Religious criticism of Sensation Fiction in the Victorian era

In a different publication, thirty years later, ‘An Intolerant Churchman’ (1896, p.5) in The Lyttleton Times is clearly fed up with the rhetoric of the hard-liners as he reacts to the complaints of the Dean of Rochester: “the criticism of readers of fiction as: ‘”silly and indolent folk’” is one, which on the face of it is neither very charitable, nor absolutely correct.” (p.5). The obvious deduction to make from the strong words from Church publications of various denominations is that Christian religious belief was dipping among the masses of people on whom the Church had hitherto been able to rely. The publication of Darwin’s evolutionary ideas and the advance of Science undermined traditional beliefs. Julie Bizzotto (2013, p.297), quotes the historian Owen Chadwick: “mid-Victorian England asked itself the question, for the first time in popular understanding, is Christian faith true?” As Mary Elizabeth Braddon and Wilkie Collins paved the way for the fiction that excited the masses, a more secular society began to emerge causing the outrage of those staunch churchmen and publications who feared moral and religious decline. Reflecting on these views from a twenty-first century viewpoint, it might be tempting to look on these events with patronising smugness, feeling perhaps lucky that we live in a more tolerant society. Yet are not similar issues still prevalent in society, regarding perceived falls in moral standards, resistance to change and intolerance to those who appear different? Even now, Women are still not completely equal to men, nor has racial and sexual abuse been eradicated and the older generation of today are still concerned about the intoxication of young people by computer games, loud music and fictional worlds that seem alien and immoral.