Catching the wind in a net: The religious vision of Robertson Davies

After offering an introductory and very general religious biography of Robertson Davies, this dissertation explores the specifics of his theological tenets and the consequences of these for his ten novels. The first chapter "Toward a Definition of God: In Praise of the Quest" examines both his fundamental assurance about the existence of God and, in contradistinction to this initial certainty, his often tentative and even contradictory notions of the deity that are predicated from it. The ensuing chapter "The Devils of Robertson Davies" analyses the importance of his strong belief in the palpable presence of an external power of evil and of its personal counterpart, the evil inherent in each of us. This analysis, in turn, provides the underpinning for the next section "The Ambiguity of Good and Evil," which initially profiles the author's impugning of the Thomistic notion of evil as the privatio boni and then assesses the sometimes uneasy union of Davies' comic vision with his stated contention that good and evil frequently produce their opposites.; Subsequently, " thinspace'Walking on One Leg': On Christianity's Neglect of the Feminine" examines both another source of Davies' concern with Christian metaphysics, i.e., its deficiency regarding women specifically and feminine qualities generally, and his concomitant attempts in his fiction to remedy this inadequacy. Also at odds with conventional belief in his criticism of mass worship, which he views as encouraging the abdication of one's individual responsibility to undertake the onerous spiritual task of labouring for salvation through introspection. This and its manifestations in his art are chronicled in the chapter " thinspace'Preaching Selfishness': The Search for Self as a Religious Journey." The dissertation concludes by placing its findings in the context of the new revelation which Davies predicts will transpire early in the next millennium as the Platonic Aeon of Aquarius succeeds our present Aeon of Pisces.; Supplementing the thesis proper are two appendices. One outlines Davies' views about the symbolic Christ, as distinct from his historical counterpart. The other lists the numerous biblical allusions and quotations employed throughout his fiction.