An Analysis To Moral Themes In The Mill On The Floss

George Eliot, one of the famous women writers of British Victoria era, experienced the time when the traditional ideas conflicted with the new technology and the new thought, and Feuerbach's "Humanism", Darwin's theory of evolution and other ideas had a deep influence on her literary creation. Completed in 1860, The Mill on the Floss describes a bit misfortune of the Tulliver (the miller) family and its daughter, Maggie's mental journey in the background of British countryside. Maggie, an intelligent girl, earnestly seeks freedom and knowledge and has rich sympathy, but her ideas are incompatible with traditional ones, even her brother, Tom ridicules her free instinct, considering that she is impractical. Afterward Mr. Tulliver goes bankrupt because of a lawsuit, henceforth Tom is busy with repaying debts, and Maggie loses her father's love and former happy days. Her two love experiences also encounter hindrance of social morals. It can be said that Britain's Industrial Revolution, new thoughts and ideas in the 19th century urged awakening of female consciousness, which intensified conflicts in morals fields----between intrinsic individual and external social ethics. This article is to analyze the novel written on the based of moral doctrines in three aspects ----love-marriage ethics, family ethics and religious ethics. Besides the introduction and the conclusion, this article consists of four parts.In the first part, I mainly analyze some background reasons which moral consciousness gives rise to in George Eliot's novels. There has been a moral tradition in British literature. Britain novels achieve the magnificent achievements because of its intense realistic critique significance and human caring particularly. British moral tradition in novels has laid certain foundation for establishing moral subjects of Eliot's The Mill on the Floss. Simultaneously, it becomes a part of this moral tradition that the paradigm of Eliot novel's moral narration. In the 19th century, Britain was in a mass machinery production. Although females were sacrificial victims under male social repression, Britain's Industrial Revolution made more females receive more educations, enable females under stratum like Eliot to have the rights to write, and pander their own destinies. And then discuss the author's moral life briefly.In the second part, as far as the responsible or duty angle is concerned, I explain George Eliot's dual love-marriage moral ethics. In the novel, The Mill on the Floss, the description of the heroine, Maggie's love life, reflects intense conflicts between sense and sensibility, and shows her emotional ethics, namely: the more powerful method of controlling emotions is religious beliefs and doctrines, rather than emotions. She uses a word"responsibility"to cover this kind of emotional moral ethics, which reflects that Eliot's emotional thoughts are more complicated than rational connotation. But this traditional strength as well as rational summons is so formidable that she thinks it is noticeable and unable to disobey. So in this novel, the character is dual moral ethics both to rebel against social rationalities and never to forget responsibilities.In the third part, I discuss George Eliot's family ethical moral ethics. In the novel, Eliot not only describes dear ones, but has added moral contents. She reviews each relationship in the family from moral angle. Therefore, one of the main contents is how to define families, especially describing dear ones in the family ---- sentiments between father and daughter, brother and sister, and relatives; as well as dealing with contradictions among families ethically. And to define what kind of family relationship is a harmonious one.In the fourth part, I mainly elaborate how Eliot expounds her own moral ideal of'Religion of Humanity'from two aspects in her work. Initially, according to the relationships between Eliot and religious beliefs, I prove Eliot proposes her own ideal religious morals----'Religion of Humanity'when the society is reforming and its values is changing. I discuss origins and formation process of Eliot's ethics of religion of humanity from two aspects. Next, I elaborate Eliot's ethics of religion of humanity, and summarize characteristics of human religion morality.