Feminism in The Princess Focused on Relationship between Princess and Her Father

1. A Brief Introduction to the Book and Feminism

1.1 The Princess

The Princess talks about a girl whose name is “princess” growing up in a patriarchal society. The princesss mother died early. Her father， Colin Urquhart， lived a secluded and surreal aristocratic life. Because of this lifestyle， the princess grew up in the environment where she was deceived by her father. As time went by， she was alienated. Then after her father died， she suddenly came up with the idea of finding herself. In her self-discovery approach， because of her alienation of human nature， she cannot love anyone. Eventually， she destroyed herself.

1.2 Feminism and D.H. Lawrence

D.H. Lawrences youth was spent in the period of the rise and development of the womans movement. The women who had been in close contact with Lawrence were the women who had new ideas for womans liberation at that time. They have had a profound impact on Lawrences thinking. Therefore， feminist thoughts had sprouted in the depths of his thoughts and became the driving force and inexhaustible source of his writing. The female images he has successfully created in many works are all deeply imprinted with feminism.

Then， The Princess is the product of that society and convey the core idea of feminism. It focused on the impact of the industrial civilization for women and the social consciousness of ecology. Because of the development of industrialization， the harmonious relationship between people and people gradually disappeared. Thus， in this novel， Lawrence allows women to liberate themselves more and to wake up their innate instincts， which are the important embodiment of feminism.

2. Analysis Feminism in The Princess

The manifestation of the feminism is the exploration of the root cause of the unequal treatment of women in the society. Lawrence portrays an alienated princess. The essential reason of why the princess has serious deformity is that the princesss father gave extremely unequal education to her. The princess ought to have a normal growing as a girl， but the princesss rights as an ordinary woman was deprived by his father. In the novel， Lawrence uses very detailed description of a very crazy father， that is， the princesss father Colin Urquhart who is a symbol of patriarchy in the novel of The Princess. In the beginning of the novel， Colin Urquhart launched a series of absurd education for his daughter. The princess was in such an environment， had no choice but to accept his fathers values.

Colin Urquhart grew up in a highly industrialized society， his character and mental state had been in a very serious deformity， in particularly， he strongly believed that they had the royal lineage. Therefore， he often showed up in idle activities in the upper class which seriously affected his education， especially the education for the princess. “Father and child were inseparable. Wherever he went he was to be seen paying formal calls going out to luncheon or to tea， rarely to dinner. People called her Princess Urquhart， as if that were her christen name.” （Lawrence，9） Day by day， the princess was indulged in the aristocratic education and kept close touch with her father， she did not have the opportunity to get in touch with correct values. Thus， she lost the ability to locate her social position. And then there occurred the sociology “dislocation” phenomenon.

Furthermore， Colin Urquhart stressed that his family is as a declining royal family and identity of the princess more than once. His daughter should keep the secret for that she is a princess and they are the descendants of the royal family. All these can be revealed in the princesss words. In the novel， Colin Urquhart said to his daughter， “You are the last royal race of the old people; the last， my Princess. There are no others. You and I are the last... I am a prince， and you a princess， of old， old blood. And we keep our secret between us， all alone...” （Lawrence， 13） Surely， Colin Urquhart was a crazy man. On one hand， he educated the princess to be the supreme to look down upon others and to be careless of others. On the other hand， he wanted the princess to be all-knowing. He let his daughter read the books written by Maupassant and Emile Zola at very young age. At that time， the princess didnt have a scientific understanding of such kind of books. The false understanding promoted the growth of abnormal personality of the princess. The princess was a very clever woman. But Colin Urquhart had misled her into contradictions among herself. Though the princess learned to be more sophisticated and experienced， she gradually become indifferent and naive person. The people around her found it is difficult to close to her. She was Just like a flower without fragrance， it never born fruit. Her heart was very empty， painful and helpless.

From this point of view， the princess was glamorous， but her inner spirit is indifference and hypocritical. With time went by， the princess was like a dead-alive person without the slightest vitality. The result was owing to the extreme control of the male chauvinism. The princess had totally lost the ability of independent thinking and her own characteristics. Under the alienated and illusory growth circumstance， the princess was going on an extremely abnormal status in which she cannot use the normal way to communicate with others in the world. At last she became a tool of his father to flaunt his royal blood. However， the female features which the princess ought to have had been suppressed and tortured by her father in a long period in her life. Before her father died， she was small and thin. She also had no desire on sex even was a virgin. With no independence， the princess had been misplaced social role seriously. She didnt know whether she was herself or she was just his fathers stooge. Under her fathers patriarchal oppression， the princess had been deformed the differentiated. However， in fact， the princess had fight for the oppression and pursued her own life. After the death of her father， there was a detailed description which represents her awakening of female consciousness： She was relieved when her father died， and at the same time， it was as if everything had evaporated around her. Then the princess realized that she had been affected by her father in a long term， and she should get rid of such kind of influence. Therefore， in the novel， Laurence began to draw a picture of her travel to the west to find true her.

3. Conclusion

The novel ended with the marriage of the princess with the elderly person. The princess wanted to break through the bond that her father brought to herself， but because of the negative influence of long-term male chauvinism on women， she can never truly excuse herself. While seeking equality， she succumbed to inequality. Looking for love while losing love. It is clear that in the novel of The Princess， the princess still loses the independence of women and loses the value of women. Although the princess has not been realized， it only ends with failure in exploration; thousands of women realized that dream now.

References：

[1]D.H. Lawrence. The Princess[M]. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，2011.

[2]Wilfred L G， Earle L， et al. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature[M]. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，2004：196.

[3]周亞華.勞倫斯的女性主義與婦女解放運動[J].人民論壇，2016， 10.

【作者簡介】馬佳敏，西北大學。