On Eugene’s Ethical Identity In The "Genius"

Although Dreiser’s writing talent is indeed in the arena of controversy, Dreiser,together with Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner, is considered as one of thethree giants of the modern American novel thanks to his boldness to break through thegenteel tradition of American literature and to reflect the most realistic life details anddark sides of American society. Among all his novels, The “Genius”, anautobiographic novel, is considered as the most underrated but the most controversialone and it is indispensable to understand Dreiser’s attitude toward life and art.This thesis is an attempt to explore the novel from the perspective of ethicalliterary criticism and it concentrates on the analysis of Eugene’s ethical identity. Byanalyzing the transformation of Eugene’s ethical identity, the thesis aims to analyzehow Eugene—the protagonist in The “Genius” grows from a plain natural man to anirrational person who cannot reconcile the conflict between artistic pursuit andmaterial indulgence, and finally turns to be a rational man with his artistic genius backby contemplating the meaning of human nature and ethical norms. At last, it revealsthe realistic significance that Dreiser displays via his ideal ethicalspokesman—Eugene.The thesis contains five parts. The first part is the introduction which provides abrief introduction of Theodore Dreiser, a literature review of The “Genius” togetherwith theoretical basis and the layout of the thesis. Chapter1discusses the influence ofthe19thcentury ethical norms on Eugene and his adherence to them in his early age.Simple ethical concept from his family and traditional virtue help Eugene to be anhonest and decent boy with dream. At this stage, he establishes a harmoniousrelationship with nature: he pursues natural beauty in his artistic creation; in real life,he strongly addicts to women with simplicity and innocence.Chapter2analyzes Eugene’s confusion about his ethical identity. The turn of20thcentury witnesses the great transformation of ethical context of America. The changein ideology and living styles such as the influence of hedonism and luxuryconsumption gradually corrupts Eugene, and he is on the way to be an irrational person.Eugene faces ethical dilemma as artist and businessman in the aspect of socialrelationship and at the same time in his family he experiences ethical crisis for hebetrays his wife and family, losing his ethical identity as a husband.Chapter3states Eugene’s ethical enlightenment after his attachment with Christian Science and his exploration of philosophy. He makes a right choice betweenartistic pursuit and materialistic enjoyment. He ends his sexual indulgence and turns toseek the comfort and happiness of family and revives his genius of art.After detailed analysis of Eugene’s transformation of ethical identity andsearching for his process of artistic pursuit, the conclusion makes a summary about thisanalysis and puts forward the ethical enlightenment for us living in a materialisticmodern society.