities to the children of the school and always deprived them. Showing benevolence is one of the most important teachings of the Bible and Jesus Christ, but Mr. Brocklehurst does not observe those teachings in real life. Through this character, Charlotte Bronte tried to show the hypocrisy of Christianity and clergymen.

In her novel, Charlotte Bronte did not deny the importance of religion. She showed both the good and bad sides of religion in this novel. Jane Eyre was a pious woman, but she was not a staunch follower of religion. We see a beautiful combination of humanity and religion in her character. The author mainly tried to show that if we follow religion extremely then it does not bring any good to society. Instead of following religion blindly, we should approach humanity through religion. Then our society will be highly benefitted. According to her, Brocklehurst is not a good person to Charlotte Bronte although he quotes from the Bible frequently. St. John Eyre Rivers is a good and moral person, but he has no emotion or love. He wanted to marry Jane not out of his love for her but his self-interest. Rochester in the beginning did not tell Jane about his marriage, but he is the only person who truly loved Jane. In the end, we see that he becomes a good person which is why Jane married him and found happiness in her life.