Fludd: The Small Town Of Fetherhoughton

In Fludd, the small town of Fetherhoughton has many ancient struggles that have plagued it since before anyone can remember. There are neighborly squabbles that many fail to recollect how they began and issues with the faith in the most divine members of the society. Fetherhoughton is “surrounded on three sides by gloomy moors, is stark and dreary, a dead end where unwanted people are unceremoniously dumped. (“Fludd”)” Mantel begins Fludd with such an unhappy depressing scenery that contrasts with the cheerier town that is seen in the end. Although it is the 1950’s, the town is stuck in bygone days. The Bishop of the diocese sees this and supposedly sends Fludd as the curate to help fix all the ailments of this “backwards” town. As soon as …show more content…
They pretend to be women of God but they lie and cheat their way through life. Sisters Polycarp, Cyril, and Ignatius Loyola “took no exercise, apart from beating small children with canes (O’Conner).” Sister Philomena was banished from her homeland for attempting to pretend that her dermatitis were marks of the sacred stigmata. They all have grave issues and do not act as their positions demand. They pretend to be holy and just despite the fact that they are as evil as they come. Although they are not blessed, they change when Fludd comes around. Something about him compels the nuns to stop their lying, their beating, and their other sinful behavior. He changes them for the better just as he does to everyone else. The only one who seems to be unfazed by his presence is Mother Perpetua. She completely disregards his mystical nature and becomes the forefront of sin and evil in the novel. The nuns in Fludd are far from the quintessential nuns one would expect in the Catholic Church and thus are the least pious in the entire …show more content…
Perhaps it is just the small town of Fetherhoughton, or maybe it is implied that the entire Catholic Church is vile. Father Anguin lacks all of his religious faith and proclaims that “faith is dead (Mantel).” While the Priest of the entire village is losing his faith, the nuns are going around acting as though they are succubuses. Their behavior destroys the religious virtue of the entire town. Despite that in every church “a crucifix hung, the dying God in each case exhibiting some distinction of anguish, some greater or lesser contortion of his naked body, a musculature more or less racked, (Mantel)” the religious leaders of the society are just tricking the townsfolk into believing that they still believe in the very thing that they teach. The real Catholic Church carefully chooses its priests and makes sure they want the life of priesthood that is ahead of them. The nuns are typically kinder, more selfless, and more faithful. The Catholic Church in Fludd is given a significantly worse reputation that it has in real