An Analysis Of The Golden Notebook In The Perspective Of Ethical Literary Criticism

Doris Lessing s masterpiece, The Golden Notebook, published in1962, has beenconsidered as her greatest work. Its distinct structure and far-reaching theme have triggeredgreat responses in literary criticism circle. In The Golden Notebook, Anna Wulf, the heroine,brings together her broken-up life in four notebooks. There are various perspectives toanalyze the novel, for example, feminism, psychology, philosophy, modernism andpost-modernism, but seldom is there a study from the viewpoint of ethical literary criticism.This thesis utilizes the ethical literary criticism to evaluate The Golden Notebook fromthe relationship between people and themselves, people and others, and people and society.After the elaborate study of The Golden Notebook, its ethical and moral aspects are explored;its ethics thinking is illustrated, thus a little enlightenment to our society is expected.The introduction includes the briefing of Doris Lessing and her primary work--TheGolden Notebook; the documents relating to her works; and the summarizing of theory ofethical literary criticism, indicating the ethical literary criticism attempt to analyze TheGolden Notebook. The body of the paper consists of three main parts. Chapter one analyzesthe process of Anna s finding herself, revealing the relationship between people andthemselves. As a divorced single woman, Anna has experienced a series of pain andfrustration, including the broken relationship with family and her lover; the failure as a writerwho can not write what she wants to write; and the disillusionment of her political ideal.Those sufferings lead to Anna s self-denial, and this self-denial leads to the loss of herself-identity. Afterwards, with the help of self-awakening and friends, Anna starts to pursueher self-identity. Anna s pursuit of her self-identity includes: fighting for her dependent role asa woman; struggling between fact and fiction in writing; and defense of her value inside thecommunist party. After continuous striving, Anna found herself eventually. Chapter twofocuses on the relationship between people and others. First, it embodies Anna s searching forharmony in conflicts through her relationship with her daughter and her ex-husband. Then,through her relationship with the men she met, Anna s dreaming and awakening is revealed.Last, Anna s attitude of reserving differences in friendship is shown by describing her relation with Molly and her comrades in the communist party. The above three parts indicate thatseeking harmony is the main theme in the relationship between people and others. Chapterthree is about people s searching for truth in society, which embodies the relationship betweenpeople and society. This part probes the theme from the opposite direction, that is, if there isno truth, family or the whole society would end up nowhere.The conclusion indicates that The Golden Notebook is the record of a woman srenaissance of herself, which unfolds before our eyes Anna s sublimation from a woman wholost herself to one who is a free woman body and soul. By analyzing Anna s variousexperiences during the process, the author explores the relationships between people andthemselves, people and others, and people and society, indicating that finding oneself, seekingharmony and searching for truth are the main theme of the above relationships. It is alsostated that it is a new attempt to analyze The Golden Notebook from the perspective of ethicalliterary criticism. This new perspective is expected to be proposed for the interpretation ofthis classic work.