Challenges to religious authority : criticism of the Church of England as expressed in three Victorian novels : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English at Massey University

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dc.contributor.authorLang, Keith
dc.date.accessioned2017-09-21T22:48:04Z
dc.date.available2017-09-21T22:48:04Z
dc.date.issued2000
dc.description.abstractThe opening chapter of this thesis describes the Church of England as it existed in the first half of the nineteenth-century. The close liason between the Established Church and the State is emphasised as is the involvement of the Church in many areas of Victorian life. Because, to a large extent, the Church is the Clergy the lives of many clerical representatives of the Church are discussed - and are found, on the whole, to be lacking in dedication. The three novels continue the method of examining the Church through depiction of its clergymen. Each novel presents a different challenge to the Established Church. Shirley by Charlotte Brontë, is critical of the Church because it misuses its Authority in its subjugation of women and finds false justification for this in scripture. Elizabeth Gaskell, in a covert way critices the Church by comparing it unfavourably with Unitarianism. George Eliot, in Middlemarch is deeply sceptical of the supernatural grounds for the Authority of the Church. She finds Authority in religious humanism. At the time the Church considered that its many problems were found either within itself due to its polarisation into Low and High Church, or else from without as the Dissenters and Roman Catholics increased in numbers. These three novels, however, consider problems which, although hardly of concern at the time, have since become major issues for the Church and its Authority.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10179/11924
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherMassey Universityen_US
dc.rightsThe Authoren_US
dc.subjectChurch of Englanden_US
dc.subjectGaskell Elizabeth Cleghorn 1810-1865 North and Southen_US
dc.subjectBrontë, Charlotte 1816-1855 Shirleyen_US
dc.subjectEliot, George 1819-1880 Middlemarchen_US
dc.subjectAuthoritarianism in literatureen_US
dc.titleChallenges to religious authority : criticism of the Church of England as expressed in three Victorian novels : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English at Massey Universityen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
massey.contributor.authorLang, Keith
thesis.degree.disciplineEnglishen_US
thesis.degree.grantorMassey Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelMastersen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Arts (M.A.)en_US
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