Eliot and Methodism in Adam Bede

Eliot and Methodism in Adam Bede

Adam Bede was George Eliot's-pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans-second book and first novel. Eliot was raised in a strict Methodist family. Her friendships with two skeptical philosophers, Charles Bray and Charles Hennell, brought her to challenge and eventually reject her rigid religious upbringing ("George Eliot" 91). Adam Bede was based on a story told to Eliot by one of her Methodist aunts, a tragicomedy, and the moral of the novel is that man cannot escape the results of his actions (Wiesenfarth 145). Adam Bede is a novel of English pastoral life (Magill 26). Eliot's commentary on John Wesley's Methodism comes most notably through the character Dinah Morris; however, the other characters' actions also reflect Eliot's view of Methodism. An unsigned review-attributed to Anne Mozely-in the July 1859 edition of Bently's Quarterly Review stated that "where a Methodist preacher is heroine the question of religion must be more predominant than it is usually permitted to be in a novel" (Carrol 95). In Adam Bede George Eliot gives an accurate portrayal of Methodism, but by doing so, she shows her belief that Methodism was unimportant to rural English life.

"Methodism arose from the search of John Wesley and his brother Charles for a deepened religious life within the ordered ways of the Church of England, which John described as 'the best constituted national church in the world'" (Baker 493). Wesley sought no drastic reform in doctrines but rather a greater spiritual experience. He also strove for "more opportunity for a spiritual quest within Christian groups, undeterred by denominational barriers" (Baker 493). In the Complete English Dictionary of 1753 Wesley defined a Methodist as "o...

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... a Century. New York, London: W.W. Norton & Company. 1991.

Magill, Frank N. ed. Masterplots Vol. 1. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Salem Press, 1996.

Wiesenfarth, Joe. "George Eliot." Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vol. 21. Ed. Ira B. Nadel and William E. Freedman. Detroit: Gale, Inc. 1983.

Outline

Thesis: Eliot's accurate portrayal of Methodism shows her belief that it was unimportant to rural English Life

I. Background of Methodism

A. Founding

B. Ideals

II. Accuracy of Portrayal

A. Eliot's Research

B. Outdoor Sermons

C. Women in ministry

III. Unimportance of Methodism

A. Serves as a reason for Dinah's actions

B. Methodists' reaction

Conclusion