The History of Henry Esmond · Concept
Religion and Morality
Religious faith, hypocrisy, and moral dilemmas are examined through characters like the Jesuit Father Holt and the pious Lady Castlewood, as well as Esmond's own spiritual and ethical development.
Religious faith, hypocrisy, and moral dilemmas are examined through characters like the Jesuit Father Holt and the pious Lady Castlewood, as well as Esmond's own spiritual and ethical development.
The presence of Father Holt and the secret Catholic sympathies of the late Lord Castlewood highlight the religious conflicts of the time.
Contrast between Huguenot psalm-singing and Catholic practices; Father Holt's amusement at Harry's Lutheran hymn.
Father Holt's influence over Harry and the boy's near-conversion to Catholicism, contrasted with the anti-Papist mob and the Protestant household.
Father Holt's instruction on the morality of lying to protect a king, and the tension between Catholic and Protestant allegiances.
Characters
Chapters
- The History of Henry Esmond
- Whither in the Time of Thomas, Third Viscount, I Had Preceded Him as Page to Isabella
- IV: I Am Placed Under a Popish Priest and Bred to That Religion—Viscountess Castlewood
- My Superiors Are Engaged in Plots for the Restoration of King James II
- X: I Go to Cambridge, and Do but Little Good There
- III: I Take the Queen's Pay in Quin's Regiment
- I Meet an Old Acquaintance in Flanders, and Find My Mother's Grave and My Own Cradle There
- Endnotes
