Narrative Art In D.H. Lawrence' The Rainbow

The Rainbow was published in 1915, was one of British modern famous writer D.H. Lawrence's representative works. The novel takes human beings'self-liberation and exploration of free life as the orientation of value, the protagonists'unconscious impulsion, bloody-consciousness and perfect pursuit as artistic focus. Its modern aesthetic character with uniquely feature and the narrative strategy have been embodied.This thesis mainly analyzes the narrative point-of-view in the novel by using the narrative theories of Genette, Wallace Martin and other people, circular narrative structure by the archetypal approach and narrative presentation with the stream of consciousness and symbols and metaphors.ChapterI deals with the narrative voices. On one hand, it inherits from the narrative tradition of Homer, to retain the omniscient perspectives, that is zero focalization created by Genette. It uses the third person"he"and"she"in most narration to make readers understand the characters more easily. On the other hand, the description in each generation unfolds their inner activities by conversion between the external focalization and the internal focalization, so that it enhances the flexibility of the narrative, and at the same time, narrows the distance between the author and the readers, the characters and the readers.ChapterII uses the archetypal approach to analyze the circular narrative structure. The Rainbow in the structure, style and symbol maintains a clear consensus with the Bible, familiar with"Eden-Paradise—Lost-Paradise—Revelation."The Rainbow", the large circle, is made up of three small circles, namely three generations of Brangwen family: Tom and Lydia, Anna and Will, Ursula and Skrebensky. The story of every two people is a small circle. Each small circle interprets the same struggle: to achieve an ideal marriage and self-discovery between the sexes, to realize the harmony of mind and body, nature and society, to return to"Eden Paradise".Chapter III states the diversified narrative presentation to demonstrate Lawrence's artistic style: not to shape the figure for the purpose, but rather focus on the characters' psychology and relationship between people. With the stream of consciousness and recurring metaphors and symbols to successfully present the characters'inner feelings and unconsciousness, the novel both explores the inner world deeply and makes the readers experience the aesthetic beauty.In The Rainbow, D.H. Lawrence presents and deepens the theme by various narrative strategies. The archetypal structure and his proficient narrative methods show his profound deposit of culture and exquisite skills, enrich the theme and make the novel have deep connotation and endless artistic charm.