Scholars have criticized Evelyn Waugh’s novel Helena as flawed and uneven—an unfortunate subjection of his artistic gifts to the perceived demands of his faith. It is often read as a fictional work of apologetics, straightforwardly defending the empirical truth of Christianity. In fact, however, Waugh deliberately allows questions to arise regarding his key claims, and especially his heroine’s “invention” of the True Cross. Though the novel does contain apologetic elements, it is really a story about faith, about bearing witness: a saint’s story. And the faith it depicts not only allows for but actively embraces both skepticism and doubt.
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DeCosteD. Marcel (2011) “The World’s Anachronism: The Timelessness of the Secular in Evelyn Waugh’s Helena.”. In: GallagherDonatSlaterAnnHoward WilsonJohn (eds) “A Handful of Mischief”: New Essays on Evelyn Waugh, Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press160–171. Print.
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DixGregory (1945) The Shape of the Liturgy, Westminster: Dacre PressPrint.
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McCartneyGeorge (2005) “Helena in Room 101: The Sum of Truth in Waugh and Orwell.”. In: VillarCarlosMurray DavisRobert (eds) Waugh without End: New Trends in Evelyn Waugh Studies, Bern: Peter Lang, pp. 59–70. Print.
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