A Study Of Angela Carter's Family Ethics From Her Three Representative Novels

Angela Carter (1940-1992) is a British female writer in the twentieth century, who enjoys great popularity. Her works are known for boldness and openness as well as high originality, which arouse endless thinking of the readers. Due to the description on pornography in her works, Carter has once been criticized as an unethical writer by critics. However, in fact, the open narratives show different attitudes in different groups towards ethics, by which Carter conveys her concerns about the ethics in reality and her ethical ideas. Considering that ethical literary criticism aims to analyze literary works from an ethical point of view and make moral evaluations from a historical perspective, this thesis chooses ethical literary criticism as the theoretical basis, so as to refresh the studies on Angela Carter.In this paper, three representatives are selected as the study texts from her three writing stages respectively, namely, The Magic Toyshop, The Passion of New Eve and Wise Children. Under the guidance of the ethical literary criticism, this thesis focuses on analyzing the ethical environment in traditional families, the violations of traditional family ethics and the consequences. Thereby there goes on the further investigation on Angela Carter's attitude toward traditional family ethics, her expectations for the future family ethics as well as her reasons. This thesis aims to show that as a writer, Angela Carter shoulders the due responsibility for society. She conveys expectations for family ethics in her works so as to educate the readers.This thesis consists of five chapters. The first chapter briefly introduces Angela Carter, including her life experiences and her works, and presents a short literature review according to the related studies at home and abroad. At the same time, ethical literary criticism put forward by Nie Zhenzhao is also explained concisely, intending to lay a theoretical foundation for the following analysis. In chapter two, matrimony, consanguinity and affinity are analyzed, by which the characteristics of traditional family ethics in the three novels are concluded as the supreme of patriarchy and the nobility of hierarchy. Based on the close reading of the three novels, chapter three summarizes three ways in violating traditional family ethics, that is, the violation of ethic taboos in the toyshop, the establishment of maternal utopia in Beulah and the release of animal factors in Hazards' family. Three ways in violating traditional family ethics reflect the social reality in Carter's different writing stages. However, all the violations end in failure, from which Angela Carter's disapproval is realized. Chapter four explores the process that Carter forms her family ethics. For Carter, The Magic Toyshop is a combination of confusion and hope; The Passion of New Eve pursues the understanding and respect in a relatively radical way; and Wise Children is full of confidence and longing because of love and responsibility. In the last novel, Angela Carter advocates a family not based on marriage and consanguinity but on love and responsibility, which is a reflection of her maturity and confidence. Chapter five is the conclusion of the thesis. It can be seen that the three novels, published in diffident periods, are influenced by different social realities and personal experiences, from which we can see the change of Carter from pure and confused to mature and confident in regard of family ethics.