John Stuart Mill, in 1831, describes the Victorian period saying, "mankind have outgrown old institutions and old doctrines, and have not yet acquired new ones" (Houghton 15). Richard E. Houghton explains that the past the Victorians have outgrown is the Middle Ages (16). He quotes Baldwin Brown as saying, "our modes of thought and speech, our habits of action, our forms of procedure in things social and political, were still feudal" (17). Just as the things Brown lists are affected, Victorian attitudes toward luxury and asceticism are similarly affected by medieval Christian church beliefs. Just as other ideas are outgrown, the extreme medieval beliefs on luxury and asceticism are also outgrown. However, they are replaced by an equally extreme, though opposite, view. Jane Eyre shows how these two views clash within society, resulting in a moderate view.
In the Middle Ages, self-denial was revered. In Piers Plowman, Holy Church tells Will:
It's not all good for your ghost that your gut wantsThis rejection of the physical body's desires, for fear that it will bring damnation, is also seen in Mr. Brocklehurst's statements. In one instance, he preaches to Miss Temple against feeding the girls bread and cheese when their food is burned: "Oh, madam, when you put bread and cheese, instead of burnt porridge, into these children's mouths, you may indeed feed their vile bodies, but you little think how you starve their immortal souls!" (95; ch. 7). He suggests that if the food gets prepared badly, that is the perfect opportunity to refer "to the sufferings of the primitive Christians; to the torments of the martyrs," and to Christ's command to take up their crosses and follow Him (95; ch. 7). A little later he says, in response to Miss Temple's defense that one girl's hair was naturally curly, "Yes, but we are not to conform to nature" (96; ch. 7). Like medieval Christians, Mr. Brocklehurst teaches that the body is to be denied to save the soul. He actually decrees that the teachers "punish [Jane's] body to save her soul" because she is a liar (98; ch. 7). Just like the medieval Church which taught that "luxuria was never simply a minor taint but was the seeds of all vices of the will and the flesh," Mr. Brocklehurst instructs that luxury is to be avoided at all costs (Sekora 40).
Nor of benefit to your body that's a blessing to your soul.
Don't believe your body for it does the bidding of a liar:
That is this wretched world that wants to betray you;
For the Fiend and your flesh both conform to it . . . (Langland 36-40)
At the other end of the hedonism/asceticism continuum, the emerging Victorian middle class rejects the medieval prejudices against luxury and embraces luxury wholeheartedly. "[T]he bulging stomachs of successful mid-nineteenth-century businessmen and politicians were a symbol of bourgeois success, and outward manifestation of their accumulated wealth" (Bordo 94). We see this luxury in the Reed's house, in the Brocklehurst family, and at Thornfield. Jane views the extreme luxury evident in these places in disgust.
We see the rejection of extreme asceticism after the epidemic at Lowood. Many people are furious at the unnecessary loss of life and demand a change from the rigid and ascetic lifestyle to a middle ground between luxury and asceticism (115; ch. 10). They ensure enough food, clothing, and protection from the elements for the girls, as well as milder punishments (115; ch. 10). This is the view that Jane accepts, for she stays at Lowood after the improvements for eight years (115; ch. 10).
The Victorians grapple with these two extremes, enjoying and condemning luxury, which are so firmly embraced by parts of their society to determine what the new institutions and doctrines for their time will be. The direction in which Jane Eyre seems to point is that of moderation. Both asceticism and excessive luxury are condemned, while more moderate behaviors and beliefs: the beliefs of the Quakers, the actions of the outraged public to improve Lowood, and Jane's life are held up as exemplary.