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The Damnation of Theron Ware, by Harold Frederic

The Damnation of Theron Ware, by Harold Frederic (1896), is the fictional tale of a sheltered Methodist minister who is suddenly bombarded with new theories of biblical criticism, exposure to Irish Catholic practices, and the allure of emerging ideals of the “modern woman”—all of which shake his religious foundation. The reader feels for poor Theron, gets a taste of small-town Protestant life in the 1890s, and is alternately horrified and relieved as the minister becomes “illumined” by the new life he encounters.