More Sins Were Committed Than Anticipated: Analysing the Threat of Religious Zealotry in Winterson’s Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1985)

Abstract

This article examines how religious zealotry poses a significant threat to queer identities within Christian communities, analysing Winterson’s 1985 queer-themed novel Oranges are not the Only Fruit. In zealous Christian contexts, ingrained perceptions and beliefs about sexual orientations and gender identities (i.e., queer identities) cause negative experiences and challenges for queer individuals. Consequently, religious zealots often inflict lasting harm through fanatical dogmatism. Given this context, our study shows how Winterson’s (1985) novel raises awareness of queer characters under intense religiosity. Although much research exists on the novel, we argue that there is a research gap regarding analysing the additional number of “theological sins” committed by the lesbian characters. We situate our analysis within Critical Theory and Queer Theory and treat tolerance as a supporting lens. The method of data generation employed qualitative document analysis, with thematic content analysis as the data analysis strategy, focusing specifically on theological sin. While prior critics highlight Winterson’s subversion of orthodox faith, the main findings of this study revealed that religious zealotry acted as a threat to the lives of Jeanette, Melanie, Mrs Jewsbury, and Katy since the extreme judgement compels queer characters into new acts of defiance or sin (regarding homosexuality, self-deception and duplicity, betrayal of trust, zeal without love and fear of man, dishonesty, and lust) than anticipated. This study introduced a novel angle: religious zealotry not only oppresses queer individuals and polices queer existence, but paradoxically multiplies perceived sin in the eyes of the church, showcasing that extreme dedication to disciplining a religion has damaging effects on identity, religion, and sin, leading to spiritual resistance, concealment, erasure, or delayed self-acceptance. Practical applications (such as education practice, faith-based and community interventions) were also included for creating awareness and understanding about religious zealotry in heteronormative contexts.