On Biblical Archetypes In D. H. Lawrence's Major Novels

D. H. Lawrence was one of the most outstanding as well as the most controversial men of letters in the twentieth century. As one of that century's most creative novelists, he remains a significant force in modern fiction, both for his artistic work and his innovative vision. Many of his works, especially Sons and Lovers, The Rainbow, Women in Love, Lady Chatterley's Lover, enjoy worldwide reputations, and have been translated into several languages and studied from different perspectives. In the light of Northrop Frye's archetypal criticism, this MA thesis is devoted to proving into the important biblical archetypes and displacements in Lawrence's major novles so as to apreciate better his writing targets and salvation ideas as well as his close relationship with the Bible.This thesis is composed of 5 parts. The Introduction part makes a brief overview of Lawrence, his works, his relationship with the Bible, and other relative criticisms on them from home and abroad, so as to prove the feasibility and innovation in writing this theis.Chapter I is focused on discussing archetypal criticism, whose two theorectical foundations-Frazer's The Golden Bough and Jung's psychology and archetypal theory-are of great help for Northrop Frye to form a systematic theory of archetypal criticism, and have their relative influences on Lawrence and his writing.Chapter II is aimed at finding out the important biblical archetypes in Lawrence's four major novels, which range from themes, female characters, symbols to narrative structure, taking into account his biblical education since childhood. Through doing this, the reader can get a more comprehensive understanding of Lawrence's main ideas, including his attitudes to women and how to complete oneself.Chapter III is dedicated to presenting some important displacements of the Bible in the novels on the basis of discussing Lawrence's ambivalent attitudes to the Bible and some important influences from other wise men, so as to demonstrate Lawrence's characteristic writing skills and his own strategies to save his people.A conclusion is made that the Bible does play an essentail role in Lawrence's works and provides a crucial context to make a better understanding of them, while Lawrence's reworking of the Bible in these major novels not only shows his special salvation strategies, but also reaffirms the eternity of the Bible and suggests a correct way to appreciate this classic work. What's more, his intention to accomplish a harmonious relationship between the individual and the society, man and nature, and man and woman echoes the present Chinese determination to construct a harmonious society.