Faith and Doubt: Religion and Secularisation in Literature from Wordsworth to Larkin

by R.L. Brett

Pairing great writers from each generation who typify the contrasts and concerns of their age, Professor Brett explores the complex interplay between faith and doubt in English literature since the Enlightenment. Not confining himself to a biographical and historical approach, he deploys his understanding of contemporary philosophy and ideology to throw a new light on often neglected areas. Figures considered in each chapter Wordsworth and Coleridge Carlyle and Arnold George Eliot and Dickens Tennyson and Browning Yeats and T.S. Eliot Auden and Larkin The thoroughness of treatment, displaying wide reading and considered judgement, is carried off with a light touch. To lucid argumentation is added a clear and elegant style, leading both students and general readers admirably through the discussion. Established scholars will also appreciate Professor Brett's skilful account of the subject, which reveals previously-unseen connections and patterns.

256 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1997