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MoralsA were'''moral''' one(from of[[Latin]] the''morālis'') mainis purposesa of[[message]] literaturethat is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a [[narrative|story]] or [[wikt:event|event]]. Thee during 1780–1830, especially in [[children's literature]]. Part of the reason for this was the writings of [[John Locke]] and [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] in the 18th century, which brought attention to children as an audience for literature. Following in their line of thought, [[Thomas Day (writer)|Thomas Day]] (1748–1789) wrote ''[[Sandford and Merton]]'', elevating the outstanding morals of one young boy above the rapscallion nature of another. [[Maria Edgeworth]] (1776–1849) was another prominent author of moral tales, writing about how a wise adult can educate a child; one of her more famous stories is "[[The Purple Jar]]". During this time, the theme of "a young heroine or hero gaining wisdom and maturity was taken up by many other writers".<ref>{{cite book|title=Children's Literature|year=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=0195146565|pages=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordencycloped0000unse_o5w8/page/93 93–96]|author=Dennis Butts|author-link=Moral Tales|editor=Jack Zipes|url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordencycloped0000unse_o5w8/page/93}}</ref>▼

A '''moral''' (from [[Latin]] ''morālis'') is a [[message]] that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a [[narrative|story]] or [[wikt:event|event]]. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a [[aphorism|maxim]]. A moral is a lesson in a story or in real life.

==Finding morals==

As an example of an explicit maxim, at the end of [[Aesop's Fables|Aesop's fable]] of [[the Tortoise and the Hare]], in which the plodding and determined tortoise won a race against the much-faster yet extremely arrogant hare, the stated moral is "slow and steady wins the race". However, other morals can often be taken from the story itself; for instance, that arrogance or overconfidence in one's abilities may lead to failure or the loss of an event, race, or contest.

The use of [[stock character]]s is a means of conveying the moral of the story by eliminating complexity of personality and depicting the issues arising in the interplay between the characters, enabling the writer to generate a clear message. With more rounded characters, such as those typically found in [[Shakespeare]]'s [[Play (theatre)|plays]], the moral may be more nuanced but no less present, and the writer may point it out in other ways (see, for example, the [[Prologue]] to ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'').

he audience to take away with them; while the [[Charles Dickens#Novels|novels of Charles Dickens]] are a vehicle for morals regarding the social and economic system of [[Victorian morality|Victorian]] Britain.

Morals have typically been more obvious in [[children's literature]], sometimes even being introduced with the phrase: "[https://nextkahani.com/best-2-inspirational-stories-with-moral-lessons/ The moral of the story is] …". Such explicit techniques have grown increasingly out of fashion in modern storytelling, and are now usually only included for [[irony|ironic]] purposes.

Some examples are: "Better to be safe than sorry" ([[precautionary principle]]), "The evil deserves no aid", "Be friends with whom you don't like", "Don't judge people by the way they look", "Slow and steady wins the race", "Once started down the dark path, forever will it hold your destiny", and "Your overconfidence is your weakness".<ref>{{cite web|title=Aesop's Fables: Online Collection - Selected Fables|url=http://www.aesopfables.com/aesopsel.html|access-date=18 March 2013}}</ref> [[Aesop's Fables]] are the most famous of stories with strong moral conclusions.

== Moral tales ==

▲Morals were one of the main purposes of literature during 1780–1830, especially in [[children's literature]]. Part of the reason for this was the writings of [[John Locke]] and [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] in the 18th century, which brought attention to children as an audience for literature. Following in their line of thought, [[Thomas Day (writer)|Thomas Day]] (1748–1789) wrote ''[[Sandford and Merton]]'', elevating the outstanding morals of one young boy above the rapscallion nature of another. [[Maria Edgeworth]] (1776–1849) was another prominent author of moral tales, writing about how a wise adult can educate a child; one of her more famous stories is "[[The Purple Jar]]". During this time, the theme of "a young heroine or hero gaining wisdom and maturity was taken up by many other writers".<ref>{{cite book|title=Children's Literature|year=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=0195146565|pages=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordencycloped0000unse_o5w8/page/93 93–96]|author=Dennis Butts|author-link=Moral Tales|editor=Jack Zipes|url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordencycloped0000unse_o5w8/page/93}}</ref>

The ability of children to derive moral lessons from stories and visual media develops around the age of 9 or 10 years.<ref>{{cite web|last=Pai|first=Seeta|title=And The Moral Of The Story Is ... Kids Don't Always Understand The Moral|url=https://www.npr.org/2015/01/08/375878511/and-the-moral-of-the-story-is-kids-dont-always-understand-the-moral|url-status=live|website=[[NPR]]}}</ref>