Abstract：Abstract: George Eliot, a well-known moral master in Victorian times, attached great importance to the choice of narrative techniques in her works so as to make a better ethical appeal to the people. Comparing Adam Bede with Middlemarch, her representative works in earlier and later periods, we can notice a change in the third person omniscient narration from the perspective of narrative ethics. After her female identity hidden behind a male pen name was disclosed, her overt author interference became less direct as more application of intertext was used for ethical appeals. By borrowing male’s narrative authority, a perfect accordance of narrative modes and ethical appeals, Eliot successfully enables the ethical themes of her novels to be well accepted by their contemporary readers and critics.
Key words: George Eliot; the third person omniscient narration; narrative ethics
