Captivity Quote by Charlotte Brontë
““Your god, sir, is the World. In my eyes, you, too, if not an infidel, are an idolater. I conceive that you ignorantly worship: in all things you appear to me too superstitious. Sir, your god, your great Bel, your fish-tailed Dagon, rises before me as a demon. You, and such as you, have raised him to a throne, put on him a crown, given him a sceptre. Behold how hideously he governs! See him busied at the work he likes best -- making marriages. He binds the young to the old, the strong to the imbecile. He stretches out the arm of Mezentius and fetters the dead to the living. In his realm there is hatred -- secret hatred: there is disgust -- unspoken disgust: there is treachery -- family treachery: there is vice -- deep, deadly, domestic vice. In his dominions, children grow unloving between parents who have never loved: infants are nursed on deception from their very birth: they are reared in an atmosphere corrupt with lies ... All that surrounds him hastens to decay: all declines and degenerates under his sceptre. Your god is a masked Death.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Jane Eyre, 1847
The speaker condemns worship of a world that creates suffering, calling it a false god of death.
In simple terms: World as a false god causing suffering.
Key Takeaway
Question the idols you worship.
Themes
religion
critique
mortality
Mood
critical
contemplative
Type
philosophical
literary
When to use this quote
- political discourse
- personal belief
- cultural critique
Key Concepts
theology
existentialism
Questions to Reflect On
- What does worship mean to you?
- Can the world be both creator and destroyer?
A Different Perspective
The argument may overlook positive aspects of worldly experiences.
