lady chatterleys lover.docx

lady chatterleys lover.docx

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ladychatterleyslover

标题：

TheChatterley/BoltonAffair:

TheFreudianPathofRegressioninLadyChatterley'sLover

作者：

GERALDDOHERTY

来源：

PapersonLanguage&Literature.（Fall1998）:

p372.FromLiteratureResourceCenter.

文章类型：

Article

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为此文档添加书签

Overthepastthirtyyears,thesequenceoforgasmicencountersbetweenConnieChatterleyandOliverMellors,thegame-keeper,inLadyChatterley'sLoverhasbeentheobjectofintensefascinationandscrutiny.Itallstartedin1962withFrankKermode'sperception,basedonhisreadingofLawrence'sApocalypse（1932）,andFredericCarter'sD.H.LawrenceandtheBodyMystical（1932）ofaparadigmaticequivalencebetweenanancientmysteryritual--theOpeningoftheSevenSeals--andthesequenceoferoticencountersbetweenConnieandMellors（"Spenser"24-32）.TheplotofConnie'sinitiationandmysticalrebirth,asKermodenotes,follows"theoriginalplotofApocalypse"（Lawrence128）.Thoughsubsequentcriticshavecriticizedthisapocalypticmythology,bothforitsbracketingofthesocio-politicalconcernsofthenovel,andforitsevasionofthedeepironiesimpliedinMellors'sfinalisolation,

（1）neverthelessKermode'stypologyoffersthebestaccountoftheeroticsoftheConnie/Mellorsaffair,andofthepowerfulteleologythatgovernstheirrituallove-making.

（2）Itshowshow,inthisthirdrewritingoftheChatterleynovels,Lawrencetransformshistoryintomyth,andsexualityintoapastoralidyll,ashetracksthevicissitudesofConnie'serotictransformationfromafrigidresistancetoanenthusiastresponse.Theallegoryofaseven-stagejourneyfromdeathintolifeunderwritesaseven-stagesexualeschatology,andendowsitwithadynamicsequenceandclimax.

TheeroticsoftheChatterley/Boltonaffair,bycontrast,hasprovokedmerelyamarginalcomment,sinceitseemstopossessneitherthetypologicalnorinitiatorynorpsychologicalcomplexityofitspositivecounterpart.Assuch,itsroleisapurelysubordinateone--thedulldeterminismoftheChatterley/BoltoneroticdeclineininverserelationshiptotheglamorousupsurgeoftheConnie/Mellorsaffair:

eachexistsasafoilfortheother.Critics,forthemostpart,haveextractedasingleessencetocharacterize,orasingleepithettowriteoff,therelationship.ForH.M.Daleski,itrepresentsa"childishperversity"（301）;forJulianMoynahan,a"monstrous,unvitalembrace"（77）;forJohnHaegert,a"horridinfantilism"（217）.DennisJacksonisoneofthefewcriticswhohavedetectedadistinctivepatterninthelovemakingbetweenCliffordandIvyBolton:

thedeath-to-rebirtharchetypeunderwritesitsprogression.Clifford'saccesstoa"strangenewsortofpotency"asaconsequenceofMrs.Bolton'sministrationsprovidesan"ironiccommentary"onthethemeofConnieandMellors'sregeneration（266-67）.

ThepresentpsychoanalyticalreadingoftheChatterley/Boltonerotics,worksless,however,throughatraditionalexcavationofunconsciousmotiveincharacter-behaviorandactionthanthroughtheuncoveringofaspecificFreudianpattern--themostcelebratedofallpsychoanalyticalteleologies,thethreestages（oral,anal,genital）inthedevelopmentofinfantilesexuality.Ineffect,Lawrencedeploysthethreestages,workedoutbyFreudintheThreeEssaysontheTheoryofSexuality,（3）inhisdepictionoftheprogressoftheChatterley/Boltonaffair--buthedoessothroughamajorreversal.ThethreestagesoftheaffairenactthethreeFreudianstages,butthrougha"backward"declension:

theyrepresenttheFreudianpathof"perversion"--theregressionfromgenitaltoanalandoralsexualpleasures.BeforeweturntoLadyChatterley'sLover,however,thisclaimneedsmoretheoreticalsubstantiationandelaboration.WecanstartwiththequestionofhowwellversedLawrencewasinFreudiantheory.

InhercatalogueofLawrence'sreading,RoseBurwellnotesthatitisdifficulttodetermineexactlywhichofFreud'swritingsLawrenceactuallyread,andhowfarhisknowledgeofFreudwasbasedonclosereadingsofFreudiantextsorondiscussionswithFrieda,whowasOttoGross'sloverin1907,andwithhisfriends,DavidEderandBarbaraLow,whowerepsychoanalysts（256）.（4）SincethetheoryoftheerotogeniczoneswasthecornerstoneofFreud'saccountofinfantilesexuality,onemustassumethatLawrencewaswellacquaintedwithwhatLaplancheandPontaliscallthis"fundamentaldatumofpsycho-analyticexperience"（155）.IndeedonecanreadLawrence'sPsychoanalysisandtheUnconsciousandFantasiaofTheUnconscious（1923）,whichhedescribedashisessayson"ChildConsciousness"（145,157）,ashisexplicitchallengetoFreudiantheoriesoflibidinaldevelopment.NotonlydothesetwoessaysdraftanalternativemappingofthenewlycolonizedterritorythatFreudcalled"theunconscious,"theyalsoofferanalternativeaccountofinfantilepsychologicaldevelopment,basedonthesequentialawakeningofsomaticcentersofconsciousnessinthechild.Sincethesecenters,Lawrencemaintained,donotawakenuntilpuberty,heaccusesFreudofbeing"wrong"inattributingsexualmotivationtochildren:

atmost,thechildhasa"rudimentarysex,"ashadowypresentimentoftraumatictransformationstocome（Fantasia108）.（5）ThoughLawrencewasunwillingtosexualizetheinfant'srelationswithothers,hewasmorethanwilling,asIhopetoshow,tosexualizetheadultregressiontoinfantilestates,andtouseFreudiantheorytocharacterizethisregression.

Butwhatexactlyisthis"regression,"which,asIsuggest,LawrenceborrowedfromFreudtomapoutthestagesofClifford'seroticdecline?

IthasitsorigininFreud'sconceptionofthesexualdrive,lessasaunified"instinct"thanasacomposite,withitssourceindistinctiveerotogeniczones（oral,anal,genital）,whichareactivatedthroughexternalstimulation（sucking,washing,rubbing）.SuchatopographicalconceptionofthedriveallowsforthemajorreversalofwhichIspokeearlier--atraversalofthezonesintheoppositedirection.Freud'stheoryofthe"perversions"isbasedpreciselyonsuchareversal,asthesexualcomponents"comeapartagain"intotheirseparatezones,whichbecomesitesoffixation,andastheadultretreatsbacktoinfantileaimsandobjectsofpleasure（ThreeEssays76,155-56）.Inrelinquishinggenitalprimacy,the"perverse"adultdissociateshimselffrom"normaldevelopment."

ThestructuralaspectsofFreud'stheoryofinfantiledevelopmentdictatethatthesethreestagesdonotemergehaphazardlyoranarchically,butaccordingtoawell-regulatedchronology.Theyhave,asFreudputsit,aspecific"temporalsequence"andasettledduration（ThreeEssays166-67）.Eachstagehasitspredestinedonset,itsdevelopment,anditsconclusion.The"perversions,"ineffect,throwthislinearunfoldingintoreverse,andsettheadultonthesexualpathofreturntothelibidinalstateoutofwhichs（he）emerged.

InLadyChatterley'sLover,Lawrenceadaptsthischronologytosuithisownspecialpurposes,usingthesamereversedsequence,asanarrativeplot,totrackClifford'seroticregressionfromautonomousadulttodependent"child-man."NotonlydoesthedestructionofClifford's"genitalprimacy"cuthimofffromthepathofnormaldevelopment:

inaddition,thecourseofhisaffairwithMrs.Boltonmovespreciselyfromaninitialanalfixationbacktoanobsessivelyoralone--thestandardpathof"perversion"asmappedoutbyFreud.Ishallnowofferdetailedtextualevidencetobackuptheseassertions.

1.GENITALTRAUMAS

ThestoryofClifford'swar-woundingiscompressedintoonesimplesentence:

hewas"shippedovertoEnglandagainsixmonthslater,moreorlessinbits"（5）.OnepossiblereasonforsubjectingCliffordtosuchadrasticformofmutilation--paralysisfrom"thehipsdown"--istomakecastrationofthegenitalzonesecurefromthestart.Inneutralizingonepossibility--thereturntofullpotency--it,however,raisesanother--thepossibilityofsubstitutegratificationstocompensateforthislack.Indeedevenbeforehisparalysis,wearetold,Clifford'sgenitalprimacywasalreadyweaklyestablished:

hewas"notjustkeenonhis"satisfaction"--sexwasmerelyanaccident...oneofthecuriousorganicprocesseswhich...wasnotreallynecessary"（12）（Lawrence'suseofoneofFreud'sfavoriteepithetsforsexualfulfillment--"satisfaction"（atermFreudendlesslyrepeatsintheThreeEssays）--andhisplacingitinquotationmarkssignalshissatiricintention）.Clifford'sphysicalparalysisisthusameresymbolicreinforcementofatendencyalreadypronounced,onethatpointstofurtherdeclinationsfromthesexual"norm."

IndeedthegoverningobsessionunderwritingthediscussionsbetweenCliffordandhisCambridge"cronies"isthepossibilityofsubstitutesatisfactionsinplaceofthesexualact.（6）Itisthiswhichgivestheirconversationatingeofthe"perverse."Amongthevarietyofsurrogatestheydiscuss,themoststrikingislanguageitself:

itistheritualizedfocusoftheireroticdesire,andtheobjectoftheirfetishisticconcern.Theirobsessivetalkaboutsexisthesymptomofalackoranabsenceforwhichwordsarethesubstituteobjects.Alltheirerections,asitwere,areerectionsofsignifiers（theyareLacaniansavantlalettre）.AllforexampleshareCharlesMay'sviewthat"sexisjustanotherformoftalk,whereyouactthewordsinsteadofsayingthem...asortofnormalphysicalconversationbetweenamanandawoman"（33-34）.Thecronies'pronouncedlackofinterestinactualsex（twooutoffour,forexample,appeartobeimpotent）meansthatalmostanysocio-culturalobject--fame,money,success--oritslinguisticequivalentservesasasubstituteforthesexualperformanceitself.Inthissense,spee