On Close Relationships

Thomas Hardy and D.H.Lawrence are both masters of love stories.They are especially good at describing the relationship between men and women. Their representative works Jude the Obscure and Sons and Lovers are even considered to be similar with each other by the majority of scholars.Protagonists Jude and Paul both face a dilemma. Staying between two different kinds of women, they have to choose one side. Though there are some similarities and differences in designing the plots of the stories, it is the different endings of the stories that show us clearly about the disparate attitude of the authors.In this thesis, based on the theory of close relationship, close reading method will be used to analyze and compare the two works.With the similar plot, the different endings of the stories represent the authors'unique and real thinking. Through analysis, both of the authors' viewpoints towards relationship will be explored, discussed and concluded.The two books will be compared by the way of plot, characters and symbolic writing technique to illustrate when Lawrence creates Sons and Loves what he inherits from Jude the Obscure and what his new idea is.Thomas Hardy believes that the ideal love should be spiritual love, which is superior to physical love. But D.H.Lawrence thinks that perfect relation between men and women should be the combination of both spiritual love and physical love.Besides, based on the problems existing in the two protagonists'relationships through the science of close relationships, the author considers that, with the development of society, Lawrence's idea seems more consistent with the people nowadays,therefore, the topic is surely worth being discussed further and this will be the final conclusion of this thesis.