An Ecofeminist Reading Of D.H. Lawrence’s Women In Love

D. H. Lawrence is one of the most greatest and controversial writers in themodern English literary world. His masterpiece Women in Love is generallyconsidered as the representative of his highest artistic achievements and technicalinnovation. The ecological and feminist thought embodied in the novel just echoes thetheory of ecofeminism which emphasizes that there are inextricable connectionsbetween the domination of nature and the subjugation of women, and that ecologismand feminism should be combined. The thesis attempts to analyze the novel from theperspective of ecofeminism to reveal Lawrence’s ecological and feministconsciousness and his distinctive contribution to the literary theory.Throughout his life, Lawrence has been exploring the relationships between manand nature, men and women and seeking for an effective way out of the witheringsociety caused by the rotten industrial civilization. In women in Love, Lawrencereveals that the sharp split between humankind and the nonhuman world, men andwomen mainly derives from the oppressive patriarchal conceptual framework held bymen. He strongly condemns man’s ruthless exploration of the rich natural resourcesand cruel maltreatment and oppression of animals. Lawrence also severely opposesmen’s control over women. The ideal men-women relationship advocated byLawrence is presented through Birkin and Ursula, whose love finally reaches theperfect state of mutual union while still keeping their own separateness andindividuality. The way Lawrence finds to restore and retrieve the whole human natureis to reestablish a harmonious society in which human beings live in harmony withnature and men communicate well with women, which just conforms to his idealizedUtopian society－Rananim. Though his tentative plan is too unpractical to carry out,it proves to be constructive and precious in current society in which the ecologicalconditions deteriorate and the feeling of alienation between people prevails.The thesis consists of three chapters besides the introduction and conclusion. Inthe introduction, a brief description is made of Lawrence’s life and the novel Womenin Love, followed by a review of the former research on the novel. Chapter One briefly introduces the concept of ecofeminism, and Lawrence’s ecologicalconsciousness in life is discussed. Chapter Two concentrates on the domination overnature and women embodied in the novel. And Chapter Three is about the ideal andharmonious relationships between man and nature, men and women. It also describesthe vision Lawrence offers for the human race. The thesis ends with a conclusion thathighlights the major points of the research and points out its limitations.