An Intricately Interwoven Web: On Feminist, Racial And Ecological Ethics In The Sound And The Fury

This thesis aims to find out the feminist, racial and ecological ethical lines of The Sound and the Fury, as well as the ethical knots that scatter along these ethical lines in the light of ethical literary criticism. Ethical knots embody the abnormal interpersonal relationships and relations between human beings and nature in The Sound and the Fury. It is these ethical knots and tortured ethical relations that lead to the decay of the Compsons, even the whole Southern land. The key to the rescue of the Compsons and the South lies in untying these ethical knots filled with violence and blood.The first chapter introduces the concept of ethical literary criticism, its new theoretical development and its theoretical basis. In this part, literature reviews on The Sound and the Fury are also presented, which mainly focus on feminism, race and characters. Based on the theoretical foundation, Chapter two analyzes the feminist ethical line, which links four binary oppositions centered around Caddy, justifying that women are falsely deprived of their own voice. In Chapter three, the racial ethical line is discussed while Luster and Dilsey are analyzed. By the juxtaposition of the Compsons and the Gibsons under one roof, an alarming fact emerges that blacks can be vital and enduring and racial difference should not be the criterion to rate human beings. Chapter four argues that The Sound and the Fury embodies significant ecological connotations. Two binary oppositions around nature are proposed. It is concluded that the characters who most intensely and insistently think ecologically are very troubled characters.In conclusion, the tragedy of the Compsons happens against the whole ethical environment in the South where family ethical relations break up. Only by humanity, kindheartedness and toleration of human kind can the Compsons end the chaos and restore the ethical order. In all, as the aspiring explorer of human’s fate and redemption, William Faulkner expresses his appeal to harmony among human beings as well as between human and nature.