Title Sacred engagements : interfaith marriage, religious toleration, and the British novel, 1750-1820 / Alison Conway

Published Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2023

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Description 1 online resource Contents Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: Novel Intimacies -- 1 Religious Toleration and Interfaith Marriage, 1640-1720 -- 2 Sir Charles Grandison's Religious Disturbances -- 3 Frances Brooke's Civil Disputes -- 4 Elizabeth Inchbald among the Cisalpines -- 5 Maria Edgeworth's Jewish Enlightenment -- Conclusion: Mansfield Park Closes Its Gates -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- X -- Y -- Z Summary "The marriage plot is a ubiquitous theme across the history of the novel, beginning from the earliest examples of long-form prose published in the eighteenth century. What Sacred Engagements brings to this well-trodden area of literary studies is a unique feminist perspective on the relationship between fiction and interfaith marriage during a moment of broader cultural discourse about religious tolerance in England. Conway reads quite broadly for the marriage plot, including among her readings novels by Samuel Richardson, Frances Brooke, Elizabeth Inchbald, and Maria Edgeworth in which minor characters marry outside of their own religious institution, or the novel's hero and heroine have a failed courtship and do not marry by the novel's end. Her intervention at the nexus of literature and religion is also unique; existing studies in this subfield often focus on a particular religious sect and literary representations of it, whereas Conway reads for relationships forged across religious boundaries. While a political history of England in this period reveals a partial picture of how tolerance came to be during the Enlightenment, Conway's study of the novel shows a more nuanced story about the challenges of peaceful coexistence through its representations of interfaith marriage. By foregrounding women's right to liberty of conscience, interfaith marriage counters the privatization of religious affect and the naturalization of women's subordination in marriage. The interfaith marriage plot invites us to review the terms governing our narratives of marriage and community, and the ethics of sociability that sustain them, both in relation to the history of the novel and to our contemporary moment"-- Provided by publisher Subject Richardson, Samuel, 1689-1761. History of Sir Charles Grandison. Brooke, Frances, 1724?-1789. History of Emily Montague Inchbald, Mrs., 1753-1821. Simple story Edgeworth, Maria, 1768-1849. Harrington SUBJECT History of Sir Charles Grandison (Richardson, Samuel) fast Simple story (Inchbald, Mrs.) fast Subject English fiction -- 18th century -- History and criticism English fiction -- 19th century -- History and criticism Interfaith marriage in literature. Religious tolerance in literature. Women in literature. Religion and politics -- Great Britain -- History English fiction Interfaith marriage in literature Religion and politics Religious tolerance in literature Women in literature Great Britain Genre/Form Electronic books Criticism, interpretation, etc. History Form Electronic book ISBN 9781421445168 1421445166

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