Title:
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The subjective art of D.H. Lawrence : twilight in Italy
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This thesis seeks to demonstrate that by the time of
Twilight in Italy Lawrence had learned to exploit a subjective
coherence, to give the strong impression of his actively
following his intuitions on the page, arriving at ideas.
Proceeding by analysis of the speech-like rhythms of Lawrence's
prose and his deliberate loosening of grammatical bonds,the
thesis demonstrates how Lawrence's "personal participation"
in his prose elicits a corresponding response on the reader's
part that licences the author's large interpretative strides
of thought. This movement is facilitated by his habit, in
Twilight, of isolating his subjects as if on a stage, rendering
them more open to unrestricted interpretation, and by
his mastery (since The Rainbow) of the hyperbolic language
of the subconscious. To accommodate the ensuing amplitude
of meaning it became necessary to polarise his subject matter,
thereby taking it - whether personal psychology or racial
tendency - to its extreme expression where an ultimate
clarity was to be found (Chapter 2 argues that his 1914
revision of The Prussian Officer Stories first established
polarity as a literary form.)
However there is a cost (which the thirties critics
at least registered: Chapter 1): that in storming experience
Lawrence pushes aside, if need be, the ordinary and everyday
but makes, in his impressive formulations, no admission of
having done so. Independent observation at Lake Garda and
in the Tyrol (Appendices 1 -4) confirmed the existence of
this "Lawrence paradox" - which Chapters 3 - 5 demonstrate,
enacting a dialogue between sympathetic and "30's critic"
antipathetic points of view.
The thesis also takes into account and dates the
early MS and published versions; identifies - with photographs
and maps - most of the crucifixes, and the places
mentioned in the Garda chapters; provides information
gathered from descendants of the original "characters":
and identifies the Futurist works Lawrence read.
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