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Beauty and Belief Aesthetics and religion in Victorian literature Beautayn dB elief Aesthetics and religion in Victorian literature Hilary Fraser Post-Doctoral Research Fellow University of Western Australia Ther ighoft1 he Uni11erosfiC taym bridge top rim asnedl l almla nneorfb ooks wasg ranfbty' ti H<""VYII / in15 34. TheU nfrnshiatsyp rintetl 011d publisuhmetdi n11ously sinc1$e8 4. Cambridge University Press Cambridge London New York New Rochelle Melbourne Sydney CAMBRIDGEU NIVERSITPYR ESS CambridgNee,w Y orkM,e lbournMea,d riCd,a peT own,S ingapoSrileo,P aulo CambridUgnei versPirteys s TheE dinburBguhi ldiCnagm,b ridCgBe2 8RU,U K Publisihnet dh eU nited SotfaAt meesr icbay C ambridUgnei versPirteys Nse,w Y ork www.cambridge.org Informatioonnt hitsi tlwew:w .cambridge.org/9780521307673 © CambridUgnei versPirteys1 s9 86 Thipsu blicaitsii oncn o pyrigShutb.j etcots tatuteoxrcye ption andt ot hep rovisioofrn esl evcaonltl ecltiicveen saignrge ements, nor eproducotfia onnyp armta yt akpel acwei thotuhtew ritten permissoifoC na mbridUgnei versPirteys s. Firsptu blis1h9e8d6 Thisd igitaplrliyn tveedr si2o0n0 8 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data FraseHri,l ar1y9,5 3- Beautayn db elief. Bibliograpp.h y: Includiensd ex. I. Englilsiht eratI 9utrhce e-ntury-Hiasntdoc rryi ticism. 2.A estheticism (Li3t.eA reasttuhreeti)in cl si terature. 4.R eligiionnl iterat5u.rA ee.s thetBircist,i sIh..T itle. PR468.A33F7139 85 820'.9'008 85-11297 ISBN9 78-0-521-30h7a6r7d-b3a ck ISBN9 78-0-521-07p3a1p1e-r0b ack Contents Acknowledgements page ix List of abbreviations xi 1 Introduction 1 Theology: Keble, Newman, and the Oxford Movement 7 2 Epistemology and perception: Gerard Manley Hopkins 67 3 Criticism: John Ruskin and Matthew Arnold 107 4 Aestheticism: Walter Pater and Oscar Wilde 183 Conclusion 229 Notes 235 Select bibliography 275 Index 283 v To Rob Acknowledgements I should like to thank my supervisor at Oxford, Mr A. 0. J. Cockshut, for his guidance during the writing of the thesis on which this book is based. I am very grateful to Stephen Prickett for his thoughtful and detailed comments on how the thesis might be refined and improved upon for publication. Since then, many friends and colleagues have given practical advice, helpful information, and moral support. Max Beloff, John Clarke, George Hughes, and Hartley Slater kindly offered to read chapters of the book during its preparation, and I thank them for their generous help and invaluable suggestions. I should especially like to thank Ray Forsyth for sharing his extensive knowledge of Victorian literature, and for his constructive criticism at every stage of the book's development. I am greatly indebted to Graham Storey, of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and Alan Robinson, of the University of Lancaster, for reading the manuscript so carefully, pointing out my inaccuracies and omissions, and offering many stimulating ideas of their own. I am also grateful to David Bean, Jan Pritchard, Helen Watson-Williams, and Fay Zwicky for their helpful contributions. I owe thanks to the University of Western Australia and the Uni versity of Buckingham for providing the time and the research facilities which have enabled me to complete the book. Terence Moore, at Cambridge University Press, has given me considerable encouragement and advice, and I thank him for having the imagination to envisage the book that might be quarried from the thesis. I am very grateful to Lee Carter, Caroline Horobin, and Sue Lewis for so patiently and excel lently deciphering my manuscript, to Bruce McClintock for his help atthe proof stage, and to Pauline Marsh, who has provided valuable assistance in the editing of the text for Cambridge University Press. Finally, there are those to whom my indebtedness is really in expressible. I thank my parents for their untiring interest and encourage ment throughout my academic career. My husband's quiet confidence and cheerful optimism has made the completion of a long and unwieldy study not only possible but enjoyable. It may seem a poor reward for all his help and support, but it is to Rob that I dedicate this book. ix