Loss and Gain
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Loss and Gain
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| Author | John Henry Newman |
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| Country | England |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Philosophical novel, Campus novel |
| Publisher | Burns & Oates |
| Publication date | 1848 |
Loss and Gain is a philosophical novel by John Henry Newman published in 1848. It depicts the culture of Oxford University in the mid-Victorian era and the conversion of a young student to Roman Catholicism. The novel went through nine editions during Newman's lifetime.[1] It was the first work Newman published after his conversion to Roman Catholicism in 1845.[2]
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[edit] Plot introduction
The novel describes the education of Charles Reding at Oxford University, where he strives to avoid being influenced by "parties," such as the Oxford Movement. He struggles against his inclinations towards Roman Catholicism but eventually decides he must convert, causing great consternation to his family and friends, but finding personal fulfillment.
[edit] Plot summary
Charles Reding arrives at Oxford University planning to follow the advice and example of his father, and to submit to the teachings of the Church of England without becoming involved in any factious parties. Reding is inclined towards a form of Latitudinarianism, following the maxim "Measure people by what they are, and not by what they are not."[3] His conversations with his friend Sheffield convince him, however, that there must be right and wrong answers in doctrinal matters. In order to follow the right views Reding seeks a source of Church authority, and is disappointed to find only party dissension and the Protestant doctrine of Private Judgment, which locates interpretive authority in the individual and thereby leads (in Newman's view) to the espousal of contradictory views. Furthermore, Reding begins to have doubts about the Thirty-nine Articles to which he must subscribe in order to take his degree. His doubts are briefly dispelled following the death of his father, but return soon afterwards. In particular, several brief encounters with Willis, a former Oxford peer who converted to Roman Catholicism, greatly excite and trouble him. Suspicious of his speculations, Jennings forces Reding to live away from Oxford while studying for his exams, so as not to corrupt other students. Reding confesses his doubts to his sister Mary, who does not understand them and loses trust in her brother. When Reding finally decides he must convert, Mary, his mother, and several family friends express resentment and anger. He travels to London, on the way receiving encouragement from a Catholic priest (perhaps Newman himself),[4] the first he has ever met. While in London Reding is confronted by emissaries from various religious and philosophical sects who, hearing about his departure from the Church, want to recruit him for their own causes. Ultimately, however, Reding arrives at the Passionists Convent, where he joins the Roman Catholic Church.
[edit] Characters in "Loss and Gain"
- Charles Reding - A young Oxford student inclined to submit to tradition and Church authority, who comes to feel, in spite of himself, that the Roman Church is the true Church. He is also inclined towards celibacy. Although he is much younger than Newman himself was when he converted, Reding is commonly seen as an autobiographical figure.[5]
- Reverend Reding - Charles' father, a country clergyman who follows an intellectually conservative path.
- Mary - Reding's sister, who despite her love for her brother, is intolerant of his religious doubts and his conversion.
- William Sheffield - A friend of Reding, described as "viewy" in that he participates in Oxford fads, but ultimately uncommitted to any particular religious view.
- Willis - An Oxford student who converts to Roman Catholicism, and later helps convince Reding to convert.
- Bateman - An Oxford student inclined towards High church Anglican Catholicism, particularly because of its architecture and vestments. He unsuccesfully attempts to reconvert Willis.
- Mr. Malcolm - A friend of Rev. Reding, who condemns Charles for his conversion.
- Jennings - Vice-principal at Oxford; he suspects Reding of Catholic views and therefore sends him away from Oxford.
- Campbell - An Anglican friend of Reding, who sympathizes with Reding, although he does not support his conversion. He marries Mary.
- Mr. Upton - Lecturer on the Thirty-nine Articles. He reports Reding's questions as suspicious.
- Mr. Vincent - A junior Tutor who Reding looks to for guidance, who simply advises Reding to avoid religious factions.
- Freeborn - An Evangelical who hosts a religious conversation over tea.
[edit] Analysis and Major Themes
Loss and Gain has been called a bildungsroman[6] because it describes "the mental growth of an individual... who has to choose between rival systems and loyalties which vie for his attention and support."[7] Reding's intellectual development towards Roman Catholicism parallels (although it is not identical to) that of Newman himself, described in his 1864 autobiography Apologia Pro Vita Sua. Expressing Newman's belief that all aspects of experience are interconnected, Charles' views develop during the course of daily life,[8] responding to the fashions of Oxford at moment; Loss and Gain was possibly the first novel set entirely within a university milieu[9] and Newman included numerous locally used colloquialisms to enhance the impression of everyday life.[10] The novel has an essentially "dialogical structure" reminiscent of the dialogues of Plato,[11] consisting largely of a series of intellectual conversations Charles has with a wide range of acquaintances on religious subjects such as Catholicism, the Thirty-nine Articles, the Athanasian Creed, and apostasy. Each character has a personal as well as an intellectual relationship with Charles, and possesses at best a partial truth from which Charles draws his own conclusions.[12] The novel has also been considered a satire because of its accounts of the inconsistencies adopted by Anglican thinkers[13] and of the trendy religious beliefs that urge themselves on Charles in London.
[edit] Origins
Newman wrote Loss and Gain as a response to From Oxford to Rome: And how it fared with some who lately made the journey, a novel by Miss Elizabeth Harris that suggested that Newman and other converts were considering returning to the Church of England.[14]
[edit] Reception
The first reviewers of Loss and Gain tended to judge it according to its theological principles rather than its literary merits, and accordingly were divided along denominational lines.[15]
Mrs. Humphrey Ward referred to Loss and Gain, along with Sartor Resartus, The Nemesis of Faith, Alton Locke, and Marius the Epicurean, as one of the works "to which the future student of the nineteenth century will have to look for what is deepest, most intimate, and most real in its personal experience."[16]
[edit] Publication history
"The novel went through nine editions in Newman's lifetime. There were also two American editions (Boston, 1854 and 1855), and translations into French and Italian each went through two editions in the 1850s. A German translation is recorded in 1861. The original manuscript has not survived."[17]
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Newman, John Henry [1848] (1986). Loss and Gain, Ed. Alan G. Hill, Oxford: Oxford UP.
- Hill, Alan G. (1986). Introduction. Loss and Gain by John Henry Newman. Oxford: Oxford UP.
- Crawford, Charlotte E. (1950), “The Novel that Occasioned Newman's Loss and Gain”, Modern Language Notes 65 (6): 414-418
- Ker, Ian (1990). "Newman the Satirist", Newman after a Hundred Years, Ed. Ker and Hill, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1-20.
- Hill, Alan G. (1990). "Originality and Realism in Newman's Novels", Newman after a Hundred Years, Ed. Ker and Hill, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 21-42.
- Block, Ed Jr. (1992). "Venture and Response: The Dialogical Strategy of Newman's Loss and Gain", Critical Essays on John Henry Newman, Ed. Ed Block Jr., University of Victoria: English Literary Studies, 23-38.
