| Acknowledgements | 第5-6页 |
| Abstract | 第6-7页 |
| 摘要 | 第8-10页 |
| Introduction | 第10-23页 |
| 1. Introduction to Doris Lessing and The Summer Before the Dark | 第10-13页 |
| 2. Literature Review | 第13-17页 |
| 3. Lessing's Ideology and Kant's Ethics | 第17-20页 |
| 4. Significance and the Structure of the Thesis | 第20-23页 |
| Chapter Ⅰ Kate's Treachery and Renewal of Human Nature | 第23-39页 |
| 1.1 The Will-less Fidelity as "The Angel in the House" | 第24-31页 |
| 1.1.1 The Bondage of Will in Kate's Domestic Life | 第24-28页 |
| 1.1.2 The Loss of Goodness in Brown's Marriage | 第28-31页 |
| 1.2 The Germination of Ethical Consciousness | 第31-35页 |
| 1.3 The First Return: Awareness of Human Nature | 第35-39页 |
| Chapter Ⅱ: Kate's Deviation and Obedience of Moral Laws | 第39-61页 |
| 2.1 The Conversion of Duty in Kate's Adventure | 第40-48页 |
| 2.1.1 Kate's Moral Deviation in Obedience to Hypothetical Imperative | 第41-44页 |
| 2.1.2 The Recall of Duty in Obedience to Categorical Imperative | 第44-48页 |
| 2.2 A Dual Freedom Reflected in "The Dream of the Seal" | 第48-57页 |
| 2.2.1 The Correlation of Free Will and Demoralization | 第49-52页 |
| 2.2.2 The Positive Freedom and Moral Fidelity | 第52-57页 |
| 2.3 The Second Return: Awareness of Morality | 第57-61页 |
| Chapter Ⅲ: Lessing's Departure and Her Way to Return | 第61-76页 |
| 3.1 Lessing's Cognition of Infidelity in Human Nature | 第62-68页 |
| 3.2 A Twofold Attention on Human Nature and Morality | 第68-76页 |
| Conclusion | 第76-78页 |
| Bibliography | 第78-83页 |
| 攻读学位期间发表的学术论文和研究成果 | 第83页 |
