On The Causes Of Gerald’s Tragedy In Women In Love

Women in Love, one of the representative works written by D.H. Lawrence, displays the plight of modern people in industrial civilization of England in the 20 th century. Since its publication, it has never ceased drawing reviewers’ commentaries at home and abroad, favorable or unfavorable. About this novel, thematic, structural and cultural aspects have been discussed by many scholars. However, few people do the analysis on the causes of Gerald’s tragedy. Thus, based on a close and speculative reading of the text, this thesis focuses on analyzing the causes of Gerald’s tragedy from a tragic vision.This thesis is made up of three parts. The first part is introduction, which gives a brief introduction to David Herbert Lawrence, his novel Women in Love, research status at home and abroad about the novel and the significance of the study.The second part is the body of this thesis which is made up of three chapters. Chapter one gives an analysis on Gerald’s parents who play the role of irresponsibility in his life. His parents’ indifference to him has exerted a negative influence on Gerald’s psychological development which leads to his hamartia. Chapter two analyzes the causes of Gerald’s tragedy from outside the family. Industrialization exerts a fatal effect on Gerald’s fate. It twists human nature and leaves people a spiritual void. As Gerald’s girlfriend, Gudrun plays the role of destructive force rather than a savior. As a friend of Gerald, Birkin fails to help Gerald escape from death. His helplessness in Gerald’s death further emphasizes the inevitability of Gerald’s death. Chapter three focuses on the cause from himself. Because of his tendency towards violence, his strong will and death instinct, he inevitably goes to the downfall.Based on the above analysis, the last part makes a conclusion: Gerald’s tragedy is partly due to his broken family relationship, which is the direct cause of his unhealthy self. It is also due to the industrial civilization of his time, which twists Gerald’s human nature. The love as a destructive force from his girl friend Gudrun and the helplessness out of his friendship from Birkin both deepen the sense of tragedy of his final death. Through a detailed analysis, readers will have a better understanding about this novel.