The Newman in Marius: Development, Economia, and Idealism.

This essay explores the Newman subtexts in Marius the Epicurean, contending that the theological and philosophical notions of idealism, Development, and Economia Sacramentalis are woven into Pater’s narrative, working through Marius metatexually. As will be shown, Pater’s frequent recurrence and allusions to Newman in the narrative can instance the novel as a critical commentary on the Cardinal’s writings – more precisely, Marius can be read as Pater’s first worksheet for completing his unfinished essay on Newman. However, a punctual comparison between Marius and The Writings of Cardinal Newman will not be carried out here, hoping such an endeavour will be taken over in future studies. The main concern of the present work is adding further data to the measurement of Newman’s influence on Pater’s aesthetic elaborations.