A Study On The Moral Enlightenment Of Adam Bede

George Eliot is a famous woman writer of the Victorian Age. Eliot is diligent andhard working, she makes friends widely. Her jobs as a translator, editor and novelistcontribute to her status in the intellectual circle, her extensive knowledge and profoundthought. Her rich experiences and extensive knowledge result in her unique ideas towardsreligion, human nature and life. Eliot persists in realism in writing. She turns real life intonovel creation. Therefore, her novels are full of moral exhortations and ethnical ideas,serving as moral education for her readers. In turn, Eliot is called the Victorian Sage andmoral teacher. This thesis tries to analyze the moral tendency in Adam Bede from theperspective of ethical literary criticism, revealing the moral enlightenment in the novel.Adam Bede is George Eliot’s first full-length novel. It has caught great attentionsince its publication and lays the foundation of George Eliot’s fame. In the novel, GeorgeEliot repeatedly stresses the sense of responsibility and sympathy. She treatsresponsibility and sympathy as the two most important basic elements in the moralsystem. The four young protagonists’ behavior and the influences of their behavior aredirectly related to their levels of responsibility and sympathy. Hetty is beautiful andpeacockish. She lacks responsibility and sympathy. To get personal enjoyment, Hettyignores others’ feelings and commits adultery and infanticide. At last, she is exiled anddies on her way back to her hometown. Hetty’s lack of sense of responsibility andsympathy causes her own tragic life and bitterness in her townsman’s heart. InitiallyArthur possesses sympathy but lacks responsibility. He flirts with Hetty because of herphysical beauty. His deeds lead to Hetty’s pregnancy before marriage and hercommitment of infanticide while searching for him. Arthur’s lack of responsibility bringsabout Hetty’s tragedy and makes his own life fall into bitter regret and atonement. At thevery beginning Adam has responsibility but lacks sympathy, his mightiness andindependence makes it hard for him to feel the weakness and pain of people around him.Therefore, he causes emotional harm to his surrounding people unintentionally.Responsibility and sympathy are not born with, but can be acquired through learning anddiscipline. Experiencing the tragedy of Hetty, Arthur fully recognizes the seriousconsequences for lack of responsibility and becomes responsible, making him acceptedagain by the people at Hayslope. Adam goes through the pity after his father’s death,shares the suffering of Hetty and finally acquires sympathy, thus winning the love of Dinah. Dinah is independent and devoted. She fulfills her responsibility and hold deepsympathy towards human beings. She helps the ones in sorrow and trouble, consoles andsaves the criminal. Her good characteristics results in her happy life with Adam, andhelps reconstruct the social order broken by Hetty.Through the life experiences of four young protagonists, George Eliot first revealsthe consequences for lack of responsibility and sympathy. Lack of responsibility andsympathy together makes one selfish and easy to fall, even to the extent of committing acrime, therefore ruins one’s future and break the steadiness and harmony of the society.The lack of responsibility results in mistake. The mistake is not only harmful to oneselfand become regretful for all his life, but also likely to hurt others and cause tragedy. Thelack of sympathy makes it hard for people to understand the weakness and sufferings ofothers, therefore judges from their own perspectives and took actions accordingly,causing emotional harm to surrounding people. The lack of responsibility and sympathyhas relevant consequences. The consequences cause pain and at the same time makepeople grow. Responsibility is the basis to achieve personal happiness and maintain socialstability. Sympathy makes people help each other and create a harmonious society.Describing the different levels of the four young protagonists’ sense ofresponsibility and sympathy and their life, George Eliot gives us the following moralenlightenment: responsibility and sympathy are the two most important elements of moralsystem; the lack of anyone will result in harm to individuals or even the whole societyand break the stability and harmony of the society. The sense of responsibility andsympathy can be obtained through edification, inspiration or suffering. When most peoplein the society possess responsibility and sympathy, the society will become stable andharmonious. The cultivation of responsibility and sympathy is beneficial to improve thesocial moral level and promote social stability and harmony.