Females; Education; Muscular Christianity
 

Alderson, David.  “An Anatomy of the British Polity: Alton Locke and Christian Manliness,” in Ruth Robbins and Julian Wolfreys (eds.) Victorian Identities: Social and Cultural Formations in Nineteenth-Century Literature (Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan Press; New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996): 43-61.
Alderson examines the history of the concept “Christian manliness” and, in particular, Kingsley’s promotion of it in his life and works.  He focuses on the concept’s delineation in Alton Locke.  He declares that this novel “lays bare most clearly the anxieties and ideological commitments which produced his influential conceptualisation of the relationship between the masculine body and social order.”  Alderson is particularly concerned “with the imperatives of a counter-revolutionary and Protestant culture which enabled the Kingsleyan sense of the ideal male body to become so central to the masculine self-definition of Britain’s rulers” (43-44).

Manliness; Muscular Christianity; Alton Locke; Imperialism.
 

Archer, Richard Lawrence.  Secondary Education in the Nineteenth Century (London: Cass, 1966).
Archer discusses the educational thought and practice of Kingsley and their subsequent influence on British education.  He stresses the connection for Kingsley between religion and education; both served the same end.  Moreover, science in the curriculum was essential and was in no respect against the teaching of religion.  His ideal of mens sana in corpore sano went hand in hand with his espousal of muscular Christianity.  He detested “the identification of bodily feebleness with spiritual strength” (200).  Archer also examines Kingsley’s important role in the sanitary movement and his work in having hygienic instruction in schools.

Education; Muscular Christianity; Sanitation; Science.
 

Bloomfield, Anne.  “Muscular Christian or Mystic? Charles Kingsley Reappraised,” International Journal of the History of Sport Vol. 11, No. 2 (August 1994): 172-190.
In her treatment of Kingsley’s role in the history of human movement, sport, and aesthetic gymnastics, Bloomfield examines his mystical nature and his changing views on the religiosity of body, mind and soul.  She also hypothesizes that Kingsley’s views were influenced by the work of the Swedish philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772).  She concludes that Kingsley’s work in human movement must be viewed as being more significant than his commonly accepted role in Muscular Christianity.  “Kingsley possessed a deep commitment to the mystical aspects of Christianity as well as its physical elements, and in terms of the philosophical development of human movement this accords him a place uniting two important branches of human movement, the sports ethic and the dance ethic, both of which currently stand distanced and bifurcated at polemical points within a common aesthetic field” (189).

Muscular Christianity; Swedenborg, Emanuel; Sport; Athleticism; Sexuality.
 

Bradstock, Andrew.  “'A Man of God is a Holy Man': Spurgeon, Luther and 'Holy Boldness',” in Andrew Bradstock, Sean Gill, Anne Hogan, and Sue Morgan (eds.) Masculinity and Spirituality in Victorian Culture (Basingstoke, U.K.: Macmillan, 2000): 209-225.
There are many references to Kingsley in this study of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, particularly with respect to the two men's views on aspects of manliness and muscular Christianity.

Spurgeon; Manliness; Muscular Christianity; Celibacy.
 

Brown, David  “Prevailing Attitudes Towards Sport, Physical Exercise and Society in the 1870s: Impressions from Canadian Periodicals,” Canadian Journal of History of Sport Vol. 17, No. 2 (Dec. 1986): 58-70.
From a study of Canadian periodicals Brown concludes that there was a distinct link between, one the one hand, the prevalence in Victorian Canada of muscular Christianity and an emphasis on sport and, on the other, the works of Kingsley as well as of Thomas Hughes.

Muscular Christianity; Sport.
 

Fasick, Laura.  “The Failure of Fatherhood: Maleness and Its Discontents in Charles Kingsley,” Children's Literature Association Quarterly Vol. 18, No. 3 (Fall 1993): 106-111.
Fasick declares that Kingsley's ideal of hyper-masculinity coexisted with his recognition of the need of such moral qualities of humility, gentleness, and patience.  However, she contends that Kingsley, who tended to prize the former ideal more highly, found it difficult to combine these two distinct spectra and certainly failed to illustrate their union in his novels.  "Despite his homage to gentleness and patience, Kingley's real attraction is apparently to the displays of power and aggression with which he adorns his novels" (109).

Muscular Christianity; Manliness; Fatherhood; The Water-Babies; Westward-Ho!.
 

Gay, Peter.  “The Manliness of Christ,” in R. W. Davis and R. J. Helmstadter (eds) Religion and Irreligion in Victorian Society: Essays in Honor of R. K. Webb (London and New York: Routledge, 1992): 102-116.
Gay declares that manliness for Kingsley was intimately connected with a distinct tenderness.  Though he repeatedly castigated what he viewed as the effeminacy of the Roman Catholic and High Anglican clergy, he manifested a number of female qualities himself.  “It was this ‘feminine’ side in him that allowed Kingsley to complicate his definition of heroism by adding to muscular qualities, justice, restraint, modesty, and the readiness for self-sacrifice” (115).

Muscular Christianity; Manliness.
 

Haley, Bruce.  The Healthy Body and Victorian Culture (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1978).
Haley in discussing Kingsley's confrontation with Newman focuses on his complex relationship with the notion of muscular Christianity.  Kingsley disliked the term and found offensive such critics as T. C. Sanders and Fitzjames Stephen who stressed the "muscular" aspect of his Christianity. Still, Kingsley strongly believed that the spiritual life was very compatible with both a sexual and a vigorous, active, sporting life.  Haley declares that he found philosophical justification for this attitude in three of Carlyle's theories: "the body is an expression of spirit, and therefore the obedience to healthy impulse is a sign of constitutional harmony; the state of health is a knowledge of the laws of nature and a compliance with these laws; and heroism is a life of action made possible by observing the laws of health" (111-112).

Newman Controversy; Muscular Christianity; Sexuality; Health; Carlyle.
 

Haralson, Eric.  “James’s The American: A (New)man is Being Beaten,” American Literature Vol. 64, No. 3 (September 1992): 475-495.
Haralson examines the influence of Kingsley’s notions of manliness and muscular Christianity on Henry James’s characterization in his novels, particularly the representation of Christopher Newman in The American (1877).  Though James in his youth was drawn to aspects of the manly hero, his views were by no means identical to those of Kingsley.  “To read James’s four reviews of Kingsley between 1865 and 1877 . . .  is to watch him struggle to come to terms with a youthful enthusiasm that was fast fading” (477).  In particular, Kingsley’s anti-intellectual strain in his heroes was objectionable to James.  Still, as Haralson treats at length, James used the Kingsleyan hero as a point of departure in his depiction of Christopher Newman.  Haralson also briefly sketches the influence of Kingsley’ manly hero on James’s portrayal of such protagonists as Caspar Goodwood in The Portrait of a Lady (1881), Basil Ransom in The Bostonians (1886), and Nick Dormer in The Tragic Muse (1890).

Manliness; Muscular Christianity; James, Henry.
 

Harrington, Henry R.  “Charles Kingsley's Fallen Athlete,” Victorian Studies Vol. 21, No. 1 (Autumn 1977): 73-86.
In his treatment of Kingsley's views on sport, physical activity, and the nature of manliness, Harrington declares that Kingsley, who detested the notion of muscular Christianity, held that the manly Christian's passions must be checked by "'feminine virtue'", that is morality and self-restraint.  Kingsley believed that it was difficult for the manly Christian to come down from the exalted sporting moment which offered distraction from the problems of normal existence and from sexual frustration.  To do so is essentially a fall.  However, "because of 'feminine virtue', it is a fortunate fall.  Within Kingsley's private theodicy, the fallen athlete and the manly Christian are one in a fictional world redeemed by his faith in 'feminine virtue'" (74).

Athleticsm; Sport; Muscular Christianity; Females.
 

Harris, Styron.  “The 'Muscular Novel': Medium of a Victorian Ideal,” Tennessee Philological Bulletin Vol. 27 (1990): 6-13.
Harris discusses the notion of “muscular Christianity”.  It is epitomized in three dominant figures of the novels: Amyas Leigh in Westward Ho!, Tom Thurnall in Two Years Ago, and Hereward in Hereward the Wake.  Harris also discusses Kingsley’s influence on Thomas Hughes and on Hughes’s portrayal of muscular Christianity in his novels Tom Brown’s Schooldays, The Scouring of White Horse, and Tom Brown at Oxford.  Both novelists took care to distinguish the muscular Christian from one who is mere muscle and both abhorred the hero of George Alfred Lawrence’s novel Guy Livingstone who personified “muscularity without Christianity or moral considerations”.  Nevertheless, Harris agrees with David Newsome that despite their broader meaning of muscular Christianity, “the muscular novel according to Kingsley and Hughes contributed to the immense vogue of athletics from the late sixties onwards” (11).

Muscular Christianity; Thomas Hughes; Westward Ho!; Two Years Ago; Hereward the Wake.
 

Lucas, John A. “Victorian 'Muscular Christianity': Prologue to the Olympic Games Philosophy,” Olympic Review Vol. 99/100 (1976): 49-52.
Lucas discusses the origin of and the influences on the philosophy of sport of Baron Pierre de Coupertin (1863-1937), founder of the modern Olympic Games.  He reveals that Coupertin’s Pedagogie Sportive (1934) credits Kingsley, as well as Arnold, with changing the definition and the course of non-professional sport.

Sport; Muscular Christianity; Manliness.
 

Newsome. David.  Godliness and Good Learning: Four Studies on a Victorian Ideal (London: Cassell, 1961).
Mention of Kingsley occurs frequently in Newsome’s work.  Newsome is particularly interested in Kingsley’s notion of manliness which he views as being very similar to the robustness, feistiness and vigorous vitality of  thumos, as opposed to the higher excellence of arete, equated by Coleridge with manliness.  Newsome also stresses that Kingsley, the first to combine manliness with godliness, considered manliness to be “an antidote to the poison of effeminacy – the most insidious weapon of the Tractarians – which was sapping the vitality of the Anglican Church” (207).  Manliness for Kingsley was using to the full all the qualities with which God has endowed men, including the sexual function.  That is why Roman Catholicism’s celibacy provided strong evidence of that religion’s lack of manliness and its consequent falling away from appropriate godliness.

Manliness; Muscular Christianity; Sexuality; Celibacy; Catholicism.
 

Rapple, Brendan A.  “The Educational Thought of Charles Kingsley (1819-75),” Historical Studies in Education Vol. 9, No. 1 (Spring 1997): 46-64.
Rapple writes that though Kingsley’s educational works were not as considerable as those of such contemporaries as Kay-Shuttleworth, Matthew Arnold, Spencer, or Huxley, they were still significant.  However, they have generally received scant scholarly attention, with the exception of his muscular Christianity activities.  Contending that Kingsley the educationist requires a more complete treatment, Rapple, “as a vanguard to the needed account,” examines Kingsley’s “attitude to the young, his staunch belief that the State should be deeply implicated in the provision of education, the relation between Kingsley's 'Muscular Christianity' and his views on education, his fervent conviction that science should figure more noticeably in the curriculum, his belief that hygiene and sanitary knowledge should be universally taught, and his advocacy of female education at all levels” (47).

Education; Children; Christian Socialism; Muscular Christianity; Science; Sanitation; Females.
 

Redmond, Gerald.  “Before Hughes and Kingsley: The Origins and Evolution of ‘Muscular Christianity’ in English Children’s Literature,” Sporting Fictions: Proceedings of a Conference Held at the University of Birmingham (September, 1981): 8-35.
From a thorough examination of earlier children’s literature, Redmond argues that the presentation of the notion of muscular Christianity in the novels of Kingsley and Hughes is the culmination of a trend that began in the eighteenth century.  Contrary to much opinion, neither Kingsley nor Hughes were the founders of this doctrine.  Redmond contends that certain elements of muscular Christianity may be found in the works of such authors as Rousseau, George Mogridge, William Howitt, William Clarke, William Martin, S.G. Goodrich, Frederick Marryat, Maria Edgeworth, Dorothy Kilner, Harriet Martineau, Catherine Sinclair, among others.  “. . . as far as muscular Christianity is concerned, Hughes and Kingsley may have reaped the harvest, but the seeds were planted and the crop carefully tended by many lesser-known laborers beforehand” (30).

Muscular Christianity; Hughes, Thomas.
 

Redmond, Gerald. "The First Tom Brown's Schooldays: Origins and Evolution of ‘Muscular Christianity’ in Children’s Literature, 1762-1857," Quest Vol. 30 (Summer 1978): 4-18.

Redmond examines the origin and evolution of the notion of muscular Christianity in children’s literature during the period 1762 to 1857.  He declares that elements of this notion may be found before Kingsley and Hughes adopted it in such writers as Rousseau, Dorothy Kilner, George Mogridge, William Howitt, William Clarke, William Martin, S. G. Goodrich, Maria Edgeworth, Frederick Marryat, Harriet Martineau among others. The works of Hughes and Kingsley might be considered as the climax of literary treatment of muscular Christianity, “as the culmination of a gradual process of indoctrination which began in the previous century” (8).

Muscular Christianity; Hughes, Thomas.
 

Rosen, David. "The Volcano and the Cathedral: Muscular Christianity and the Origins of Primal Manliness," in Hall, Donald E. (ed.). Muscular Christianity: Embodying the Victorian Age (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1994): 17-44.
David Rosen provides a lengthy analysis of the development of Kingsley's views on muscular Christianity and manliness. He stresses that these were complex, many sided notions and that Kingsley's views on these topics, as well as his practical involvement in complementary areas, continuously evolved throughout his life. Rosen argues that among the many influences on Kingsley's concept of manliness was the notion of Platonic thumos which Kingsley considered was a primal manly force, the root of all virtue and which was manifested through sex, fighting, and morality. Rosen contends that Kingsley's views on manliness and related topics were highly influential and that diverse notions of Anglo-American masculinity from the mid-nineteenth century to the present owe much to Kingsley.

Manliness; Muscular Christianity; Sexuality; Plato; Carlyle; Hughes, Thomas.
 

Schiefelbein, Michael.  “'Blighted' by a 'Upas-Shadow': Catholicism’s Function for Kingsley in Westward Ho!,” Victorian Newsletter Vol. 94 (Fall 1998): 10-17.
Schiefelbein examines Kingsley's severe characterizations of Catholics in Westward Ho!, especially two of his keenest bete noires, Catholics' worship of the Virgin Mary and Catholicism's embrace of asceticism and condemnation of the flesh.  Kingsley, advocate of muscular Christianity and espouser of manliness, detested what he considered to be effeminate "Mariolatry" which was responsible for weakness and womanishness in society.  He also condemned the asceticism of the Jesuits Parsons and Campion which he held to be an unnatural rejection of God-given impulses.  They were "spiritual grotesques" (15).  However, Schiefelbein also argues that Kingsley reveals his own ascetic impulses and his attraction to monkish ways in Westward Ho! and reconciles the opposite pulls of asceticism and carnal and sexual nature.  Schiefelbein concludes that while "one may certainly object to the role Kingsley assigns to Catholicism . . . it becomes an effective foil for enlightening his readers - and, very likely, for reminding himself - of the dangers of Manicheanism" (16).

Westward Ho!; Religion; Catholicism; Virgin Mary; Muscular Christianity; Sexuality; Manliness.
 

Tozer, Malcolm. "Charles Kingsley and the 'Muscular Christian' Ideal of Manliness," Physical Education Review Vol. 8, No. 1 (1985): 35-40.
Tozer sketches Kingsley’s life and works paying particular attention to his views on manliness and its relation to muscular Christianity.  He declares that Kingsley was the individual who was most responsible for acquainting the English with the Romantic, Christian and Chivalric ideal of manliness, the ideal that had such a strong influence on the subsequent development of games and outdoor pursuits in education.

Overview; Manliness; Muscular Christianity; Education.
 

Tozer, Malcolm.  “Thomas Hughes: ‘Tom Brown’ versus ‘True Manliness’,” Physical Education Review Vol. 12, No. 1 (1989): 44-48.
Tozer declares that Thomas Hughes’s Tom Brown’s Schooldays was largely responsible for the emphasis of the physical in the definition of the Victorian gentlemen and for the era’s “emerging clamour of hearty athleticism” (44).  Thus, Tozer contends, Hughes severely distorted the far broader ideal of manliness of his Christian Socialist associates, Charles Kingsley and F. D. Maurice.

Manliness; Hughes, Thomas; Muscular Christianity; Christian Socialism.
 

Vance, Norman.  “Kingsley’s Christian Manliness,” Theology Vol. LXXVIII, No. 655 (January 1975): 30-38.
Vance declares that Plato's doctrine of thumos was central to Kingsley's notion of manliness.  In addition, his ideal of manliness required a sound religious basis as well as a distinct moral independence that eshews fatalism and moral inertia.  Rejecting what he called the Manichaeism of some Tractarians and Evangelicals who finding the world hopelessly evil withdraw from it, Kingsley held that the ideal of true Christian manliness required working strenuously within the world to ameliorate it. Kingsley also embraced the more common understanding of manliness by lauding the cultivation of the body by sport and physical exertion.

Muscular Christianity; Manliness; Religion; Plato.
 

Vance, Norman.  The Sinews of the Spirit: The Ideal of Christian Manliness in Victorian Literature and Religious Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985).
Vance devotes two chapters to Kingsley's life, thought, and literary works paying particular attention to themes of the relationship of manliness to religion in his novels.  "Christian manliness was not just an ideal in Kingsley's fiction, it was the basis of his practical work as pastor, teacher and reformer and the essence of his life and experience" (107).

Overview; Yeast; Alton Locke; Hypatia; Westward Ho!; Two Years Ago; Hereward the Wake; Muscular Christianity; Manliness; Newman Controversy.
 

Wee, C. J. W.-L. "Christian Manliness and National Identity: The Problematic Construction of a Racially 'Pure' Nation," in Hall, Donald E.  (ed.).  Muscular Christianity: Embodying the Victorian Age (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1994): 66-88.
Wee discusses how Kingsley used the innovative treatment of the relationship of Christianity to race and cultural history in the novels Alton Locke and Westward Ho! "in a process of national self-definition, through what might be called 'cultural nationalism'." Wee argues that in doing so "Kingsley also reveals the problems surrounding the construction of a pure national-imperial identity based on racial and religious heritage, as he attempted to propagate the potent but unstable image of a masculine, charismatic, and authoritative Englishman who stands as a representative of a resolutely Anglo-Saxon and Protestant nation-empire" (67).

Yeast; Westward Ho!; Manliness; Muscular Christianity; Imperialism; Racial Prejudices; Social and Political Views.