Citation

Wiehl J. Religion and Literature 2016; 48(3): 47-69.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016)

DOI

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PMID

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Abstract

Book the Third of Thomas Cooper's Chartist epic The Purgatory of Suicides (1845) depicts an extensive debate between Judas Iscariot and Lord Casdereagh on the reasons for their temporary damnation to purgatory. Both attempt to shirk blame by claiming that God appointed their sins; neither will see the error in his life and accept his righteous punishment. While the rest of the damned escape purgatory through developing a just theory of democracy, where workers have some say in their governance alongside kings and statesmen, Judas and Casdereagh continually assert predestination as the cause and mitigating factor in their sins. Neither escape purgatory. Much recent scholarship has focused on the rest of the poem and the various theories of communality apparent in Cooper's Chartism. Carefully considering this section, however, reveals the Protestant doctrinal engagement apparent in Cooper's ostensibly "atheist" poem. Cooper imagines that some subjectivities are not appropriate for democracy, and his poem resembles his contemporaries' theories of state-sponsored religions and British denominational history. © 2016 University of Notre Dame. All rights reserved.

Language: en