A Study of The Bridges of Madison County from the Perspective of Ethical Literary Criticism

石雨鑫

摘要：The Bridges of Madison County （hereafter The Bridges） describes an unforgettable extramarital story about a farmers wife and a photographer. This paper interprets The Bridges from the perspective of ethical literary criticism with the purpose to unravel the ethical enlightenment implied in heroines ethical selection.

關鍵詞：The Bridges of Madison County， Ethical Literary Criticism， Ethical Selection

The Bridges， written by American contemporary writer Robert James Waller， created a sales myth ranking first in New York Times bestseller list in 1993. A multitude of scholars have interpreted this work in light of feminism， psychoanalysis， and narrative techniques， but few ethical studies have been conducted. Based on the theoretical foundation of ethical literary criticism， this paper analyzes the heroines ethical identity， ethical environment， ethical predicament， ethical selection along with its implied enlightenment， aiming to strengthen the importance of ethical taboo of maintaining the order of marriage and the stability of family.

1.Ethical Identity and Ethical Environment

The identity of an individual is a sign to show how he or she exists in society， and one must abide by ethical norms and make ethical selections consisting with their identity. Ethical environment， also known as ethical context， is the specific historical space of literary works.

Francesca has possessed a persistent fantasy of love since her girlhood. After the romantic and crazy relationship with an art Professor is destroyed by her conservative parents， she quickly marries Richard， an American famer offering sweet promise of America. Nonetheless， life in America is completely different from what she once dreamed of. On the one hand， hopeful land of America in the sweet promise turns out to be a remote and closed village， where folks are kind and honest， however fettered by old conventions and constrained with rustic culture for more than 20 years. On the other hand， Francesca has to bury herself in stereotype routines. She dedicates to address repeated housework and take care of husband and children， but almost none of the family truly knows her. She is fond of free-talk during meals， while her family are more inclined to remain silent. She is big on reading， while her family favor soap operas. Her husband Richard， who， though kind and honest， harbors the conservative view that womens duty is to take care of family as full-time housewives. He knows nothing about her dreams， fantasies， and nostalgia， let alone subtle changes of mood in daily life. They are more business partners without spiritual resonance and physical closeness than a married couple. In a word， Francesca suppresses yearning of passion and love originated in girlhood and regulates herself as a qualified wife and mother with strict morality. The young and romantic girl in black ribbon has been transformed into a farmers wife indulged in trivial family matters and unemotional marriage.

2.Ethical Predicament and Ethical Selection

Sphinx factor， derived from Greek myths， is employed to explain coexistence of good and evil of human when making ethical selections. Human factor is ethical consciousness manifesting as rational will， while animal factor is animal instincts of human beings. Ethical selection， different from biological selection of human form， is the selection of human from essence. Due to different ethical nature， ethical selections are bound to diverse.

Franciscas uninteresting and unemotional life temporarily ends with the coming of Robert Kincaid， and they are exceedingly attracted by each other at first sight. Animal factors overweigh human factors that Francisca expresses unruly love to Robert regardless of ethical identity as a wife and mother. She offers to guide， invites the stranger to have dinner at home， and dresses up with jewelry that is contemptuous to her husband. Confusion of ethical identity triggers ethical predicament. During four short and sweet days， Francisca fully penetrates what love is through Robert's appearance and actions. However， reality is always cruel that she falls into contradiction intertwined with despair when Robert asks her to go with him.

Selections of freedom and responsibility， emotion and reason， throws Francisca into ethical predicament but she finally steps out of confusion with human factors prevailing animal factors. In the first place， she takes her family into consideration. Indulged in roles as wife and mother， and deeply attached to the entire family， she exactly knows， if she goes with Robert， what kind of chaos and trouble will left to her family， and they will be always disdained and discussed in this town. In the second place， Francisca cant help but consider the future with Robert. On the one hand， she wonders if their romantic relationship out of blind passion will be maintained in life chores. On the other hand， guilt and caring about original family may plunge her into endless mental pain， and their self-interested happiness may be replaced by moral condemnation.

3.Ethical Implications

For ethical literary criticism， the core value of literature is to provide moral teaching. Franciscas confusion of ethical identity indicates the turbulent mental state of contemporary intellectual women and their resistance to tedious and boring marriage. Francisca refreshes herself in the combination of spirit and flesh， and human factors finally stand out and guide her to return to family， which not only prevents herself from being destroyed， but also saves her family from gossips.

Love is fascinating but must be rooted in the commitment of daily life. Efforts to resist boring marriage through extramarital love will ultimately end in failure. The more difficult the process of seeking extramarital adventure， the more tragic and hopeless it is to confront with ethical selections. Seeking extramarital adventure is just a temporary spiritual escape but definitely not the key to problematic marriage.

4.Conclusion

The Bridges gains huge popularity partly due to its controversial subject of extramarital love. Ethical selection of reason over emotion seems a love tragedy for Francisca， however， leaves readers in deep reflection on freedom and responsibility. By analyzing The Bridges in light of ethical literary criticism， it can be noticed that although Waller is a male writer， he shows solicitude for modern women on marriage predicament and promotes gender harmony. Extramarital love is only a temporary spiritual escape and a short-term spiritual redemption in face of unemotional marriage and tedious life， and returning to family and obeying rules of marriage is the proper way to achieve harmony of two sexes.

參考文獻：

[1] Waller Robert James. The Bridges of Madison County. Beijing Foreign Languages University， 1992.

[2] 聶珍釗.《文學倫理學批評導論》[M] 北京：北京大學出版社， 2014.