The Lie Of Progress In English Industrial Civilization

D.H.Lawrence is one of the most famous and controversial writers in the world. He has been a controversial writer for a long time and suffered a lot in his life. During his short life, Lawrence has written many famous works. Among these works, The Rainbow is considered to be one of his most important and successful novels. This paper intends to illustrate the important themes of The Rainbow by using Freud's psychoanalytic theory and Bergson's intuitionism.The whole paper is divided into five chapters.The first chapter is a brief introduction of D.H.Lawrence and his novel The Rainbow, including the significance of this study, the introduction of D.H.Lawrence's life and his literary position, the summary of the novel and its symbolic implication and also the organization of this thesis.The second chapter deals with the theoretical rationale of this thesis. Sigmund Freud and Henri Bergson are two great philosophers. Freud's psychoanalytic theory and Bergson's intuitionism are reflected in The Rainbow.The third chapter presents the principal themes in The Rainbow. In the late 19^th century and the early 20^th century, the western world witnessed great changes. The capitalist economy developed rapidly with the help of the second technical revolution. The development of the industry destroyed the traditional way of life. The society was filled with chaos and unrest. Thus, in such a background, anti-industrialization is always one of the most frequent and important themes in D.H.Lawrence's works. In The Rainbow, this is also a principal theme. The author shows the evils of the industrialization in the novel. It destroys the harmonious relationship between man and nature, man and society, and man and man. Besides, the relationship between man and woman is also the other principal theme in the novel. For Lawrence, only the establishment of a harmonious and balanced relationship between man and woman can lead them to their perfect unity both in flesh and soul. In The Rainbow, three generations of Brangwens all search for this kind of relationship between man and woman and have different results.The fourth chapter tries to explore some other themes in The Rainbow. Besides anti-industrialization, the novel suggests some other themes as well. Alienation is one of them. In the late of the 19^th century, the phenomenon of alienation has pervaded severely in England. The industrialization made the people become the attachment to the machine and they lost their subjectivity. Therefore, alienation has been one frequent theme in modern literary works, and this novel is no exception. In The Rainbow, the writer shows dehumanization and isolation in the industry society, and also the alienation between man and nature, man and society and man and man. Besides, the individual's quest for the meaning of life is the other theme of the novel.The fifth chapter reaches the conclusion. By analyzing the themes in The Rainbow, we can see the unique sight of Lawrence against the industrialization and the modern civilization in western world. Furthermore, we can also see his wish of escaping from the alienation made by the industrialization. This thesis undertakes the thematic exploration of D.H.Lawrence's novel The Rainbow, which might be of some help for us to get a better understanding of the modern society.