St John and the Victorians

by Michael Wheeler

• ISBN13: 9780521509725
• ISBN10: 0521509726
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-01-16
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The Gospel according to St John, often regarded as the most important of the gospels in the account it gives of Jesus' life and divinity, received close attention from nineteenth-century biblical scholars and prompted a significant response in the arts. This original interdisciplinary study of the cultural afterlife of John in Victorian Britain places literature, the visual arts and music in their religious context. Discussion of the Evangelist, the Gospel and its famous prologue is followed by an examination of particular episodes that are unique to John. Michael Wheeler's research reveals the depth of biblical influence on British culture and on individuals such as Ruskin, Holman Hunt and Tennyson. He makes a significant contribution to the understanding of culture, religion and scholarship in the period.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	p. ix
Preface	p. xiii
Notes on referencing	p. xvi
The Evangelist, The Gospel, The Word
The Apostle of love: St John the Evangelist	p. 3
Young disciple and aged divine	p. 3
Witness and contemplative	p. 13
Beloved disciple and Apostle of love	p. 20
'The most marvellous enigma': the fourth gospel	p. 29
Traditional and critical orthodoxies	p. 29
Poetry and mysticism	p. 41
The Light of the Word: Incarnation	p. 52
Light and Life	p. 52
Interpreting the Word	p. 57
Representing the Light	p. 69
Interpretations and Representations
Water into wine: the miracle at Cana	p. 85
In defence of miracles	p. 85
Illustrating Cana	p. 96
The poetry of manifestation	p. 104
Living water: the woman at the well	p. 111
Fact or allegory?	p. 111
Christology at the well	p. 118
The fallen woman converted	p. 129
Raising the dead: Lazarus of Bethany	p. 139
A problematic narrative	p. 139
The quintessence of John	p. 144
Poetic language and narrative silence	p. 152
A beauty which art cannot reach	p. 162
'Behold thy mother': at the foot of the Cross	p. 169
Catholic versus Protestant	p. 169
Bloody crucifixes and gilded Virgins	p. 179
Anglicizing the Stabat Mater	p. 189
Touching the risen body: Mary Magdalene and Thomas	p. 199
Sainthood and misrepresentation	p. 199
The poetry of faith and doubt	p. 211
Picturing the risen Christ	p. 224
Afterword	p. 236
Bibliography	p. 239
Index	p. 262
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