Henry Fielding and the Narration of Providence: Divine Design and the Incursions of Evil FROM THE PUBLISHER
Henry Fielding and the Narration of Providence analyzes the fate in 18th-century England of the Augustinian tradition of the providential design of history. At this time the retrospective form of literary narrative (also know as "the rise of the English novel") flourished, particularly in the novels of Henry Fielding. Through his "historian" narrators, Fielding presents to the reader a sense of narrative ending that explores, with great power of poetic penetration, the claims humans can and cannot make, even retrospectively, for the realization of the divine design.
Author Biography: Richard Rosengarten is Dean and Associate Professor of Religion and Literature at the University of Chicago Divinity School.
FROM THE CRITICS
Booknews
Using Fielding's novels as evidence, Rosengarten (religion and literature, U. of Chicago Divinity School) analyzes the fate of the Augustinian tradition of the providential design of history in 18th- century England. He finds that the classic idea of providence is affirmed, but moves from its classic theological position in the earlier novels to a point where providence and eschatology are understood to be the same in the final novel, . Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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