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The Moral World of Billy Budd

Name: The Moral World of Billy Budd
Price: 68.5 GBP
Availability: InStock
Author: Russell Weaver
ISBN: 9781433123535

by Russell Weaver

Hardback
284 pages
Publisher: Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publi
15.3 x 22.9 x 2 cm

Today‘s price £68.50

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For literature students and ethical researchers.

Unpacks the complex moral choices in the novel.

Helps you navigate difficult ethical judgements.

This thoughtful study examines the complex moral dilemmas presented within Melville's classic novel, Billy Budd.

Our Mission

Equipping you for life's journey with Jesus:

Now a team of 60 – we've been serving the Church since 2004
Together we've raised over £1,000,000 for UK Christian charities
25,000 churches are using the Eden Plus account

Free delivery on orders over £10

The Moral World of Billy Budd sees the novel not as inviting us to choose between the testament of acceptance and the testament of resistance, those views that, respectively, support and critique Captain Vere but rather as challenging us to experience the difficulty of making decisions in the world. The first part is devoted to an intensive examination of the evolution of the two testaments, including analyses of the three book-length studies of the novel, climaxing with Wenke's argument that the Genetic Text shows the novel's active pursuit of ambiguity. The second part analyzes the three major characters, showing how the text almost programmatically complicates each judgment of them. This dynamic is especially true of its judgments of Captain Vere, the character at the center of the critical debate. The critical focus here is on the numerous dichotomies the text uses to present Vere's character, showing how an analysis of these terms leads to a more complicated view of him than previously seen. The Moral World of Billy Budd specifically argues that these oppositions are not intended to be resolved but dissolved, to be seen, that is, as needing to be overcome and approached rather as a means of engaging in a reflection on the nature of moral judgment itself. At the same time, despite the difficulties of deciding, it is clear from the text's perspective that, like Captain Vere, the reader too must decide between the possible alternatives even though any decision reached will be overshadowed by the larger dilemma of operating in a theater beyond our grasp.