Education; Muscular Christianity; Sanitation; Science.
 

Beer, Gillian.  “Kingsley: 'pebbles on the shore',” The Listener Vol. 93 (17 April, 1975): 506-7.
Beer briefly considers Kingsley’s views on the importance of catering to children’s imaginative needs.  She reviews certain attributes of The Water-Babies.  It is distressful, very funny, and full of social and political digressions; some of its episodes are cruel and make us wince; it is very sensual and crammed with physical experiences.  She discusses the important role aspects of evolutionary theory play throughout the work.  “It is hard, I think, to over-emphasise the richness of Kingsley’s recognition of mythic elements in the ideas of development and mutation, of ‘metamorphosis’ as Darwin sometimes calls it . . .”  In addition, complementing physical transformation, moral transformation, the responsibility of the individual himself, is a very significant theme in the work.  Beer also stresses that Mother Carey is a female principle of creativity, as opposed to the more usual male God.  Because of the occurrences of child death in The Water-Babies Beer views it as a kindertotenlied, “another of those attempts to give meaning to the death of children, so deeply and terribly needed by the Victorians” (507).

The Water-Babies; Evolution; Females; Child Death; Science.
 

Blinderman, Charles S.  “Huxley and Kingsley,” Victorian Newsletter No. 20 (1961): 25-28.
Blinderman studies the relationship between Kingsley and T. H. Huxley.  Both men enjoyed a close personal friendship.  However, Blinderman argues that despite such surface similarities as their mutual approval of determinism and Stoicism, their dislike of Positivism, their popularization of science, and the fact that both were charged with unorthodoxy, in certain fundamental respects, particularly their underlying attitudes to science and to religion, they were quite dissimilar and distinct.  “A study of the relationship between Huxley and Kingsley suggests that while friendship can provide a forum for the cordial debate of ultimate issues, ideological differences, however, obscured by social amenities, prevail as barriers to the reconciliation of irreconcilable world-views” (28).

Huxley; Science; Religion.
 

Brinton, Crane.  English Political Thought in the Nineteenth Century (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1954).
Brinton provides an overview of Kingsley’s life and his major social and political views.  While his Christian Socialism was by no means a system, Kingsley held that a Christian Socialist society would indeed be hierarchical where each one's place is determined by his moral value as well as democratic in the sense that each one's place has been allotted by God.  Brinton considers that Kingsley’s ideal society was based on older English societies where different social classes “were knit together by habits which were genuine human relationships”.  His “programme is singularly like that of Tory Democracy” (125).  Kingsley’s paternalism did not signify that he rejected competition.  Competition was good but workers must first be members of cooperative associations, an ideal similar to “modern guild Socialism” (126).  While Brinton considers that Kingsley’s achievements were not insignificant, his ideals based on his religious faith could accomplish little to improve the very practical ills of working class and under-privileged society.  “His God, his virtue, his England, made too many promises to the flesh – promises unfulfilled to the common man.  For the uncommon man, his faith was even more inadequate.  Taste and intellect alike recoil from the simplicities of a universe on the pattern of Eversley” (130).

Social and Political Views; Alton Locke; Christian Socialism; Religion; Science; Evolution; Democracy; Capitalism; Teutons.
 

Brock, W. H.  "Glaucus: Kingsley and the Seaside Naturalists," Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens Vol. 3 (1976): 25-36.
Brock examines Kingsley the seaside naturalist, placing him in the context of the contemporary scientific community.  Though much of his work, for example Glaucus, was derivative and popular in nature, he was a good amateur naturalist.  For two thirds of the century there were few professional natural historians.  Brock sees one of Kingsley's most significant contributions to science being his advocacy for increased science education and his desire that it be a suitable occupation for all social classes.  Science might prove an appropriate entrée for advancement into higher society for an individual barred by more traditional societal conventions.  “. . . Kingsley became a powerful spokesman for science education at a time when this was becoming an important issue among the professional scientific community” (34).

Science; Education; Natural History; Glaucus.
 

Fasick, Laura.  "Charles Kingsley's Scientific Treatment of Gender," in Hall, Donald E. (ed.).  Muscular Christianity: Embodying the Victorian Age (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1994): 91-113.
Laura Fasick examines Kingsley's representations of women against the background of the age's scientific theories, considering that his depiction of disease, unsanitary conditions, and bodily ill-treatment in his novels represents an attempt to define strict gender distinctions.  She argues that "The 'factual' basis on which Kingsley founded his concern for the maintenance of distinct gender roles was not only scientifc, but specifically hygienic. . . . Kingsley is as obsessed with sexuality, for him sanctified by monogamous marriage, as with hygiene, and these interests effectively merge into one" (91).

Females; Sexuality; Sanitation; Science.
 

Hanawalt, Mary Wheat, "Charles Kingsley and Science," Studies in Philology Vol. 34, No. 4 (October, 1937): 589-611.
Hanawalt examines Kingsley’s interest and endeavors in science, arguing that his broader philosophy and art have been misunderstood because of the neglect shown to Kingsley the scientist.  To remedy this neglect and this misunderstanding she discusses firstly, Kingsley’s lifelong interest in science; secondly, the relation between his science and the art of his novels and poetry; thirdly, his views on the relation of science to religion and the importance of science in man’s existence; and, fourthly, the general influence of science on his philosophy.

Science; Religion.
 

Hawley, John C., S. J.  “Baptizing the Victorian Epimetheus,”  Science et Esprit Vol. XLIII, No. 3 (1991): 349-354.
Kingsley, declares Hawley, was unusual among Victorian clerics in being an explicit advocate of technology.  However, he was also very aware of the grave social problems, especially among the working classes, brought about by technology.  Still his main criticism was directed at the spirit of competition bred by the industrial age.  Kingsley had “a complex response to technology.  He never portrayed the pursuit of technology as a meaningful life in itself; he did, however, recognize its potential for liberating men and women to engage in such a quest” (354).

Technology; Science; Social and Political Views; Religion.
 

Hawley, John C., S. J.  "Charles Kingsley and the Book of Nature," Anglican and Episcopal History Vol. 61, No. 4 (December 1991): 461-479.
Hawley examines Kingsley as natural theologian and his views on the “meaning” of nature.  He discusses Kingsley’s attempt to bridge the ever widening gap between the claims of science and religion and to establish a vocabulary that would be intelligible to and supportive of both fields.  In this respect he provides a comparison of Kingsley’s views on the theological beliefs of and the search for meaning in Arnold, Huxley, and Darwin.  Kingsley’s aim, according to Hawley, “was to circumvent fears and cynicism, and to move his readers into a world of scientific endeavor and Christian cooperation.  In choosing the commitment of faith over strict empiricism he became for many, in an age of increasing dichotomy between the realms of science and religion, a model of a Christian who hoped that the truths of both would ultimately coalesce” (479).

Nature; Science; Religion; Natural Theology; Arnold, Matthew; Huxley; Darwin.
 

Hawley, John C., S.J.  “The Water Babies as Catechetical Paradigm,” Children's Literature Association Quarterly Vol. 14, No. 1 (Spring 1989): 19-21.
Hawley declares that The Water-Babies has two principle functions, to entertain and to teach.  The goal of education for Kingsley was ultimately a religious one.  Little Tom’s adventures, his evolutionary progress, the lessons learned all end in religious salvation.  Kingsley also uses The Water-Babies to show that science and evolution can co-exist with religion.  “With the publication of this novel he offers his most attractive, deceptively simple presentation of the argument that all purely scientific explanations of reality would benefit by being placed in the larger context of Christian revelation” (20).

The Water-Babies; Religion; Education; Science; Evolution.
 

Henkin, Leo J.  Darwinism in the English Novel 1860-1910: The Impact of Evolution on Victorian Fiction (New York: Russell & Russell, 1963).
For Kingsley the Bible and science were compatible.  He welcomed Darwin’s theories which rendered Nature and all about him more full of divine significance than ever before.  While Kingsley reverenced Nature, “he reverenced more the will that is above Nature.  His reverence for Nature was not antagonistic, but paid homage to his faith in the supernatural” (146).

Science; Religion; Darwin; Nature.
 

Hodgson, Amanda.  "Defining the Species: Apes, Savages and Humans in Scientific and Literary Writing of the 1860s," Journal of Victorian Culture Vol. 4, No. 2 (Autumn 1999): 228-251.
Hodgson examines The Water-Babies, and particularly the characterization of Tom, in the context of the contemporary desire to distinguish humans from animals, especially apes, and the complementary efforts to define the distinctions between white civilized Europeans and "savages".  Her principal aim is to examine the relationship of this children's story to contemporary scientific theories on the nature of species as well as to compare the novel to Browning's 'Caliban upon Setebos'.

The Water-Babies; Science; Evolution; Huxley; Characterization in Novels.
 

Irvine, William.  Apes, Angels, & Victorians: The Story of Darwin, Huxley, and Evolution (New York: Time, 1963; 1st published 1955).
Irvine discusses the relationship and correspondence between Kingsley and Thomas Henry Huxley, stressing their views on science and religion.  Despite their radically different attitudes towards religion, both men had a strong mutual respect for each other.  Irvine mentions the openness and honesty of Huxley’s attitude towards Kingsley.

Huxley; Religion; Science.
 

Johnston, Arthur.  "The Water-Babies: Kingsley's Debt to Darwin,” English Vol. 12 (Autumn 1959): 215-19.
Johnston reviews the scientific content in a number of Kingsley’s works, in particular the novels Yeast, Alton Locke, and Two Years Ago.  He considers that the influence of Darwinian thought and the theory of evolution is particularly evident throughout The Water-Babies.  In fact, “The metamorphosis of Tom into a water-baby is not more wonderful than the metamorphosis of the Origin of Species into The Water-Babies” (219).

Science; Darwin; The Water-Babies.
 

Maison, Margaret M.  The Victorian Vision: Studies in the Victorian Novel  (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1961).
Maison considers Kingsley’s religious and spiritual thought as represented in his novels.  She declares that matters of the soul tend to be well overshadowed in these works by stories of adventure, by depictions of physical activity, by scenes of daring and so on.  However, one pervasive religious theme in Kingsley’s novels is the spiritual development of the characters through strong physical activity.  She contends that one of Kingsley’s most dominant beliefs is that man’s soul necessarily suffers from long exposure to dire physical conditions.  It was as important a duty of the parson, Kingsley believed, to care for social, economic, and political reform as to cater to more spiritual elements.  “Thus might Kingsley answer any critic likely to accuse him of preferring sanitation to meditation” (127).  Maison also briefly considers Kingsley’s desire to reconcile religion with science.

Religion; Manliness; Science; Novels.
 

Manlove, Colin.  “MacDonald and Kingsley: A Victorian Contrast” in William Raeper (ed.) The Gold Thread: Essays on George MacDonald (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1990): 140-162.
In this article Manlove compares and contrasts the characters, the views, and the writings of Kingsley and George MacDonald, who, he declares were arguably the only two significant writers of Christian fantasy in the Victorian period. Generally, Kingsley, whose belief and involvement in science were much greater than MacDonald's, places nature first while MacDonald chooses "supernature."  Kingsley's God is so identifiable with the works of His creation that He is only distinguishable from them by faith.  The God of MacDonald, who has a stronger sense of the supernatural and the mystical, is invariably a person, whereas for Kingsley He is a force.  Nevertheless, Manlove argues that the two writers for all their differences share a particular common bond, namely "that they chose, alone and at almost the same time in the nineteenth century, to put what they could of the divine presence in the fairy tale" (159).

MacDonald, George; Religion; Science; The Water-Babies.
 

Meadows, A. J.  “Kingsley’s Attitude to Science,” Theology Vol. LXXVIII, No. 655 (January 1975): 15-22.
Meadows declares that Kingsley was unlike many of his religious contemporaries in his belief that science and even the theories of Darwin actually strengthened the truths of Christianity. He also states that Kingsley viewed science as a vehicle for improving society, for example the promotion of public health. In addition, Meadows writes that Kingsley though an enthusiastic practitioner of science was still an amateur in a field that was quickly becoming professional.

Science; Religion; Darwin; Health.
 

Muller, Charles H.  “Spiritual Evolution and Muscular Theology: Lessons from Kingsley’s Natural Theology,” Studies in English Vol. 15 (March 1986): 24-34.
Kingsley’s understanding of the relationship between science and religion is quite straightforward according to Muller.  The natural world for Kingsley everywhere reveals the work of God; everything physical is but a reflection of the Eternal Realities.  The work of the scientist is essentially a glorification of the Creator.  “As a religious thinker, Kingsley was deductive and intuitive in his logic; as a scientific thinker, he was inductive, seeing the infinite in the finite, or maxima in minimis, as exemplified by the wonders of creation in so lowly a creature as the spider-crab.  In seeing the divine mirrored in a pebble or spore, however, he was combining a scientific and religious vision of life –   uniting the function of the microscope and the telescope, as it were” (31).

Science; Religion; Nature; Natural theology; Glaucus.
 

Paradis, James G.  “Satire and Science in Victorian Culture,” in Bernard Lightman (ed.) Victorian Science in Context (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997): 143-175.
Paradis points out that though Kingsley was a strong advocate of the scientific efforts of the likes of Lyell, Darwin, and Huxley, he also eagerly sought a post-Darwinian equivalent to natural theology.  Kingsley considered that Victorian science was inadequate in itself as a philosophy of life and caricatured its one-sided scientific naturalist approach in The Water-Babies.

Science; Religion; Natural Theology; The Water-Babies.
 

Parrish, Geoffrey.  “Kingsley and a Victorian View of Miracles,” Faith and Freedom Vol. 38, No. 114, Part 3 (Autumn 1985): 151-157.
Parrish examines Kingsley’s view of miracles as expressed in Alton Locke.  It is probable that it is Kingsley’s own view that Dean Winstay expresses, namely that science and revealed religion, though separate, are complementary sources of knowledge, each enjoying its own sphere of competence.  Parrish makes three points concerning Kingsley’s opinion on miracles.  “There must be a theistic interpretation of the universe, there must be a belief in the Incarnation, and from these two there comes the conviction that if Jesus is what Christians believe him to be, he can do what others cannot, because he knows what the laws of nature really are” (156).

Miracles; Alton Locke; Religion; Science.
 

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.
 

Rauch, Alan. "The Tailor Transformed: Charles Kingsley's Alton Locke" in his Useful Knowledge: The Victorians, Morality, and 'The March of Intellect' (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2001): 164-189.
Rauch argues that Kingsley intended Alton Locke: Tailor and Poet, as its name suggests, to be a novel that harmonized quite disparate themes and ideas. A staunch believer himself in the truths of religion and science and their ultimate integration, he hoped that Alton Locke's readers would also accept their reconciliation and their worth when blended as a pathway to absolute truth.  However, Rauch considers that the novel failed in this goal and that Kingsley's passionate attempt to reconcile religion and science did not satisfy and did not convince.  While Alton's own "transformation" uses language taken from science and a purpose taken from religion, neither are credible. "Because of its attempt to deal with all controversies single-handedly, Alton Locke is, in fact, a polemic and thus lacks the kind of intriguing suggestiveness that is so characteristic of" novels by Jane Webb Loudon, Mary Shelley, and Charlotte Brontë that succeed in linking "science with tradition without invoking religion itself" (189).

Alton Locke; Science; Religion; Social and Political Views; Change, Notion of.
 

Rauch, Alan. "The Tailor Transformed: Charles Kingsley's Alton Locke and the Notion of Change," Studies in the Novel Vol. 25, No. 2 (Summer 1993): 196-213.
Rauch considers Kingsley's belief that science and religion are compatible and that the study of the former could only serve to support the teachings of faith.  Both are truth seeking activities.  Kingsley also found suggestive the parallels between transformations in the natural worlds and transformations in the spiritual spheres. It is a parallel, declares Rauch, that Kingsley adapted for the character of Alton in Alton Locke. Kingsley is drawing on the progressive transformation of forms in the natural world when he depicts the gradual change of Alton from an atheist and political agitator to a Christian with a much moderated political reform agenda.

Science; Religion; Change, Notion of; Darwin; Alton Locke; Social and Political Views.
 

Raven, Rev. Canon C. E.  “Charles Kingsley,” The Listener Vol. 11, No. 283 (13 June, 1934) 1007-1008.
Though holding that Alton Locke is clearly a work of propaganda, Raven praises it for its scene painting, its descriptions of landscape, atmosphere, sights, sounds and smells.  He declares that the best work of Kingsley, a passionate lover of nature, was as an interpreter of recent scientific discoveries in terms of Christianity.  “. . . he was almost the only Churchman of his time to realise that science and the scientific method were accomplishing a revolution in human thought, and that unless the Church recognised this it would be unfit to commend its message to the world” (1008).

Alton Locke; Science; Evolution; Religion.
 

Robertson, J. M.  A History of Freethought in the Nineteenth Century.  2 Vols. (New York: Putnam's Sons, 1930).  Vol. II, pp. 321-323.
Robertson very briefly discusses Kingsley’s understanding of the compatibility of science and religion and his acceptance of the theory of evolution.

Science; Religion; Evolution.
 

Stitt, Megan Perigoe. Metaphors of Change in the Language of Nineteenth-Century Fiction: Scott, Gaskell, and Kingsley (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998).
During the nineteenth century the study of language and linguistic analysis shared with geology certain metaphors for describing change and theories of progress. This book analyses how Kingsley, Walter Scott, and Elizabeth Gaskell treated language and particularly dialect in their novels. From textual study of the novels and an analysis of the language of contemporary science, Stitt explores how different genres affected the Victorian age’s use of metaphor and its frequently conflicting theories of progress.

Geology; Science; Change, Notion of; Progress; Language; Alton Locke; Westward Ho!; Hereward the Wake.