Ethics and Corporate Responsibility in English Literary Works

Abstract

Literature offers a critical lens through which societal ethics and corporate responsibilities can be analyzed, providing historical insights into issues still relevant in today's corporate world. This paper explores the themes of ethics and corporate responsibility in English literature, examining authors such as Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, George Eliot, and Thomas Hardy who portrayed the moral complexities within business and social structures. These authors, through nuanced characters and narratives, reveal the moral conflicts and social responsibilities often overshadowed by profit and personal ambition, reflecting the socio-economic transformations of their times. The methodology involves a qualitative literary analysis, focusing on selected texts that illustrate business ethics, the conflicts between the rising capitalist ethos of the era. By analyzing characters and plot developments in these works, the paper aims to uncover how literary reflections on corporate behavior and ethics contributed to shaping contemporary perceptions of corporate responsibility.