Melville's Critique Of Morality

Herman Melville was one of the greatest masters in the 19th century American literature. He is a profound philosopher and poet as well as a novelist, sharply eyeing every social change of his time. However, in his life time, Melville never achieved the recognition until the 1920s "Melville Revival" was launched after more than thirty years of silence and Melville established himself as a great master of arts. Since the revival, numerous articles have sprung up covering the study of Melville himself and his works. However, the pity is that most critics just focus their efforts on his masterpieces Moby Dick, little concern has been extended to his other later novels as Pierre, "Benito Cereno " and Billy Budd.This dissertation analyses Herman Melville's later fiction for its treatments on the problems of moral inquiry. Building on close reading of Melville's novels and relevant researches, I attempt to draw out the ethical arguments of Melville's Pierre(1852), "Benito Cereno"(1855), and Billy Budd, Sailor(1891) to interpret Melville's particular sentiment and understanding of ethical problems. The third chapter focuses on Melville's seventh novel Pierre, by exploring the protagonist's complex and bewildering ethical dilemma in this story Melville demonstrates the impracticability of certain ethical ideas in the practice of morality. The fourth chapter, focuses on "Benito Cereno", which reflects Melville's unique and somehow negative concepts in moral obligation, purity of motives, rational choice and deliberate action in certain circumstances. The third chapter, particularly emphasized on Billy Budd, sailor, by depicting the God-like innocent hero Billy Budd's final collapse in the story Melville illustrates that to achieve moral best account is impossible in a utilitarian world.In Melville's mind, the writer is more concerned to know than to judge. This peculiar attitude is fully exhibited among these novels, in which humanity and spiritual crisis are perfectly and faithfully depicted. After reading them carefully, we find it is characteristic of Melville to analyze humanity impartially, and intensively; we may also see that to expose the moral deficiencies of western society are the common theme of his later works.