A Study On D.H. Lawrence’s Women In Love From The Perspective Of Ethical Literary Criticism

D.H.Lawrence is one of the greatest writers in 20th-century British literature.He loves nature and regards natural creatures as well as human beings as equal symbiosis.And he believes that nature can awaken human nature.Therefore,his works focus on ethical relationships among man,nature and society.Among them,his representative work Women in Love is a masterpiece with unique literary charm,which also marks the peak of his creation.Looking back at past discussion and interpretation upon this novel at home and abroad,most scholars analyze it from those following aspects,such as Dix(1980),and Lu Min(2004)from the perspective of feminism,Wang Xiaowen(2017)and Wan Yan(2015)from perspective of ecological criticism.But this study is from the perspective of ethical literary criticism.Meanwhile,it uses four key terms of ethical literary criticism,namely ethical environment,ethical identity,ethical choice and sphinx factor to analyze and interpret Women in Love.Its research questions are as follows: 1.What kind of ethical relationships does it embody under capitalist society,such as ethical relationships between man and nature,man and society as well as man and man? What kind of inspiration and reflection can this bring to modern society and human beings? 2.What kind of solution,harmonious society and ideal ethical relationships between men and women does Lawrence propose? As for ethical environment,it is divided into two parts,one is natural ethical environment.It explores relationship between man and nature to interpret harm caused by rapid development of industrial society and urbanization,brutal behaviors towards animals in nature as well as human‘s return to nature,represented by Birkin and Ursula.The other is social ethical environment.This part mainly discusses antagonistic relationship between capitalists represented by Gerald and poor workers as well as estranged and indifferent affection embodied by the Criches and the Brangwens.Next,as for ethical identity and ethical choice,it is mainly around ethical identity,ethical choice and sphinx factor of Mr.Crich,Gerald and Birkin to interpret man-man ethical relationships,especially,gender relationships.From the above analysis,it can be seen that Lawrence pursues harmony and equality between man and nature,man and society,believing that there is an inevitable connection between man and nature.Especially,he advocates perfect union between man and woman.Although Lawrence‘s cure is too idealistic,these characters in this novel could inspire modern people to show respect and care for nature and to enlighten modern people to establish a harmonious gender relationship,so as to achieve the concordant coexistence and sustainable development among nature,man and society.