The Family Ethical Relationship In Nabokov’s Ada Or Ardor: A Family Chronicle

Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle is the masterpiece of Vladimir Nabokov, the famous Russian-American novelist in the twentieth century. Through depicting the love and hatred of three generations, the novel demonstrates the family ethic crisis caused by the free sexuality movement and belief collapse in the late twentieth century.From the perspective of ethical literary criticism, this thesis analyzes the family ethical relationship in Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle. Through analyzing the abandonment of the connubial ethic, deviation of the trans-generational ethic and chaos of the sibling ethic, this thesis explores the deconstruction and destruction of the traditional family ethics by the extramarital affairs, the lack of parental care and incest under the interaction of free will and the rational will. Thus Nabokov’s ultimate concern for the family ethical predicament and belief crisis is revealed.The thesis is divided into three parts: Chapter One focuses on connubial ethic, analyzing the abandonment of the loyalty principle and its consequences. With the free will, Demon transfers his ethical identity from a husband to an extramarital lover. He not only maintains the extramarital affair with his sister-in-law and lover Marina but also indulges himself in sexual pleasure with numerous women. Demon’s betrayal of the loyalty principle severely hurts his wife Aqua, who commits suicide to end the painful marriage of fourteen years. Besides, driven by the free will, the irresponsible wife Marina deceives Daniel and marries him when she is pregnant with Demon’s child. She transfers her ethical identity of a wife to a lover by flirting with several men, which disappoints her husband Daniel and stimulates his betrayal. The abandonment of the connubial ethic results in the ethical confusion and fragmentation of the family.Chapter Two deals with the deviation of trans-generational ethic, analyzing the ethical identity dislocation, absence of moral model and parental love, ethical confusion and coldness of trans-generational relationship which result from the abandonment of connubial ethic. Ada’s father Demon and her uncle Daniel exchange their ethical identity, the result of which is that Ada lacks the ethical education in her growth which serves to be the ultimate reason for her incest. With the free will, the Daniel fails to carry out his duty and keeps an alienated relationship with Ada. With the free will, Demon abandons Ada and his ethical identity. His reunion with Ada cannot change the situation of incest between his son and daughter which is caused by the ethical teaching deficiency. Van’s aunt Aqua and his mother Marina transfer their ethical identity, which leads to his lacking the maternal guidance and shifting his unsatisfied desire to sister Ada. Aqua adopts Van, transferring her ethical identity from aunt to step mother. But her mental disease stops her from fulfilling her maternal responsibility which results in her estrangement from Van. With the free will, Marian shifts her ethical identity from natural mother to aunt. After the reunion, she still fails to compensate for her fault, which leads to the detachment from her natural son Van. The lack of parental concern and ethical model leads to Van and Ada’s weak ethical awareness, which poses serious problems for their incest.Chapter Three concentrates on the sibling ethic, analyzing the incest between brother and sister and between sisters which results from the trans-generational ethic deficiency and the punishment they suffer. With the free will, Van and Ada commit incest, transferring their ethical identity from natural siblings to incestuous lovers. With father Demon’s ethic enlightenment and the rational will, they break up with each other and return to their original ethical identity as brother and sister. With the free will, they live together after all their relatives die. Their incest inspires younger sister Lucette’s ethical consciousness of incest. With her uncontrolled free will, she tries all means to seduce Van but in vain, which results in her suicide. With the free will, Ada and Lucette shift their ethical identity from sisters to rivals in love, then to the homosexual lovers, which forms a distorted sisterhood and causes further ethical confusion. Lucette’s death and almost twenty years’ separation between Van and Ada are the severe punishments for their breaking the ethical taboo of incest.The thesis draws the conclusion that the unrestrained free will results in the serious ethical confusion and the violation of the family ethic leads to the ethical identity dislocation, both of which produce progressive dire consequences and punishment.