On Lawrences Feminist Consciousness in Sons.docx

On Lawrences Feminist Consciousness in Sons.docx

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OnLawrencesFeministConsciousnessinSons

1.Introduction

D.H.LawrencehasbeenconsideredbymanytobethemostimportantnovelistinEnglandwritinginthefirsthalfofthetwentiethcentury.SonsandLoversisoneofD.H.Lawrence’smasterpieces.ItaccountstherelationsbetweenPaulandtheotherthreefemaleshismotherMrs.Morel,MiriamandClara.SonsandLoverswascomposedattheturnof20thcentury,whichwastheheydayofthefirstwaveoffeminism,consolidatedinthewomansuffragemovement.Fromthisnovel,wecanseeLawrenceisnotimmunetothesocial-culturechangesfeminismadvocates.WomencharactersinSonsandLovers,majororminor,shadowtheimpactoffeminismonLawrence.Itisquiteeasytofindtheparticularitiesof“NewWomen”sparkingconstantlyinClara,eveninMiriamandMrs.Moreletc.

1.1Thedefinitionoffeminism

Feminismisthebeliefthatwomenshouldhavethesamerightsandopportunitiesasmen.Inthemostbasicsense,feminismisexactlywhatthedictionarysaysitis:

themovementforsocial,political,andeconomicequalityofmenandwomen.ModernofFeminism'sdefinitionhasexpandedbeyondthearenaofequalopportunityandstatus,buthasnowgonesofarastotellmodernwomenwhattheyoughttobelieve/advocate.

1.2Theoriginanddevelopmentoffeminism

FeminismreallybeganasaterminFrance（féminisme）aroundtheendofthe1800s.However,theprincipalsbehindthisactualtermi.e.,thestruggleforequality-havebeenaroundsincethebeginningoftheWesternworld.ItcametotheU.S.atthebeginningofthe1900sviaanarticleaboutaFrenchSuffragistnamedMadelinePelltier.Butitdidn'tcomeintopopularusageuntilthe1960sor1970s.Atthattime,women'sliberationistwasactuallythepreferredterm,butthatstartedtogetabadname,soitwasabandonedforfeminism.Themajorityoffeministswanttobecountedasmenandshareinthebountiesofthedominantsociety,suchasequalwages,childcare,orotheracceptedsocialrights.Blackandlesbianfeministsthusarguethatmostwomenhavemoreincommonwithmenthanwitheachother.Now,hasabadname.However,whatthisexampleshows,andwhatIbelieve,isthatthenameisinmanywaysirrelevantbecauseit'swhat'sbehindthename,i.e.equality,thatisfrighteningtopeople.Therefore,weshouldstickwiththename.ReadtheworkofNancyCottformoreonthehistoryoftheword.

1.3Therepresentativefiguresoffeministliterature

Theveryactofspeakingofhavingalanguageasafocusforstudyingwomenwritersoftensilencedinthepast.ExamplesmightbeEmilyDickenson’s“slanttruth”ofinnerdialoguesofsuch“quiet”charactersasCharlotteBronte’sJaneEyreorVirginiaWoolf’sMrs.RamsayandLilyBriscoe.FemaleauthorsasGeorgeEliot,MaryWollstonecraft,VirginiaWoolf,RebeccaWest,andCharlottePerkinsGilman,inShowalter’scontextfeministliterarycriticismhavemostlydevelopedsincethebeginningofthecontemporarywomen’smovement,withSimondeBeauvoir,KateMillett,andBettyFriedan.

1.4LawrenceandSonsandLovers

SonsandLoversiscommonlyregardedasasemi-autobiographicalwork,becauseLawrence'sownlifegreatlyoverlapswiththatofPaul,oneoftheProtagonistsofthenovel.Paulisnotpurelymade-upwhenwegettoknowmoreaboutthewriter.

Lawrencewasthefourthchildofastrugglingcoalminerwhowasaheavydrinker.Hismother,whocamefromamiddleclassfamily,wasgreatlysuperiorineducationtoherhusband.Lawrence’schildhoodwasdominatedbypovertyandfrictionbetweenhisparents.Theywouldargueconstantlyandhetendedtosidewithhismother,withwhomhegrewverycloseandhadadeepemotionalbond,whofiguredasMrs.MorelinSonsandLovers.Livinginnearpoverty,hismotherdeterminedthathersonsshouldnotbecomeaminerliketheirfather.Insteadsheencouragedthemacademically;LawrencewasthenpersuadedtoworkhardatNottinghamHighSchooluntiltheageoffifteenwhenhehadtoseekemploymentinasurgicalgoodsfactory.ThisperiodofhislifeandhisfriendshipwithJessieChamberswasreflectedinSonsandLoversasPaul’srelationshipwithMiriam.In1910Lawrence’smotherdiedandhewastoosadtocontinuehisworkwhereuponhebegantowrite.In1912,heelopedwiththeGermanwifeofhisoldNottinghamprofessor,FriedaWeekley,andmarriedherin1914.However,theywereverypoorandtheirrelationshipwasnotsuccessful.In1913,SonsandLoverswaspublishedandreadersfoundFriedaWeekleyinClara.

Asawriter,Lawrenceisoftenconcernedwiththequestionofhowtolivewithinanewcontextofthought,oranewworldview.Inhisownwords“aworkofartshouldbejudgedneitherbyitsfidelitytoappearance,norbypurelyaestheticcriteria,butbyitstendencytointensifyordiminishthewill-to-life.”SonsandLoverscertainlydoesnotstandawayfromideologicalchangesinsociety,whichisrefractedbyfatesofcharacters.

Lawrenceisnotimmunetothesocial-culturechangesfeminismadvocates.WomencharactersinSonsandLovers,majororminor,shadowtheimpactoffeminismonLawrence.Itisquiteeasytofindtheparticularitiesof“NewWoman”sparklingconstantlyinClara,eveninMiriamandMrs.Moreletc.

Itissafetosaythattheradicalimplicationofthesocial-culturalchangesfeminismadvocatesproducesinmodernistwritinganunprecedentedpreoccupationwithfemale,boththematicallyandformally.SonsandLoversisnotjustaretrospectionofhislife,butanideologicalexplorationanddiscoveryfromamale’sangleofview.WestronglyfeeltheambivalenceofLawrence,astheVictoriannurturing-domesticfemininityisaccompaniedwiththatofthe“NewWoman”,forexample,noneofthewomencharactersinthenovelshowsdefiniterepellencetowardsremainingorrevertingto“AngelintheHouse”,thisambivalenceinidentifyingfeminismexposestheinfluenceofFreudianismonLawrence.

2.SonsandLovers

SonsandLoversiscommonlyregardedasasemi-autobiographicalwork,becauseLawrence’sownlifegreatlyoverlapswiththatofPaul,oneoftheprotagonistsofthenovel.Paulisnotpurelymade-upwhenwegettoknowmoreaboutthewriter.

SonsandLoverswascomposedattheturnof20thcentury,whichwastheheydayofthefirstwaveoffeminism,consolidatedinthewomansuffragemovement.Theprotagonistofthismovementwasknownasthe“NewWoman”.Theyareindependent,educated,relativelysexuallyliberated,orientedmoretowardproductivelifeinthepublicspherethanto-wardreproductivelifeinthehome.

InfluencefromwomenaroundhiminevitablyimpactsLawrence’sliterature.Wenoticethat,inSonsandLovers,femalecharactersdominatethemaincharacter-relationshipsinthenovel.Maleonesarenotshort,butmostofthemexceptPaulonlyexistasbackgroundorminorroles.Inthenovel,therearemanyminutedescriptionsontherelationshipsbetweenMrs.Morelandherson,herdaughter,herhusband,Paul’sgirlfriends,etc.Paul,asthemainroleofthenovel,isbusymovinginthecircleofwomen-hismother,hisgirlfriends,hissisterandtheshopgirls.AsmostwomencharactersinthenovelhaveantitypesinLawrence’slife,heseemstobelookingbackandtryingtocometotermswithhisownproblemsandexposehiscomplicatedattitudetowardwomenthroughPaul.ReadersgaininsightintoLawrence’sseriousstudyintowoman’spositioninthecoreortypicalhumanrelationships,whichspeakswellforwoman’slivingstatusintheearly20thcentury.

Thenovelinvolvesaseriesofrepeatedattemptsofmale/femaleunions,exemplifiedMr.andMrs.Morel,Paul’srelationshipfirstwithMiriam,thenwithClara.“Theserelationshipstakeforevertoresolveandthatwhentheydo,theresultisquiteunsatisfactory.”Alltheserelationshipsinvolveapowerseesawofthecharacters,noonewinsovertheothercompletely,thusformingtheirinbalancedrelationships.ItilluminatesLawrence’svacillationbetweenthedesiretoaffirm“NewWomen”andtoabandoncompletelyVictorianmasculine.

3.Lawrence’sFeministConsciousnessintherelationshipsofSonsandLovers.

Lawrence’smannerinSonsandLoversisbasicallyrealistic:

hischaractersexpressthemselvesthroughtheiractions.Atthesametime,heusesothertechniquessuchassignificantimageryorsymbolism;andfromthiswecanlookintotheheartsandmindsofthesecharacters,revealingpowerfulemotionsandfeelingsthatarenotsimpleexpressedinaction.

Thesymbolismisthepracticeofrepresentingthingsbymeansofsymbolsorofattributingsymbolicmeaningsorsignificancetoobjects,events,orrelationships.

Informulatingatheoryofsymbolism,Lawrenceisconfrontedwiththedifficultyofwantingtoexpressthetruthoftheimaginationasliterallyand“objectively”aspossiblewithoutriskingabstraction.Onefeelsalwaysinhisartthetendencytowardallegoryandinhiscriticismthetendencytowarditsjustification,butheinsiststhatthesymbolretainallthesubtlety,elusiveness,andsuggestivenessthatlifeitselfpossesses.Wehavenotedhistendencytoliteralizemetaphor,toidentifythesymbolwiththeexperienceitismeanttosymbolize.

3.1"OedipusComplex"ofMrs.Morel

ThefirstpartofthenovelfocusesondescribingtheunsatisfactorymarriageofMorel’s.Mrs.Morelwasborninmiddle-classbourgeoisfamily,welleducated.ShecouldspeakstandardupperclassEnglish.Shefeelssociallyandintellectuallysuperiortothelifeoftheminingcommunitygoingonaroundher.Aftertheirmarriage,withtheheavylabor,povertyandheavyfamilyburden,Morelwasdeepintofrustration.Mrs.Morelhavelittlecommoninhim,shecannotgetanyaffectionfromherhusbandandoftenfeelslonely.

SomepeoplelookonSonsandLoversasa