Nineteenth-century religious Dissent in the Novels by Elizabeth Gaskell & George Eliot

Abstract

The nineteenth century is a period of transition, of great discoveries and also great contrasts. Strict morality, hypocrisy, charity and compassion are considered to be the pillars of Victorian society. Yet there is also another important principle that rigidly regulated the life of Victorians: religion. More specifically this century has seen the advancement of a great number of religious confessions which did not conform to the Anglican creed and that, for this reason, constituted the religious Nonconformity or Dissent. Victorian authors were profoundly influenced and affected by the religious turmoil of their epoch, either because of a direct experience or a direct acquaintance with Nonconformist believers, ministers or preachers. Therefore the aim of this dissertation is to investigate how the contrast between the Established Church of England and its Dissenting counterpart profoundly influenced and affected the works of two important Victorian authors: Elizabeth Gaskell and George Eliot. The first chapter is devoted to an analysis of Dissent from an historical, political and social point of view in the light of the causes of the separation from the Church of England, the ways that Nonconformists were opposed both religiously and socially by Anglicans and how the diverse confessions originated, their similarities and their differences. The second chapter deals with religion, doubt and Dissent in a precise novel by Elizabeth Gaskell, North & South. It discusses the doubts and the Dissenting religious rebellion of some of the characters. The third chapter deals with the biographical features of George Eliot and Elizabeth Gaskell which are associated with their profound and strong relation with religion. In addition, the representations of Dissenting preaching in Adam Bede and Ruth are also discussed. The dissenting characters of the lay preacher Dinah Morris in Adam Bede and the dissenting minister Thurstan Benson in Ruth are to be analysed as representatives of two contemporary Dissenting doctrines.