Anna of the Five Towns · Chapter
V: The Revival explained
Anna visits her schoolchildren's homes, finding the task uncongenial but persevering.
What happens
Anna visits her schoolchildren's homes, finding the task uncongenial but persevering. Her father reveals that Henry Mynors has proposed a business partnership requiring a £2,000 investment, which Tellwright approves and instructs Anna to communicate. At the revival meeting, Anna experiences a profound spiritual crisis, feeling overwhelmed by sin and unable to achieve conversion despite the exhortations of Mrs. Sutton and others.
Themes in this chapter
Religious Hypocrisy and Methodism
The revival meeting highlights the intense emotional pressure and public performance of faith, contrasting Anna's inner turmoil with the outward displays of conversion.
Female Agency and Constraint
Anna is constrained by her father's authority in financial matters and by societal expectations of religious submission, yet she struggles to assert her own spiritual autonomy.
Money and Moral Corruption
The business partnership between Mynors and Tellwright intertwines financial speculation with religious respectability, suggesting a link between commerce and moral compromise.
Characters to notice
- Anna Tellwright
Visits her schoolchildren's homes, receives her father's instructions about Mynors' proposal, and undergoes a severe spiritual crisis at the revival meeting.
- Ephraim Tellwright
Examines Mynors' financial documents and approves the investment, instructing Anna to convey his message.
- Henry Mynors
Sends financial documents to Tellwright, seeks a sleeping partner, and is active at the revival meeting, where he counsels a troubled youth.
- Mrs. Sutton
Accompanies the revivalist in her carriage and later ministers to Anna during her spiritual crisis at the chapel.
- Titus Price
Among the class-leaders who follow sinners into the vestry for guidance during the revival.
- Mr. Sutton
Also follows sinners into the vestry to offer spiritual guidance.
Key passages
“Nevertheless she found joy in the uncongenial and ill-performed task—the cold, fierce joy of the nun in her penance.”
Despite the unpleasantness of visiting her students' homes, Anna derived a grim satisfaction from the self-imposed hardship, akin to a nun's penitential devotion.
Highlights Anna's sense of duty and self-discipline.
“What surprised Anna most in the affair was that Henry Mynors should have been able to tempt her father into a speculation.”
Anna was astonished that Mynors had succeeded in persuading her cautious father to invest in a business venture.
Shows Mynors' exceptional skill in business and the unusual nature of Tellwright's trust.
“She could only sit moveless, dull, and abject. She did not stir, even when the congregation rose for another hymn.”
Anna remained frozen in her seat, feeling numb and worthless, unable to participate in the worship around her.
Captures Anna's profound spiritual paralysis during the revival.