Examples of Religion in Victorian Texts

Examples of Religion in Victorian Texts

1. Dramas

   • A Woman of No Importance- Oscar Wilde
     • Miss Hester Worsley
       • Is an American puritan and an outsider to the British society in the play.
       • She is an open-hearted and honest character and falls for Gerald's natural beauty, his honesty and his simplicity.

2. Proses

   • Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
     • Mr Brocklehurst, Helen Burns and St. John Rivers
       • Mr Brocklehurst represents the dangers and hypocrisy of the 19th century church.
         • Tries to adopt evangelism but actually his treatment to the curly-haired children is very un-Christian.
         • With wealthy home life comes at the expense of his students.
       • Helen Burn's mode of Christianity is meek and forbearing.
         • 'I believe; I have faith: I am going to God'.
       • St. John's Christianity is about ambition, glory and extreme self-importance.
         • He wants he to sacrifice her own needs for moral duty.
     • Jane struggles to find the right balance between moral duty and earthly pleasure.
       • In Chapter 26, when her wedding is interrupted she prays to God for solace. Then in Chapter 28, when alone on the moors, she puts her survival in the hands of good.
         • 26; 'Be far not from me, trouble is near; there is none to help' -psalms.
       • Religion for Jane helps her curb immoderate passions and also her to have complete self-knowledge and faith in God.
   • Dracula- Baum Stoker
     • The Promise of Christian Salvation
       • The supernatural evil is combated by icons of the Christian faith; the crucifix is used to scare away Dracula's evil spirit.
         • 'We are Ministers of God's own wish'
       • Dracula stands as a satanic figure.
       • In Lucy's second death she is transformed into a vision of 'unequalled sweetness and purity'.
       • Crucifixes, communion wafers and crosses.

3. Poems

   • 'A Prayer'- Anne Bronte
     • Written at Thorp Green. She set them to the well known tune 'Justification'.
     • 'My weak feeble faith still clings to me'.
     • Turns to God in times of hardship and sorrow.