An ecological reading of the sons and lovers

1.Introduction

D.H. Lawrence is one of the greatest writers in the English literature history. The author makes a textual analysis of the novel—Sons and Lovers， David Herbert Lawrence’s third novel which is also his first masterpiece. The novel is recognized as the pioneer work among English novels and now has become one of the most widespread readings. As his representative， sons and lovers is a work filled with ecological elements， which discovered lots of social and psychological problems through the description of the character Paul’s growing. Under the backgrounds of the author’s own growing experiences and Industry Revolution， the natural circumstances has been ruined， the sick relationship in the worker’s family， which bears the writer’s idealism of harmony human development. In this article， we rethink the work through the views of the natural， social and psychological ecological criticisms， which help us to understand Lawrence’s worrying about the future of human development. In such worse situations of human， nature and society， the ecological thoughts in the work gives us beneficial examples.

2.Literature review

In the most influential English literary mediums of Lawrence’s day， Sons and lovers was regularly reviewed ever since it was published in 1913. But he was not fully accepted during his lifetime. Most of his contemporary critics and novelists often review his works in a very belligerent and contemptuous way. The most popular one among the Lawrence critics in this decade was F.R.Leais.， who held the view that Lawrence in literature should have the same place as George Eliot. Austenand Conrad. F.R.Leais regarded them as “the great tradition” of the English novel. They critic the novel from various ways. According to incomplete statistics， there were more than 35pieces reviews about Lawrence in 1986—1988， which were mainly concerned with Lawrence’s fictional subject and art. As “one of the most original and controversial writers in the early 20th century，”（Duan Yu，1988：59） David Herbert Lawrence changed the traditional ways of thinking and feeling about human relationships. He frankly treated sex and outspokenly persisted in readjusting relationship of the sexes which caused an intense opposition during his lifetime.

Thus， the critics focused the description of the sex in the novel， and they pay lots of attention on the human’s sexual relationship， which may misinterpret the purpose of the author. That could give a distortion of indecent expression of the novel Lawrence wrote.

3.Theoretical frameworks

As a new criticism in the middle time of 1980s， eoccriticism arouse like a flood in the criticism history which cannot be ignored. The first ideal of the ecological criticism is to object the human—centered idea， and it attempts to dig the deep ecological meaning in the literary text， whose final goal is to find a harmony system between the human and nature or the human with each other. At present time， ecological criticism is becoming a method of study which is accepted by most critics. Generally speaking，this article follows the literature ethics criticism research technique，and it analyzes Sons and Lovers from the new angle of ecological ethics.Eco.ethics is about the relationship between man and nature，which is determined on the nature of moral obligation and concern.Its essence is the human in front of the nature the humanity establishment and formation.It explores the relationship between ecology and human nature，human nature and ecological ethics in the Sons and Loves.

Chinese ecological scholar Lu Qu yuan divided the ecological ideals into two branches including natural， social and psychological sides which coexist and influence with each other. In his book “ecological literature” he points out that the first studied the relationship of the human and nature， while the second studied the social life and politics and human’s inner— mind as its objects. We could see the two elements are reflected in Lawrence’s study， and it bears the human’s task to correct the normal relations as the eco critics prompted.

4.Discussion

4.1 The natural studies in the works under the backgrounds of industry revolution

In the description of the nature in the novel， Lawrence expressed his passion and praises about the nature itself and his thought about the relation between the human and the nature. We could find a lot of words which described the nature and the human’s connections. In the start of the novel， Lawrence had given us a picture of the nature which is destroyed by the western capital civilization. “the streets are all the hunts which is low and ruined where the workers lives far across the two districts. The stream has gone from the long distance which fortunately has not been polluted. There are lots of the mines in the villages， where the workers crawls like ants out and in. Those are the environments of the workers， and we find no advantages in the others’ house and conditions. The place of Paul’s first work， the medical equipment of the hospital are dark and wet， which cannot be accepted even a horse or an ant. We see the very first vision of the Paul’s interview： “the broad yard is like a pan， where there is lots of rubbish including the cutting boxes and the papers， and they find a way behind the dark and smash windows and glass.”

Although Lawrence tried his best to make many abominable circumstances in the novel， but he never gives up his hope. What he tried to transfer in the words is that whenever the human are trapped in the plot， the nature always gives his hope and the comforts and grace to the human. In the first part of the passage， Miss Morel has quarrel with his husband， and when she was out of the house， she saw the white flowers swinging in the air and the yellow leaves like an old man telling her that life is like a show and you never know what happens next. She calmed his emotion and had peaceful feeling again. Miss Morel often keeps a close distance to the nature and has a respect thought about the things happening in the nature like the flowers and the grass growing. The farm， which Lawrence constructs in the description of the novel， is a world filling with the harmonious life and relations. Without the intruding of the capital industrial civilization， the people， and all the living things in the farm lead a peaceful and happy life like a flowing stream and the blossom flowers. We see many natural and beautiful pictures in the Lawrence’s passages， which reflects Lawrence’s expecting emotion about the pure relation between people and the nature full of beauty and his attention about the ecological attitudes.

4.2 The social ecological elements in the sick relationship of the family （connected with the feminism）

Lawrence in his early life was surrounded by those women who， to various degrees， were concerned with the suffrage movement， which was very much as refers to the general issue of women’s rights and occupied an important place in many of the work of the period. And it was no exception in Lawrence’s works. This can be seen from the characterization of some female figures in Sons and Lovers，such as Miss More Miriam and Clara， who will be analyzed in the following part. They are typically suffragettes who Lawrence praised.

The 1985s witnesses the developments of the civilizations and the industry. Followed the pollution of the air， the water， the vision， and so many natural things， the England has turned to be the “paradise lost” under the descriptions of the Lawrence. To survive， people worked day and night and they cheated with each other to obtain their interests. The hard work， the worry of the unemployment and the badly competitions had made the people lose their humanities and their virtues. Paul’s Father is a collier working in mines， and he was always rude and dirty according to the Miss Morel’s saying. So she transfers the love and ambitions to his son Paul， and such distort love has made Paul lose his ability to seek his love.

To some extent， this novel Sons and Lovers is a woman—focused one. That means female characters （mainly refers to Mrs. Morel） dominate the novel. Compared with the female characters in the novel， male characters are inferior to their corresponding female characters .Mark Spilka argued that， “he [Lawrence] creates them so vividly and sympathetically that many readers mistake them for real women and begin defending them against him.”（1992：124）. It’s clearly that if Lawrence does not have a positive attitude towards women， he can not describe women in such a delicate way as Mark Spilka said above.

Marxists feminists criticism focuses on the relations between the reading and the social realities. Karl Max argued that all the historical and social developments are determined by forms of the economic production. The family is like a smallest part of a society and it also has the same elements of such conclusion. Paul saw his mother as a symbol of wit and qualified civil people， while according to his mother’s descriptions and the rude appearance of his father， he takes his father as his enemy and a symbol of evil. In contrast， Walter Morel is a man lack of education and he can hardly read and write. The fact that “His grandfather was a French refugee who had married an English barmaid—if it had been a marriage” （Lawrence， 2005：7）indicates that Walter Morel was born into a family which belongs to the lowest class in society. It is doubtless that for such a family to afford a school education is impossible. From the fact that he has begun to work as a miner since he is ten years old， we can infer that Walter Morel has not even achieved the level of the elementary school， if he did attend the formal school.

He takes his mother as his love and his everything， so is his mother， Miss Morel. Paul’s dependence upon his mother and Mrs. Morel’s feminist consciousness makes him a divided man. He can’t assert his independence and form a satisfying and harmonious relationship with female mates. He can’t grow from childhood into a true man. As Smith Anne said： “It is a world， especially in working—class homes， where women are the teachers， the managers， the bosses. If we are male， the wider world expects us to escape from and outgrow it as we approach maturity. The extent to which we accomplish this task has long been regarded， in the absence of any formal puberty rites， as the badge of manhood.” （Sheila， 1985：16）. So Paul can’t find his manhood.This abnormal relation between Paul and Miss Morel has been caused by the capital society which takes the economy condition as the supreme objects and the reacting psychological thinking of the women who was pressed by the man’s powers from the society. In the other side， the Paul’s family is a counterexample of the man’s society， and it created a small society which takes the woman’s power as the supreme matter. This harmony family relation was distorted by the capital society and the resisting psychology from the pressed women.

4.3 The psychological studies in the inner world of the characters.

About the psychological element， the famous scholar Lushuyuan has given us a definition that it is a subject about study the psychological existing object’s connection with its environment including social， natural and even cultural circumstances. In the first place， it involves the psychological existing object’s healthy growing. On the other hand， it also study the ecological system’s changing balance and its improvement. In the novel， Lawrence creates a lot of the psychological relations without its balance and healthy growing. The distort marriage relation between Miss Morel and her husband is the most outstanding one. “With the third child’s birth， she stopped her quarrel with her husband. She has her crazy thinking that she wants keep a far distance away from his husband， and he is never a part of her life. In the following times， their relation is like a completely empty shell， and a fall in the human’s life. She just stands there like a ghost without soul， so she thinks that she has no need to communicate with him.” In the description of Miss Morel’s last time， her husband is like a stranger to her， and he cannot utter any voice. He wants to escape from this embarrass silence…. When he knows the news of her death， he continues finishing his dinner like nothing happens. The balance and the improvement of human’s normal psychological world had been broken by the capital idea that it takes the material as the supreme thing ignoring man’s inner mind and psychological needs， which creates the tragedy to the characters in the novel.

Most of the individual’s mental processes are unconscious is thus Freud’s first major premise. He argued that all the human’s behaviors is motivated ultimately by what we call sexuality. Freud designates the prime psychic force as libido， or sexual energy. In this novel， we see the relation between the Paul and Clare is such a sexual relationship. If we admit the emulative spirit and the power of Mrs. Morel and Miriam， we must not neglect that of Clara’s. She can be regarded as the spokesman of feminist. She joins in women’s movement， learns new knowledge， and attacks male supremacy whenever possible. The dialogue between she and Paul voices Clara’s dissatisfaction to the unequal treatment to women and the desire to overthrow the patriarchal rules Because of both Mrs. Morel and Miriam’s control over Paul is so suffocating that he must find an outlet to release his oppressed physical desire.

5. Conclusion

From the angel of the three branches of ecological reading， we could find the novel has a strong responsibility of protecting the nature， the natural relations between human or the human with each other. We should follow the directions of such works to create a lot of works full of ecological elements to teach the readers or others not to take the human as the center of the world and to respect all the creations in the universal， which is also the aim of this article.

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