Superiority to Reason: A Question of Faith in the Moonstone
Lise Gaston
October 29th, 2006
English 200C
“ Superiority to Reason:” A Question of Faith in The Moonstone
Wilkie Collins’ The Moonstone reflects Victorian society’s struggle with reason and faith: the value of scientific reason versus faith in God and in a literal Bible. The novel primarily explores secular faith, which eventually triumphs over reason. The first narrator, Gabriel Betteredge, comically professes his distaste for reason, and his “unreasonable” claims ironically prove to be correct. Other characters display varying levels of faith in each other; the reader has to decide who and what to believe. The Moonstone is a work of fiction, and Betteredge’s plea for blind belief may symbolize a plea for fiction in general, among a society that values usefulness and reason.
Betteredge instructs the reader on how to avoid “many troubles of the vexing sort:” “[c]ultivate a superiority to reason, and see how you pare the claws of all sensible people when they try to scratch you for your own good!” (166). He says this in defiance of Sergeant Cuff’s “reasonable” deduction that Rachel Verinder stole the Moonstone. Betteredge’s attitude suggests that the reader need not accept the logical answers in this narrative either. The reader must depend on what the characters say about themselves, and about other, to come to his or her own conclusions. It is apparent, for example, that Betteredge’s “unreasonableness” is caused by his knowledge of Rachel’s character and by his own attachment.
Rachel herself ultimately chooses faith over reason, while the foolish Miss Clack shares Betteredge’s “superiority” from the beginning. Rachel witnesses Franklin Blake’s theft of the diamond, giving her firm and reasonable proof that he is guilty. However, when Ezra Jennings hypothesizes a cause of the theft, Rachel instantly believes in Blake’s innocence without acquiring proof. Like Betteredge, her belief stems from attachment. Miss Clack’s belief comes from her religious leanings and feelings of self-importance. She categorizes herself in a group of “true Christian[s]” who “are above reason” (227). This attitude, which creates amiable naivety in Betteredge and shows the strength of Rachel’s attachments, endows Miss Clack with arrogance and stubbornness. Unlike Betteredge, who states his mind but does not particularly aim to convince others, Miss Clack’s professed goal is to convert those around her to her way of thinking. Miss Clack’s imperviousness to reason causes her to impose herself on both the reader and the characters, and, though laughed at like Betteredge, she is not likeable.
The Moonstone contains another type of belief: the belief in the supernatural curse of the diamond. Whether the characters have faith in the curse is difficult to discern: John Herncastle, for instance, lives his life in fear, but is it fear of the curse or of the concrete threat of the Indians? Similarly, the diamond brings misery into the main characters’ lives: is the stone to blame, or is it strictly the “influence of character[s] on circumstances,” as Collins states in his Preface?
Betteredge’s initial statement about “superiority to reason” not only suggests how to read The Moonstone’s unpredictable plot, but also represents the “superiority” of novels over “reasonable” texts. Though novels were popular in Victorian society, many people did not consider them educational or productive. Though Betteredge is not the most intelligent character in The Moonstone, his irrational ideas of Rachel’s innocence are ultimately proved right, while the ever-practical Cuff is wrong. Betterdge’s stance against reason is victorious: are novels, too, portrayed as “superior” to the useful and practical Victorian texts? The affable Betteredge, with his utter faith and reliance in Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, would agree. The detestable Miss Clack would, of course, be in agitated opposition.
Works Cited
Collins, Wilkie. The Moonstone. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
October 29th, 2006
English 200C
“ Superiority to Reason:” A Question of Faith in The Moonstone
Wilkie Collins’ The Moonstone reflects Victorian society’s struggle with reason and faith: the value of scientific reason versus faith in God and in a literal Bible. The novel primarily explores secular faith, which eventually triumphs over reason. The first narrator, Gabriel Betteredge, comically professes his distaste for reason, and his “unreasonable” claims ironically prove to be correct. Other characters display varying levels of faith in each other; the reader has to decide who and what to believe. The Moonstone is a work of fiction, and Betteredge’s plea for blind belief may symbolize a plea for fiction in general, among a society that values usefulness and reason.
Betteredge instructs the reader on how to avoid “many troubles of the vexing sort:” “[c]ultivate a superiority to reason, and see how you pare the claws of all sensible people when they try to scratch you for your own good!” (166). He says this in defiance of Sergeant Cuff’s “reasonable” deduction that Rachel Verinder stole the Moonstone. Betteredge’s attitude suggests that the reader need not accept the logical answers in this narrative either. The reader must depend on what the characters say about themselves, and about other, to come to his or her own conclusions. It is apparent, for example, that Betteredge’s “unreasonableness” is caused by his knowledge of Rachel’s character and by his own attachment.
Rachel herself ultimately chooses faith over reason, while the foolish Miss Clack shares Betteredge’s “superiority” from the beginning. Rachel witnesses Franklin Blake’s theft of the diamond, giving her firm and reasonable proof that he is guilty. However, when Ezra Jennings hypothesizes a cause of the theft, Rachel instantly believes in Blake’s innocence without acquiring proof. Like Betteredge, her belief stems from attachment. Miss Clack’s belief comes from her religious leanings and feelings of self-importance. She categorizes herself in a group of “true Christian[s]” who “are above reason” (227). This attitude, which creates amiable naivety in Betteredge and shows the strength of Rachel’s attachments, endows Miss Clack with arrogance and stubbornness. Unlike Betteredge, who states his mind but does not particularly aim to convince others, Miss Clack’s professed goal is to convert those around her to her way of thinking. Miss Clack’s imperviousness to reason causes her to impose herself on both the reader and the characters, and, though laughed at like Betteredge, she is not likeable.
The Moonstone contains another type of belief: the belief in the supernatural curse of the diamond. Whether the characters have faith in the curse is difficult to discern: John Herncastle, for instance, lives his life in fear, but is it fear of the curse or of the concrete threat of the Indians? Similarly, the diamond brings misery into the main characters’ lives: is the stone to blame, or is it strictly the “influence of character[s] on circumstances,” as Collins states in his Preface?
Betteredge’s initial statement about “superiority to reason” not only suggests how to read The Moonstone’s unpredictable plot, but also represents the “superiority” of novels over “reasonable” texts. Though novels were popular in Victorian society, many people did not consider them educational or productive. Though Betteredge is not the most intelligent character in The Moonstone, his irrational ideas of Rachel’s innocence are ultimately proved right, while the ever-practical Cuff is wrong. Betterdge’s stance against reason is victorious: are novels, too, portrayed as “superior” to the useful and practical Victorian texts? The affable Betteredge, with his utter faith and reliance in Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, would agree. The detestable Miss Clack would, of course, be in agitated opposition.
Works Cited
Collins, Wilkie. The Moonstone. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
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