로렌스와 제임스 문학에 나타난 '물질'과 '삶'에 대한 사유: 『진짜』와 『물건』을 중심으로

Abstract

This study tries to explore the continuity of two English novelists, Henry James and D. H. Lawrence, and their significance in the globalized era by comparing their short stories, "The Real Thing" and "Things". Placed in the line of "the Great Tradition", they both have common concerns about "the international theme", which deals with the cultural transformation of the worlds they come to confront. Their achievement in the narrative technique in the short story genre also draws our special attention. In "The Real Thing" the critique of snobbish class and its declining culture is executed by means of a superbly controlled satirical revelation of the story's two characters, the Monarchs. Not only does this story provide a commentary on the nature of art; it also an excellent illustration of the blankness of the "gentleman" class in the transition era into the industrialized society. The Melvilles, "the true idealists" of Lawrence's "Things", try to escape from the industrial materialism of America, only to come back home with loads of "things". Rooted in a denial of everyday life and ironically counterpointed by their accumulation of things, the Melvilles' pursuit of "ideals" ends up a rampant return of the materialist values. While James' story focuses upon the inner picture of the English society in the late 19th century, Lawrence's work, which is a literary experiment concerning "idealism" and its relation with materialism, can be placed in the context of American literature.