本文是一篇英语论文，本文以文学伦理学批评为基础，结合马克斯·韦伯和布迪厄的社会学观点，探讨美国现实主义作家威廉·迪安·豪威尔斯的代表作《塞拉斯·拉帕姆的发迹》中各阶层人物面临的伦理困境，并从中发现豪威尔斯的写作对社会道德体系构建的积极作用。
Chapter One“Who Am I”:Confusion of the Ethical Identity
1.1 Emerging Bourgeoisie as“the Intruder”:Identity Loss of Silas
Identity is an important concept in western culture research which alwaystends to ask the following questions:who am I?Where do I come from?And wheream I going?It refers to an individual’s cognition and emotional experience of theirroles,characteristics,and sense of belonging in the specific social and culturalenvironment,including how a person views themselves,how they relate to others,and how they connect with specific social or cultural groups.Ethical literaturecriticism considers tha“tIn literary texts,almost all ethical issues are related to ethicalidentity.Ethical identities can be classified in various ways,such as those based onblood relatives,on ethical relationships,on moral norms,on collectivism and society,and on professions.”（Nie 257）These complex ethical identities intertwine to formvarious ethical knots in complex ethical environments,which in turn lead toinescapable ethical predicaments.Identity crisis refers to the psychological state inwhich an individual develops confusion,contradiction,or uncertainty about theiridentity,role,values,and sense of belonging.The emergence of identity crisis often related to their growth,development,and socialization processes,so individuals mayexperience identity challenges and crises in different stages and conditions of theirlives.From peasant to millionaire and back to peasant status,Silas'ethical identity isconstantly undergoing dynamic changes and is in the process of construction.This iswhere his identity crisis comes from:he wants to become a real socialite,to achievea higher status and reputation and not just as a nouveau riche.
1.2 Old Aristocracy as“the Abandoned”:Identity Anxiety ofBloomfield
The early immigrants in the United States initially came from Europe.Theyfled to the New England due to political and religious oppression or crime andpoverty in their own country.Among these early immigrants,there were alsoaristocrats from Europe who usually relied on inheriting a solid family business toestablish themselves and maintain the values and lifestyle of the Europeanaristocracy.This group of immigrants were known as the“Old Money”in America.The Coreys is precisely an old aristocracy originates from the Essex County,which isone of the oldest and most prestigious regions in the New England states.In thefeudal era,the aristocratic class enjoyed privileges in all aspects like social,political,economic,cultural,and legal.They owned a large amount of real estate anddominated the development of the national economy through manorial management.They were respected and admired by the common people for they dominated thevalue orientation and spirituality of society.“Nobles gradually became naturalofficials in their long history,and their words and actions became role models for the common people.In such an environment,nobility not only signifies a status and title,but also a social pursuit goal.Keeping up with the upper class has gradually becomea social trend.”(Qian&Chen 282)However,after the Civil War,a new social force-the middle class,also known as the masses,which thrived in new production andconsumption relations-demanded to overturn established norms and find new lawsthat were in line with their own survival in the new order.But the conservative oldaristocrats still observed the old customs from Europe,obeyed ancient norms andetiquette,and maintained the traditional forms of social contracts.The decline oftraditions and the rise of mass culture create an confused situation as“old habits havebeen broken,but new habits have not yet formed”(James 275),thus the oldaristocrats in this era are facing a serious identity crisis.
Chapter Two“The Centre Cannot Hold”:Confusion of theEthical Order
2.1“You’ve Lost Your Head”:Chaos of Business Order
Business ethics refers to the relevant values,standards,and principles inbusiness operations(DesJardins 3).It mainly studies the ethical relationships andlaws between people in economic activities.In literature research,business ethics canserve as an effective perspective for observing and analyzing a literary work oncommercial topics.In The Rise of Silas Lapham,with the gradual development andexpansion of monopoly capital,the morality of businessmen is constantly threatenedand challenged in the face of interests.
According to Marx’s analysis,the spirit of capitalism is an endless greed formoney,and the direct purpose and motivation of capital production is to create surplus value or make money.Max Weber proposes a completely different view fromMarx in his book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism:“One of thefundamental elements of the spirit of modern capitalism,and not only of that but ofall modern culture:rational conduct on the basis of the idea of the calling,was bornfrom the spirit of Christian asceticism.”(274)
2.2“Don’t Meddle”:Alienation of Family Relationship
The family is the oldest form of social organization and ethical relationship,aswell as the most realistic and direct ethical entity of humanity.The most importantand fundamental ethical relationship in the family is the marital relationshipestablished through marriage,followed by the parent-child relationship derived fromthe marital relationship.The key elements in maintaining marital andintergenerational ethical relationships are love and trust.In The Rise of Silas Lapham,Howells describes how ethical relationships between families changed intodisharmonious due to the capital.
The marriage relationship between Silas and Persis may seem harmonious,butin reality it is full of disagreement,alienation,and suspicion.The various problemsin their marital relationship stem from their unequal family status.“The ideal modernindividual family in 19th century America was a middle-class core family with stableincome.The father held economic power,and a considerable income ensured adignified life for the entire family and a good education for children.The mother wasthe head of the household and raised the children.”(Lumin 128)Engels in TheOrigins of the Family,Private Property,and the State reveals that the essence of thisso-called ideal family is“built upon the domestic slavery of women in open or covertrelationships.”（75）The Lapham family is such a typical happy middle-class nuclearfamily,with the father earning the family’s wealth and fame in the public space ofsocialising,and the mother being primarily responsible for the private space of thefamily's internal affairs.
Chapter Three Utopian Solutions:Breakthrough in Predicaments....................45
3.1“The Price We Pay for Civilization”:Integration of the Emerging Bourgeoisieand the Old Aristocracy....................45
3.2“It wa’n’t Providence Raised it up”:A Moral Choice for Ethical Dilemma..51
Conclusion..........................56
Chapter Three Utopian Solutions:Breakthrough inPredicaments
3.1“The Price We Pay for Civilization”:Integration of theEmerging Bourgeoisie and the Old Aristocracy
Howells puts forward his assumptions to resolve the identity crisis caused byclass differences.From the discussion in Chapter one,we can see that thecontradictions and antagonisms between the emerging bourgeoisie and the oldaristocracy are the important factors affecting the identity crisis between them.Therefore,Howells tries to propose approaches of class integration to eliminate thegap between the two so as to achieve real social equality including bridging thecultural divide as well as business cooperation and marriage.
The lack of cultural capital is an important factor in class differences.Frenchsociologist Pierre Bourdieu divided capital into three basic types:economic capital,social capital,and cultural capital.The accumulation of Lapham’s economic capitalleads him to flow towards the middle class,meanwhile the lack of cultural capitalmakes him unable to be accepted by the aristocratic class.Cultural capital is a formof value that signifies the social identity of actors and is considered orthodox interms of cultural interests,consumption patterns,cultural abilities,and educationalqualifications.In his book Cultural Capital and Social Alchemy,Bourdieu divides cultural capital into three forms:(1)The incorporéform,namely concretized andbodily cultural products such as knowledge,upbringing,skills,tastes,and emotionsthat actors acquire and become part of the mind and body through familyenvironment and school education.(2)The objective form,referring to the materialcultural wealth such as books,paintings,antiques,props,tools,and machinery.(3)The institutionalized form,namely institutionalized cultural capital.The first twoforms can be respectively referred to as cultural competence and cultural products.
Conclusion
William Howells’representative work The Rise of Silas Lapham is set againstthe backdrop of American society in the mid to late 19th century,showcasing thesurvival anxiety and spiritual difficulties of various social classes in the era of rapidindustrialization and modernization.It highlights Howells’philosophy of life thatemphasizes ethics and morality,which is full of“sharp observation”and“kindcriticism”.
The ethical predicaments faced by the emerging bourgeoisie and old aristocracyin the United States during the period of social transformation is mainly manifestedin two aspects:the confusion of ethical identity and the confusion of ethical order.Firstly,identity crisis is caused by class differences.On the one hand,the bourgeoisieactively integrates into the aristocratic class to build a new ethical identity,while thearistocratic class sees them as foreign invaders and implements social closurestrategies to maintain their own interests,leading to the loss of emerging bourgeoisidentities.On the other hand,the capitalist mode of economic production and the riseof popular culture both threaten the economic and cultural traditions of thearistocratic class,and make them faces anxiety of losing identity.Secondly,thedevelopment of capitalism is accompanied by the process of modernization’sdisenchantment of religious beliefs.The early free capitalism guided by Christianethics,gradually lost its value rationality and developed into monopolistic capitalismwith excessive competition and moral decay.Capital gradually dominates everything,making relationships between people increasingly cold and distant,full of deceit andfraud,and seriously undermining the order of business ethics and family ethics.
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