A Study Of Trilogy Of Desire Based On James Phelan's Theory Of Narrative Ethics

Theodore Dreiser(1871-1945)is a predominant naturalist in American literary history.He is regarded as a pioneer and an innovator due to his authentic depictions as well as bold revelation of the true side of American society.Taking a panoramic view of Dreiser's literary creations,we can easily find that ethical issues are always playing a central role in these works and what's more,they often contribute to deepening the themes.Therefore,probing into the ethical issues in Dreiser's works has a high literary value.Trilogy of Desire,based on the real life of Charles Yerkes who is a street-car magnate in the late 19~thh century,is one of Dreiser's most representative works and consists of three volumes.Trilogy of Desire has audaciously unearthed the multifarious aspects of the American society during the transitional period by virtue of displaying both the financial conquest and loves affairs of its male protagonist Frank Algernon Cowperwood.And it goes without saying that Dreiser,in this work,has also presented his own consideration and contemplation on ethical issues emerging in the social transformational context.So far,there are also some researches focusing on studying the ethical issues in Trilogy of Desire,while this thesis starts from a new dimension and aims to explore,from the perspective of James Phelan's narrative ethics,how the ethics of each party,namely,ethics of“the told”,ethics of“the telling”and ethics of“the reading”are constructed in the narrative text of Trilogy of Desire based on the three selected theme-related topics or issues.And this kind of exploration will,to some extent,turn out to be a new angle to research this work and will further disclose how Dreiser,as a conventional narrative novelist,endows his works with his own ethical thoughts and then exerts a subtle effect on his audiences.This thesis altogether has five parts.Chapter One is mainly devoted to sketching out Dreiser's life experiences,his literary creations and his achievements.Besides,literature review abroad and at home of Trilogy of Desire,theoretical foundation,research significance and the layout are also included in this chapter.Chapter Two,Chapter Three and Chapter Four are mainly focusing on probing into the three ethics,namely,the ethics of“the told”,the ethics of“the telling”and the ethics of“the reading”in the three selected theme-related topics and issues from the formulation of Phelan's narrative ethics.Chapter Two is involved with an ethical exploration of the calamity of Cowperwood's imprisonment brought by the embezzlement of half-million municipal funds schemed by both Cowperwood and the City Treasurer Stener,through which we aim to unearth how people pursue new life philosophies in the transitional social context as well as what kind of ethical attitudes the storytellers and the readers embrace towards those characters'pursuit of new life philosophies.Chapter Three is mainly dedicated to carrying out an ethical analysis of the three parties based on Cowperwood's countless love affairs with scores of women.Chapter Four starts from the flourishing consuming desires in metropolis in Trilogy of Desire and also purports to explore the three sets of ethics as well as how they are constructed in the narrative text.Chapter Five is a conclusion of the findings as well as the deficiency of this thesis.Based on finishing ethical explorations of the three theme-related topics in Trilogy of Desire,it is not difficult for us to discover that Dreiser,as a prober of American national psyche,has incisively seized the typical symptom of American transitional phase and further presents in Trilogy of Desire different kinds of burgeoning social consciousness during this new era.By virtue of Phelan's narrative ethics,we will be capable to discern that Dreiser,through his creation of the implied author,enters the narrative text Trilogy of Desire and further collaborates with the heterodiegetic narrator in order to make defence for the male protagonist Cowperwood's all sorts of conventionally unacceptable behaviors and at the same time try to seek after empathy from his readers.To one degree or another,Dreiser's ethical stance and values can be revealed through the narrative text Trilogy of Desire,to wit,as a farsighted writer,Dreiser utters his quest and suspicion to the conventional affirmative values and to some extent,also displays his criticism to these values.What's more,by virtue of Trilogy of Desire,Dreiser also has expressed his strong belief that tremendous social development along with transformation will inevitably lead to the transmutation of the conventional moral standard,thus he calls for reconstructing a new moral code which is more suitable to the modern society in the new era.