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RELIGION AND MORALITY, The influence of religion and of Christianity on…
RELIGION AND MORALITY
(W) AN IDEAL HUSBAND
CRITICISM OF MORAL ABSOLUTISM
- (RC) "Do you think it's fair that a whole man's career should be ruined for a fault done in one's boyhood?"
- (RC, stage directions) "A nervous temperament, with a tired look." - personal emotional and physical toil of sin and of overbearing religious expectations
Relate contextually to the Parnell incident, Wilde's own impending outing and his comment on colonialism, that "England is the most deeply occupied of the British colonies" as our efforts to uphold our Puritanism and and moral idealism comes at the expense of our own liberty)Lady Chiltern (and society) as capricious and moral standings weak and pliable. Lady Chiltern's repetition of Lord Goring's rhetoric on the role of women in Act 4 ,* "A man's life is of more value than a woman's. It has larger issues, wider scope, greater ambitions.",
- Lady Chiltern's unwillingness to confess the truth of her letter to Lord Goring, instead plotting to "intercept" it.
- In act two her "sobs" are likened to the "sobs of a child" - general comment on the puerile, myopic and niavitie of Lady Chiltern's outlook
PERVERSION OF RELIGION:
- (LG) remarks that the "Gospel of Gold" is a "thoroughly shallow creed"
- (RC) "What this century worships is wealth. The God of this century is wealth."
Sense of a Faustian Pact, "(LG) "Robert, how could you have sold yourself for money?"
(Faustian Pact idea in "The Picture of Dorian Grey" - incompatibility of religious morals and capitalism and the power money affords, yet the triumph of commerce in the Victorian age. LINK: incompatibility of love and religion to Rossetti: Song?, Shut Out, Echo, A Birthday, Twice)
Small Quotes:
- "Puritanism"
- Lady Chiltern is a woman of the "highest principles",
- Robert Chiltern only made contributions to "public charities" in order to "disharm destiny"
- Mrs Chevely states that Gertrude has "The ten commandments in every stroke of the pen"
DOUBLE STANDARDS OF MORALITY:
- (RC) "Yes; my wife is as perfect as all that."
- (RC) "She stands apart as good women do - pitiless in their perfection - cold and stern and without mercy."
Sympathetic towards the male characters who are corrupt (Robert Chiltern) despite him suffering no "remorse", justifying that the corrupt circumstances/times had forced his hand into corrupt dealings, "I felt that I had fought the century with it's own weapons and won." He does not repent for his sins, only contributing to public charities to "disharm destiny" and then is restored and even rewarded with a seat in the Cabinet, whereas Mrs Cheveley is "lamia-like", inherently evil and contemptuous and who's fate is unannounced, likely made a social outcast - (Shut Out, Maude Clare)
Forgiveness of Robert done in an effort to deconstruct the Puritanical mania that he will fall victim to in the event of his homosexuality being outed. Women percieved as the "guardians of the Nation's morals" and thus held to a higher standard in this respect, whereas Lord Goring flippantly alludes to the inherant corruption and amorality of men and male institutions:(LG) "That is why they are so pleased to find out other people's secrets. It distracts public attention from their own."
(LG) "A man who can not talk morality twice a week to a large, popular, immoral audience is quite over as a serious politician."
(RC) "Men who everyday do something of the same kind themselves."
although, Lady Chiltern said to make a "false idol" of her husband and place him upon a "monstrous pedastal"
Homoeroticism most prevalent in Act 2, Robert explaining Baron Arnheim's role in introducing him to the "Gospel of Gold"
- subliminal link between homosexuality and financial corruption is an implicit criticism of homosexuality?
That it is incompatible with Victorian ideals?
"strange smile on his pale, curved lips" - allusion to relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas
(R) POEMS
PERVERSION OF RELIGION
Just as Wilde explores the incomaptability of religion and capitalism, Rossetti explores the irreconcilibility of romantic love and religion:
- The World (1854) , "Woo[d] by earthly temptations" - desire and lust embodied by the seductive femme fatal leaves one fearing for their immortal life
- Echo Oh dream how sweet too sweet, too bitter sweet - repetition and verb "too" denotes indulgence and that the speaker's profound heartbreak is a consequence of succumbing to love, temptation and desire
- Song, When I am Dead My Dearest, rejection of traditional notions of sentimenatlity and love, "Plant thou no roses at my head nor shady cypruss tree."
- Twice, poem is a criticism of temporal, romantic love, which is belittling ("A woman's words are weak. You should speak not I", "With a critical eye you scann'd" and commodifying "It is still unripe, Better wait awhile...Till the corn grows brown") and a celebration and veneration of religion: - "All that I have I bring, all that I am I give."
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(W) CONTEXT
Parnell, to whom Wilde was well aquatinted and very interested, was disgraced by his year long affair with a married women, Kitty O'Shea
- In "The Soul of Man under Socialism" Wilde expresses his contempt for journalists who, "drag before the eyes of the public some incident in the private life of a great statesman."
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(R) CONTEXT
Capitalism brought within it the individualist ideology which contradicted and challenged a lot of Religious and Christian principles
Personal
Tractarian - sought to resolve socio-political issues through application of the Bible
DOCTRINE OF RESERVE
Rejected two potential suitors on grounds of religious differences: James Collinson reverted to Catholicism and Charles Cayley was agnostic
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Political Developments
Catholic Emancipation Edict (1829): enabled Catholics to take seats in Parliament. Though done in the interest of improving religious tolerance, it actually renewed hostilities - Ireland was predominantly Catholic
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Social Developments
More secular and scientific developments of the century challenged Religious understandings:
- Geologist Charles Lyell published "Principles of Geology" (1831-1833)
- Charles Darwin's "Origin of the Species" (1859) and "Descent of Man" (1871)
Thomas Huxley** first used the term "agnostic" in 1869
The influence of religion and of Christianity on Rossetti and Wilde is evident within their respective works.
However, while Wilde seems to operate within and rely on a social framework to punish sin and uphold moral expectations, Rossetti places her faith and devotion entirely in God. In this sense, it could be argued that principles and values of the Victorian age, such as materialism, capitalism and industrialism have become the "God of this century."