# V: The Revival explained — Anna of the Five Towns

> Chapter companion for Anna of the Five Towns by Arnold Bennett.

## 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.

## Character check-ins

### 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 lines

> 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._

## Links

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