《虹》所表现的劳伦斯式情感起伏的根本冲突

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Abstract In The Rainbow D.H. Lawrence portrays relationships in which love is mingled with antagonism, attraction with repulsion, romances with miseries. The novel itself is an experiment that seeks to bring to light what the writer holds to be truth, undiscovered but essential. As any experiment consists of at least an experimental group and a control group, so does the novel orbit a central conflict which serves to overarch the changing relationships in it. There are in the critical sphere two major approaches seeking to grasp the central conflict throughout the novel, one being the conflict between flesh and spirit by which the writer clamor for a harmonious relationship of men and women based on the “integration of flesh and spirit”, the other being the conflict between unbalanced roles of men and women resulting from the changing society by which the writer pick the side of women in their pursuit of an ideal relationship in accordance to their elevated social status and self-awareness. However, as to these two theories, while both do in the study of any single relationship detached form the whole plot, neither is sufficiently tenable when we study the overall pattern of all three generations and further attend to the theme of the novel.52728

This thesis holds that Lawrence creates in The Rainbow characters who have two-fold attitude, one being feelings, the other being what I term “"physic"” (from a Greek word meaning “nature”), and it is precisely the conflict between feelings and "physic" of the characters that determines all romances and miseries of their relationships.

From this standpoint, this thesis attempts to study the ebbs and flows in the relationships of Brangwen couples by examining the mechanism of what I call the two-fold attitude. We shall then come to a clear understanding of the cyclical pattern of the novel, which further reveals to us its theme: discover and pursue one’s nature. In short, this thesis attempts to argue that the conflict between feelings and "physic" of the characters determines all relationships in the novel, and further points to the theme of the novel.

Key Words: The Rainbow, feelings, "physic", conflict, harmony，theme

摘要D.H. Lawrence的作品《虹》描绘充满爱与憎、合与分、浪漫与悲剧的两性关系。作品本身是一次次实验，力图向人们展示作者坚信存在的某个真理。就像一个实验必定有实验组和对照组，要昭示作者理想中的涅槃，一组难解的矛盾贯穿作品始终是不言而喻的。对此学界较普遍的观点有两种：一是作品围绕灵与肉的矛盾展开，作者力图谋求“灵肉和谐”的两性关系；二是作品探讨工业文明背景下随着女性社会地位的提高、自我意识的觉醒而产生的两性角色的失衡，作者通过新旧社会女性角色的转变来阐发理想的新时代两性和谐观。然而不论是“灵肉结合说”也好，“两性失衡说”也罢，解读作品中任何单独一段情感，都是一种可行的视角，但要结合三代人的情感从而揣测作品的主题，两者皆不尽人意。

本文认为，作品《虹》所描绘的Brangwen三代人均被作者赋予两重性格特征，一为浅层次的情感，二为深层次的心理（措辞或有几分晦涩，正文会进一步阐述），而控制作品中两性关系爱憎交织、浪漫与悲剧交替的正是人物自身情感与深层次心理的冲突。

从这一视角出发，本文以作品人物态度的二重性解释作品中三段感情的起落。据此，我们将自然而然地看到，这部时间跨度逾半世纪的巨著实则是三次循环，而不仅仅是线性顺序。我们从而对小说的主题能有所新的认识：发掘内心的本性，追求本性。因此，本文要论证的是：Brangwen三代人态度的两重性，即情感与更深层的自我的本性，是控制《虹》所表现的劳伦斯式情感起伏的根本冲突，并且揭示了小说的主题。