THE INDUS T RI AL NIGHTMARE: A ST UDY OF THE EVILS OF I N D U S T R I A L I S M FROM D .H .L A W R E N C E 'S
THE W H I T E P E A C O C K TO W O M E N IN LOVE
Tese s u b m e t i d a a U n i v e r s i d a d e Federal de Santa Catar in a para a o b t e n ç ã o do grau de MEST RE EM LETRAS
M aria Vilani, de Sousa
MESTRE EM LETRAS
E s p e c i a l i d a d e LTngua Inglesa e L i t e r a t u r a C o r r e s p o n d e n t e e a pr o v a d a em sua forma final pelo Pr o g r a m a de P ó s - G r a d u a ç ã o .
in abAentia, Prof. John Derrick, PhD O r i e n t a d o r
Prof. Arno l d Selig G ò r d e n s t e i n , PhD Co -\Ori e n t a d o r
A p r e s e n t a d a p e r a nt e a C om i s s ã o E x a m i n a d o r a c om posta dos pro f e s s o r e s :
Prof. Arno ld Selig G ò r d e n s t e i n , PhD
1'' ■ ^ - ^ í) f ■
í i u j j a í j ■, í ! í srrd f ú ‘.?.!'_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ P r o f ? L e t T c i a N . T a v a r e s C a v a i c a n t i , PhD
criticism. Only love can grasp and hold and fairly judge them."
R ain er Maria Rilke, Le.tte.n.i, to a Young WAttnfL.
Ao P r o f e s s o r Joh n V&AAÂ.ck,
pela s e g u r a n ç a e d e d i c a ç ã o com que me o r i e n tou nesta di s s e r t a ç ã o . E pelo e s t í m u l o , sem 0 qual esse t r ab a l h o não teria sido r e a l i z a do .
Ao P r o f e s s o r A r n o l d Go/idenòtein,
por ter a ss um id o com p r e s t e z a a c o - o r i e n t a - ção deste t r ab al ho e pela a u t o r i d a d e com que me c o n d u z i u na fase final d esta d i s s er t aç ão .
à P r o f e s s o r a L z t Z c l a UlQ.d<ífiau2.h. TavaA.e-ò C a v a l c a n t i ,
pelo apoio e pelas o b s e r v a ç õ e s o b j e t i v a s e p e r t i n e n t e s que muito me a j u d a r a m no aperfei_ ç o a m e n t o d e st e trabalho.
S U n i v e r s i d a d e Federal da ParaTba,
pela o p o r t u n i d a d e de a p e r f e i ç o a r os meus e s
tudos. .
S U n i v e r s i d a d e Federal de Santa C a ta ri n a,
por ter me ap o n t a d o novos caminhos de s a be r e pe squisar.
c u j o a p o i o t o r n o u p o s s T v e l a r e a l i z a ç ã o d e s t e t r a b a l h o .
p r o f e s s o r a e amiga,
por ter me en si n a d o a amar a l iteratura.
The ob je c t of the pre se nt study is the a na lysis of the social ...and individual changes with the adv e nt of
i n d u s t r i a l i s m , as they are seen through D.H .L a w r e n c e 's nov el s The White. Peacock, S o m and Loven.6, Th e R a i n b o w , a n d W o m e n tn Love. La wr e n c e saw "p r ogress" as a n e c e s s a r y evil, r e s p o n s i b l e for both the stress a n d « d e m a n d w h i ch led i n d i vi du al s to pay a high price for the doubtful be n ef it s of it.
From the first novel a n a l y s e d here. The W h i t e P ea c o c k , L aw re n c e p ic t ur es a rural soc ie t y w hich g r a d u a l l y becomes
" i n d u s t r i a l i z e d " and loses its e x c e l l e n c e in the process of i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n . In the last novel a n a l y s e d here. W o m e n In Love, L a w r e n c e shows a chaotic w o r l d in which some c h a r a c t e r s are i r r e m e d i a b l y lost, w hi l e others try to d is c ov er new ways of life through roads n ever tried before.
A n a l y s i n g the main causes w h ic h led La wr en c e to hate the industrial so c i e t y so int en s el y, I have tried to show the i nf l u e n c e of his e n v i r o n m e n t on his work. The c o n t r a s t be tw e en the co un t r y he knew in his c h i l d h o o d and the industrial s o c i e t y in w h i c h he lived in his adult life g r e a t l y i n f l u e n c e d his
visio n of the w o r l d .
T hr o u g h L a w re n ce 's social i d e a s - - s o m e u n a c c e p t a b l e to common sense, some p a i n f u l l y true even t o d a y , - - i t is p os s i b l e to find a man e x t r e m e l y c o n t r a d i c t o r y : L aw rence was, first of all, a man who b e l i e v e d in the hu man c a p a c i t y for r e g e n e r a t i o n ;
0 o b j e t i v o do p r e s e n t e estudo i a análise das m u d a n - ças sociais e p s i c o l ó g i c a s s ur g i d a s com o advento do i n d u s t r i e
lismo, tais como elas sao vistas por D . H . La wr e n c e em seus ro - m a nc e s 0 Pavão Branco, FiZho-ò e, K m a n t í ò , 0 k A c o - l K i à e Mu- IheAí ò ApaX.xon.ada6. L aw r en ce via o "progresso" como um mal ne_ c e s s ã r i o que trazia c onsigo uma grande carga de p re ss õ es etexi^ g ên ci a s , lev an d o os i n d iv íd uo s a pagar um alto preço pelos seus d uv i d o s o s ben ef í ci os .
P ar t i n d o do pr im e i r o livro a n a l i s a d o aqui, 0 Pavão Bra nc o, La wr en c e m os t r a uma s o c i e d a d e rural que vai pouco a pojj co se i n d u s t r i a l i z a n d o e p e r d e n d o em q u a l i d a d e , com o p r o g r e s so. No últi mo livro e s t u d a d o nesta di s s e r t a ç ã o , Uulho.n.e.0 Apal x on ad aò , L aw rence a p r e s e n t a um un iverso caó t ic o onde alguns p e r s o n a g e n s se e n c o n t r a m i r r e m e d i a v e l m e n t e perdi do s, e n q u a n t o outro s t e n ta m e n c o n t r a r uma nova forma de vida a través de ca - m i n h os nunca antes ejjperimentados .
A n a l i s a n d o as p r i n c i p a i s causas que l ev a r a m L a w r e n c e a o d i a r tão p r o f u n d a m e n t e a s o c i e d a d e i n d u st r ia l, eu tento m o ^ trar a i n f l u ê n c i a que o meio em que ele nasceu e viveu teve em sua obra. 0 co nt r a s t e entre o país que ele co n heceu em sua i^ fãncia e a s oc i e d a d e industrial na qual ele viveu sua vidaadul^ ta, m ui to i n f l u e n c i o u sua visão do mundo.
At ra vé s das idéias so ci ai s de L a w r e n c e - - a l g u m a s inacei
■ í
c a p a c i d a d e humana de r eg e n e r a ç ã o ; como a finix, seu próprio sTm bolo, ele a c r e d i t a v a que o h omem era capaz de r en a s c e r das c i n zas, cheio de vigor, para viver um outro ciclo de vida.
Page I - Ch ap t er ONE 1. S t a t e m e n t of the P r o b l e m ... 1 2. P re vious S c h o l a r s h i p ... 5 2.1. I n t r o d u c t i o n ... ... 5 •2.2. Th e C r i t i c s ... 5 3. S t a t e m e n t of P u r p o s e ... 1? II - C hapter TWO , 1 . Introducti on ... .. . 19 2. H i s t or ic a l and Social B a c k g r o u n d . . . 20 3. G eo gr a ph ic al and Familial B a c k g r o u n d ... 24 III - C h a p t e r THREE 1 . T h e Wh-lte P e a c o c k ...\ . . . 41
2. Son4 and Loven.6 . ... 53
IV - Ch ap t e r FOUR 1 . The R a l n b o i v ... 65 V - Chapter FIVE 1 . W omen in Love ....,... 89 VI - C O N C L U S I O N ... .. . 124 VII - B I B L I O G R A P H Y ... . 128
S T A T E M E N T OF THE P R O B L E M
In this d i s s e r t a t i o n I will be c o n c e r n e d with the social thought of D . H . L a w r e n c e as it is r e l a t ed to the changes that i n d u s t r i a l i s m has caus ed in m o de r n man. Thr ou g h the
reading of his novels, his l et ters, and some of his e s s a y s his p r o f o u n d hatr ed of i n d u s t r i a l i s m becomes c le ar and u n d o u b t e d l y , as Leo H a m a l i a n argues, m o s t of " L aw rence's tr em e n d o u s p o w er as an a r t i s t was g e n e r a t e d by his 'intense and unremi tt i ng ' h a t re d of m o d e r n society."^
L a wr e nc e' s d oc t r i n e that the Industrial R e v o l u t i o n is r e s p o n s i b l e for the d e s t r u c t i o n of the m a n - n a t u r e r e l a t i o n s h i p belongs to the t ra di ti o n of p r o t e s t a g ai n s t i n d u s t r i a l i s m and is s ha r e d by many w ri t e r s of the n in e t e e n t h ce nt u ry such as Ca rl yl e , Ruskin and C ol e r i d g e and also by some of his
c o n t e m p o r a r i e s . But L aw re n c e added to this t ra d i t i o n a
c r i t i c i s m that w o u l d . h a v e s h o c k e d some of those w r i t e r s bec au s e he d i s b e l i e v e d in mo st of the social ambit io ns which are
r eg a r d e d as c o m p e n s a t i o n s for the evils of c i v i l i z a t i o n . In his e s sa y " D .H . L a w r e n c e and M o d e r n S o c i e t y , " Dan J a c o b s o n says that La wrence b e l i e v e d that "much of w h a t had always been
c o n s i d e r e d finest and m os t v a lu a b l e found its logical 2 c u l m i n a t i o n in the black horrors of i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n . "
^ D . H . L aw rence : A C o t t e c t l o n , ed. by Leo H a m a l i a n (I n t r o d u c t i o n ) , p. 1.2i
2 Dan Jacobson, " D .H .La wr e nc e and M o d e r n S o c i e t y , " V.H. LawAince,: A C o l l e c t i o n oi Cn.ltlcli,m, ed. by Leo H am a l i a n , p . 135
a na l ys is of his ideas about m o d e r n society. Why was D.H. L aw r e n c e so o p p o s e d to i n d u s t r i a l i s m ? Why his hatre d of the e s t a b l i s h e d s o c i e t y ? Was he real ly the "Prophet of the
A p o c a l y p s e " or just the last of the R o m a n t i c s ? Is it not
i n t e r e s t i n g that his in s t i n c t for c o m m u n i t y (I will talk ab out his Ra na n i m p r o j e c t later) co ex is t s with his d i s b e l i e f in the life of m o d e r n s oc i e t y ? I will try to a n s w e r these q u e s t i o n s t h r o u g h o u t this d i s s e r t a t i o n by the an a lysis of the novels or by the direct e x a m i n a t i o n of the ideas c o n t a i n e d in his essays w hi c h will be used to il l u s t r a t e my ' B a ck gr ou nd Chapter' and my ch a pters on his novels.
I have chosen to e x a m i n e four of his e a r l i e r novels: The. W h i t e Peacock, SonA and L o v e u , The Ralnbou) and W o m e n tn
Love and I am also going to use some of his essays and some of his poetry b ec a u s e they will be useful to ex p la in the topic u nder i n ve st ig a t i o n . But I will ch i e f l y focus my a t t e n t i o n on The R a i n b o w and W o m e n In Love b ec a u s e in these two books,
e s p e c i a l l y in the last one, the evils of m o d er n c i v i l i z a t i o n are more cl e a r l y and c o n s c i o u s l y explo r ed . The c h a r a c t e r s of these books, more than those of the first one "live close to the sick heart of a doomed c i v i l i z a t i o n and are i m p l i c a t e d in its final i l l n e s s . " ^
The " l e a de r sh ip novels" which follo w W om en I n Love in s eq u e n c e are in one sense L a w r e n c e ’s m o s t "social" but I have not chosen to d iscuss them be ca us e my c r i t e r i o n of choi ce was b ased on the ar t i s t i c qua li ty of the e a r l i e r work. Most
Julian M o y n a h a n , The Veed o^ Llf^e, p. 88 3
They also agree that after The. R a i n b o w and W o m e n in Love L aw r e n c e ' s "work d e t e r i o r a t e d as a rt - w i t h the e x c e p t i o n of a few short sto ri es whi ch , h o w e v e r p e r f e c t in their kind,
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are m i n or ." So, using V ivas's t er m i n o l o g y , I will be de al in g with "the t riumph of art" and leaving "the f ailure of art" out.^
The L a w r e n c e of the "social n ovels" lacks : the "poetry," the " s e l f - s u f f i c i e n c y " and "the s pl e n d o r " w hi ch makes his
fi ct i o n f a s c i n at in g . He is so d o g m a t i c in his later phase .that I w o u l d p r e fe r to discuss his letters of this period. In W o m e n in Love L a wr en ce e s t a b l i s h e s the "death" of the "modern"
s oc ie ty , leaving, h ow ever, the road open to the e s t a b l i s h m e n t of a new one. A ft e r this, L a w r e n c e is going to deal with the theme of "social r e s u r r e c t i o n " wh ich is not the theme chos en for my disse rt at i on .
4
F . R . Le av is , V .H .L a w r e n c e No v e t i i t , p. 85. 5
Eliseo Vivas, 0. H . L a w r e n c e : The Vailufie and the T A i u m p h 0 ^ AAt. Preface, x i . One w o u l d s u g g e s t that The W h i t e P e a c o c k is also a m i n o r novel. In one of his letters L aw r e n c e said:
"I was very y ou n g wh e n I w r o t e the P e a c oc k -- ! began it at twenty. Let it be my a p o l o g y . " But I-have chosen it b e c a u s e t hr ou gh this novel I can show all the b e a u t y of pastoral E n g l a n d in such a p l e n i t u d e w hich is not going to be f ound a n y m o r e in the books w hi c h come a f t e r it. And I need this " picture" of V i c t o r i a n England to e s t a b l i s h the c o n t r a s t with the
i n d u s t r i a l i z e d Engl an d of the o t he r books.
^ "The novels that s u c c e e d W o m e n in Love are e x p l o r a t o r y and e xp e r i m e n t a l . In them L aw r e n c e lives his proble ms in a ■ t e n t a t i v e and i m m e d i a t e l y personal way that gives these books a d i f f e r e n t status as works of art from that of W o m e n in Love and The Rainbow.
The novels that I have in m in d in this d e s c r i p t i o n are A a A o n ’6 Rod, K an ga ro o and Th e P l u m e d SeApen t. The last seems
to be a bad book and a r e g r e t t a b l e p e r f o r m a n c e . . . But the o ther two, though very much open t o .c r i t i c i s m as novels and w orks of art... are "apart from the w orks that show L a w r e n c e ' s full c r e a t i v e p o we r .. ." (Leavis* pp. 32-33).
c aus ed by the process of i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n of England. In The W h i t e P e a c o c k it is p os s i b l e to "feel" nature and "hear" the heart of the c o u n t r y s i d e p u l s a ti ng ; in Son6 and LoveAi, we w i t n es s the life in the mines and the b eg in n in g of the pr oc e ss of d i s i n t e g r a t i o n of the stable c i v i l i z a t i o n of the past. In The R a i n b o w this process can be fully a n a l y s e d since in this book we have a s u m m a r i z e d p i c tu re of the w hole process: the transfortpati on of the B ra n g w e n ' s farm by "progress". And then, in W o m e n in Love it is p o s s i b l e to study Lawr en ce ' s view of the evils of the mod er n world.
So, besides ar ti st i c meri t, the further reason for my choice is the fact that it is p o s s i b l e to make a co nt r a s t
b etween the y o un g L a w r en ce 's view of England as it is seen in The W h i t e P e a c o c k and the view of the man who wrote W o m e n in
Love: a man "angered over what had been done to the l a n d s c a p e s of industrial r e g i o n s , " ^ Kan g a r o o and The P l u m e d S e r p e n t , for e xa mp le , could be c o n s i d e r e d "more s oc i a l " than the ones
i nv o l v e d in this d i s s e r t a t i o n but if I had chosen say from The R a i n b o w to The Plu me d S e A p e n t , it w o u l d not be p o s s i b l e to e s t a b l i s h this c o nt r a s t between the ro ma nt i c rural c o u n t r y and the i n d u s t r i a l i z e d moder n England, since these novels were wr it t e n when he had a l r e a d y left E n g l a n d and they deal with
alien or i m a g i n a r y societies.
I NT R O D U C T I O N
When I s t a r t e d s t ud y i n g D . H .L a w r e n c e 's critics I soon d i s c o v e r e d that there was s e e m i n g l y little more to say about D .H .L a w r e n c e 's work. There is a long list of good critic s, w ho have a l r e a d y w r i t t e n a bo ut him and at first sight, it seems that all the topics p o s s i b l e were e x h au s te d. The great amou nt of a v a i l a b l e c r i t i c i s m a b o u t him has an a ly se d his work to such an e x t e n t that one finds it hard to d i s c o v e r a n y t h i n g that has e l u d e d the critics. That is why I have tried to read as much as I could about him and about his work hoping to be loyal to his genius as far as it was p o s s i b l e for me.
Since I am going to deal b a s i c a l l y with his social ideas I will try to keep m y s e l f cl os e s t to the critics that are more c o n c e r n e d wi_th this aspect of his work and I will not be di re c t l y i nv o l v e d with his F re ud i a n critics. There will h o w e v e r be times when they are called to e x p l a i n or c l a r i f y some aspects of his social thought. My b i o g r a p h i c a l s ources
8 9
will be f u n d a m e n t a l l y Mo ore and A l d i n g t o n , to w h o m I owe the pa ss p o r t to e n t e r L aw r e n c e ' s world. Th e y will be
e s p e c i a l l y useful in the e l a b o r a t i o n of the s e c o nd chapter.
8
Harry T.Morre, The. PH.l2.6 t Love.: A V . H . LauAence. Richard A l d i n g t o n , Pon.tn.alt oi a . G e n i u s Bat,..
a spects of Law re nc e 's life that are c o n c e r n e d with the theme of this d i s s e r ta ti on . I will pass over many critics in this review, who will r e a p p e a r t h r o u g h o u t this w ork, a c c o r d i n g to their r el ev an c e in the e x p l a n a t i o n of some topic. My
s e l e c t i o n was done taking in c o n s i d e r a t i o n , e s p e c i f i c a l l y , those critics who are p r e o c c u p i e d with the d e v e l o p m e n t of
L a w r e n c e ' s social ideas. The o r d e r in w h i c h they a p p e a r here, just for the pu rp os e of p r e s e n t a t i o n , follows my personal
c r i t e r i o n of the i m po rt an ce t heir analyses have to the theme of this d i ss e rt at io n . This order, h o w e v e r not s t r i c t l y
h i e r a r c h i c , is p r e s e n t e d in an inverse way. So the critics w hich will co n cl ud e this s e l e c t i o n are those who bett er s u m m a r i z e the ideas p r e s e n t e d in this d i ss e rt at io n .
THE CRITICS
Among the critics that have been d i s c u s s i n g the
i m p o r t a n c e of D . H . L a w r e n c e ' s doctri ne , Diana Tr i lling e xp lo r es the r es po ns e of the readers of d i f f e r e n t g e n e r a t i o n s to his works. She sees in La w r e n c e ' s vision of social r e g e n e r a t i o n an appeal to present day readers. She believes that the r e je c t i o n of "the values and am bi t i o n s and rewards of mod er n industrial s o c i e t y " ^ ^ by the y ou ng people of today was shar ed by Lawrence.
Diana T rilling, "Lawrence and the M ov e m e n t s of Modern C ul t u r e , " V.H.LawAence.: UoveZ-i^t, Poet, PAophet. ed. by Ste ph en S pe nd e r , p. 5.
g e n e r a t i o n is not as firm as it first appears"^^ bec au s e in c ertain aspects such as his view of s e x u a l i t y he is s o m e w h a t m i s u n d e r s t o o d by many of his new readers. This gap lies b as i c a l l y in the d i f f e r e n c e between " co upling" and "mating." A c co r di ng to D .H .L a w r e n c e , the "co u pl in g" is not an end in
itself but a way to s a l va ti o n, a travel in the d i r e c t i o n of a goal b e yo nd love that could create a new w o r l d while the
second is, among o th er things an e s c a p e from the is o l a t i o n that mechanical s o c i e ty has produced.
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Julian M o y n a h a n b e l i e v e s that L a wr en ce ' s i m p o r t a n c e is in fact "more that any ot her w r i t e r in E ng l is h" as he was p r e o c c u p i e d with "human feel i ng s" and with the ties that put men together. M o y n a h a n also e m p h a s i z e s the great i m p o r t a n c e that the "social" has on the sh a p i n g of L aw r e n c e ' s c ha r a c t e r s . A c c o r d i n g to him L aw r e n c e "tries to show that the most val,uable human e n t e r p r i s e is the dual f u l f i l l m e n t of the social and the inhuman selves wi th i n an i nt e g r a t e d e x p e r i e n c e of life, and the end e n vi s io ns the t r a n s f o r m a t i o n of s o c i e t y into a new form w i t h i n w hich such saving f u l f i l l m e n t could work themse 1 ves out'^ ^
In his an al y si s of The. White. Pe acock, S tephen Miko s ug gests that by t re ating his social c re a tu re s "as f oolish but
Diana T r i1 1i n g , "Lawrence and the M o v e m e n t s of M o de r n C u lt u re ," V . H . LaivAence: UoveZli,t, Poet, P r o p h e t ed. by St e p h e n Spender, p. 5.
1 2 Julian M oy n a h a n , The V e e d o^ il^e.
1 5
be p r e se n t w h e r e v e r La w re n c e deals with the social. Miko's o b s e r v a t i o n s are more rel at ed to the e mp h a s i s L a wr en ce s gives to nat ur e in his first b o o k - “T/ie White, Pe.aaock. At the same time, Miko calls a t t e n t i o n to the e m e r g e n c e in this book of the theme that he loss of c o n t a c t with natu re has caused men to lose their emotional security. It is L a w r e n c e ' s pr in c i p l e that "closeness to n a t ur e helps; highly o r g a n i z e d or
s y s t e m a t i z e d social a c t i v i t y h i n d e r s . M i k o calls a t te n t i o n to the fact that L a w r e n c e ' s chara ct er s always have pr ob le m s in r e c o n c i l i n g their individual a s p i r a t i o n s and the e s t a b l i s h e d social rules but like many o t her critics of Lawre nc e , he raises the p o s s i b i 1 ity that La wrence was u nc e r t a i n a b ou t the social doctr in e he had created.
Daleski, in The FoAked flame, sees Lawre nc e as a 20th c e n t u ry romantic p r e o c c u p i e d with the u n c o n s c i o u s side of man aware that the c i v i l i z a t i o n he was living in was reach in g a dead end. A c c o r d i n g to Daleski it was the c o n s c i o u s n e s s of a man who, in a w o r l d bet we e n two wars, was still ca pa bl e of d re am in g of bett er times:
Ste p he n Miko, T o w a A d W o m e n In Love, p. 23. 1 5
Miko c r i t ic iz e s the o v e r i n t e l 1e c t u a l i z a t i o n that L aw re n c e imposes to his c haracters' fe elings in The W h i t e
Pea c o c k which, in Miko's opinio n , indicates Lawr en ce 's at ti t u d e tow a rd "values w h ic h he never a c c e p t e d but w hi c h n e v e r t h e l e s s t em p t e d a y o u ng man not yet sure of his own path." We know, h ow e ve r, that the same thing is going to happen in W o m e n in Love, w hich proves that Lawrence always felt this a t t r a c t i o n and r epulsion to the social values p r e s e n t e d in his books.
war will cease, there will be no more wars. (Future Wars - Poemi, p. 612)
Among strong a r g u m e n t s ag ai ns t Lawren ce , P r i t c h a r d , in his I nt r o d u c t i o n to V . H . Lau)/Le.nc&: B o d y Va^kne.^^ agrees with T ri ll i ng about the e v e r y d a y im p o r t a n c e of L a w r e n c e and inserts him in the c a t e g o r y of Ro m an ti c Decadence. He finds in L a w r e n c e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of a Romantic; "the erotic
m y s t i c i s m , " "the sexual d i s t u r b a n c e , " "the a t t r a c t i o n by the p r i m i t i v e roots of man's cu lt u r e . " The fact that L a w r e n c e ^ ma kes of hi m s e l f the p r o p h e t of "cultural c ol la ps e " at the same time that he be li e v e s in a "new life" gives him
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of a r o m a n t i c writer.
In his V . H . LaMAence. R . P . D r a p e r br oaches the m a t t e r of the "apparent' s i m i l a r i t y " b e t w e e n some of L a w r e nc e' s ideas and those a d v o c a t e d by the fa s cists and he agrees that it s e r v e d to harm L aw r e n c e ' s reputation,,biJt.,the.critic does not b e l i e v e that he de se r v e s this c ri t i c i s m . It is also the o p i ni on of m a n y o t her critics and peop le who shar ed his i ntimacy: Ba rb a r a W ee kl e y , Frieda's daugh te r, says that La wr en ce "detested
B o l c h e v i s m and Fas ci s m was not his taste either.
Keith Sa gar is more p r e o c c u p i e d with the " a p p r o p r i a t e f orm" with which L a w r e n c e ' s view of the w o r l d is e n v i s i o n e d in his writi n gs . In the same w a y that Leavis is c o n c e r n e d with
L aw r en ce and tradition, S a ga r is more i n t e r e s t e d in " L a w re nc e' s
B arbara W e e k l e y in H a rr y T.Moore and W ar r e n R ob erts, V . H . LaiA)A&nc& and H-ci Wo Aid, p. 20.
18 19
reaction a g a i n s t the E nglish r ea l i s t tradition," but he says that his work is an at t em pt to c o m p l e m e n t the work of Leavis in o r d e r to give a b e tt e r u n d e r s t a n d i n g of L a w r e n c e ' s work. Like Leavis, he is a g reat s y m p a t h i z e r with L a w r e n c e ' s
ideas.
In his Vouble. Me.a^uAe, Ford points out that L a w r e n c e ' s hatred of m a n k i n d is irrational but in his di s c u s s i o n of the fact that L a w r e n c e has always been c l a s s i f i e d as an a n a r c h i s t . Ford be li e ve s this a f f i r m a t i o n has not a str on g support.
A c c o r d i n g to Ford, if we read L a w r e n c e ca re f u l l y , it is p o s s i b l e to o b se r v e that he dreads peop le en m a s s e in the same way that he hates autho r it y. Ford agrees with those who say that
Lawren c e is not a p a ci f i s t and he states that if it is not "a good fo rt u ne " to La wrence it su re l y is to his readers since L a w re nc e 's "non p ac i f i s m " e nables him to give us a kind of
vision of the w o r l d such as the one p r e s e n t e d in W o m e n in Love. A c c o r d i n g to Ford, and it is an e v i d e n c e , no "p ro f essing
p a c i f i s t " could have w r i t t e n this novel. H o w e v e r it is the same Ford who admits L a w re nc e' s c o n t r a d i c t o r y ideas when he r e c o g ni ze s La w r e n c e ' s n o n - a c c e p t a n c e of the war: "... if anyo n e were to be left in charge of a push but to n in wa rt i m e , it ought not to be D .H .L a w r e n c e ."
Collin Clarke shows that in L a wr e n c e ' s fiction 21 "co r ru pt io n or d i s i n t e g r a t i o n are essential 1 i f e - e n e r g y . " He
1 8 Ita1i cs mi ne . 1 Q
Keith Sagar, The Aht V . H . LaivAence, p. 55. 20
Geo r ge H.Ford, V o u b l e Mea4u.A.e, p. 182.
21 ’
Colin Clarke, Riven, o^ V i 6 6 o l u t i o n : V.H. L a w r e n c e and E ng l i s h R o m a n t i c i s m , p. ix.
is a g a i n s t Ford's idea that the so ci e t y L a wr e n c e p r esents is only d e g e n e r at io n . To Clarke, this d e g e n e r a t i o n is also a sour ce of life: the mud w h er e a new kind of life could be
ge nerated. He is also a ga i n s t L ea v i s ' s m o r a l i s t i c interpretation of L a w re nc e' s ideas w h ic h , in his op in io n, hides "the sa t a n i c
22 La wr e n c e who finds b e a u t y in the phosphorescence of de ca y. "
Like m an y other critics, Clarke be li e ve s in L aw r e n c e ' s debt to the English R o m an ti cs even if he finds it d i f f i c u l t to d e t e r m i n e the e x t en t of any l i t e r a r y in fl u e n c e on him.
A l t h o u g h he does not deny L a w r e n c e ' s i m p o r t a n c e in the sha p in g of m o d e r n th o ught, G r a ha m Hough c r i t i c i z e s L a w r e n c e for being a li e n a t e d in r el a ti on to the facts of his time. He does not c o n s i d e r La wr e n c e in vo l ve d with any political cu r r e n t of the time he lived n ei t h e r he thinks that L a w r e n c e could be a l i g n e d
w i t h right or left wing ideas b e ca us e, in his opinio n , L aw r e n c e is only c o n c e r n e d with the i n t e r i o r life. Hough is a ga i n s t those who al le g e that La wr e n c e had p r o p o s e d the
sa lv a t i o n of En g l a n d by sex alone but "a sensual t e n d e r n e s s and f id e li ty " that could p r e s e n t the place of c o n s c i o u s n e s s . Hough also r e c og ni z es La wr e n c e ' s a f f i n i t y with the "Victorian
p r o p h e t s , " like Carlyle or Ruski n , bec au s e of h is i deas aga i n si t m e c h a n i s m and m a t e r i a l i s m .
Baruc h H ochman in his Anothen. Ego, discu ss es L a w r e n c e ' s t r e a t m e n t of the a n t a g o n i s m b e t w e e n self and society. Like
Sp il k a and many o th er critics, Ho ch m a n also, agrees that L aw re nc e has fail e d as a prophet but he praises Law re n ce 's
22
Colin Clarke, Rlvan. oi Vili,i,olution: V . H . LawAence. and EngZ-iih Romanti.ci.6m, p. xiv.
a bi l i t y to believe in "man's ca p a c i t y to make a w o r l d " In his a na lysis of L a w r e n c e ' s c ri t i q u e of the modern worl d, H o c h m a n e xp lo re s the idea that L a wr en ce "stands bet we e n the R o m a n t i c v i s i o n a r i e s , who turned their a t t e n t i o n to the w o r k i n g s of the d ee p e s t s u b j e c t i v i t y , and such c o n t e m p o r a r y
thinke r s as H e r b e r t M a r c u se and Norman 0 . Brown, who e n v i s i o n p o s s i b i l i t i e s of a non r e p r e s s i v e mode of being that w o u l d free
24 man from the n egative, d e s t r u c t i v e burden of c i v i l i z a t i o n , " H o c h m a n includes La wrence among those w r it e r s such as Rilke and N i e t z s c h e who are both "metaphysical rebels 'and'
m e t a p h y s i c a l r e c O n s t r u c t i o n i s t s ."
Harry T.Moore, L a w r e n c e ' s best b i o g r a p h e r , even if he is not p r i m a r i l y critical, wri te s a kind of critical
b i o g r a p h y of Lawrence w hi c h is very helpful to any of his students. He is one of the few critics who believe in L a wr e nc e, the prophet.
A c c o r d i n g to Mark Spilka, in his The Love E t h i c
V . H . LciuiA.e.nce., La wrence is not wo rried. about, solving the p ro blems he pr es e nt s in his books but in c re a t i n g new p o s s i b i l i t i e s to individual life in the future. He calls Lawrence "the pr op he t for individual r e g e n e r a t i o n " but he also agrees that La wr en ce
has failed as a pr o p h e t in spite of the fact that, to him, 2 5 Lawrence's "final vision of s o c i e t y is e s s e n t i a l l y sound." Spi l ka also disagr e es with those who call L aw r en ce a fa sc i s t
2 3
2 .
Barugh Hochman, A n o t h e r Ego: The. Ch an gi ng Vle.M Se.1^ and Socle.tij In the. Wovtfe o^ V . H . Lau)Ae.nce, P reface x.
Prgfacej xi i . 2§
in the social or political m e a n i n g of the word because, a c c o r d i n g to him, La wrence is only w o r r i e d about "1iving " relati onshi p s .
Mary Free ma n is a n o t h e r critic who is p r e o c c u p i e d with L aw r e n c e the art i st and the p r o p h e t , and she sees that the
a p o c a l y p s e La wr e n c e fo r es aw to our cul tu r e is a c o n s e q u e n c e of L a w r e n c e ' s b e l i e f that this cul tu r e "had become too c o m p l e x to
p ^ be c o m p a t i b l e with individual v i a b i l i t y . "
Dan J ac ob so n, who bel on gs to the later g e n e r a t i o n of L aw r e n c e ' s c ri tics, an al y s e s L a w r e n c e ' s political and social t hought but he e m p h a s i z e s that L a w r e n c e ' s ideas must be
u n d e r s t o o d only through his w r i t i n g not through "historical c u r r e n t s . " Ja co b s o n be lieves that through the c i r c u m s t a n c e s of his life L aw r e n c e had the o p p o r t u n i t y to face the "social and
2 7
material r ev o l u t i o n s of his time" and he consid e rs L a w r e n c e a " t h o r o u g h g o i n g r e v o l u t i o n a r y and r ad ical" in any "political
28
or social m e a n i n g of the w o r d s . " In his analysis Ja c o b s o n e m p h a s i z e s L a w re nc e' s p er c e p t i o n that as "ci vi l iz at io n s
29
i nc r e a s e d in t ec hn ological c o m p l e x i t y " it also in c r e a s e s the pressure, so ci e t y exerts on its m e m b e r s av oiding their blossoming as real indivi du al s . ’ Even a c c e p t i n g the fact that L a w r e n c e has not p r e s e n t e d a p r o g r am of action to solve the problems he has
2 6
Mary Freeman, V . H . LaivAence: A Bas-Lc S t u d y o{) H-i.6 Ideas, p. 2.
2 7
Dan J acobson, "0.H .La w re nc e and Modern S o c i e t y , " A C o Z l e a t t o n Cfitt-iclsm ed. by Leo H a ma l ia n, p. 141.
Idem, p. 141. §Q
p re s e n t e d in his books, J a c o b s o n p raises L a w r en ce ' s c a p a c i t y to pr es e n t us the a s p i r a t i o n s and needs of t w en ti e th c entury man.
With f ir mness and a strong f eeling of a d m i r a t i o n for Lawre nc e, . Leavis has d ef en d e d him from those who, like
T . S . El io t, had d e t r a c t e d Lawrence. A c c o r d i n g to Spilka, Leavis is "the ab le s t of L a wr en ce critics and the c hi ef p r o g e n i t o r of
3 0
his r e vi va l. " One canno t deny the e x c e s s i v e ardor with w hich he treats Lawrence's w o rk but he is r e s p o n s i b l e for a sound
a p p r e c i a t i o n of his work. Leavis e m p h a s i z e s the moral value of l i t e ra tu re and his " tr a d i t i o n " was c h a r a c t e r i z e d by strong moral i n d i v i d u a l i s m not by d e p e n d e n c e on external guides. He a dv o ca te s L aw r e n c e ' s "active intell ec t ua l life" a g a i n s t T.S. E liot's c o n s i d e r a t i o n s that by being born a "miner's son at
31
E a s t w o o d in the e i g h t e e n - e i g h t i e s " L a wr e n c e w o ul d lack the living t ra d i t i o n of those who were br ou g h t up in a m i d d l e class family. Leavis, on the cont ra ry , c on si d er s this fact an
i m p o r t a n t help to L a w r e n c e ' s career:
"If he had not been born into the
w o r k i n g - c l a s s he could not have known w o r k i n c - c l a s s life from the inside. As
it was ‘he e n j o y e d a d v a n t a g e s that a w r i t e r m i d d l e - c l a s s born c ould not have
had: the p os it iv e e x p e r i e n c e and a f r e e d o m both from i ll us io n s and from the d e b i l i t a t i n g sense of ignorance. On the o th er hand, gi f t e d as he was, there was n o t h i n g to p r e v e n t his g e t ti ng to know life at o th er social l e v e l s . "32
30
Mark S pilka, The Love Eth-ic. V . H . LawAence., I nt r od uc ti o n, p. 5.
31
F . R . Le av is , V . H . L a w r e n c e H ov e l l s t , p. 371. Idem, p. 371 .
No social critic can ignore C h r i s t o p h e r C a u dw el l 's p oint of view as it was a c k n o w l e d g e d by Hochman (1970) and P r i t c h a r d (1971); as a M a rx i s t , he had his own a p p r o a c h to
L a w re nc e 's social thinking. In his analysis of L a w r e n c e ' s work, Caudwell e s t a b l i s h e s a link b et w e e n L a w re nc e 's own p s y c h o l o g y and the s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l ethic of the time he lived in. To C au d w e l l , the cause of m o d e r n cultural d e c a d e n c e lies in .
b o u r g e o i s e c o n o m i c e x p l o i t a t i o n and he says that the c a p i t a l i s t is r e s p o n s i b l e for the s u p p r e s s i o n of f e elings and i n st in ct s as it is La wrence's idea. Caudwell also shows h o w L aw r e n c e hates the " c o m p e t it iv e i n d i v i d u a l i s m . " His e ssay is "hostile and s o m e w h a t d o c t r i n a i r e " as P r i t c h a r d says, but it involves
i m p o r t a n t insights into L a w r e n c e ' s social ideas. Caudwell and La wr e n c e d i f fe r in re l ation to their ideas about i n d i v i d u a t i o n . Baruch H ochman e s t a b l i s h e s a good c o m p a r i s o n between their d if f e r e n t points of view about this m a t t e r and I quote
him here:
"To C au d we ll , in st itutional r e l a t i o n s h i p s of an o b j e c t i v e historical o r d e r are the ground for i nd i v i d u a t i o n . For L a w re nc e, the o r de r of c au sa t io n is reversed:
i n d i v i d u a l i t y , sui g e n e r i s , becomes the ground of the o B j e c t i v e , inst it ut i on al historical order."
Among the critics I have a n a l y s e d here, R a y m o n d 34
W i l l i a m s ' s essay, " L a w r en ce ' s Social W r i t i n g " was very helpful to expa nd my own idea of Lawr en ce ' s t r e a t m e n t of the
"social". In the b e g i n n i n g of his arti c le Wi l li am s c a r e f u l l y a na lyses the m os t common m i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g s to which L aw r e n c e has been exposed. Among them W i l l i a m s broac he s the fact of
La wr e n c e being called a fas c is t and his s u p p o s e d b e l i e f that
3 3 Baruch Ho c hman, A n o t h e A Ego: The. C ha nging UieM o^ Sel^ and S o c i e t y in the W o A k o^ V .H .L a w A e n c e , Pr ef a ce x.
34 R aymond Wi 11 i ams, " La wr e nc e ' s Social Wri ti ngs," U H. A C o l l e c t i o n oi C A i t i c a l Ei^ayi, ed. by Mark Spilka, p. 152.
"sex solves e v e r y t h i n g . " A c c o r d i n g to W il li a m s these are " matters of i g n or an ce " which deriv e , he suggests, from the fact that La wr e n c e ' s social values are a m i x t u r e of his own ideas and ideas der iv e d from o t h e r people but "because the i n t e n s i t y with which he look up and w o r k e d over wh at he had l e a r n e d from others, this is in p r ac ti c e, very d i f f i c u l t to
3 5
sort out." Wi l li am s traces a c o m p a r i s o n between L a w r e n c e ' s social w r i t i n g s and Ca rlyle's. Like o th er critics, he a ccepts the fact that L aw rence follows a n i n e t e e n t h cen tu ry t r a d i t i o n of c r i t i c i s m of i n d u s t r i a l i s m but, a c c o r d i n g to him, the w r i t e r to wh om Lawr en c e' s c r it i q u e of i n d u s t r i a l i s m bears the m o s t r e m a r k a b l e r e s e m b l a n c e is Carlyle. W i l l i a m s calls
a t t e n t i o n to the fact that L a w r e n c e "is little c o n c e r n e d ,
h i s t o r i c a l l y with the origins of i n d u s t r i a l i s m " ^ ® but that it was a r ec e i v e d fact to him. Ho we v e r , as Wi l l i a m s points out, we s h o ul d not forge t that L a w r e n c e ' s social respon se s were not those of "a man o b s e r v i n g the p r oc e s s e s of i n d u s t r i a l i s m , but
37
of one caught in them" and W i l l i a m s be l ieves that m os t of L a w r e n c e ' s s t r e n g t h as a w r i t e r comes from the fact that "he was in a p os ition to know the living process as a m a t t e r of
3 8
common rather than of special e x p e r i e n c e . " As to his fail ur e in f inding a s o lu t i o n to the p r oblems of the so ci et y he
p re sents in his books: "Lawrence was so in vo lv e d with the
35
R ay m o n d Wi l l i a m s , "L a wr en ce 's Social W r i t i n g s , " V.H. LaMAznce: A C o l Z d c t l o n CAlt-ical Essays, ed. by Mark S pilka, p. 164.
Idem, p. 164. 37
R a y m o n d Wi ll i a m s , "L aw re nc e 's Social W r i t i n g s , " V.H. Lau)Ae.nc2.: A Collection oi Critical Essays, ed. by Mark Spilka, p . 165.
bu si ne s s of g e t t i n g free of the industrial s y s t em that he n ev e r came s e r i o u s l y to the p r o b le m of ch a n g i n g it, al though he knew that since the p r o b l e m was common an individual s o lu t i o n was
39
only a cry in the wind . " A c c o r d i n g to W i l l i a m s , L a w r e n c e ' s " d e m o cr at ic " ideas are close both to s o c i a l i s m and to a
"romantic a n a r c h i s m . " But he co ns i d e r s L a wr e nc e' s ideas about e q u a l i t y "the best thing" that has been w r i t t e n a bout this subject. F i nally, as ma ny o t h er critics have done before, W i l l i a m s also c r i t i c i z e s the way La wr e n c e "tries to s e p a r a t e the materi.al issues and the issues in fe e ling, for he had the o p p o r t u n i t y of knowing, and indeed had learned, how closely.
40 i n t e r m e s h e d these issues were . "
S T A T E M E N T OF P URPOSE
Besides this chapter, this d i s s e r t a t i o n will in cl ud e four o t her c ha pt er s which will c o n s t i t u t e the corpus of my a na lysis and a conclusion.
In C h a p t e r Two, the " Ba c k g r o u n d Ch ap t e r " I will make an attempt to trace a s u m m a r i z e d p i c t u r e of the familial, geograp hi c al and social se tt in g in w h ic h L a w r e n c e lived. I will also pr o v i d e some i n f o r m a t i o n a bout the coming of
3 9
R aymond W i l l i a m s , " La w rence's Social W r i t i n g s , " V.H. Lau)Aenc&: A C o l t d c t l o n Cfiltlca.1 E ssays, ed. by M ar k Spilka, p. 166.
i n d u s t r i a l i s m to E ng l a n d hoping that it could throw some light on the q ue s t i o n s rai se d in this di s s e r t a t i o n .
C h a p t e r Three will deal with The W h i t e P e a c o c k and Son-6 and LoveA-6. Here I will ana ly se La w r e n c e ' s view of nature, the pastoral life in o p p o s i t i o n to the life in the m i ne s and the f o r e s h a d o w i n g of the c hanges that will be faced in "the w o rl d " of The Rainboiv.
In C h a p t e r Four I will try to ex a mi ne , in The Rainbow, the e m e r g e n c e of i n d u s t r i a l i s m and the m o v e m e n t of its
c h a r a c t e r s in t h e ' " w o r l d of men."
C ha p t e r Five will study W o m e n in Love: the e s t a b l i s h e d c h a o s .
Finally, in the c o n c lu si on , I will try to show the c hanges which have o c c u r r e d in L a wr en c e' s social ideas from The W h i t e P e a c o ck to W o m e n in Love and I will s p e c u l a t e why these changes have o c cu rr ed .
As far as this d i s s e r t a t i o n goes I hope to d e m o n s t r a t e that, through the an a ly si s of the novels I have chose n to study, say The W h i t e Peacock^, Sons and LoveAs, The R a i n b o w and W o m e n in Love, it is po ss i bl e to s ho w that, to L aw re n ce , i n d u s t r i a l i s m
is in the roots of the p ro gr es s as well as in the state of d i s i n t e g r a t i o n at w hich m o d e r n w o r l d has arrived; a kind of n e c e s s a r y evil. L aw r e n c e be l ie ve s i n d u s t r i a l i s m r e s p o n s i b l e for man's loss of c o n t a c t w i th nature, for man's d e h u m a n i z a t i o n and, in the last instance, for man's loss of e q u i l i b r i u m and c o n s e q u e n t m e c h a n i z a t i o n wh ich leads him to be doo me d if he does not find a s ol ut io n or an escape from this ch ao ti c society.
For God's sake, let us be men not m o nk e y s m i n d i n g m a c h i ne s. ..
D . H .L a wr e n c e , "Let us be m an ."
I NT R O D U C T I O N
A c c e p t i n g as a pre m is e that D .H .L a w r e n c e 's h at r e d of industrial s o c i e t y could p o s s i b l y have been i n f l u e n c e d by his e a rl y e n v i r o n m e n t , I will trace in this c h a p t e r a p ic t u r e of the f a m i l i a l , the g e o g r a p h i c a l , and the social s etting in w h i ch L a w r e n c e lived. I hope that the use of the b i o g r a ph i ca l
material can help in the e x p l a n a t i o n of some qu es t i o n s rai s ed in this work since it provides some i nf o r m a t i o n about the process of i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n in England. I believe that this will give a b e t t e r u n d e r s t a n d i n g of the c o n d i t i o n s u nd e r w h ic h L a w r e n c e w r o t e the books I am going to study in this
d is s e r t a t i o n . It ca n’ also be useful to e s t a b l i s h w h e t h e r in point of fact he was a man rel at e d to his time or just a Uto p ia n think e r, and it will m a ke it p o s s i b l e to d i s c o v e r w h e t h e r L aw r e n c e ' s c r i t i c i s m of industrial soci et y fits into the c o n t e x t of his time.
W here are the roots of L a w r e n c e ' s hatre d of m o d e r n s o c ie ty and i n d u s t r i a l i s m ? Is he c o n v i n c i n g as a p r op he t? Did he s u f f e r from a class i n f e r i o r i t y complex or can we c o n s i d e r him a "cl ass-trai tor"?i How does he treat the
p r o b l e m of a l i e n a t i o n ? What ab out his R a n a n i m projec t? These and o th er m i n o r q u es t i o n s will occu py me in this chapter.
These are r e c u r r e n t q u e s t i o n s in the c r i t i c i s m on D . H . L a w r e n c e but in view of L a w r en ce 's st a tu re and c o m p l e x i t y I feel they can be a ns w e r e d from a new p o int of view.
H I S T O R I C A L AND SOCI AL B A C K G R O U N D
Bef o re the Industrial R e v o l u t i o n , people in En gl a n d d ep en d e d b a s i c a l l y on a g r i c u l t u r e and bec au se of this, the farmers and their w or k e r s were very i m p o r t a n t people, proud of living by what they produced. The English were a self r eliant and capable people who b e l o n g e d to a stable c i v i l i z a t i o n w h o se basis was firm ly rooted in t heir land.
"They had that air of r e a di ne s s for what w o u l d come to them, a kind of surety, an e x p e c t a n c y , the look of an i nh e r i t o r . "
{The Ralnbou), p. 7)
H ow e ve r, by Lawr en ce ' s time the main cr it i qu e of the i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n of so c ie ty is that it caused the s e p a r a t i o n of man from natur e which, in his o p in io n, is r e sp o n s i b l e for m an's loss of e q u i l i b r i u m and his sense of not having roots. The m i g r a t i o n of p op u l a t i o n in the d i r e c t i o n of the cities c r e at ed a new class of people who were n e i t h e r farmers a ny m o r e nor business men yet. Trying to break away from the farm and the old values of the past, they had not ye t found*a
the great t r a n s f o r m a t i o n s that the w hole s o c i e t y was s u f f e r i n g was m i x e d wi th the feeling that it was n e c e s s a r y to retain some
kind of s ec u r i t y to avoid losing t h e m s e l v e s in the m e c h a n i z e d industrial world. In his op in i o n not all the people could find this ideal bal an ce and so m a n y were lost.
In the case of L a w r e n c e ' s c h a r a c t e r s the need of
a d a p t a t i o n to this new w o r l d leads to a d e s p e r a t e search for a new i d en t i t y that, in some cases, is r e s p o n s i b l e for individual a n n i h i la t io n. This is true e s p e c i a l l y b e c a us e most of them b e l i e v e d that a new man and a new s o c i e t y could simp ly be born through a new s e x u a l i t y as for insta n ce is the case of t h e' m a i n
41
c h a r a c t e r s of W o m e n in Love. In this novel L a w r e n c e states that "a living man or a w o m an who e m br ac es the social d e s t i n y o f f e r e d by industrial W e s t e r n c i v i l i z a t i o n e mb ra c es his own dying.
At the b e g i n n i n g of the process of i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n man was f a s c i n a t e d by the m a c h i n e and t h o u g h t that now m a n k i n d on ly had to let the "great iron man" work for them. But the m a c h i n e s soon g e n e r a t e d o t he r ma c h i n e s wh ich p r o d u c e d more
goods than were n e c e s s a r y at that time. Thus foreign m a r k e t s had to be d i s c o v e r e d ^ and the process i n i t i a t e d the v icious circle of c a p i t a l i s t p r o d u c t i o n , e a rn i n g and w a s t i n g money. As one of the c o n s e q u e n c e s of this we have the w hole
m e c h a n i z a t i o n of life, i n c lu di ng the 1o v e - m e c h a n i z a t i o n of
41
Gera ld is c a r r i e d to death by his o b s e s s i v e tie to Gudrun who bec om es a "frozen sn ow w o m a n " and stays only
p a r t i a l l y alive in her " fr i c t i o n a l " r el ation with Loerke. And Birkin - Ursula's r e l a t i o n s h i p does not give, even at the end of the novel, s u f f i c i e n t e v i d e n c e that they are going to
succeed.
w hi c h L aw rence c o m p l a i n e d so much.
A n o t h e r c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of the ma ch i n e s is that they are able to run by t h e m s e l v e s , c r e a t i n g u n e m p l o y m e n t and the w o r k e r ' s sense that he is not so n e c e s s a r y as before: soon he di sc o v e r s that he cannot find f u l f i l l m e n t only as p r o d u c e r and consumer. In W o m e n In Love., Ge r a l d e x p e r i e n c e s this fee l in g of u s e l e s s n e s s when he finds out that his will is no l o n g e r n e c e s s a r y for the w o r k i n g of his m a c h i n e r y and he finds it d i f f i c u l t to accept. And having fail ed in the control of the m a c h i n e he tries to e x e r c i s e his will on human beings be ca u se "in the L a w r e n t i a n scheme of things the a ff i n i t y b et w e e n the 'machine' of the ru n aw ay mental c o n s c i o u s n e s s and the m a c h i n e s of the industrial w o rl d is more than m e t a p h o r i c a l . An
in dividual who has turned h i m s e l f into a m ac h i n e , i n e v i t a b l y sees the natural w o r l d and human s o c i et y as fields for the e x e r c i s e of his w i l l . . . " ^ ^
By the m i dd le of the n i n e t e e n t h century the Industrial R e v o l u t i o n had alr ea dy par tl y d e s t r o y e d the m a n - l a n d
r e l a t i o n s h i p , giving an o u t - o f - p r o p o r t i o n i mp o r t a n c e to towns. The stabl e ag ra r ia n c i v i l i z a t i o n was over:
"The Industrial R e vo l u t i o n , which began in the late e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y was by now well u nder way, and the whole
ba la nc e of life and work was c h a n g i n g . "
Born when E n g l a n d had a l r e a d y un de r g o n e the p rocess of i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n , D . H . L a w r e n c e used the effects c a u s e d by the t r a n s f o r m a t i o n of rural E n g l a n d into a high ly
43
Dan J a c o bs on , " D .H .L a w r e n c e and Modern S o c i e t y , " V.H. LawA-ince: A Colle.c.tlon o^ ed. by Leo Hamal i an , p . 1 36 .
44
i n d u s t r i a l i z e d c o u n t r y as the raw material for many of his books So in spite of hav i ng lived the m os t part of his life in the t w e n t i e t h century, L aw r e n c e often set his novels in an e a r l i e r period. In Sons and Lovens, for i ns t an ce , we have the social and e c o n o m i c aspects of N o t h i n g h a m s h i r e region that go back n e a rl y two ce nturies.
The first half of the tw e n t i e t h ce nt u ry was a time of great changes not only in Eng la n d but all o ve r the world. It m a r k e d the b e g i n n i n g and the end of the First Great War . The d e p r e s s i o n and u n e m p l y m e n t that the Industrial R e v o l u t i o n had al re ad y st a rt ed , i nc r e a s e d with the war. Mussolini f o r m e d his Fascia di C o m b a t t i m e n to in Italy, the S o v i e t R e pu bl ic was
e s t a b l i s h e d in Russia and H i t l e r s t a r t e d in German, the Nazy Party. The thre a t of a n o t he r was help ed to make the n d i s i l l u s i o n m e n t of the post w a r peri od still more bit t er , and Lawrence, like ma ny o ther E ur op ea n w ri t e r s of his time, was very s e n s i t i v e to the t r a n s f o r m a t i o n w r o u g h t by the w a r on the
45
w o r l d ' s like. As M o y n a h a n says, L a wr e n c e "keeps w a r out of the book (Women In Love) but he c an n o t keep out the fee li ng the wa r i n s p i r e d in him. The visio n of s o c i e t y - a s - d e a t h
reflects the cycle de.struction through w hich Europe was p a s s in g b etween 1914 and 1918.
45
Julian M o y n a h a n , The Ve ed LZ^e, p. 75. 46
"The w o r l d is gone, e x t i n g u i s h e d , like the lights of last nig ht 's Café Royal - gone for e ve r (Letter to Murry).
G E O G R A P H I C A L AND F A M I L I A L B A C K G R O U N D
I
w i n
try to avoid the "biographical fa ll a cy " and 4 7"the g e n et ic m e t h o d " as far as it is p os s i b l e , but I also take into ac co un t that "the most o bvious cause of a work of
48
art is its creator" and that some aspects of L a w r e n c e ' s g e o g r ap hi ca l and familial b a c k g r o u n d have i n f l u e n c e d his
1 iterary- p r o d u c t i o n very much. The c i r c u m s t a n c e s of his birth, the way he lived his c h i l d h o o d and the jo u rn e y s he made to, d i f f e r e n t parts of the w o r l d gave him the ab i l i t y to c o n f r o n t the social c hanges of his time and he w rote about this theme in almost e v e r y t h i n g he produced.
L a w r e n c e was born in E as t w o o d , a m i ni n g vil l ag e near N o t t h i n g h a m w h i c h , a c c o r d i n g to him, was "an e x t r e m e l y
b eautiful c o u n t r y si de " :
"To me as a c hild and a y o un g man, it was still the old E n g l a n d of the forest and a gr ic ul t ur al past: there w er e no m o t o r cars, the m ines were, in a sense, an a c c i d e n t in the l a n ds ca p e, and Robin Hood and his m er ry men were not very far a w a y .
H o w e v e r this " a cc id en t in the l an d s c a p e " i r r i t a t e d him very much. Even if he p r e t e n d e d to see only the b e a u t y of the c ou ntry, the ugly rea li ty of industrial E n g l a n d could not be h id d e n anymore and it c r ea t e d in him a st ro n g form of attraction:
4 7 Rene W e l l e c k and War re n , T h e o A y oi LltdAaiuiAe, p p . 15-16. Ibidem, p. 75.
49 •
0 . H .L a w r e n c e , " N o t t i ng ha m and the Mining C o u n t r y s i d e " : P h oe n i x (v o l . I ), p . 133.
at the same time that he was im pe l l e d by the p o we r of b e a u t y he was also f a s c i n a t e d by the p ow er of ugliness. And the m or e he h at e d it, the more he w r o t e about it - as he had used this as a c at h a r s i s to e x t i r p a t e this hatred.
The e n v i r o n m e n t w h e r e La wr e nc e lived his e a r l i e r life i n f l u e n c e d very much his v i s io n of the w o r l d and it is always p r e s e n t in his work. Alan S i l l i t o e ways that "if L a w r e n c e
hadn't been born in N o t t i n g h a m he w o u l d n e ve r had been the same 50
w r i t e r . " In the same w a y that it is p os s i b l e that it was the s ight of this bu co li c c o u n t r y s i d e and the sw e e t n e s s of his
rural England that made u n a c c e p t a b l e to him the ug li ne s s of "man-m a de E n g l a n d . " He was still there in the rural s e t t in g even when he left it. His m o t h e r had died and like m an y
51
English w r i t er s he did not "like it here" anymore. It was time to leave and find o t h e r l a nd sc ap e s more a p p r o p r i a t e to his ideas. From then on he s t a r t e d to use this d e p a r t u r e theme in his novels as we can see in the last lines of Sons an d Lovens or in G e orge's i n t en ti on of going to Canada in The. White,
52
Peacock. The same h appens in r el ation to his leaving
England. Despite his r e l a t i o n s h i p of love and hate with his c o u n t r y it was there that he w r o t e his best books and even when he had later t r a v e l l e d over much of the wor l d, N o t t i n g h a m s h i r e was p r e s en t in many of the stories he wrote, when he left it:
Allan S il li to e , " D . H .L a w r e n c e and his D i s t r i c t " , V.H. Lau)fience: Novelist, Poet, PAophet, ed. by St ep he n S p e n d e r , p . 67
See Joyce's case: He left Dublin (Ireland) but "stayed" there s p i r i t u a l l y and w r o t e about D u bl in er s for the rest of his 1 i f e .
52 H o w e v e r it s h o ul d be o b s e r v e d that when he left E a s t w o o d he had p u b l i s h e d The W h i t e Peacock, w r i t t e n The T A e s p a s s e n and s t a r t e d Sons and LoveAS.
the i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n of the M i d l a n d s is a re c u r r e n t symbol in hi s w o r k .
The fact of being son of a m i n e r and a "genteel m i d d l e class lady" m a t t e r e d very much in L aw r e n c e ' s case. From his f a t h e r he i n h e r i t e d the a t t r a c t i o n to the unknown, to the
u n c o n s c i o u s a s pe ct of life. From his mo t he r, he i n h e r i t e d his i nt el le c tu al a mb i ti on s and the c o n t r a d i c t i o n in his co n ce pt s ab out social classes. His f amily, the first social g r o up a b ou t him, was an h e t e r o g e n e o u s g r o u p and this m a r k e d him in his
l ater cont a ct with other people. His m o t h e r played an i m p o r t a n t role in his life and some be li e v e that his i na b i l i t y to a d j u s t e i t h e r to his wo rk i n g class origin or to the h i g h e r s t r at a to w hich he rose later, is a c o n s e q u e n c e of the d i ff e r e n t
i n h e r i t a n c e he had from home. He a c c e p t e d his m o t h e r and d e n ie d his f a t h er but we know that both i n fl ue nc e s were strong,
L a w r e n c e ' s i n s i s t e n c e on w r i t i n g about upper class w omen fal li n g in love with w o r k i n g men can be seen t h r o u g h o u t his works. Some bel ie ve that it is a r e f le xi o n of an
53 i n f e r i o r i t y complex, be ca u se like him (or like his father) his c ha r a c t e r s u su a l l y fall in love with w omen that are s o c i a l l y s u p e r i o r to'them. O t h er critics be li ev e that his c h a r a c t e r s ' s choice of women involves L a w re nc e 's p r o j e c t i o n of his mother. But this is more a su bj e c t for those who are
i n t e r e s t e d in the p s y c h o a n a l y t i c a l analysis of his work. This is not my case and I will drop it. But the fact is that n o b od y can deny the influe n ce of his familial a t m o s p h e r e in the
sha p in g of his moral and social values.
53
L aw r e n c e ' s m o t h e r had been s o c i a l l y s u p e r i o r to his f at h e r and Frieda, his wife, was a German ba r oness and he was very proud of this fact.
The u n f r i e n d l y r e l a t i o n s h i p he had with his f a th e r c ould have been a c o n s e q u e n c e of his m o t h e r ' s influence. B ec a u s e he de e p l y loved her and felt very much a t t r a c t e d by her "su p er io r" q u a l i t i e s , he r e j e c t e d the o p p o s i t e values of his fat h er perhaps only to be on her side. But inside him he could not "kill" the a t t r a c t i o n of the w o r l d of his f a t h e r on h i m .
In the a u t o b i o g r a p h i c a l novel Son-6 and Love.A6 there is a di al og u e bet we e n Paul Morel and his m o t h e r w here he e xp la in s his ideas about class:
"You know, he said to his mot he r, I don't w a n t to belong to the w e l l - t o - d o m i d d l e class. I like my common people best. I belong to the common people."
(Son6 and Loven.6, p. 313)
And he b el ie ve s that
"...the d i f f e r e n c e bet we en people isn't in their class, but in themselves.
Only from the m i d d l e classes one gets ideas and from the common pe o p l e - l i f e i tself , w a r m t h . "
(Son4 and LoveA.6, p. 313)
But La wr e nc e had to go away, from N o t t i n g h a m s h i r e and l ater he had to leave England b e c a u s e of "the s u f f o c a t i n g
class a t m o s p h e r e " e x i s t i n g there. He becomes a famous w r i te r , he climbs so ci a l l y , he gets i nv ol v ed in a s o p h i s t i c a t e d
in tellectual circle and then he is c o n s i d e r e d "a class t r a i t o r " by many people. In his "A u to bi o g r a p h i c a l S ketch" he says:
"As a man from the w o r k i n g class, I feel that the m i d d l e class cut off some of
54
In his e a r l i e r books L a wr en ce favours his m o t h e r but later in his work he is going to praise his father in st e a d of his m o t h e r and the "mine" re ma i n e d a symbol of m y s t e r y f o r him al 1 hi s 1 i fe .
my vital v i b r a t i o n when I am with them... Then wh y d on't I live with my w o r k i n g p eo p l e ? Be ca u se their v i b r a t i o n is l im i t e d in an ot h er direction. They are n a r r o w , but still fairly deep and
p as s i o n a t e , w he r e a s the m i d d l e class is b road and s h a l l o w and p a s s i on le ss .
Q uite p a s s i on le s s. At the best they s u b s t i t u t e a ff e c t i o n w hich is the great m i d d l e - c l a s s po s it i v e emotion. But the w o r k i n g class is nar ro w in o ut lo o k, in
p re j u d i c e , and n a r ro w in i n te l li ge nc e .
This again makes a prison. One can belong a b s o l u t e l y to no c l a s s . "55
Richard A l d i n g t o n b el ieves that L aw r e n c e has a power co mp le x and he shows how La wr en c e w a n t e d Frieda to s u b m i t or how he id en t i f i e d h i m s e l f with God (like Qu et za l co at l in The V l a m z d Se,A.peni) . But it is also A l d i n g t o n wh o calls the a tt e n t i o n to his "acute" class i n f e r i o r i t y c om p l e x and Alan S i l l i t o e says that L aw r e n c e left England b ec a u s e "in Italy or G e r m a n y or M ex i c o an E ng l i s h m a n was more lik el y to be a c c e p t e d as a 'gentelman', no m a t t e r how poor he a p p e a r e d to b e ." ^^
There is an e p i s o d e in his you th , p r e s e n t e d by most of his b i o g r a p h e r s , when he told Jessie C h a m b e r s ^ ^ that he was afr a id of s t a r t i n g his c a re er as a w r i t e r be ca u s e he w o r r i e d a b ou t wh at p eo p l e w o u l d think of him; "A Co l l i e r ' s son a poetl"
As one of hi's critics says, La wr en c e is "Wh i tman i s hi y c o n t r a d i c t o r y " and if one is to obtain access to him it is i m p o s s i b l e not to face his c o n t r a d i c t i o n s . Perhaps the best
5 5
D . H . L a w r e n c e , "A u to bi o g r a p h i c a l Sk et c h " , P . H . Law/tence: A C o l l e c t i o n 0 ^ Cnltlcti>m, ed. by Leo Hamalian, p. 595.
Allan S i ll i t o e , " D .H .La wr e nc e and His D i s tr ic t ", V.H. Lau)Aence: N ovelist, Poet, P ro phet, ed. by Stephen Sp en d e r , p. 133.
His first girl friend: s.he is going to be the M i r i a m of Son4 and LoveA-i later.
