A tendency---rather than a recognized school---within literary criticism to judge literary works according to moral rather than formal principles. Moral criticism is not necessarily censorious or âmoralizingâ in its approach, although it can be; nor does it necessarily imply a Christian perspective, although it often does. Moral critics include D. H. Lawrence, whose position was pagan, and extolled the virtue of âlifeâ as a force to be nourished through literature; T. S Eliot, who was Christian, and judged works in terms of their ability to clarify life, and give it meaning; James, C. L. R., who thought literature should be âimprovingâ, that by reading it one should become a better person. Moral criticism is also concerned with the âseriousnessâ of a work and whether its purpose is worthy of its means---it is from this perspective than one speaks of such things as âgratuitousâ sex in a novel, or nudity in a film, when it isnât seen to serve the moral purpose of the narrative.