D. H. 로렌스의 『무지개』: 다양한 남녀관계의 양상과 이상적 인간상

Abstract

D. H. Lawrence’s The Rainbow: Various Man-Woman Relationships and the Ideal Type of Human BeingByungok Park (Dongguk U)D. H. Lawrence describes the history of three generations of the Brangwen family in The Rainbow: Tom Brangwen and Lydia, William Brangwen and Anna, and Ursula. This paper examines a variety of man-woman relationships, focusing on the conjugal relationships and how Ursula is influenced by them. It is certain that Ursula’s self- consciousness is created and developed by her parents and grand parents. Although her parents help her to foster her self-awareness from her infancy, ultimately her grandparents are the ones who guide it in the right direction, showing her what an ideal and harmonious relationship is. Lydia teaches her the true meaning of love while Ursula’s aspiration to experience the unknown world is similar to that of Tom. In this way, Lawrence tries to show how human relations should be and how one can develop his or her self-consciousness in those ideal relations. The man-woman relationship of Tom and Lydia is the ideal one and Ursula is the ideal type of human being.Lawrence’s quest is not one for the ideal woman, but for the human being as shown through Ursula, even though her sex distinction is female. In terms of dualism in the works of Lawrence, the distinction between men and women is meaningless. The only thing that matters is the state of “being.” It is important to grasp the concept of “allotropic states.” Viewed in this light, the assertion of Kate Millett that Lawrence is a male chauvinist is not appropriate, because Lawrence’s description of the human being is not a matter that can be discussed in the field of sexual politics.