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Sarah Fielding, Benevolent Heroism, and the "True Christian Philosophy"
- SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 58, Number 3, Summer 2018
- pp. 633-651
- 10.1353/sel.2018.0025
- Article
- Additional Information
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ABSTRACT:
This article examines Sarah Fielding's use of religious discourse in both parts of her most famous novel, David Simple, and argues that the novel's protagonist is best understood as a contested Christian hero. Through his broad-based and minimalist religious principles, and in his dealings with the various irreligious characters he meets in his travels, David deflects and attempts to transcend the doctrinal and theological divisions that plagued eighteenth-century English Christianity. Ultimately this article argues that recognizing the importance of Christian discourse to Fielding is crucial to understanding how David's benevolent heroism functions in the novel.