The Perpetual Curate · Chapter
Mr. Wentworth's Easter Sermon explained
On Easter Sunday, Mr.
What happens
On Easter Sunday, Mr. Wentworth preaches a sermon at St. Roque's that he himself long remembers, though his congregation does not. He feels a sudden illumination that his teaching could have been more catholic if he had ignored the Church and gone directly to the empty grave. After the service, his aunt Dora expresses her disappointment about Skelmersdale and her hope that he would marry Julia Trench. He then goes to Wharfside, where he conducts a service and baptizes Tom Burrows's six children, with Lucy Wodehouse holding the youngest. The walk home with the Miss Wodehouses is silent but uplifting.
Themes in this chapter
Religious Conflict and Clerical Life
Frank's internal conflict between High-Church ritualism and a more direct, heartfelt faith is dramatized through his Easter sermon and his subsequent service at Wharfside.
Hypocrisy and Moral Judgment
Frank feels the hypocrisy of preaching about the Church's beautiful institutions while sensing a deeper truth, and his aunts judge him for his ritualist practices.
Family Duty and Loyalty
Aunt Dora's anxious pleas and Frank's strained loyalty to his family are evident, as he resists their pressure to modify his views for the sake of Skelmersdale.
Characters to notice
- Frank Wentworth
Preaches a sermon on Easter Sunday, feels a sudden illumination about the emptiness of his High-Church formalism, and later conducts a more heartfelt service at Wharfside.
- Dora Wentworth
Aunt Dora is tearful and anxious after the service, clinging to Frank's arm and expressing regret over her role in bringing Leonora to hear him.
- Leonora Wentworth
Aunt Leonora is present in the congregation, her severe iron-grey eyes fixed on Frank during the sermon, representing the family's disapproval.
- Lucy Wodehouse
Lucy stands at the font holding the youngest of Tom Burrows's children during the baptism, and walks home with Frank in a silent but meaningful companionship.
- Tom Burrows
Tom Burrows's six children are baptized, with the new baby presented by Lucy, after Frank's insistence awakened a fatherly conscience.
Key passages
“He spoke, in very choice little sentences, of the beneficence of the Church in appointing such a feast, and of all the beautiful arrangements she had made for the keeping of it.”
Frank delivered a polished sermon praising the Church for establishing Easter and its lovely traditions.
Highlights Frank's initial focus on ritual rather than the deeper meaning of the Resurrection.
“He saw it by gleams of that perverse light which seemed more Satanic than heavenly in the moments it chose for shining, while he was preaching his little sermon about the Church and her beautiful institution of Easter, just as he had seen the non-importance of his lily-wreath and surplices as he was about to suffer martyrdom for them.”
Frank had a sudden, unsettling insight that his ritualist concerns were trivial compared to the core message of Easter.
Reveals Frank's growing doubt about the value of High-Church formalism.
“He told them about the empty grave of Christ, and how He called the weeping woman by her name, and showed her the earnest of the end of all sorrows.”
Frank preached a simple, heartfelt sermon to the Wharfside congregation about the Resurrection and Christ's compassion.
Contrasts with his earlier sermon at St. Roque's, showing a more direct and emotional approach.