Lawrence

Author: Wu Houkai
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-05-01
Features: Genius, this word is apt to describe Lawrence. At that time, British society placed great emphasis on birth and education, and was still permeated with the Puritan atmosphere that had prevailed since the Victorian era. Growing up in this era, Lawrence was different. As Ford Madox Ford, one of the most prominent critics of Lawrence, once remarked about him: "He was a genius, a 'genius soaked in passion.'"
D.H. Lawrence's father, Arthur Lawrence, was a miner, and his education was just enough for him to struggle through reading newspapers. His typical lifestyle was: sitting in front of the crackling fireplace, roasting breakfast bacon, catching the dripping grease with bread, and reading the newspaper intermittently. His mother, Lydia, was a well-educated woman who read many books and poems, admired ideas, and enjoyed discussing religion, philosophy, and politics with educated men. Such a family was highly discordant. The father liked to go drinking with the miners and indulged in pleasure, while the mother abstained from alcohol throughout her life, being rigid and.
D.H. Lawrence grew up in the turmoil of his family. What he remembered was the white poplar trees on Walker Street outside his home screaming in the wind, mixed with his mother's shrill arguments, his father's booming male voice, and curses. In such a family, he was physically frail, sensitive, observant, and had an excellent memory, yet at the same time—controlled by maternal love. Sons and Lovers reflects his childhood and youth. In the novel, the mother successfully obstructs her son's love for the girl Miriam, and celebrates her "victory." Here, if the son cannot break free from the Oedipus complex, he cannot truly love.
Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover was banned for several years due to its blatant defiance of the era's conventions. It was not until recently that people recognized its value and translated it into multiple languages, turning it into a widely circulated film. Lawrence's books are beautifully written and grand in scope, but except for The Rainbow, which depicts a hopeful, rainbow-like at the end, the rest of his works are dark and detached, forming a unique Lawrence-style color scheme.