Thanatos And Eros: A Psychoanalytical Study Of The Theme Of Women In Love

In Women in Love, Lawrence applies strenuous efforts to carve a brand new individual wholeness in the face of a menacing mechanical world peopled with egomanias. This thesis approaches Women in Love in terms of psychoanalysis,focusing on the major characters' psychological states for the purpose of interpretingLawrence's social criticism and personal faith. Through the analysis of Gerald andGudrun in perspective of Freud's theory of Thanatos and Rene Girard's mimetic theory, I find that both characters are obsessive with desire for omnipotence and that Lawrence rejects the mechanical civilization which is deeply grounded in scapegoating mechanism and thus cannot avoid self-destruction; through the analysis of Birkin and Ursula in terms of Freud's Eros theory and Jung's individuation hypothesis, I conclude that Birkin consummates his individuation by virtue of the principle of the Eros - reconciliation with perceived differences - and that Lawrence is faithful to the principle of Eros on which both individual wholeness and social justice can be effected.