Available online at www.jlls.

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JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE
AND LINGUISTIC STUDIES
ISSN: 1305-578X
Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 17(3), 1536-1550; 2021

Teaching of literature in the EFS/ESL classrooms: An effective tool to instil

moral values

Mohammad Mujtaba Ahmad a 1

a
Methnab, Qassim University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

APA Citation:
Ahmad, M. M. (2021). Teaching of literature in the EFS/ESL classrooms: An effective tool to instil moral values, 17(3), 1536-1550.
Doi: 10.52462/jlls.111
Submission Date:28/05/2021
Acceptance Date:25/08/2021

Abstract
The place of literature in the ELT classroom has been investigated by different scholars across languages. It is
also a debatable issue, but many are of the belief that it plays a great role in the acquisition and learning of
Language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. While literature claims that poetic justice prevails in
the end, the passage goes through waywardness which is the way of the world with evil doers stealing the
limelight while goodness and fairness are side-lined by the majority. In this scenario, the role of educational
institutions is one of great responsibility in producing men and women who pose unwavering faith in human and
moral values. Human society badly needs education that teaches moral lessons. Literature plays a vital role in
educational curricula to ensure the imparting of the finer values of humanity, and this is also why literature finds
a place, however small, in all course curricula. This study streamlines the role of literature in EFL/ ESL
classrooms in instilling moral values to save humanity from degradation and decadence.
Keywords: Teaching; EFS/ESL Classrooms; Moral Values; literature; Effective; Instil

1. Introduction

A Chinese proverb reads, 'There is hardly any book that has nothing in it', suggesting that
something or the other will be gained from reading any book whatsoever. But it is equally important to
remember these words of Francis Bacon that’ some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and
some few are to be chewed and digested. Of course, there are books that are trendsetters and have
epoch-making values. Milton’s Paradise Lost, which justifies the ways of God to man and essays of
Bacon, Shakespeare’s plays, novel of Hardy and Dickens, and Eliot’s Waste Land are the pride of
literary corpora.Through such books in EFL/ESL classrooms, educational institutions can ensure the
development of trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, justice and fairness, caring, civic virtue, and
citizenship amongst the learners (Akin, 1995). Since the invention of letters, literature has played a
crucial role as a moral guide and other functions like enjoyment and diversion. Books are a great way
of upholding ethics and depicting the human condition in a global perspective.

1
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected]

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2. Literature Review

Literature plays an essential role in teaching language skills. However, when utilizing literature in
the language classroom, language skills should never be taught in isolation but in an incorporated way
(Hişmanoğlu, 2005; Khan & Alasmari, 2018). Teachers must strive to teach basic language skills as
an integral part of oral and written language use. Learners can find a range of individual lexical or
grammatical items in literature. Many aspects of written language, intrinsic reading and a body of
contextual text become known to students. Grammar and speech functions are taught to
them. Sentences, the various structures that might be used, and the various ways of connecting
concepts are all examples of this.
Litereture improves and expands students writing abilities. As a language learner, literature has
several advantages worth noting. In addition to syntax and lexis, the literature contains pragmatic and
cultural elements that are difficult to find in non-literary texts. Since literature is full of examples of
real-life language in various situations, Van (2009) states that it provides unprecedented opportunities
to explore the use of real-life idioms and phrases in literature. Several scholars, such as (Muhammed
2013; Khan & Alasmari, 2014; Khan, 2014) claimed that it is vitally essential to teach students
literature. Literature always has a powerful language and contains the skills needed for language
learning. Human beings tend to interpret things and ideas; this activity can be enhanced through
reading, a skill that literature serves to achieve (Collins, 1993). According to Hişmanoğlu,(2005),
teaching English literature provides authenticity to language learning. Moreover, literature will assist
learners in improving their language skills considerably.

3. Methodology

The researcher followed the descriptive approach. This study authenticates the comprehensiveness
of utilizing literature to learn and teach English language to EFS /EFL learners. It clarifies how
different language skills can be acquired effectively. This paper demonstrates the importance of
literary texts in teaching the English language. In this study, the historical background of using
literature in instruction is explored. It deals with several pioneer poets, scholars, and philosophers who
have contributed significantly to human instruction throughout history. It tried to find out the merits of
these great scholars to be ustilized in the morally fragemented world.

4. Moral Values and Literature

4.1. Milton to Shakespeare

With the invention of the printing press as a result of the Industrial Revolution, literature became
available to the masses whereas earlier, it was limited to the domain of the elite or intellectual class. A
deep study of the history of English literature shows that literature from the beginning has had a
tendency to be laden with moral values that lead the human race in various walks of their lives.
However, sometimes artistic compulsion forces writers to present evil characters in such a forceful
manner that they gain popularity among the readers. This has invited the wrath of critics for instance,
Milton’s presentation of Satan in Paradise Lost is almost as a hero has often invited the remark that a
writer should be more careful to instruct than to please. Moreover, representational art is strewn with
illustrations of violence, forcing critics to hold that morals, rectitude, and literary excellence are
different things, and that aesthetic considerations and morals are not similar but not altogether
different either. It is important to note the famous remark of Socrates about literature, which according
to him, is nothing but imitation of an imitation since poetic representation leads us away from truth.
Literature, at times, draws us to the mere sensation as a result of which the unruly emotions victimise

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us. It is precisely against this that Johnson warns us when he emphasizes on inculcation of virtue in
literature in his famous essay in the Rambler: ‘It is justly considered as the greatest excellency of art to
imitate nature; but it is necessary to distinguish those parts of nature which are most proper for
imitation: greater care is still required in representing life, which is so often discolored by passion or
deformed by wickedness. If the world is promiscuously described, I cannot see what use it can be to
read the account.’Though Shakespearean plays are not free from scenes of violence that led the
puritans of the time to declare the theatre blasphemous, their artistic excellence surpassed all such
considerations, and Shakespeare’s work is said to hold the mirror of manner and life. Shakespeare
explored typical humans who were the models for their profession, bringing to the readers, the human
weakness, whether in comedy or tragedy. A study in the case is The Merchant of Venice, which is
nothing if not a lesson in morality rooted in the tenets of the Old Testament (an eye for an eye, a tooth
for a tooth) that Shylock insists on. The work explores the limits of human dignity, wit, and humility.
Similarly, in his tragedies, he has explored the imperfections of human nature. His first great
tragedy Romeo and Juliet depicts the hypocrisy and bigotry of the society where family feuds, social
injustice, and the community’s indifference are the harbingers of tragedy for the young couple.
Jealousy, distrust, revenge, and vulnerability are the high points of human frailty in Othello. Iago is the
perfect villain who never commits a crime himself but manages to have it executed by people around
him, playing upon their emotional states. King Lear depicts an egotist king who is given to flattery,
unable to differentiate between good and evil. Though King Lear is one of the most grotesque and
violent plays with murders, blinding, and battles, Shakespeare has creatively dealt with human
imperfections in the play. Thus, Justice, truth, morality, and identity are central to Shakespeare’s
works which encompass all facets of human nature, positive and negative, touching equally upon
villainy and courage, virtue and egotism, generosity and greed, valor, and deceit.

5. Mathew Arnold

Arnold began his career as a poet, but he turned to prose in the later years of his life. What is now
known as cultural criticism was inaugurated by him. In his book Culture and Anarchy, he strongly
defended literature, especially the classical literature now known as the literature of the elite,
considered as the basis of civilized society. Arnold believed in the humanist view of literature and held
that culture was the ‘best that has been thought and said.’ He was a cultural critic and his contribution
to the cultural criticism can be understood under three significant titles:
1. Ethical idealism which held that ethical considerations should have humanistic tools, not the
religious foundation.
2. True Education as a matter of national concern.
3. Insistence on the formative nature of literature.
It is important to include here the famous remark of Eliot about the religious and ethical stand of
Arnold on literature as ‘degradation to moral anarchy’ while some other critics went to the extent of
describing his ethics as a ‘prophetic vision of a new Christian faith.’ His opinion was not in line with
Catholic theology of metaphysical knowledge and protestant inspiration. According to Robbins (1959,
pp.172-178) for Arnold ‘ethical cultural societies’ and an emphasis on ‘regenerative principles’ in the
transmission of cultures is ‘to know the best that has been said and thought in the world’. Arnold had
first-hand experience of the developing morality in his time as he worked as a school inspector and
investigated the education systems in several European nations. He departed from the divinely-
inspired morality and advocated moral instruction in education. He advocated in his school reports the
need to moralise humanity and also advocated in favour of humanizing the power of poetry. In his
opinion, great literature was a source of peoples’ aspiration for the highest ideals.

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5.1. T. S. Eliot

Eliot was one of the most complex poets of the 20th century. He was a powerful advocate of moral
education in educational institutions and firmly believed that a reader's personality is invaded by the
personality of an author. In Religion and Literature (1932) Eliot is critical of the liberal attitudes
towards literature which ‘got corrupted by secularism’. Eliot (1932) believed in the strong moral
power of literature, ‘in the moral power of literary work in affecting, albeit mostly negatively, our
whole being was so strong , as to claim that no book was harmless – with the exception of ones’ so
utterly unreadable as to be incapable of injuring anybody.

5.2. Canonical Literature and Ideology

The American Heritage Dictionary defines literary canonas “an authoritative list, as of the works of
an author” and “a basis for judgement ; a standard; or criterion” and as such it invokes a certain
prestige and accessibility to public consumption (AHD). Authors of great repute like Shakespeare,
Milton, Wordsworth are said to hold this status. Authors like Fitzgerald are prime examples of this
type as his novel The Great Gatsby is a true reflection of the American society during the 1920s.
These canonical text perpetuate ideologies dominant about whiteness, masculinity, heterosexuality,
Christianity. It is interesting to note that in canonical literature, the domination of white male and
bourgeois authors and ignorance of non-white, women have also been a bone of contention. But some
female writers of great repute like Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen and Emily Dickinson have produced
literature that is considered as canonical. Since the 20th century these female authors are being taught
in Western Universities across Europe.
Literary works are canonised for the following reasons:
1. Ideological values: Smith (1988) says, “ those with cultural power tend to be members of
socially, economically, and politically established classes (or to serve them and identify their own
interests with theirs), the texts that survive will tend to be those that appear to reflect and reinforce
establishment ideologies.
2. Aesthetical values: Bloom (1987) observes, “the aesthetic choice has always guided every
secular aspect of canon formation”.
All great works of literature stood the test of time and there is no reason to consider those as
canonical and ideological literature which failed this test and slid into oblivion. Hume (Hume,1990)
supports this criterion by citing the example of Homer whose Iliad has been read generation after
generation. According to Marx, the literary value of a work of art may be the result of a particular
social condition at a particular period of time, but it is most important that it stand the test of time. It’s
the longevity and qualities that engage the interest of people from generation to generation that remain
the essential criteria for any literature to be labelled as canonical. It may not be out of context to note
what the critics of the Eurocentrism view of the canon have to say about it as a list of books by ‘dead
Europeans- Shakespeare, Dante, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Stendhal, Donne- that are bound to implant a
permanent bias towards other culture.’ (Pantić, 2006). Hughes, however, (1993) provides some
reasonable arguments against such judgements. He says, “criticism is based on an oversimplifying
assumption that we necessarily become what we read”, (p.98), or in his words, ‘Imbibe the Republic or
Phaedo at nineteen and you will be one kind of person; study Jane Eyre or Mrs Dalloway or the poetry
of Aphra Behn, and you will be another’ (Pantić, 2006). He suggests that we can’t see other cultures
well, until through knowing our own we ‘reach a point where inclusiveness means nothing’.
Otherwise, we will be left with “mere indecisive mush”. We can’t deny the role of great writers of

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canonical literature simply because they are not the citizens of this age. Their excellence in the
creation of characters that play the role of a moral guide should be valued.

5.3. Aestheticism and Didacticism

5.3.1. Aestheticism
Aestheticism is a movement that started in England and France in the 19th century. It championed
the slogan ‘art for art’s sake.’ Victor Cousin, Oscar Wilde, Walter Peter, and the Rossetti were its
strong supporters. The believed that the primary function of art was aesthetic and sensual, not
intellectual or moral. Its aim was ‘to please the senses rather than convey an argument.’ (Nayar, 2009).
Excessive use of symbols and imagery was accordingly, encouraged. Wilde even coined an aesthetic
slogan ‘life imitates art’. Poets and actors are drawn to what is lurid and sensational. The word
aesthetic is derived from the Greek word aistheta, ‘things perceived by senses’. It supports the
aesthetic values and effects in comparison to socio-political themes and positions. The artists and
writers belonging to aesthetic styles tended to admit the plea that arts should provide refined sensuous
pleasure, rather than convey moral or sentimental messages. They didn’t believe in the didactic
function of art. The cult of beauty was the basic factor of art. Predecessors of the aesthetics were Keats
and Shelley and some of the pre- Raphaelites who were a legacy of the Romantic spirit.

5.3.2. Didacticism
Didactic art is meant to instruct and entertain. Didactic plays, for example, convey a moral theme
or other rich truth to the audience. This term has its origin in Greek didaktikos related to teaching
Alexander Pope’s An Essay on Criticism which provides a lots of advices to critics. Indeed criticism is
an example of didacticism. It advocates instructional and informative qualities in literature.
Having briefly discussed aestheticism and didacticism, it is important to note what Shelley wrote
in “Defence of Poetry”:
Poets, or those who imagine and express this indestructible order, are not only the authors of
language and of music, of the dance and architecture and statuary and painting; they are the
institutions of laws and the founders of civil society and the inventers of the arts of life and the
teachers, who draw into a certain propinquity with the beautiful and the true that partial apprehension
of the agencies of the invisible world which is called religion... It would be an extreme view to deny the
role of moralizing to literature because of its aesthetic qualities. Great works of literature give us
delight but this is not the end of the road. In Paradise Lost, Milton has portrayed the character of devil
in such a mighty way, and the words spoken by devil are so powerful that at times it seems appropriate
to think that Milton belongs to the devil’s party. But it’s a well-established fact that Milton was a
religious man and his purpose of writing Paradise Lost was to justify the ways of God to man. So, on
aesthetic grounds, literature can’t be denied from possessing a moralizing role.

5.4. Ethical Dimension of Literature

It is a well-established fact that the relation between literature and values has undergone changes
down the ages. Some critics and scholars say that the two are inseparable while there are some others
who don’t endorse this view. Moral values and art or ethics and aesthetics are the two sides of the
river. Wilde in the preface of his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray says, ‘No artist has ethical
sympathies. An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style.’ But this extreme
view about aesthetic failed to garner general support even in his time. It was also a challenge to the
views of the Victorians about the function of literature.‘In the heyday of poststructuralism and
postmodernism, widespread agreement prevailed again, but amidst an era of poststructuralist
relativism, readers and writers, publishers and critics seemed to agree that the realms of literature and

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the study of bad and good characters. Literary texts indirectly disseminate values. There are certain
morality were indeed two entirely separate spheres’ (Baumbach et al., 2009). The weight of traditional
values can be felt in the poststructuralists and constructivists to the extent that common truths are
constructed culturally. Through narratives and fictional worlds, we are sensitised to ethical questions
and moral inquiries. Literature and media give us incentives to be engaged in ethical discourse through
techniques which are very effective so far as garnering of values is concerned. Narrative technique is
found to be helpful for ethical and moral implication. In this context, Müller (2008) held that narrative
technique and point of view carried intensive ethical implication. The following narration are
important in this concern.
1. Authorial narration
2. Point of view narration
Literature represents the existing values and norms. It also constructs new values and norms and, at
times, it disseminates these norms and values. To simplify these points one can remember the
following functions of literature:
1. Pre -figuration (extra-literary reality): norms and values existing in the real world and the
norms and values created
2. Configuration
3. Refiguration
Literature, in a very significant way, forms and stabilizes new values and norms and conceptions of
a better living. Literature is seen as a medium of the representation of extra-literary norms and values
that can generate and construct new values and norms. It can also serve as a medium to disseminate
norms and values. Finally, literature has power to serve as the medium to construct new values and
norms.

5.5. Universal Moral Values

In the ever-growing pluralistic society of our times, with numerous cultures, languages, and ethnic
groups, it is difficult for educators to decide what values qualify to be taught. ‘Today educators are not
so worried about “whose values to teach,” and are acknowledging this fact that every person needs to
acquire certain character attributes and needs to be guided by universal moral values- values that unite
all people everywhere because they affirm basic human worth and dignity’ (Akin, 1995,). Universal
moral values underlined in the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states the
following points:
1. Life
2. Freedom from personal attack
3. Freedom from slavery
4. Recognition before the law and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty
5. Freedom from torture
6. Freedom of conscience and religion
7. Privacy, family, and correspondence
8. Freedom to participate freely in community life
9. Education
10. A standard of living adequate for maintaining health and well being

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The teaching of literature everywhere may prove to be a boon to learn the above mentioned
moral values. Besides these there are six core moral values which are labelled as attributes of character
are outlined in (Akin, T. (1995; Al-Ahdal, 2020; Mohaideen et al.,2020; Hazhar, 2021):
1. Trustworthiness
2. Respect
3. Responsibility
4. Justice and Fairness
5. Caring
6. Civic Virtue and Citizenship
All these moral values have literary connections. Through the study of literature these moral values
are learnt in an indirect manner or direct manner. Akin, T. (1995)) talk about the following human
values under the title ‘The Six Pillars of Character’:
1. Trustworthiness
Worthy of trust, honour, and confidence
Honesty: trustful, sincere, nondeceptive, candid, not cheating
Integrity: morally courageous, principled
Promise-keeping: dependable, reliable
Loyalty: faithful, allegiant, supportive, maintains confidences
2. Respect
Regard for dignity, worth and autonomy of all persons (including self)
Treaty others with courtesy, civility, politeness
Tolerating other’s beliefs
Accepting individual differences without prejudice
Refraining from violence, coercion, intimidation
3. Responsibility
Acknowledgement and performance of duties to others and self
Accountability: answerable for consequences of decisions
Pursuit of excellence: diligent, perseverant
Self-discipline: self-control, restraint
4. Justice and Fairness
Making decisions on appropriate factors: impartiality, avoidance of conflicts of interest
Commitment to equity and equality
Openness to information and ideas
Reasonableness
Due Process
Consistency
Fair Play

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5. Caring
Regard for the well-being of others
Kindness
Compassion
Consideration
Unselfishness
Charity: altruism, giving
6. Civic Virtue and Citizenship
Recognition of and living up to social obligations
Law abidance
Protection of environment
Community service
Doing one’s share

6. Selective Functions of Literature to Instil Moral Values

Literature serves numerous functions that help us in making our life fulfilling. It is a tonic for the
weeping humanity, a messenger of peace and love, a guide to face different challenges that the modern
life presents. It gives us delight, refreshes the mind, removes boredom. In addition to all these
functions of literature it is highly useful for the development, comprehension, understanding, and
evaluation of English language, but here we are primarily concerned with the values that literature
carries. Literature is a balm in modern times. It broadens our outlook and gives us wider human
experience. Though literature refers to the real world in an indirect way and this real world in which
we breathe, and the story world or the imaginative world in novels, poems, plays and other genres of
literature vary, yet it is an admitted fact that literature has conjuring and generating powers. The story
world and the atmosphere created in books of literature serves as a model for thought and feeling. If
we rely purely on the function of literature in the light of models found in the literary work, we may
not be able to admire the cultural functions of literature. Discussing the cultural function of literature
in an article entitled ‘Literature and Values’ Baumbach et al. (2009) have cited from the Zapf (2006,
p.85) a tripartite model of the cultural- ecological function of literature:
1. Literature not only represents but also balances, lays bare, and critiques typical contradictions,
deficits, and deformations displayed by the economic, political, and social systems of a given society.
By doing so, literature fulfils “the function of a cultural-critical meta-discourse.”
2. Literature confronts society with alternative or possible story worlds that serve to put the
dominant world models into perspective. Zapf’s term for this is “the function of an imaginative
counter-discourse”.
3. Literature serves to confront that which is marginalised or repressed in a given system with the
hegemonic world view and to synthesize or reintegrate the various discourses that are usually
separated in society. (e.g., the discourses of the systems of politics, economics, law, education etc.),
thus fulfilling “the function of a reintegrative inter-discourse”.
In addition to the above mentioned cultural functions, literature is known for its normative
functions. It disseminates, and represents new values and norms. However, the values projected in
literary works and the values prevalent in society may vary. Literature can serve the critical functions

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also. Some norms and values of society are criticized by literary work that results in the creation of
new norms and values.
So, literature works on different levels: emotional, ideological, normative, and logical. Special
mention must be made of fictions and novels in establishing norms, setting trends, exposing social
follies. highlighting corruption and producing soothing and allaying effects upon tormented heads and
hearts.

6.1. Morals in Sundry Genres of Literature

From time immemorial to the recent age, moral values are taught in one way or another. All
religious book, be it the Holy Qur’an, the Old or New Testament, or the Bible, are moral guides. They
teach the ways of God to men. After the invention of the printing press by Caxton in 14th century lots
of literary books came into existence and slowly, but gradually literary works stole the public
imagination and also became a didactic tool to teach moral lessons. Eliot (1932) criticizes liberal
attitudes towards literature. He believed in the great formative power of literary books. As a matter of
general experience, in every EFL/ESL class, students are taught different genres of literature, so it
seems productive to study some genres of literature with examples to establish the fact that literature
works as a great carrier of moral lessons and its effect on students throughout the world is strongly
felt. Let us examine poems, short stories and some Elizabethan and Victorian plays along with some
great novels to decipher the moral values prevalent in them.
1. Poems: In most of the EFL/ESL poems strong moral lessons are taught. The following poem of
Thomas Hardy may be a good example of this.
The Man He Killed
Had he and I but met
By some old ancient inn,
We should have sat us down to wet
Right many a nipperkin!
But arranged as infantry,
And starring face to face ,
I shot at him as he at me ,
And killed him in his place.
I shot him dead because –
Because he was my foe,
Just so: my foe of course he was ;
That’s clear enough; although
He thought he’d ‘list , perhaps,
Off-hand-like -just as I –
Was out of work – had sold his traps-
No other reason why.
Yes; quaint and curious war is !
You shoot a fellow down
You’d treat, if met where any bar is ,

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Or help half a crown

( Thomas Hardy- 1840-1928)
In this poem, the irrationality of war has been shown. We kill those innocent people in war who
have no grudge against us and might, under different circumstances, show considerable kindness. This
poem is included in the EFL Class at Qassim University. Here there is a clear message that as humans,
we should believe and work for the promotion of love and peace that lay the foundation of our
civilized society. Similarly, in the following stanza of the famous Elegy Written in a Country
Churchyard, Gray gives a great message not to be proud of our achievements as every day we are
marching towards our grave, so it’s wise to be modest .
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow’r ,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e’er gave,
Awaits alike th’ inevitable hour,
The paths of glory lead but to the grave
The classical idea of ‘memento mori’- a Latin phrase which means every one will have to taste
death today or tomorrow is presented here. So, there is hardly any need to develop a sense of
superiority because of the material wealth accumulated though right or wrong way. It’s better to be
down to earth and avoid all forms of rudeness.

6.2. Short- Stories

Short-stories also contribute greatly in bringing to the fore important social or moral issues and
helping us realize the gravity of certain issues that may otherwise remain in a state of slumber. One
such short story is Miss Brill by Mansfield. In this, Miss Brill is a middle-aged, unmarried English
tutor in France. Reflections about her daily life reveal that she is alone. The pain and agony of
loneliness and social behaviour toward such lonely and tragic persons are worth noting. It’s a tragedy
of many human beings that they are a misfit in the society. They have no friends, relatives, or
sympathisers. It is not the tragedy of Miss Brill alone but there are many women and men like Miss
Brill who are living all alone in this otherwise crowded world. A great city becomes a cause for great
solitude for some people, but people of our civilized society hardly get any time to share their
problems. The Hills Like White Elephant by Hemingway (1899-1961) is also a very famous story in
which a girl and a man are shown sitting at a railway station. The man is attempting to convince the
woman to get an abortion. But the woman is ambivalent about it. Abortion is illegal but the man is
trying his best to get the girl to agree for it, and after abortion, enjoy life as usual.

6.3. Elizabethan Plays

Elizabethan plays are even today read and remembered for their magical power of language and
ability to highlight the various shades of human nature. There is hardly an iota of doubt that
Shakespeare (1564-1616) the great dramatist is one of the most quoted authors of the world. His
career spread from the Elizabethan to the Jacobian age. According to Nayar (2009) his work presents
human beings in their various roles and businesses. Each of these roles shows particular aspects of
what it means to be human: a greedy merchant, a gallant prince, or a jealous lover.

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6.4. Victorian Fiction

Fiction writers of the Victorian era gained extreme popularity during their age and enjoy popularity
even today. Realism was their preferred form, and their novels were predominantly concerned with
social issues. Moral and social codes were major concerns. The three Bronte sisters wrote such novels
that formed the heart of mid-Victorian fiction. Their fiction highlighted the wrongs perpetrated on
woman (who are described in Charlotte Bronte’s Shirley as ‘half doll, half angel’), governesses , wives
and daughters trapped in claustrophobic families and relationships. In this vast galaxy of writers,
Charles Dickens was also a representative writer of the time. He brilliantly exposed the flaws of the
age and criticized the social system of his nation. In his famous novel Oliver Twist (1837-39), he
narrated the tale of a boy growing up in inimical circumstances, battling poverty, class, the
indifference of society and assorted criminals. A well-known Dickens situation is the scene where
Oliver, footsore, tired and hungry in the bitter winter, begs of some stage-coach passengers on the way
to London, who make him run for half a penny. The novel is a powerful critique of the workhouse era
(a result of the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834) that rendered many children vulnerable to
exploitation. Dickens criticizes the education system in these words:
Now what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in
life. Plant nothing else and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals
on Facts. Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them. This is the principle on which I bring
up my own children, and this is the principle on which I bring up these children. Stick to Facts, sir!
From the above examples across different genres of literature, it is clear that books are carriers of
moral values. So through the teaching of these types of literature, students in EFL/ESL classes would
broadly be benefitted in many ways. They would develop the sense of brotherhood, peace, modesty,
humility, and honesty.

7. Discussion and Finding

Throughout history, it was found that literature is attached to human sorrows, happiness, miseries,
triumph, and victories, so on. However, it also has a very profound means of instilling moral values
and sharpen individuals' intuition. To pay attention to most prominent writers, suffice to say,
Shakespeare, in his plays despite scenes of violence, humanr, ect but his works are considered the
mirror of manner and life (Gupta, & Tiwari, 2017 ). His works dealt with several aspects of life, such
as imperfections of human nature. Romeo and Juliet depict the hypocrisy and bigotry of the society
where family quarrels, social injustice, and the community’s indifference are the harbingers of tragedy
for the young couple. The great poet Mathew Arnold departed from the divinely-inspired morality and
advocated moral instruction in education. He reported that literature was a source of peoples’
aspiration for the highest ideals. These ideas were also found in T. S. Eliot, who believed in the solid
moral power of literature.
According to Marx, the literary value of a work of art may result from a particular social condition
at a particular period, but it must stand the test of time. The longevity and qualities that engage the
interest of people from generation to generation remain the essential criteria for any literature to be
labeled as canonical.
It is a well-established fact that the relation between literature and values has changed for the ages.
Some critics and scholars say that the two are inseparable, while others do not endorse this view.
Moral values and art or ethics and aesthetics are the two sides of the river. It is a fact that literary texts
either directly or indirectly disseminate values. In a significant way, literature forms and stabilizes new

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. 1547 Ahmad / Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 17(3) (2021) 1536–1550

values, norms, and conceptions of better living. Literature is seen as a medium of representing extra-
literary norms and values that can generate and construct new values and norms.
In the ever-growing pluralistic society of our times, with numerous cultures, languages, and ethnic
groups, it is difficult for educators to decide what values qualify to be taught. ‘Today educators are not
so worried about “ whose values to teach,” and are acknowledging this fact that every person needs to
acquire certain character attributes and needs to be guided by universal moral values- values that unite
all people everywhere because they affirm basic human worth and dignity’ Privacy, family, and
correspondence.
The teaching of literature everywhere may prove to be a boon to learn the above-mentioned moral
values. Values can not be counted but to have more focused on, in this study, the researcher stressed
six core moral values which are labeled as attributes of character are 1) Trustworthiness, 2) Respect,3)
Responsibility, 4) Justice and Fairness, 5) Caring, 6) Civic Virtue and Citizenship. All these moral
values have literary connections. Through the study of literature, these moral values are learned
indirectly or directly.
So, literature works on different levels: emotional, ideological, normative, and logical. Special
mention must be made of fiction and novels in establishing norms, setting trends, exposing social
follies. They are highlighting corruption and producing soothing and allaying effects upon tormented
heads and hearts. Morals can be instilled by utilizing various literary forms, such as poems, as moral
lessons are taught in most EFL/ESL by reading and clarifying the poems. For example, in ‘The Man,
He Killed’ by Thomas Hardy, or in Short- Stories such as ‘Miss Brill’ by Mansfield. As well as
Elizabethan Plays or Victorian Fiction
From the above examples across different genres of literature, it is proved that literary works have
profound values. So through the teaching of these types of literature, students in EFL/ESL classes
would broadly be benefitted in many ways. They would develop the sense of brotherhood, peace,
modesty, humility, and honesty.

8. Conclusion

This study has established the fact that in the teaching of morals the role of literature is
unparalleled. Views of great critics like Arnold and Eliot have been discussed in great detail to present
the different opinions about morals and cultures. This study documents the objections raised against
the appropriateness of literature as a fit medium for providing moral instruction, while also arguing
that eminent creations of literature continue to spread universal human values. The aesthetic dimension
in literature has been accepted but it has not been accepted as a reason for the denial of moral values in
literature. The moral shades in the works of great artists from the Elizabethan to the Victorian to the
recent times have been shown to establish the fact that literature provides the best platform to raise our
moral standard. The need of moral values and social values in the modern society has also been
shown. One unique feature of this study is that it has discussed the cultural function of literature in
order to understand the relation between literature and values. Extra literary norms: the power of
literature to have norms and values other than the existing values in society (prefiguration), the ability
of literature to form new values and norms ( refiguration), and the values and norms which they
represent in the medium of fiction ( configuration) have been shown with a purpose to prove the point
that literature is always an ambassador of human values. In the latter part of this study, the utility of
these moral values in the EFL/ESL classes has been shown. In every EFL/ESL class short stories,
poems, drama or novels are taught and this study establishes the moral messages drawn from these.
The study also shows how canonical books of literature are endowed with such human and moral
values that have withstood the test of time and age. So the need of canonical books has also been

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 Ahmad / Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 17(3) (2021) 1536–1550 1548

demonstrated. A special focus has been given to cultural, ethical and social values imbibed via
literature. A glimpse of modern society has also been provided to show the need for the teaching of
moral values.

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AUTHOR BIODATA

Mohammad Mujtaba Ahmad earned his M. A. degree in English literature from Lalit Narayana Mithila
University (Bihar), India. He engaged himself in comparative study of various languages and went on to
complete his Ph.D. from here in 2004. He started his teaching career as a lecturer in the department of English at

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 Ahmad / Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 17(3) (2021) 1536–1550 1550

M. R. S. M College, Darbhanga, India, where he taught for more than a decade. He joined as a lecturer in
Ministry of Health, K.S.A, in 2004. In 2009 he joined Qassim University and is currently rendering his service as
an Assistant Professor in the Department of English Language and Translation, College of Sciences and Arts,
Methnab. He is a reputed creative writer and has authored several books, including Songs of Tears and Laughter,
a collection of his published poems. He used to compose humorous poems in English, most of which have been
published in esteemed Indian dailies like The Hindustan Times, Patna, apart from many magazines. His
humorous articles are frequently published in popular newspapers and magazines from Hyderabad, India. He has
earned a name for translating into English the articles from Urdu newspaper Akhbar-e-Mashriq published from
Kolkata, India. He has also translated many famous Urdu poems into English and published the anthology as
Sunny Songs.

© 2021 Cognizance Research Associates - Published by JLLS.