An Interpretation Of The Cider House Rules From The Perspective Of Ethical Literary Criticism

As a masterpiece published by the best-selling author John Irving in 1985,The Cider House Rules received extensive public concern at the beginning of its publication.So far,the heated discussion is still on the ground in the academic world.Basing on the text reading of the novel and the theory of ethical literary criticism,this paper will use ethical taboo,ethical identity,ethical choice,and ethical awareness to analyze and interpret the work in five chapters.The introduction part mainly focuses on the work,explaining its research background,research status,research significance and research methods.The first chapter gives a general introduction to the theory of ethical literary criticism by expounding the theoretical foundation,function of the theory,the difference between this theory and ethical criticism and moral criticism,which lays a theoretical foundation for the text analysis.The second part focuses on "ethical taboo".This chapter is divided into the social ethics taboos and personal ethics taboos,exploring the restrictive power of ethical taboos on human beings,and the severe trials and tragic outcomes when people break it.The third chapter concentrates on reading the text around the critical term of "ethical identity".Compared with social identity,ethical status emphasizes the ethical significance of the individual.This chapter focuses on analyzing the changes and chaos of ethical identity,as well as the ethical problems resulting from the ethical identity in the work.In the fourth chapter,ethical choice is the core composition of literary works.This chapter mainly starts from two aspects of St Cloud’s ethic choice and the Ocean View Orchard’s ethical choice,deeply interprets the hesitation and hardship of ethical choice on these two different lands and the ethics value after the choice.The last chapter focuses on the analysis of the ethical order,which formed in St Cloud’s Orphanage and the cider house under their different ethical awareness.meanwhile,this chapter shows the ethical enlightenment which behind the ethical order.The conclusion mainly returns to the root of the theory.The theory of ethical literary criticism holds that the educational function of literature is its basic function.Based on ethical literary criticism,the paper delves into the significance of the teaching by analyzing and interpreting the work in detail.The purpose is to explore the moral significance and social values behind the story,deepen the understanding and cognition of the work and expand people’s reading horizon.