The Terrible Power of a Minor Guilt: Literary

What is the relationship between literature and morality? Theater and ethics? Film and moral values? It has become unfashionable for today's critics to make even fleeting references to the moral issues raised by novels, stories, plays, and films. The renowned Israeli novelist and critic Abraham B. Yehoshua considers these crucial questions and illuminates his reading of nine texts -- from the story of Cain and Abel to Camus, from Dostoyevsky to Raymond Carver -- by admitting the moral dimension into his critical appraisals.

How is the aesthetic value of a piece of writing to be established? In addition to traditional criteria, such as psychological complexity, originality of subject matter, and use of language, Yehoshua demonstrates how characters, who undergo moral as well as intellectual development and discover a capacity to transform themselves, embody literature's greatest achievements.

Abraham B. Yehoshua is Israel's greatest living writer. His literary achievements have long been recognized throughout the world, and he has been awarded literary prizes in both Israel and the United States. He is the author of several novels and collections of short stories

Introduction

vii

PART ONE Moral Diversions Using the Text's Aesthetic Structure

What Was the Real Punishment Inflicted on History's First Murderer?

The Biblical Story of Cain and Abel, Genesis 4

3

(14)

The Morals of a Husband Who Lets His Wife Die in His Place

Alcestis

17

(24)

Euripides

The Absurd as a Moral Guide

``The Guest,''

41

(18)

Albert Camus

PART TWO The Moral Boundaries of Psychology

Morality Based on Guilt or Morality Based on Sympathy

``The Way Out'' and Nerves

59

(15)

Joseph Chaim Brenner

The Terrible Power of a Minor Guilt

The Eternal Husband

74

(15)

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

PART THREE The Moral Responsibility of Denial Processes

Society Pays Homage to a Murderess with a Freshly Cut Rose

``A Rose for Emily,''

89

(19)

William Faulkner

A Father and a Daughter in an Unconscious Relationship

In the Prime of Her Life

108

(25)

S. Y. Agnon

PART FOUR Moral Development as Aesthetic Value

How to Build a Moral Code on a Used Shopping Bag

``Cathedral,''

133

Raymond Carver

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The Terrible Power of a Minor Guilt: Literary Essays

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials