Book Review: Dickens, Religion, and Society, by Robert Butterworth

Charles Dickens was one of the most prolific authors of his time. Many of his stories are still read today. Here’s the kicker though—many of his stories also had religious undertones. This book explores Dickens’ takes on religion as well as society.

Chapter 1 specifically looks at Dickens and religion. Chapter 2 looks at his responses to the Christian social attitudes of his day. After these introductory chapters on Dickens and religion, the next 5 chapters are spent covering individual books on this topic:

• Chapter 3—Oliver Twist
• Chapter 4 introduces the next three books.
• Chapter 5—Bleak House
• Chapter 6—Hard Times
• Chapter 7—Little Dorrit

Chapter 8 transitions from religion to society, with a specific look at Dickens and politics. 2 more books are covered in this section:

• Chapter 9—Barnaby Rudge
• Chapter 10—A Tale of Two Cities

Chapter 11 concludes the book with Dickens and sentimentality and what it really meant to him.

I felt that this book was an interesting perspective on Dickens. The religion of authors often plays a huge role in their writing, and this did not change for Dickens. Societal perspectives also contribute to writings and Dickens was a master of using and abusing society in his writings. For these reasons, I give this book 4 stars out of 5.

WHERE TO BUY THIS BOOK:

http://www.springer.com/us/book/9781137558701 

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THIS BOOK:

Butterworth, Robert. Dickens, Religion, and Society. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International, 2016.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL: I received a complimentary copy of this book through the Springer book review program, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.