English Clerical Types in George Eliot’s Novels

Authors

Nelle Osborn Akert, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Date of this Version

6-1934

Document Type

Thesis

Citation

Thesis (M.A.)—University of Nebraska—Lincoln, 1934. Department of English.

Comments

Copyright 1934, the author. Used by permission.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to give a classified presentation of the English clergymen portrayed in the novels of George Eliot.

The author groups George Eliot’s clergymen into four categories:

1. worldly clergymen (The Reverend Mr. Debarry, with his fear of debates, and his devotion to public office, along with Farebrother, with his innate preference for scholarship, Cadwallader, with his fondness for fishing, Gascoigne, with his delight in a convenient marriage, Lingon, with his gift for swearing at the right time, and Stelling, with his eagerness for promotion),

2. egotistical clergymen (Reverend Edward Casaubon and Amos Barton),

3. pastoral clergymen (Reverend Adolphus Irwine, Reverend Mr. Kenn, and Reverend Maynard Gilfill),

4. spiritual clergymen (Dinah Morris, with her heavenly-mindedness and her intense concern for the souls of others; Rufus Lyon, with his inner wrestlings and his prayer for a “listening spirit;” and Edgar Tryan, with his contempt for the world and his spirit of renunciation).

Advisor: Lowry Charles Wimberly