MORALIST APPROACH ON LITERARY TEXT ( For Educational Purposes)

Key Concepts:

• Literary Criticism
• Moralist Approach
• Ethical Goodness/Badness
• Moral Lesson
• Character Behavior
• Religious/Ethical Beliefs
• Philosophies

1. Literary Criticism Defined:

• Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature.
• Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which involves philosophical discussions about the goals and methods of literature.

2. Moralist Approach Explained:

• The moralist approach views humans as rational beings with intellect and free will.
• It assesses whether a literary work accurately portrays human nature.
• This approach is closely tied to the morality of literature, focusing on questions of ethical goodness or badness.

3. Central Questions for Moralistic Literary Criticism:

• Question 1: What behavior does the character exhibit that the author wants us to think is right?
• Question 2: What behavior is wrong? What religious or ethical beliefs does the text deal with directly? Are there any religious or philosophies mentioned especially in the text?
• Question 3: What religious or ethical beliefs or philosophies does the author seem to favor?

4. Example: "The Tortoise and the Hare"

• Story Summary: A hare (rabbit) and a tortoise (turtle) have a race. The hare, confident in his speed, takes a nap, while the tortoise continues steadily. The tortoise wins because the hare sleeps too long.
• Moral Lesson: "Slow and steady wins the race." The tortoise's determination and persistence led to victory, while the hare's overconfidence and complacency resulted in defeat.
• Moral Criticism Application: The moral criticism looks for the lesson in it.

5. Analysis of Moral Lesson:

• The tortoise's victory is attributed to his determination and persistence.
• The hare's loss is due to overconfidence and taking his win for granted.
• The story, despite being for children, contains an important moral lesson.

6. Conclusion:

• The moralist approach in literary criticism focuses on identifying the moral lessons and ethical implications within a literary work.
• It examines character behavior, religious/ethical beliefs, and philosophical perspectives to understand the author's intended message.
• The "Tortoise and the Hare" example illustrates how moral criticism extracts valuable life lessons from even simple stories.