Drabble’s Ethical Concern for the Elderly in The Seven Sisters

Abstract

Since the mid-20th century, the world population ageing has made the lives of the elderly a social and ethical issue of increasing importance. Margaret Drabble, a renowned British female writer, has always demonstrated profound ethical concern for marginalized groups in her literary creations. In her later novel The Seven Sisters, she turns her attention to the neglected elderly group and tells the story of the elderly protagonist, Candida, who rebuilds her life after a divorce. Current research on the novel mainly focuses on its narrative techniques and feminist themes, while themes of ageing and its underlying ethical concern remain underexplored. In response to this gap, this paper shifts the focus to the writing of the elderly in the novel, aiming to analyze Drabble’s ethical concern for this group of people. It also seeks to provide enlightenment about how to deal with the challenges related to the elderly against the backdrop of an ageing society in modern times.