Evolution Of Female Images In D. H. Lawrence’s Short Fiction

As one of the greatest figures in English literature of the20th century and one of the most controversial writers in Western literary history, David Herbert Lawrence (1885-1930) was quite productive. He produced12novels, more than50short stories and novellas as well as a large number of poems, essays, literary review, prose works and translations in his short20-year literary career. With a lifelong interest in painting, Lawrence also published several collections of paintings and once held exhibitions of his pictures. He is considered a generalist in the field of literature and art. And his works have an enduring appeal to readers all over the world.Among all the literary types of Lawrence’s works, it is novels that receive most favorable comments. Recently a few critics, however, have found that there are considerable research values in Lawrence’s short stories, which should by no means be ignored. Lawrence’s short stories are considered to be excellent because of their exquisite plot and lucid rhythm. The themes of Lawrence’s short stories are condensed and their conflicts are quite centralized. Besides, in Lawrence’s short stories his observation of the world, his thinking over the universe and his probing into the inner world of human beings are reflected more palpably and more intensively than those in his novels. In the process of reading his short stories, the writer of this thesis finds that Lawrence’s early short stories are in some way similar to his early novels, concerning themes, settings and characterizations. Particularly the female figures in Lawrence’s early short stories are quite similar to those females in his early novels. But Lawrence’s late short stories are different from his novels. And the female characters in Lawrence’s late short stories are, to some extent, quite different from females in his early works. Unfortunately, compared with Lawrence’s early works, especially early novels, much less attention has been paid to his late short stories.Therefore, the writer of the thesis thinks it is necessary to turn the viewpoint of study to Lawrence’s late short stories, particularly the female figures in his late short stories, which may well be helpful for forming a new, deeper and more general interpretation of D. H. Lawrence and his short stories.This thesis selects Lawrence’s eleven works of short fiction, which are from his early literary writing to his late literary creation, for the female figures in these eleven works of short fiction are not only representative but also able to properly illustrate the evolution of female images in Lawrence’s short fiction. From the social and historical perspective, the thesis analyzes the characterization of female figures in these eleven works of short fiction. Adopting the research methods of close reading of the text and relevant materials, for instance, Lawrence’s letters, journals and biographies, the thesis tries to interpret the female character in each of the eleven works of short fiction. This thesis first analyzes the characterization of female figures in Lawrence’s early short stories and classifies them into two groups. One is desperate housewives trapped in marriage; the other is young girls woken up by love. The thesis then interprets female images in some of Lawrence’s representative late short stories and discovers that Lawrence’s depiction of females in his late short stories is quite different from that of females in his early short stories. The difference is manifested in that the lives of females in his late short stories are no longer confined to domestic trivialities or to dissatisfaction with their marriage and they actively explore the primitive and mysterious powers or return to nature bravely in order to pursue vitality and vigor. And in Lawrence’s late short stories, there is another type of female images who are different from those in his early short stories. These females fearlessly fight with mothers who are rather controlling and desirous of owning their children, both sons and daughters. And eventually these females break loose from mothers’ monstrous love and win freedom. Through rigorous analyses and comparison, the thesis finds a vivid contrast between female images in Lawrence’s early and late short stories. And then this thesis draws a conclusion that there is an obvious development and evolution of female images in Lawrence’s short stories. In addition, such an evolution indicates the maturity of Lawrence’s literary works as well as a deepening and development of his thoughts of the whole world. This evolution reflects not only a more severe criticism of the alienation of human nature and the repression of human instinct brought about by modern industrial civilization but a more profound probing into the relationship between men and nature and the future of women as well as of human beings.