The Power Of Care

George Eliot, with extraordinary ability of philosophical skill and the deepest moral consciousness, is a famous writer in the Victorian age. She is good at discerning characters'inner world, so her novels are mainly concerned with characters'ethic and morality. When George Eliot analyzes characters'ethical and life choice, she describes characters'inner ethical choice profoundly and naturally in the manner of calmness. While at the time of paying attention to ethic and morality in her works, she also writes with humor and tact, which makes her works close to reality and human's ethic. George Eliot's representatives Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss and Middlemarch pay high attention to women's emotional conflict and the choice of life. Instead of preaching, George Eliot displays characters'ethical choice toward actions and events step by step in order to present characters'natural development.These three novels pay high attention to the female characters'moral development, therefore, this thesis, based on ethics of care, intends to analyze the female characters' development of caring ethics in these three novels. In 1982, Carol Gilligan rose a creative theory—ethics of care in her In a Different Voice. According to ethics of care, there are three stages in women's development of caring ethics:selfishness, self-sacrifice and balanced care. By analyzing Hettys'selfishness, Maggie's transition from selfishness to self-sacrifice and Dorothea's transition from self-sacrifice to balanced care, this thesis shows people the female characters'development of caring ethics step by step. At the meantime, people can gain enlightenment from this thesis that in order to live a harmonious life, balanced care is indispensible. It can enlighten people how to deal with problems and have a harmonious relationship with others.This thesis contains six chapters:Chapter One is the introduction. The information of George Eliot, Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss and Middlemarch are introduced in this part. In addition, this part also introduces the background of ethics of care. The framework of this thesis is also included.Chapter Two is about the literature review. The first part of this chapter focuses on the studies of ethics of care. The second part of this chapter gives a general literature review on Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss and Middlemarch. Most of the scholars analyzed them from the perspectives of morality, religion, feminism and philosophy, while very few scholars analyze them from ethics of care.Chapter Three is mainly about Hetty Sorrel's selfish character and selfish behavior in Adam Bede. Through analyzing Hetty's selfish character, the relationships between Hetty Sorrel and two men, and her selfish journey from the perspective of ethics of care, the first stage of women's development of caring ethics is embodied. This analysis also highlights George Eliot's ethical view of objecting selfishness and stressing responsibility.Chapter Four mainly analyzes Maggie Tulliver's transition from selfishness to self-sacrifice in The Mill on the Floss. By analyzing Maggie's selfish childhood and her relationships with Tom, Philip and Stephen from the perspective of ethics of care, the first transition of women's development of caring ethics is proved. The analysis also displays George Eliot's ethical view that instead of thinking about self only, responsibility and sympathy is necessary.Chapter Five is the study on Dorothea Brook's transition from self-sacrifice to balanced care in Middlemarch. Through analyzing Dorothea's two marriages from the perspective of ethics of care, the core and the mature stage of ethics of care is clearly shown. Through Dorothea Brook's struggle for her moral development of caring ethics, it is concluded that caring for both self and others can establish a harmonious relationship with others. And it also proves that by the time George Eliot emphasizes responsibility, she also affirms women's self value and rights.Chapter Six is the conclusion. This chapter includes information about the main findings of this thesis, its implication, limitations and further research suggestions. By analyzing the three aspects of ethics of care, it is concluded that George Eliot pay much too attention to women's development of caring ethics in these three novels. George Eliot pays high attention to women's life, which interprets her ethical thoughts, namely, harmony, responsibility, sympathy and self's value.