The Surrender of the Self in Victorian Britain: James Hinton and the Vagaries of Religious Belief

Scholars of Victorian culture emphasize the period’s individuality, but a flight from the self also characterized elements of Victorian thought.  “New Reformation” thinkers of the such as Francis Newman and F.D. Maurice were fascinated by the surrender of the self in Hinduism, and espoused this idea in a Christian context (although they regarded Christianity as superior to other religions).  These notions influenced James Hinton, an eccentric doctor whose philosophy of life inspired many social reformers.  At first, Hinton advocated the surrender of the self through acceptance of suffering and control of passions.  But then he transformed his Christian beliefs in an antinomian direction, asserting that the surrender of the self required surrender to the passions – especially sexual passions.  He privately argued for polygamy as the solution to the sexual exploitation of prostitution.  As Christ sacrificed himself, men should sacrifice themselves to support several women, and women should sacrifice themselves to fulfill these cosmic desires.  Hinton believed that by indulging in sexual pleasures, an individual could merge into the life-force of the universe, whereas indulging in materialist pleasures such as banquets, comfortable sofas and plush rugs was selfish and exploitative.  Hinduism and Buddhism also inspired his ideas both of spiritual self surrender. Although Hinton envisioned the dissolution of the self for the wider good, he was also an eccentric individual who thought of himself as a “genius” who transcended the laws ordinary immortals should obey.  However, although he obsessively puzzled over the self, he was incapable of much self-examination – his “self” was not his own individuality, but the self as a bearer of larger spiritual principles.