Research On Eagleton’s Ethical Criticism

The connection between literature and society has always been a great tradition of the research on literary theory.The humanistic tradition pays much attention to the social value and the social function of literature in ethical aspect.But with the doubt of the universal value of post-modernism growing,the ethical significance of literature has been diluted.Thus,under the turn to ethics since the end of the 20th century,Eagleton focuses on the ethical criticism of literature,and tries to dig out the moral value of literature and its pursuit of the meaning of life.From the study of Eagleton’s ethical criticism at home and abroad,there is still some space to explain the ethical and literary issues that Eagleton has been involved on many occasions in recent years.This thesis will focus on Eagleton’s discussing about the purpose of literature,the connotation of ethical criticism and its theoretical direction.The first chapter is to sort out the definition of the concept of ethic and its inheritance of Eagleton’s early theory.First of all,it is quite necessary to clarify how Eagleton defines the ethic.How he distinguishes the contact and differences of the ethic,the ethics,and morality are also important.Then we come back to the theoretical criticism position of Eagleton.Because the theoretical focus of the ethic is not a sudden appearance.Instead,it is inherited from his consistent position of political criticism,which is directly related to his early ideological category.So,it’s necessary to make a distinction among ethic,politics and ideology.The second chapter discusses Eagleton’s important viewpoint of exploring literature in his several representative works.It mainly studies three aspects of literature.First,it is the essence of literature,which is the meaning of literature under the moral and ethical categories,and it needs to follow the organizational principle of literature that is also the embodiment of literary independence.Second point is the moral orientation of literature.On the basis of putting forward the significance of literary practice,he emphasizes the moral value and standard of literature.Third,with the help of the concept of body which is both as a tool and a goal,he points out that literature has the ethical value of individual realization and others’ realization.These three aspects have their own emphasis and mutual support.According to Eagleton’s explanation of literature,the third chapter explores the significance of literature as an important form of social liberation,and explains the theoretical direction of its ethical criticism.This thesis mainly explores Eagleton’s interpretation of "the meaning of life",as well as the key categories of "happiness"and "love".So we can realize Eagleton’s practical orientation and pursuit of the meaning of life.By re-interpretation the concepts and value of literature,Eagleton discusses the meaning of life on a broader level,and finally returns to the concrete context of social life after the ethical criticism relevant to political criticism.Since the end of the 20th century Eagleton’s studies have focused on the social value of ethic,both from his early ideological point of view and the literary point of view he focuses on.This thesis focuses on the literature,morality,and other concepts.The writer hopes to have a more in-depth understanding of his focus in recent years.