ABSTRACT:British writer Doris Lessing is one of the most impressive women novelists in English literature. The Fifth Child is her classical novel; it is a modern family tragedy. The Ethical Literary Criticism will be used in this thesis to analyze the reasons of the family tragedy in The Fifth Child. The family tragedy of the Lovatts is caused by family members’ unbalanced ethical relations. The pathological ethical reality in 1960s makes Lovatts’ family lose love (the most important element to keep a family harmonious) and this makes the family crack at last.

Keywords: Doris Lessing; The Fifth Child; ethical relationship; ethical reality

TABLE OF CONTENTS

摘要

ABSTRACT

1. INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Brief Introduction to Doris Lessing 1

1.2 Brief Introduction to The Fifth Child.2

2. LITERATURE REVIEW 3

2.1 Overseas studies.3

2.2 Domestic Studies3

2.3 Summary . .4

3. ETHICAL LITERARY CRITICISM.6

4. THE TRAGEDY OF A LARGE FAMILY OF THE LOVATTS.8

4.1 Building a Happy Family.8

4.2 The Broken Ideal of a Happy Family.8

5. THE REASONS OF THE FAMILY TRAGEGY.10

5.1 The Special Ethical Reality of 1960s10

5.1.1 Individualism and hedonism.10

5.1.2 Religious crisis .11

5.2 The Imbalance of Ethical Relations in the Family.12 

5.2.1 The faded love between husband and wife.12

5.2.2 The missing love between parents and children14

5.2.3 The disappearance of love among siblings16

5.3 Summary .17

6. CONCLUSION18

REFERENCES19

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS20