University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
The portrayal of dissent and the Anglican Church in Victorian literature
Abstract
dc:description.abstractThe reduction of the power of the Church of England during the Victorian era was inevitably reflected in the work of Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell, and Charlotte Brontë. In this paper, I will examine one novel from each writer to explore how each responded to the decline of the Church of England and the growth of other denominations. This thesis project rests on the idea that Gaskell presents religious dissent in a sympathetic light and Dickens and Brontë respond to this topic with trepidation. Although the Victorian era brought a new religious standard, Dickens’s and Brontë’s fear of Gaskell’s dissent novel betrays the tight grip which traditionalism still had on Victorian society. The examination of North and South, Hard Times, and Jane Eyre will show how the larger conversation about the cultural shift away from Anglicanism was manifesting itself on the literary page.
Degree
thesis:*- Grantor dc:publisher
- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Author and committee
dc:creator, dc:contributor.*- Author dc:creator
-
- Badger, Hannah L.
- Contributors dc:contributor
-
- Stuart, Christopher
- Wakefield, Hannah; Jordan, Joseph P., 1976-
- College of Arts and Sciences
Subjects
dc:subject × 3Rights
dc:rights- Language dc:language
- English, eng
Identifiers
dc:identifier.*- Repository record dc:identifier
- https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/818
- OAI identifier oai:identifier
- oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-1980