| Women in love is D. H. Lawrence's favorite novel that he has created. It presents an intensive exploration of a complex set of relationships, mainly among the four main characters, by principles of contrast and comparison. The love affair between Gerald and Gudrun, which ends with Gerald's suicide, represents a destructive relationship, whereas that between Birkin and Ursula, who achieve their physical and spiritual communion at last, represents a creative relationship. By analyzing the complicated relationships among the main characters, this thesis aims at revealing Lawrence's critique of modern society and his prophetic view that the balance between blind rationality and mindless sensuality is the only way out of modern crisis.Introduction contains the summary of the story, the general background to the novel, and a brief introduction of its critical reception, all of which lead to the thesis statement.The first chapter concentrates on the interplay of Gerald and Gudrun—how and why they fail to achieve a wholesome relationship. The first section is about their interdestruction. The second section reveals the fatal weaknesses of Gerald that lead to the failure of the relationship and his suicide. His cult of mind and strong will not only fails to provide him a sense of meaning in life, but also causes his inability to love and to be loved. The third section is about Gudrun's destruction. Although Gudrun survives this relationship, her choice of artist Loerke is another kind of mechanism and instrumentalism. Her future has been ominously predetermined.The second chapter deals with the love affair between Birkin and Ursula—how and why they manage to establish a balanced and promising relationship in the end. The first section introduces Birkin's theory of love: star-equilibrium and Blütbruderschaft, or Bloodbrotherhood. He thinks that personal fulfillment can only be achieved through polarized relationships with other people. Star-equilibrium refers to the balanced relationship between man and woman where two lovers are both perfectly free and single but linked with mutual fulfillment. Blütbruderschaft, or manly love, is different from male friendship and it is not sexual. It can help to preserve the balance man-woman relationship so it is a necessary complement to heterosexual love. The second section is about the creative role of Ursula. The conflicts with Ursula help to achieve their equilibrium. The last section is about their promising future through love. Though there is no happy ending, their spiritual and physical communion predicts a promising future.The third chapter aims at revealing Lawrence's cure for crisis of modern man and modern civilization. The first section is about the revelations Birkin gets from an African statue, which represents a purely sensual and mindless culture of the southern black races and which forms a contrast with the purely rational culture of northern white races, like European culture at present. Birkin believes that the process of dissolution is going on in modern society. It is caused by the split between the mind and the senses, between abstract, rational understanding and direct sensual experience. Both individuals and the whole cultures now suffer from the imbalance caused by this split, being able to experience things only in one mode, but never knowing them in full. The second section reveals Lawrence's cure for modern crisis: to save modern people and modern civilization from their doom, the equilibrium between the two cultural extremes must be achieved.In the part of conclusion, the author of the thesis points out that through the story of the two couples, Lawrence confirms that the establishment of a balanced relationship between human beings, which can only be achieved by the integration of the reason and the senses, is the only possible way out of the modern crisis. Although there is no happy ending, the promising future of Birkin and Ursula shows Lawrence's confidence in his view.
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