Body Narrative:The Feminist Consciousness In D. H. Lawrence's Novels

David Herbert Lawrence?1885-1930?is one of the most important and controversial writers in Europe in the 20^th century.His bold and naked description of the body and lust of the characters in his novels has made his view on women the focus of controversy among scholars for decades.Some scholars criticize that he is a male chauvinist,advocating phallic worship and male body worship;some scholars believe that Lawrence's early works embody feminist consciousness,while his postwar works reveal male hegemonism.Of course there are other scholars who hold the opposite view that Lawrence acknowledges sexual differences and he searches for a harmonious relationship between man and woman,which is very close to the postmodern feminism.This viewpoint goes in line with this thesis.This thesis goes into Lawrence's works from the perspective of body to refute the accusation of Lawrence's male chauvinism,so that readers can realize more deeply that Lawrence's view of gender is in line with feminist thought,and his novels are of progressive significance in women's independence and liberation.The thesis consists of five parts:introduction,narrative body,inscribed body,contrastive body and conclusion.The first chapter is the introduction part,which reviews the existing Lawrence research,gives a brief introduction to the body in Lawrence's novels and the body theory,and puts forward the viewpoint of this thesis,that is,Lawrence reveals feminist tendencies in his novels.Chapter two explores the narration of Anna's subjective body in The Rainbow and the narration of Connie's erotic body in Lady Chatterley's Lover.Lawrence puts the female body into the text narration with pioneering courage,which is a kind of text liberation of female body in the era of low status of women.In The Rainbow and Lady Chatterley's Lover,Anna and Connie's bodies,as the main narration to promote the plot development,show the perfect effect of sensuality on personality and female self-consciousness,as well as the salvation effect of sensuality on life and women's sexual liberation.These narrative bodies reveal that Lawrence lets the female body make its own voice in literature,which reflects Lawrence's concern for women and his support for women's sexual liberation.Chapter three takes The Rainbow,Women in Love and Lady Chatterley's Lover as examples to discuss Lawrence's ideological tendency in the inscribed bodies of women.Natural body does not need to be designated as positive or negative,but the body in literature is mixed with the author's conception,then the natural body becomes inscribed body marked with the author's ideological tendency and aesthetic preferences.With the positive and negative female body images,this chapter elaborates Lawrence's different body implications reflecting his support for the feminist movement during World War I.Chapter four takes Sons and Lovers,The Rainbow and Women in Love as examples to explore the disintegration of male dominance by contrastive bodies in Lawrence's novels.Contrasting the former body and the later body of men,like Mr.Morel and Mr.Dawes in Sons and Lovers,Lawrence deconstructs the dominant position of men in the family.Contrasting the males'bodies and females'bodies,like Tom Brangwen and Lydia in The Rainbow,Gerald Crich and Gudrun in Women in Love,Lawrence deconstructs the dominant position of men in the affectional relationship.Whether in the family or in affection,as a male writer,Lawrence breaks the narrative of male-centralism,and displays his friendliness and feminist concern to women.The conclusion part further emphasizes Lawrence's feminist consciousness and concern for women.