The Awakening Of Female In Sons And Lovers

David Herbert Lawrence is the most influential but the most controversial British writer in the20th century. In his life time, he had created a great number of excellent works. Sons and Lovers is one of his most important novels and a semi-autobiographical one. In the past, most critics focused on the "Oedipus Complex" of this novel, regarding the relationship between Paul and his mother as abnormal with the approach of psychoanalysis. Others paid attention to the evils of industrialization and alienation of human nature. As time goes by, feminist critic also gave their opinion on Lawrence. But most of them put emphasis on the tragic life of the female in patriarchy society instead of the awakening of them.In this thesis, the author tries pointing out the awakening of female characters in Sons and Lovers by analyzing it in the perspective of feminism. From the analysis, Lawrence’s view of supporting feminism is reflected. Two key terms of feminism are mentioned in this thesis:patriarchy and otherness. Mrs. Morel, Miriam and Clara are all living in the patriarchy families. They have a tragic life in their family, dominated and bullied by the male members. But they don’t give up fighting and possessed the features of "New Woman". The author of this thesis presents the miserable life of the three women firstly to emphasize the society that they’re living in. Secondly, their awareness and behavior is described to show their fight. Finally, the reason of their awakening is analyzed:the feminism movement, the destructive effect of industrialization and the decline of patriarchy.With the method of feminism, the three females’family life and their awakening are analyzed in detail. The females are awakening and begin to show their self-consciousness of independence. At the same time, the awakening awareness of women in that period can give great reflections to the feminism movement today. By doing this, Lawrence’s attitude towards women is presented. He is not against feminist movement but a supporter of feminism awakening.