The novels of D.H. Lawrence : a Freudian reading

Abstract

Using Freudian/Lacanian psychoanalytic theories, in order to uncover the relationship between literature and the unconscious, this thesis argues for a special affinity between Lawrence's novels and psychoanalysis. I argue that psychoanalysis - by which I mean the Freudian line as continued and developed by Jacques Lacan- shares enough ground with Lawrence's fiction to be of theoretical relevance, especially in areas related to its initial "shibboleth - password" Oedipus Complex, as well as its insistence upon the great importance of the Other in the reciprocal development of subjectivity and cognition. The primary objective of my reading is to evaluate aspects unique in D.H. Lawrence's novels when viewed from the Freudian perspective, rather than to nail down direct and derivative use of Freud's work-the focus is on Lawrence's transformative and dynamic way of adapting Freudian thought in his novels. In the introduction of this thesis, I have tried to outline the general precepts of Freudian/Lacanian psychoanalysis in the first instance, and then place the particular discussion of the Oedipus complex, dream interpretation, and the unconscious within a framework which can be brought to bear on the analysis of Lawrence's narrative. I have given specific attention to Freud's linguistic terminology which has since become known as "the language of the unconscious", and to Lacan's intense preoccupation with language. Such an investigation will help recuperate aspects in Lawrence' s work that have been hitherto passed over, (his theory of the unconscious) by bringing out ways in which the Lawrencian doctrine anticipates or, at least, paves the way for the claims of psychoanalysis. In order to bring into play insights into the unconscious, I devote considerable space to Lawrence's major novels: Sons and Lovers, The Rainbow, Women in Love, and Lady Chatterley 's Lover - each in a separate chapter. Because the unconscious veils itself in metaphor and metonymy, in these chapters, I strive to unveil the disguises of tropical language in order to generate manifest meaning from latent content. By arguing that Freud's theories of condensation and displacement in dreams, match Lacan' s use of metaphor and metonymy in language, I attempt to demonstrate that despite Lawrence's abhorrence of Freud, the unifying theme between Lawrence's fiction and psychoanalysis is that the unconscious (because it is structured like a language) is the voice of the (m)Other disguised in figurative language.