儿子与情人中的伦理思想

Academic-year Thesis of Shandong University of Finance and Economics

Ethical thoughts in Sons and Lovers

—with ethical literary criticism

Wu Jiaojiao

https://www.wendangku.net/doc/e111114781.html,wrence is one of the most famous English novelists in the early twentieth Century. Sons and Lovers is the most important work of him. This novel is not only widely read by public, but also makes Lawrence well known in the literary circle. With ethical literary criticism, this thesis sets out to make an analysis of the ethical thoughts showed in the novel.

Key words: Sons and Lovers; ethical environment；ethical order；ethical selection

Academic-year Thesis of Shandong University of Finance and Economics

摘要

《儿子与情人》中的伦理思想

——以文学伦理学批评为方法

吴娇娇

戴维·赫伯特·劳伦斯是20世纪初最著名的英国小说家之一。《儿子与情人》是他最重要的一部作品。这部小说不仅被大众所广泛阅读，并使劳伦斯闻名于文学界。本文以文学伦理学批评为方法，分析在《儿子与情人》中所表现出来的伦理思想。

关键词：《儿子与情人》；伦理环境；伦理秩序；伦理选择

Academic-year Thesis of Shandong University of Finance and Economics

CONTENTS Abstract (ii)

Chinese Abstract (iii)

Introduction (1)

Chapter One Ethical Environment (2)

Chapter Two Ethical Order (3)

Chapter Three Ethical Selection (4)

Conclusion (5)

Works Cited (6)

Introduction

https://www.wendangku.net/doc/e111114781.html,wrence (1885——1930 ) is one of the greatest English novelists in the 20th century and is also “the most widely studied author in the England language”(quoted by Meyers,1987:1). “No novelists writing since the First World War can have been entirely uninfluenced by him” (Swat ridge, 1985:144) as he has breathed a new life in to the novel by saving it from dry intellectualism. Sons and Lovers is one of his most important works. It is not only widely read by the public, but also makes Lawrence well known among writers and intellectuals. Best known for his novels, Lawrence is also an accomplished poet, short story writer, and essayist and travel writer.

Sons and Lovers tells a story of a young man struggling to be an artist in spite of the fact that he grew in the mining area called the Bottoms, just down the hill from the town of Best wood. Paul was born in a poor miner family. For being temperamentally incompatible with her husband, the mother Gertrude Morel transferred all of her love to the son. The lopsided maternal love produced a so bad influence on Paul’s Psychology and feelings that he was unable to fall in love with Miriam or Clara. The dying of the mother was nearly driving him in to a nervous collapse. It was after the mother’s death that Paul began to smash the emotional shackle. So he had been struggling against the harshness of an environment defined by mines, manufacturing, and all the outward conflicts produced by the industrialization of what had only recently been an agricultural England.

This thesis, with ethical literary criticism, analyzes the ethical thoughts showed in the novel through three aspects --- ethical environment，ethical order and ethical selection.

Chapter One

Ethical Environment

The time of Vitoria was an important period of social transformation in Britain. During such a historical period, Lawrence witnessed the development of the last 30 years and the all historical traces left by development. The industrial revolution is undoubtedly a double-edged sword to human society. It helps people live a more convenient life. While, at the same time, it also inevitably makes people suffer the suffocating restraint. The man-made goods without any emotions damage the nature environment of human existence. The imbalance relationship between man and nature, the destruction between the sexes and so on---constitute the ethical environment which is different from tradition.

The rise of industrial civilization, not only alienates nature, man is also alienated. In order to get low salaries, the miners have to spend months and years in the dark and damp tunnels. Morel is just one of the miners. In the morning, he sings a sad song and then climb into the pit. At night, he drinks a lot and then goes back home. He can’t enjoy the sunshine and the happiness of family like a normal man, even after his wife give birth to a son. The industrial civilization deprives the rights needed by his nature. What he owes is dark and he loses the bright self-consciousness; what he owes is the mechanical life in the well and this is a living death.

As a result, the disharmonious relationship between husband and wife, mother and son make William and Paul can’t establish their own love because they can’t get rid of their mental diseases. This kind of disharmonious relationship is the social tragedy created by industrial civilization.

Chapter Two

Ethical Order

Ethical order is the structural existence of the ethical relationship. Patriarchal clan system and custom is the model of ethical order in the Victoria times. Its core is the system of patriarchal clan hierarchy. Human beings are social. People often meet to abide some customs and conventions which are used to constitute some social and moral standards. Living in a certain society, people must obey the established protocol to adapt the society and work hard to be accepted by others. Politic, economy and religion will influence the form of social conventions. However, religion has the most profound influence on the forming process.

In the nineteenth Century, during the reign of Queen Victoria, people compliance with the religious ethics strictly. Anyone will absolutely obey God to show the loyalty of religious morality; otherwise he will be rejected by others and not be accepted by the society.

Miriam is Paul's childhood sweetheart. They contact closely and like-minded, but Paul is not aware of that their feelings is not real love. He likes staying with Miriam because Miriam always encourage him, support him and he also can get the inspiration of life and writing from Miriam. They have intimacy communications on the aspect of spirit. However, Miri am’s fanatic devotion and persistent to religion make Paul into struggling because Miriam just wants the fit in spirit, and repels the body contact. She always wants to lead Paul to the spiritual level. She is still blaming Paul’s vulgar demand even when she aware that she will lose Paul. Her idea isn’t out of the original intention of love but to sacrifice even when she has determined to follow Paul. But in Paul's opinion, soul and flesh cannot be cut in love. Paul and Miriam’s two contrary concepts make this spiritual love which has lasted for seven years finally die in fear. In their own mind, they have different ethical order to obey, so they can’t belong to each other absolutely.

Chapter Three

Ethical Selection

On the one hand, the ethical selection is between mother and son. At the beginning, Mrs. Morel put her love centered on William and bases her love of family on William. So William even becomes the pronoun of family. After the death of William, Mrs. Morel transfers this kind of love to Paul. The mother is more care about Paul because this is a kind of fear after she has lost the love of husband and son. Paul is still live under the influence of his mother. But he is aware of that the communication with his mother can’t meet his spiritual demand. Paul is stuck into the dilemma that he can’t give up the connection with her mother on the aspect of spirit and the dual demands in psychology and physiology. Paul tries his best to find the balance between the feelings to his mother and the sense of his own life pursuit. The efforts Paul has tried to get rid of his mother’s influence are in vain. But when his mother is going to die, on the on hand, Paul has endured the pain to his mother; on the other hand, he is also wants her mother can end up the suffering and his own suffering in spirit. Therefore, Paul has already sensed that only he breaks away from his mother’s influence can he start another journey of life.

On the other hand, the ethical selection is between Miriam and Clara. Paul is unable to make up his mind between Miriam and Clara. Paul and Miriam have same habits and spiritual languages so that they can have spiritual resonance. Paul can get support and encouragement from this kind of resonance, but he this kind of resonance can’t meet his whole demand. So he realizes that his love with Miriam can’t last forever. The love between Paul and Clara is the young Paul wanted. Paul once indulged in the love with Clara because Clara releases the other Paul. While Paul senses this kind of passion cannot make his internal spirit calm. So the final sickness is inevitable.

.

Conclusion

Lawrence is one of the most versatile and influential figures in the 20th literary cannon. So Jeffrey Meyer says, “Mr. Lawrence is a writer who has exercised a more potent influence, perhaps over his generation than any of his contemp oraries” (Meyers, 1987:1), and the Garden of Eden that Lawrence has been pursuing all his life symbolizes the moral Purity and aesthetic beauty of the pre-rational stage in the life of human society.

In conclusion, with ethical literary criticism, we can have a new reorganization and learn about the ethical thoughts more clearly of the novel --- Sons and Lovers. People’s relationship of love, no matter it is spiritual or physical; we cannot wrongly label sin between man and woman. What we should do is from ethical literary criticism to consider the ethical environment, ethical order and ethical selection, and then have a better and more suitable judgment to characters in novel.

Works Cited

Nie, Zhenzhao. [聂珍钊], 文学伦理学批评[N].文艺报，2008(5).

Nie, Zhenzhao. [聂珍钊], 文学伦理学批评：基本理论与术语[J].Foreign Literature Studies，2010(1 ).

Chen, Jie. [陈婕]，《儿子与情人》中的生态批评[M]. China Academic Journal Electronic Publishing House, 2009.

Chen, Jing. [陈婧], Yang, Wei. [杨薇],《儿子与情人》的文学伦理学解读[M]. China Academic Journal Electronic Publishing House, 2012.

Gao, Zhaoming. [高兆明]，现代性视域中的伦理秩序[N].Journal of Nanjing Normal University(Social Science),2013.11.