Essay - Apply Aristotle's Theory to a Decsion from Middlemarch and a...

Apply Aristotle's theory to a decsion from Middlemarch and a decsion from "The Surronded"

R*****tional Choice in ***** and The Surrounded

Aris*****tle's ***** Nicomachean Ethics is a long-standing philosophical work which discusses virtue and morality. According to Aristotle, virtue is directly connected with rational choice ***** the difference between a good and a bad character is given by the decisions an individual makes. In Middlemarch, Rosamond's decision to receive Dorothea's visit is a turning point in the plot. Rosamond is a manipulative woman, who pursues solely social advancement ***** longs for a genteel life in the r*****nks of ar**********cracy. She marries Lydgate in the same pursuit ***** financial interest and she soon loses interest in him when she realizes ***** has plunged him deep into debt. When ***** flirtatious advances are rejected by Will Ladislaw, she is shocked and her vanity is finally bent. Her dec*****ion to see ***** rival, Dorothea, is made out of psychological weakness rather than moral strength. She is still shaken by her encounter with ***** the previous day, and her pride is terribly wounded. As such, despite the fact that ***** fears more humiliation in her encounter with Dorothea, she accepts to see her ***** the hope that she might exonerate herself to a certain degree. Thus, she accepts the meeting simply because she is still dazzled ***** the recent, painful events.

*****, ***** the mother of the main hero in The Surrounded. Although an American *****dian, she had been christened as a very young child ***** h*****s strictly obeyed the rules ***** this religion for the most part of her *****. However, she decides to relinquish the Christian ***** and follow up the traditions of her own Salisha culture. Through ***** decision, she reverts to the cultural resources of her own people, as she feels impelled to identify *****self with her own nation. Her decision is prompted by a dream in which ***** god of the 'white' appears to her ***** tells ***** that ***** has to renounce her bapt*****ms so that she might go to the 'Indian heaven'. Thus, she acts out of a natural impulse ***** rebuild her identity as part of ***** ***** culture. ***** thus tokens great ***** strength as she returns to her own culture and ***** and becomes a part of it.

Rosamond's decision is insubstantial, since she only re***** the way she does because of ***** wounded vanity and her inability to face the events of the ***** day and her confrontation ***** Will. On ***** other hand, Catharina's decision to change her *****ligion and re-convert to her own traditional religion is a token of mor*****l strength ***** of her ability to acknowledge her own traditions ***** the white cultural heritage that 'surrounds' her people.

In the second book of ***** Ethics, ***** defines the relation between character and virtue ***** being mediated ***** or depending on ***** two antagonist feelings of pleasure ***** pain. Aristotle's proposition that virtue is about pleasure and ***** implies that goodness