Methodism in English fiction

Abstract

Methodism makes infrequent appearances in modern English literature, but in the nineteenth century there were many novels with Methodist themes, settings, characters and authors. Many portrayed it as a sect whose members displayed unseemly religious enthusiasm. This article uses three novels from the first decades of the twentieth century and two from the twenty-first century to construct the more recent imagined portrait of Methodism available to readers of English novels. Diverse literary representations of Methodism are facilitated by the complexity of its origins, history and defining characteristics and this study concludes that the Methodist Church faces challenges from its fictional depiction.