REnunciation, Regeneration And Religion Of Humanity

The Victorian time is a productive period, during which novels appeared in such numbers and in such perfection as never had before. Charles Dickens, W. M. Thackeray and George Eliot have been listed as great critical realists in that period. Unlike the other two, George Eliot is more acclaimed as a great novelist for her consistent moral concern in her books. However, George Eliot is not widely studied in China despite the reputation she enjoys abroad.George Eliot is a great thinker. She read widely and thought carefully and seriously from childhood. Half by diligence and half under the guidance of tutors, George Eliot grasped many languages, which gave her access to literature and new thoughts from different countries. She translated David Friedrich Strauss's monumental three volumes Life of Jesus and Feuerbach's Essence of Christianity. With her particular focus on philosophy, George Eliot has been called a philosophical writer. Anyhow, she is first and foremost acknowledged as a great novelist for the moral concern reflected in her books. George Eliot experienced the eventful Victorian time and sensed the decline of social moral standards. She realized the importance of morality in maintaining a healthy and progressive society, which she expounds in her books. This paper, based on an understanding of George Eliot's own life and the social historical background, aims to interpret her moral thought in her three earlier novels: Adam Bede(1859), The Mill on the Floss(1860) and Silas Marner(1861). It focuses on the following five aspects:First, George Eliot chooses the ordinary people as the object of her moral concern. She commits herself to the study of the fate of the common people in the countryside. Living in the country from childhood, George Eliot developed deep feelings for the villagers. She loved them for their labor and contribution to the progress of the world. But their stories are often overlooked and belittled in the history of humanity. George Eliot noticed this and devoted herself to giving an account of the life of these unnoticed people. As a true realist, George Eliot makes an effort to describe people in their true nature without exaggeration. In her books, mostof the characters are laborers in the country; they are all described authentically, both through their physical appearances and through their mental activities. It's on the ground of this exposure of psychologically moral conflicts that George Eliot manages to present true human beings and put forward her moral ideas.Chapter Two discusses Eliot's proposal in her books that renunciation be the key to moral problems, which is quite different from that in Christianity because it's reinterpreted from a moral view. One should exercise resignation for the good of other people. The foundation for resignation is love for people. When one's own interests are in conflict with morality or those of others', the preferable choice should be to give up one's interests for the happiness of others. The obstacle to the spirit of sacrifice is egoism. And the highest and noblest form of renunciation is self-renunciation for the welfare of humanity. The spirit of renunciation is great and important in that it is indispensable for a harmonious and moral society. George Eliot exemplifies this spirit both in her own life and in her books. It should be noticed that the spirit of renunciation is not a sacrifice of individuality. On the contrary, it upholds the seeking of individual happiness on condition that no one should be hurt during this process.The following chapter mainly talks about George Eliot's thought about regeneration, which she regards as a reward for noble morality. Renunciation is not an end in itself, but a means. George Eliot does not mean to let her characters live an ascetic life in resignation. She believes that good deeds should be rewarded, just as bad deeds should be punished. Such reward may or may not take a material form, but this is not important, because it is essentially something spiritual. The moment one suffers for others, he is elevated with spiritual enjoyment. Human beings as advanced animals are different from other creatures by reason of their spiritual pursuit and achievement. Man has a soul and has to satisfy his spiritual needs. A noble morality will necessarily lead to spiritual regeneration. George Eliot even goes to give those who first make mistakes and later repent a chance to live a new life. Spiritual evolution is closely connected with high moral standards. George Eliot stresses more on spiritual civilization in a world abundant with material luxuries and pays tribute tospirituality in her moral theory.In spite of all these, George Eliot realizes that the key to maintaining noble morality lies in the society. A sound and healthy society may help establish and keep moral standards while an evil and corrupt society demoralizes a noble man. The Victorian time saw England in rapid development. The factories and machines completely changed people's way of life, the scientific discoveries and capitalistic values caused people to be mentally disoriented; they lost their faith and found no spiritual support. Some found themselves unable to come to terms with the current society and became depressed, some disserted traditional values and customs and betrayed their duty and obligations, and many lived a miserable life under the control of the capitalists. On account of this, George Eliot regards it important to expose the immoral and unfair side of the society. Chapter Five looks into George Eliot's criticism of the injustice and corruption existing in the society, which is one of the aims of George Eliot's moral concern. Her own life is a revolt against social unfairness and prejudice. In her novels, a sensitive reader will hear Eliot's call for people to rise and defend themselves against cruel treatment and inequality.Lastly, George Eliot hopes to rebuild trust in love and confidence in life among people. She aspires for a society filled with an ethically healthy atmosphere. Thrown in doubt by the new scientific discoveries and modern philosophical ideas, Christianity lost its hold on people. George Eliot also underwent such an experience. The translation of Feuerbach's Essence of Christianity gives George Eliot an opportunity to understand the nature of Christianity and prepares her for Comte's Religion of Humanity. Perceiving the bewilderment people were thrown into as a result of the loss of faith, George Eliot sensed the importance of religion in human life. But she does not take in Comte's ideas without reserve. She has her own moral considerations, and her Religion of Humanity is quite different from Comte's. In her religion, people are required not to love an unreal God, or extraordinary personages, as proposed by Comte, but to love the common people; faith in God is replaced by love and sympathy for humanity; the supernatural and superstitious elements are removed; feelings are superior to thought and reason; and man's power to create agreat world with their own hands is warmly praised. Such a religion is closely linked with morality. A humane religion as such is seen to be helpful for the establishment and preservation of ethical principles. This Religion of Humanity serves as the ideal of George Eliot's moral concern.George Eliot is a firm believer in the importance of morality in society. She acted by high moral standards in her own life and developed her moral ideas in her books, a better understanding of which will surely be of great help in Eliot study.