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REVIEW
FEMALE CHRIST FIGURES:
FAITH AND FEMINISM IN LITERATURE
Morgan Hylton ‘21 | English and Community, Youth, Education Studies
INTRODUCTION
One of the most commonly used Christian
archetypes is that of the Christ figure—a
character sharing at least two or three similarities
with Jesus Christ. While these ties
can be minor—wounds in the hands or feet,
work as a carpenter, ability with children—
Christ figures almost always display major
concepts in the Christian religion: love,
sacrifice for others, and redemption. These
three ideas come together to create a narrative
that perfectly “follows the Christian
view of redemption” (Robinson). Female
Christ figures, though, often take on a greater
role. In addition to expressing the Christian
redemption story, female Christ figures
highlight the novel’s feminist social message.
The expressions and limitations of these
feminist messages reflect society’s attitudes
towards feminism, becoming more overtly
feminist over time.
This piece examines the role of female Christ figures in literature.
It considers literature primarily from the nineteeth and
twentieth centuries, comparing female Christ figures and male
Christ figures, as well as female Christ figures from nineteenth
century literature with those from twentieth century works. The
comparison finds many similarities between male and female
Christ figures, but also greater political implications in the use
of female Christ figures. Ultimately, it argues that the interpretation
and treatments of female figures in literature are dependent
upon the time periods in which works were created, allowing us
to track the development of feminist principles from the nineteeth
century into the twentieth century.
LITERARY REDEMPTION
The Christian redemption story, though
easily manipulated to become ironic or suit a
social message, is fairly simple: when Christ,
driven by immense unconditional love, sacrificed
his own life to save mankind, renewed
eternal life became possible for all individuals.
Even the lowest of society—represented
in our literature by drunks, prostitutes,
murderers, unwed mothers, and ungrateful
sons—can be redeemed by such a sacrifice.
This redemption narrative is told by nearly
every literary Christ figure, albeit with some
different nuances, and contributes to the
works’ messages that all people have the
potential to be saved (Rankin).
Like Jesus Christ, the starting point for
salvation through Christ figure is unconditional
love. While some Christ figures, such
as Dickens’s Sydney Carton, are driven by
romantic love, most Christ figures are driven
by agape. Agape is a Greek word used
to describe “divine love” that is “selfless
and self-sacrificial” (Robinson). Biblically,
the unconditional spiritual love that God
shows mankind is considered agape; literary
Christ figures frequently demonstrate this
same quality, oftentimes towards the least
deserving characters. Sonya from Crime and
Punishment loves Raskolnikov even after his
crime; Lizzie from “Goblin Market” loves her
sister even after her sexual transgressions;
the father from “Those Winter Sundays”
loves his son even though “no one ever
thanked him” (Gibian; Robinson; Hayden
5). The love shown towards these supremely
fallen characters conveys to readers the author’s
message that all are deserving of, and
all receive love.
Because of this love, literary Christ figures
are willing to sacrifice themselves for a
selfless cause, just as Jesus Christ sacrificed
himself for his beloved creation. Sacrifice
can take many forms: giving up life in place
of another, as Sydney died for Charles Darnay;
surrendering sexual desires to pursue a
higher calling, as Adam Bede’s Dinah Morris
(initially) refused to wed in order to preach;
sacrificing purity to support a family, as Sonya
did. All Christ figures give up their lives
in a different way; even if they do not physically
die, they put their life goals on hold for
a greater good.
These sacrifices serve as a catalyst for the final
part of the Christian redemption story—
renewal and redemption for all individuals.
While Christ figures can morally redeem
themselves by serving a higher calling—as
Sydney finds a moral purpose in his sacrifice—they
themselves rarely resurrect as Jesus
Christ does (Griffith). Rather, they make
redemption and renewal possible for others.
Scholarly Undergraduate Research Journal at Clark University
Sonya and Dinah encourage other characters
in their novels to repent—which, biblically,
is the first step towards renewal in Jesus
Christ—while Lizzie and Sydney give their
characters a second chance at life. Despite
the severe transgressions of non-Christ characters,
the sacrifices of Christ figures make
renewal “always possible”, thus restoring a
sense of hope for the readers; this is concept
is a central point of works featuring Christ
figures (Rankin).
19TH CENTURY CHRIST FIGURES
For novels featuring male Christ figures, this
Christ-sponsored hope of salvation for all is
the central theme of the work; thus, male
Christ figures derive their role solely in furthering
this religious allegory. Dickens even
starkly separates Sydney’s sacrifice from
the sacrifices of the villainous revolutionaries,
arguing “the grand sweep of historical
events” like socio-political revolutions is less
important than stories of personal redemption
and love (Griffith). In contrast, female
Christ figures—as they give women not only
the role of the saved but of the savior—serve
a greater role of advancing the work’s feminist
message. All three works referenced in
this essay—Adam Bede, “Goblin Market”,
and In the Time of the Butterflies—are widely
considered feminist literature, although
their messages vary as a result of differences
in historical context and personal background
of the writers.
The primary argument for Adam Bede and
“Goblin Market” as feminist literature is that
both of their Christ figures, Dinah and Lizzie
respectively, assert their independence
from men. In Dinah’s case, “she establishes
her independence by working in a mill” and
“further establishes her independence by her
preaching” (Anapol). Both give her avenues
to make her own living and pursue her own
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