Women and Religion: a comparative study of The Heart of Midlothian and Adam Bede.

Abstract

The Heart of Midlothian and Adam Bede are two 19th-century novels that act as a window on Early and Late-Enlightenment Britain. Though different in genre and style, Walter Scott and George Eliot’s works present a strong sense of realism that eventually resulted in many analogies. In the specific, this dissertation focuses on three main areas, namely religion, infanticides and heroism. Furthermore, great importance will be given to the evolution of women’s empowerment through the characters of Jeanie Deans, Hetty Sorrel, Effie Deans and Dinah Morris, four sisters in time that embody the sufferings and hardships of women’s life in a masculine bible-thumping society. In fact, despite their desire to rise above the condition imposed by their sex, none of these women will be entirely happy at the end of their storylines, let alone empowered. Finally, since both authors mingled with the philosophical ideas that were widespread at the time, concepts like freedom and sympathy will be crucial to the analysis of the abovementioned characters.