The Way of All Flesh · Theme
The Nature of Virtue and Vice
How The Way of All Flesh develops The Nature of Virtue and Vice.
Butler challenges conventional moral categories, suggesting that virtue and vice are not absolute opposites but are intermingled, and that practical, worldly pleasure and self-interest are often more reliable guides to a good life than abstract duty.
Where it surfaces
- XIX
The chapter argues that virtue and vice are intertwined, that no useful virtue exists without some alloy of vice, and that worldly prosperity is the most reliable test of virtue.
- LIX
Pryer's conversation about the lack of definition between vice and virtue and the regulation of vices hints at moral ambiguity and the theme of virtue and vice.
- LXXI
Ernest's idealization of Ellen as a 'fallen angel' and his own sense of fallenness challenge conventional moral categories.
- The Wreck of Hope
Ernest's moral attempt to 'avoid a life of sin' by marrying Ellen leads to greater suffering, questioning whether conventional morality truly brings peace.
- LXXVII
Ellen's lack of remorse and her preference for a rougher partner challenge conventional moral judgments, exploring the complexity of virtue and vice.
- Chapter LXXX
The chapter's philosophical digression argues that the morality of an action depends on its outcome, not the motive, using the anecdotes of the snail-eating widow and the countess's railway investment to illustrate this point.