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0COMPREHENSION OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE TRAGEDY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR IN THE NOVEL "LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER" BY D.G.
LAWRENCE Burmenskaya D.A.1, Prokopenko Yu.N.2
1Burmenskaya Daria Aleksandrovna - master's student, 2Prokopenko Yulia Nikolaevna - candidate of sociological sciences, associate professor, DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, BELGOROD STATE NATIONAL RESEARCH UNIVERSITY, BELGOROD
Abstract: the article considers the contribution of D.H Lawrence to the depiction of the tragic consequences of the First World War from the perspective of the destructive impact ofcivilization and scientific and technological progress on the integrity of the human person as part of nature. The feeling of lost connection with the real world forced D. H. Lawrence in the novel "Lady Chatterley's Lover" to create a new concept of being, which consists in a return to the neo-pagan, neo-Renaissance harmonious unity of the intellectual and sensual, sexual life of a person, in the priority of choosing the natural environment over urban civilization.
Keywords: the First World War, scientific and technological progress, the integrity of the human person, a new concept of being, neo-pagan, neo-Renaissance harmonious unity of the intellectual and sensual, sexual life.
The events of the First World War as one of the most large-scale battles in the history of mankind at the beginning of the twentieth century found a multifaceted embodiment in world literature. The works of E.M. Remarque, E. Hemingway, W. Wolfe, R. Aldington and others formed the theme of the "lost generation" - the generation of young people born between 1883-1900 who participated in the battles of the First World War. The writers portrayed the consequences of the war that took place in real human history - the rise of suicide and alcohol addiction, the economic crisis, the first ever study of post-traumatic stress disorder, etc.
However, while some authors presented the tragic consequences of the First World War in the image of the death of young people during the war as a result of a total worldview and psychological crisis, others turned to other destructive aspects of this global massacre, namely the idea of the devastating impact of civilization and scientific and technological progress on the integrity of the human person as a part of nature. Among such authors, David Herbert Lawrence is particularly notable.
The war and the post-war situation instilled in Lawrence a sense of the crisis of all civilization, a premonition of the death of mankind. The causes of war he "tends to consider both the perverse nature of man and the excessive development of technology, which determined the destructive nature of military confrontations".
The deepest tragedy of inner discord, the catastrophe experienced by mankind and the loss of spiritual ideals, demanded their restoration. The feeling of loss of connection with the real world forced D.G.Lawrence in his works to create a new concept of being. Thus, the researcher of the writer's works D. Schneider states that the author adhered to the ideology of "new consciousness": "Perhaps the most essential idea of D.G. Lawrence was the prospect of building a new heaven and a new earth, which, however, cannot be reduced to political and economic changes, even the most radical. What was needed to create a new, revitalized human society was a new consciousness, a new naturalism combined with a religious sense of the unity of all things".
In Lawrence's opinion, man could regain the lost values by merging with nature. He found the basis of his ideological attitude in the beliefs and rituals of pagan peoples. Lawrence reproduces in his works the theory of neo-paganism, where a person finds happiness when his self includes both spiritual balance and bodily response.
The novel "Lady Chatterley's Lover" (1928) depicts the atmosphere of the English reality after the First World War, the fates of the characters - the result of the experienced catastrophe. So the novel reveals an important anti-war theme. And Lawrence does not describe the brutal battles and does not give monologues about the senselessness of the victims, he presents these problems in the sphere of human feelings, the relationship between men and women.
The main role in the novel Lawrence gives the body, so bodily manifestations are a symbol of life for Constance: "I am sure the life of the body, if it has really awakened to life, is much more real than the life of the mind". The idea is resolved in favor of healthy bodily manifestations, sexual love and procreation being part of life and the basis for its continuation.
D.G. Lawrence believes that the predominance of rationalism over the sensual side deprives man of a state of inner harmony. This is the neo-pagan, neo-Renaissance attitude to man: a healthy body is a healthy spirit. As N.G. Kondrakhina rightly concludes, "this happened because man, being a part of nature, lost touch with it, choosing as a criterion of true knowledge of the world only the achievements of science, the conclusions and concepts of which are not able to describe such a complex and mysterious phenomenon as life or man".
In the images of the main characters of the novel D.G. Lawrence develops his philosophical ideas. Thus, Clifford Chatterley, who was severely wounded in battle and left disabled, embodies the idea of the devastating effect of mechanization on the natural, bodily principles of man in relation not only to himself, but also in relation to the opposite sex and people in general. The same can be said about the immediate environment of the baronet, which has
become a symbol of modern England Lawrence - mechanical, respectable, not giving warmth and sincerity in feelings and conversations.
The main character Constance in his thoughts accurately described the society, detached from its corporeality and losing spirituality: "All his friends - inwardly cold, each by himself. Yes, and whether the highest noble aristocrats have this "height", and is not a silly farce their very boastful behavior? What is the point of it? All this is soulless nonsense".
An important role in the development of these thoughts is played by the antithesis of the artistic depiction of the sounds of the civilized world and the forest: "The fault of the life that is all around: evil electric lights, infernal noise and clanking machines. In the realm of greedy mechanisms and mechanical greed, where the lights glare, the red-hot metal pours, the noise of the streets deafens, and lives a terrible monster, guilty of all misfortunes, destroying everyone and everything who dares to disobey. Soon this forest will be destroyed, and no more bells will rise in the spring. All the fragile, delicate creatures of nature will be reduced to ashes by the fiery jet of metal".
Lawrence sees the superiority of this natural harmony over mechanized civilization. Indicative is the scene of the breakdown of Clifford's wheelchair. Chatterley tries to fix the machine, but it does not obey him, then Mellors pushes the wheelchair of the owner, and the latter admits: "I am obviously completely at your mercy". I.e. the superiority of nature will always be there, no matter how man does not shield himself from it, no matter how he replaces it with machines, nature will always take its own, because man is a part of nature.
It is in the forest that Connie finds comfort, it is there that she returns to her natural, living, natural beginning. The episode of Connie's dance in the rain is important. Here one can feel the pagan basis of Lawrence's philosophy. It is a riot of feeling - primal, ecstatic and even ancient. It is a kind of Bacchic dance. We can assume that Mellors in this scene is like a faun who catches up with his nymph and possesses her.
The heroine's inner feelings also find parallels in nature, as she feels a sense of freedom from Clifford: "Connie felt as if she had escaped into the clear milky air from the underworld. And the wind breathed cold overhead, tangled in the intricacy of the bare branches. And he, too, is torn to freedom".
Lawrence sees the way of human rebirth after the tragic events in the complete merging of man with his natural beginning. Describing Connie's relationship with the forester Oliver Mellors, the author contrasts the harmonious world of nature with the dry world of reason and intellect. Lawrence's philosophy is as follows: if man does not accept his natural essence, in which the carnal and spiritual are united, which is alien to mechanization and coldness, he will be ruined. "Mechanization" of the mind and sensual nature are the two beginnings that struggle throughout the narrative. Lawrence depicts the process of personality destruction, its lopsided, ugly development, the way in which the creative element in man is perverted, which eventually leads to spiritual deadening.
In his novel "Lady Chatterley's Lover" D.G. Lawrence identified a new problem for the literature of the first half of the twentieth century - the gap between the individual and natural forces, as well as one of the first to introduce into the problematics of the work of questions and vocabulary relating to the body and sexual intercourse.
References
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2. Lawrence D.G. Lady Chatterley's Lover / translated from English by I. Bagrova, M. Litvinova // Lawrence D.G. Selected works: in 5 vols. - Vol.5. - Riga. -1991. -750 p.
3. Mikhalskaya N.P. David Herbert Lawrence / N.P. Mikhalskaya // Ways of development of the English novel of the 20s - 30s. - Moscow: Higher School, 1966. - pp. 104-135.
4. Proskurnin B.M. English literature 1900-1914 (R. Kipling, J. Conrad, D.G. Lawrence): the text of the lectures / B.M. Proskurnin. - Perm. - 1993. - 96 p
5. .Rogachevskaya M.S. The connection of physicality and psychologism in D.G. Lawrence's novel "Lady Chatterley's Lover" / M.S. Rogachevskaya // Actual problems of studying literature in the USA and Great Britain. - Minsk: Riga BSU, 2003. - pp. 81-86.
