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Religion And Tradition In The Novels Of George Eliot, Viva Fisk

English Language and Literature ETDs

Readers and critics of the past have overemphasized George Eliot's loss of belief in the literal truth of Christianity to the extent that they have read her novels as rationalistic attacks on religion. She never denied religious values: her religion broadened to include such concepts as the value of tradition, of values inherited from the past, and of love and understanding as social forces. I turn to the novels to show these attitudes and ideas of George Eliot about religion and tradition precisely because so many commentators have neglected the novels and written only about women.