Abstract

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Title:: A Comparison of Ethics Intended by the Implied Authors Between Chinese and Western Novels

Keywords:: implied author; intended ethics; classical novels; Western novels

Abstract:: To explore the ethics intended by the implied authors, we can distinguish the ethical effects produced by the novels from the ethical responsibilities of the real authors. Then the ethics intended by the implied authors shows its importance in the narrative ethics of the novels. From the perspective of comparison between China and the West, the implied authors of Chinese classical novels generally put the ethics first, while their Western counterparts either put the ethics first or derive the moral principles from their narratives: the ethics embodied by Chinese novels is normative, but the ethics in Western novels is mainly concerning people’s virtue. In terms of the relationship between characters and ethics, the implied authors of Chinese classical novels let ethics govern the characters, while their Western counterparts make the characters show ethics. In dealing with the relationship between the plot and ethics, the implied authors of Chinese classical novels make ethics rise above the plot, and the implied authors of Western novels let the plot refract ethics.