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CMP#265 References to Christianity in The Woman of Colour (1808), a Concordance
I am sharing a research aid for students of The Woman of Colour which itemizes the times when the heroine Olivia Fairfield references her Christian faith. This chart was created by ChatGPT. I asked for this research aid because it appears to me that the Christian message is central to this novel but it has been largely ignored in modern critical commentary, with a few notable exceptions, such as in the work of Victoria Barnett-Woods, Octavia Cox, and Hyewon Ryu. It seems to me that you can't describe this novel accurately, let alone analyze it, without taking into account its strong Christian message.
You'll notice this author is far more explicit in her Christian faith than, for example, Jane Austen. This particular genre is known as a "moral-domestic" novel, a term popularized by scholar Anthony Mandal. Hilary Haven (Didactic Novels and British Women's Writing, 1790-1820), describes moral domestic novels as "religiously-informed, heroine-centred narratives." That description certainly fits here. Other authors of moral domestic novels included Barbara Hofland, Hannah More and Ann Raikes Harding.
For more posts about The Woman of Colour and my research into the anonymous author, click the category "Woman of Colour mystery" to the right.
You'll notice this author is far more explicit in her Christian faith than, for example, Jane Austen. This particular genre is known as a "moral-domestic" novel, a term popularized by scholar Anthony Mandal. Hilary Haven (Didactic Novels and British Women's Writing, 1790-1820), describes moral domestic novels as "religiously-informed, heroine-centred narratives." That description certainly fits here. Other authors of moral domestic novels included Barbara Hofland, Hannah More and Ann Raikes Harding.
For more posts about The Woman of Colour and my research into the anonymous author, click the category "Woman of Colour mystery" to the right.
Method. This working concordance records substantive references in Olivia Fairfield’s correspondence to God, Providence, Christian belief and duty, prayer, worship, Scripture, divine government, resignation, and the afterlife. Page numbers refer to Lyndon J. Dominique’s Broadview edition (2008). The list is intended as a reproducible working aid rather than a claim that every possible biblical echo or conventional religious expression has been counted.
Summary of the Distribution: The concordance contains over forty substantive passages, depending on whether adjacent statements are combined. The important feature is their distribution: Olivia’s religious language appears from her first letter to her last and occurs during anticipation, danger, courtship, marriage, domestic happiness, catastrophe, forgiveness, and final departure. It is therefore not merely a language generated by the crisis in the latter part of the novel.
Particularly significant comparison. Before the central calamity, Olivia speaks of a “superintending Providence” and asks how she could support herself without her “firm faith in God” (82–83). Later she says that human beings should not question the “dispensations of an all-wise and all-just God” and that afflictions prepare them for “eternal bliss” (161). The editor’s closing appeal to “our most holy faith” and consciousness of a “divine Disposer of Events” is therefore conceptually continuous with Olivia’s repeatedly stated theology.
Editorial note. This is a working research concordance. Before publication, quotations should be checked directly against the edition used for the article, particularly where OCR or typographical modernization may affect punctuation.
Particularly significant comparison. Before the central calamity, Olivia speaks of a “superintending Providence” and asks how she could support herself without her “firm faith in God” (82–83). Later she says that human beings should not question the “dispensations of an all-wise and all-just God” and that afflictions prepare them for “eternal bliss” (161). The editor’s closing appeal to “our most holy faith” and consciousness of a “divine Disposer of Events” is therefore conceptually continuous with Olivia’s repeatedly stated theology.
Editorial note. This is a working research concordance. Before publication, quotations should be checked directly against the edition used for the article, particularly where OCR or typographical modernization may affect punctuation.
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