Importance of romance motifs in Dunstan’s religious understanding

            Romance plays an important role in the development of Dunstan Ramsay’s religious understandings and undertakings. At the same time, the story begins with religious background as each of the five churches of Deptford is represented vigorously in the characters. The main characters in the beginning followed the typical faith of their childhood. Later on as the main characters grew up they abandoned their childhood faith and pursued their own faith more suitable to their own characters and events of their lives. Thus in the novel, we see that religion is not just a belief but a background of the person’s character and past.

This is particularly true in Dunstan Ramsay who by sheer accident had his life and religious understanding altered and changed in a way that he somehow was merely swept along by its tide. As the story evolves, we see Dunstan Ramsay’s love for Mary Dempster transformed from guilt to obsession to love to religious philosophy and faith. All the time Dunstan Ramsay’s passive nature brought him to his peculiar religious understanding helplessly.

Looking back on the past of Dunstan Ramsay, we see him as a boy who regarded the stories of the saints as the same as the stories of the Arabian Nights. This is quite normal and any religion or faith started initiating the younger followers by such “stories”. However, from a boy who merely regarded the stories of the saints as a fantasy similar with that of the Arabian Nights, Dunstan Ramsay’s normal boyhood fascination on adventure tales turned into an obsession on the origins of the myths of the saints. He then eventually tried to discover which of the stories of the saints are true and which of the stories came from true history. 

These religious developments of Dunstan Ramsay took a different turn as compared with that of any other boy whose fate developed into his adulthood. The difference is that in the case of Dunstan Ramsay, there existed an unusual incident which developed into an unusual “romance” Dunstan Ramsay had with Mrs. Dempster. His involvement with Mrs. Dempster became one of the most significant factors in his religious understanding. At the same time the sub plots of the novel are also connected with religion so in Dunstan Ramsay’s involvement with women, there is the same connection between his religion and his women, which included his mother and nearly all the major female characters in the novel.

As a child we saw Dunstan Ramsay brought up under the Protestant faith with strong Calvinistic principles. His mother, Fiona Ramsay, then during this time was the perfect example of a good Calvinist Protestant. Under such upbringing, he then experienced certain restrictions. There were righteous punishments she sets for him. At the same time she forbids him from having any contact with Mary Dempster.

All these time, Dunstan Ramsay was as unattached to his mother as he was to the Protestant faith. Here we see his relationship with his mother as a reflection of his relationship with his religion – which is that of a passive one. When he turned away from the Protestant faith it was not with regret or loss which again is the exact way he felt when his mother died.

When he left the Protestant faith, he then found another religion, Christianity. It was during this time when he had a good relationship with Diana Marfleet. His relationship with Diana opened up a new world and understanding of it which he never had before. At the same time he had a good understanding of religion in his fervent bible readings during the war. However he did not marry Diana despite all the good things they share and despite his feelings toward her. His inability to commit and his passivity prevents him from considering marriage. Similarly, he had the same relationship with the Christian faith and eventually he left both Diane and Christianity.

When Dunstan Ramsay returned from Europe he had met again his childhood sweetheart, Leola Cruikshank. His relationship with her at that time was similar with his relationship with the Protestant faith. He finally decided that he had no longer any interest of being involved with Leola and at the same time he also lost all the interest on the religion of his childhood. As he ended his childhood romance so did he end his childhood religion. Moreover as he realized that he did not love Leola, it was shown that he was never a devout Protestant and never would be. 

Similarly, his relationship with Faustina is reflective of his relationship with the Jesuit Bollandists. His attraction to Faustina and his feeling of longing to belong is the same as his inner quest of finding the right religion to belong to. He found the Roman Catholic religion, under the Bollandist, quite attractive and glamorous. At the same time he had the same attraction to Faustina. And yet in both cases, his very passive nature prevented him from being able to commit to Faustina and remain with the Roman Catholics even with such fascination and attraction.

            And yet even in the very beginning he had an unusual relationship with Mary Dempster. When Percy Boy Staunton hits Mary Dempster with the snowball with a stone, Dunstan Ramsay blamed himself more than what can be considered as a normal guilt of a boy who accidentally caused misfortune on others. He had many sleepless nights about the incident; and although his very nature prevented him from coming out with his guilt and seeking apology, he then obsessed about the Dempsters and particularly with Mary Dempster.

            As a child he had a fascination with the saints which is quite normal since he regarded their stories in the league as the adventure stories of childhood. This fascination with the saints is extended to Mary and he regarded her as a saint. He then had developed a feeling of responsibility and love toward Mary.  At the same time he developed a strong interest on the lives of the saints. In a way he sublimated his feelings for Mary in his devotion to pursuing the lives of the saints.

            At the same time there is the incident of the snow throwing which had a psychological effect on Dunstan Ramsay. His guilt over the incident also added to his sense of devotion to the lives of the saints. Since he could not face up to what occurred long ago he then turned towards what he can do in a passive manner, which is to devote his life on the saints.

            When Mary died he was forced to confront Boy Staunton and Paul Dempster about the snow throwing incident. This final act of confrontation is the same as Dunstan Ramsay finally facing up to the truth about his own religion – that it was Mary who is his own saint and the object of his religion.

            As religion propelled others to act, behave and do things, so did Dunstan Ramsay in his life long devotion to Mary. All throughout the novel, he was propelled to live the life that he had because of Mary. In a sense this is the same way people live their lives according to their faith. Taking Mary out of the context of the life of Dunstan Ramsay would leave Dunstan Ramsay hallow. According to Dunstan Ramsay himself, he was nothing but a very dull man and without Mary he would not have accomplished all that he did and would not have traveled so far away from their old town.

Lastly, his desire to study the lives of the saints is his own desire and love for Mary. The desire to be as knowledgeable about the saints is his own desire for Mary but since he could not have her he unknowingly sublimated it with the desire for the saints. Perversely, the novel reflected that man’s quest for religion is nothing more than Dunstan Ramsay’s love for Mary – a sublimation of something unattainable and yet deeply desired but nothing more than earthly desire.