Church and Stage in Victorian England

This 1997 book explores the process of reconciliation between the Church of England and the theatre during the reign of Queen Victoria.

Richard Foulkes (Author)

9780521453202, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 June 1997

278 pages, 20 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.58 kg

'… full of relishable detail'. The Times Literary Supplement

During the reign of Queen Victoria, herself an ardent theatregoer as well as Supreme Governor of the Church of England, a remarkable rapprochement was effected between the Church and the stage. This 1997 book explores the implications for the theatre of the great religious movements of the period: Tractarianism, Christian Socialism and Latitudinarianism. This central relationship is seen in the context of other important themes in Victorian cultural history such as censorship, urbanization, transport, leisure, self-improvement and women's emancipation. The volume contains portraits of significant churchmen, dramatists, actors and actresses, including Newman and Keble, Bulwer Lytton and Shaw, Irving, Fanny Kemble and Ellen Terry. They were amongst the influential figures who participated in the search for a common culture which preoccupied the nineteenth century. To the Victorians the Church and the theatre were important parts of everyday life; in this study the two institutions are explored in relation not only to each other but also to the social, economic and intellectual movements of the period.

List of illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introit
1. Heralds of change
2. Censure and censorship
3. Two professions
4. Clerical attitudes
5 Self-improvement
6. Shakespeare
7. From Passion Play to pantomime
8. The ancient universities
9. Actresses
10. Headlam, hell and Hole
11. Henry Arthur Jones and Wilson Barrett
12. Henry Irving
Epilogue
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Theatre studies [AN]