lady chatterleys lover.docx
- 文档编号:24517725
- 上传时间:2023-05-28
- 格式:DOCX
- 页数:15
- 大小:29.22KB
lady chatterleys lover.docx
《lady chatterleys lover.docx》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《lady chatterleys lover.docx(15页珍藏版)》请在冰豆网上搜索。
ladychatterleyslover
标题:
TheChatterley/BoltonAffair:
TheFreudianPathofRegressioninLadyChatterley'sLover
作者:
GERALDDOHERTY
来源:
PapersonLanguage&Literature.(Fall1998):
p372.FromLiteratureResourceCenter.
文章类型:
Article
书签:
为此文档添加书签
Overthepastthirtyyears,thesequenceoforgasmicencountersbetweenConnieChatterleyandOliverMellors,thegame-keeper,inLadyChatterley'sLoverhasbeentheobjectofintensefascinationandscrutiny.Itallstartedin1962withFrankKermode'sperception,basedonhisreadingofLawrence'sApocalypse(1932),andFredericCarter'sD.H.LawrenceandtheBodyMystical(1932)ofaparadigmaticequivalencebetweenanancientmysteryritual--theOpeningoftheSevenSeals--andthesequenceoferoticencountersbetweenConnieandMellors("Spenser"24-32).TheplotofConnie'sinitiationandmysticalrebirth,asKermodenotes,follows"theoriginalplotofApocalypse"(Lawrence128).Thoughsubsequentcriticshavecriticizedthisapocalypticmythology,bothforitsbracketingofthesocio-politicalconcernsofthenovel,andforitsevasionofthedeepironiesimpliedinMellors'sfinalisolation,
(1)neverthelessKermode'stypologyoffersthebestaccountoftheeroticsoftheConnie/Mellorsaffair,andofthepowerfulteleologythatgovernstheirrituallove-making.
(2)Itshowshow,inthisthirdrewritingoftheChatterleynovels,Lawrencetransformshistoryintomyth,andsexualityintoapastoralidyll,ashetracksthevicissitudesofConnie'serotictransformationfromafrigidresistancetoanenthusiastresponse.Theallegoryofaseven-stagejourneyfromdeathintolifeunderwritesaseven-stagesexualeschatology,andendowsitwithadynamicsequenceandclimax.
TheeroticsoftheChatterley/Boltonaffair,bycontrast,hasprovokedmerelyamarginalcomment,sinceitseemstopossessneitherthetypologicalnorinitiatorynorpsychologicalcomplexityofitspositivecounterpart.Assuch,itsroleisapurelysubordinateone--thedulldeterminismoftheChatterley/BoltoneroticdeclineininverserelationshiptotheglamorousupsurgeoftheConnie/Mellorsaffair:
eachexistsasafoilfortheother.Critics,forthemostpart,haveextractedasingleessencetocharacterize,orasingleepithettowriteoff,therelationship.ForH.M.Daleski,itrepresentsa"childishperversity"(301);forJulianMoynahan,a"monstrous,unvitalembrace"(77);forJohnHaegert,a"horridinfantilism"(217).DennisJacksonisoneofthefewcriticswhohavedetectedadistinctivepatterninthelovemakingbetweenCliffordandIvyBolton:
thedeath-to-rebirtharchetypeunderwritesitsprogression.Clifford'saccesstoa"strangenewsortofpotency"asaconsequenceofMrs.Bolton'sministrationsprovidesan"ironiccommentary"onthethemeofConnieandMellors'sregeneration(266-67).
ThepresentpsychoanalyticalreadingoftheChatterley/Boltonerotics,worksless,however,throughatraditionalexcavationofunconsciousmotiveincharacter-behaviorandactionthanthroughtheuncoveringofaspecificFreudianpattern--themostcelebratedofallpsychoanalyticalteleologies,thethreestages(oral,anal,genital)inthedevelopmentofinfantilesexuality.Ineffect,Lawrencedeploysthethreestages,workedoutbyFreudintheThreeEssaysontheTheoryofSexuality,(3)inhisdepictionoftheprogressoftheChatterley/Boltonaffair--buthedoessothroughamajorreversal.ThethreestagesoftheaffairenactthethreeFreudianstages,butthrougha"backward"declension:
theyrepresenttheFreudianpathof"perversion"--theregressionfromgenitaltoanalandoralsexualpleasures.BeforeweturntoLadyChatterley'sLover,however,thisclaimneedsmoretheoreticalsubstantiationandelaboration.WecanstartwiththequestionofhowwellversedLawrencewasinFreudiantheory.
InhercatalogueofLawrence'sreading,RoseBurwellnotesthatitisdifficulttodetermineexactlywhichofFreud'swritingsLawrenceactuallyread,andhowfarhisknowledgeofFreudwasbasedonclosereadingsofFreudiantextsorondiscussionswithFrieda,whowasOttoGross'sloverin1907,andwithhisfriends,DavidEderandBarbaraLow,whowerepsychoanalysts(256).(4)SincethetheoryoftheerotogeniczoneswasthecornerstoneofFreud'saccountofinfantilesexuality,onemustassumethatLawrencewaswellacquaintedwithwhatLaplancheandPontaliscallthis"fundamentaldatumofpsycho-analyticexperience"(155).IndeedonecanreadLawrence'sPsychoanalysisandtheUnconsciousandFantasiaofTheUnconscious(1923),whichhedescribedashisessayson"ChildConsciousness"(145,157),ashisexplicitchallengetoFreudiantheoriesoflibidinaldevelopment.NotonlydothesetwoessaysdraftanalternativemappingofthenewlycolonizedterritorythatFreudcalled"theunconscious,"theyalsoofferanalternativeaccountofinfantilepsychologicaldevelopment,basedonthesequentialawakeningofsomaticcentersofconsciousnessinthechild.Sincethesecenters,Lawrencemaintained,donotawakenuntilpuberty,heaccusesFreudofbeing"wrong"inattributingsexualmotivationtochildren:
atmost,thechildhasa"rudimentarysex,"ashadowypresentimentoftraumatictransformationstocome(Fantasia108).(5)ThoughLawrencewasunwillingtosexualizetheinfant'srelationswithothers,hewasmorethanwilling,asIhopetoshow,tosexualizetheadultregressiontoinfantilestates,andtouseFreudiantheorytocharacterizethisregression.
Butwhatexactlyisthis"regression,"which,asIsuggest,LawrenceborrowedfromFreudtomapoutthestagesofClifford'seroticdecline?
IthasitsorigininFreud'sconceptionofthesexualdrive,lessasaunified"instinct"thanasacomposite,withitssourceindistinctiveerotogeniczones(oral,anal,genital),whichareactivatedthroughexternalstimulation(sucking,washing,rubbing).SuchatopographicalconceptionofthedriveallowsforthemajorreversalofwhichIspokeearlier--atraversalofthezonesintheoppositedirection.Freud'stheoryofthe"perversions"isbasedpreciselyonsuchareversal,asthesexualcomponents"comeapartagain"intotheirseparatezones,whichbecomesitesoffixation,andastheadultretreatsbacktoinfantileaimsandobjectsofpleasure(ThreeEssays76,155-56).Inrelinquishinggenitalprimacy,the"perverse"adultdissociateshimselffrom"normaldevelopment."
ThestructuralaspectsofFreud'stheoryofinfantiledevelopmentdictatethatthesethreestagesdonotemergehaphazardlyoranarchically,butaccordingtoawell-regulatedchronology.Theyhave,asFreudputsit,aspecific"temporalsequence"andasettledduration(ThreeEssays166-67).Eachstagehasitspredestinedonset,itsdevelopment,anditsconclusion.The"perversions,"ineffect,throwthislinearunfoldingintoreverse,andsettheadultonthesexualpathofreturntothelibidinalstateoutofwhichs(he)emerged.
InLadyChatterley'sLover,Lawrenceadaptsthischronologytosuithisownspecialpurposes,usingthesamereversedsequence,asanarrativeplot,totrackClifford'seroticregressionfromautonomousadulttodependent"child-man."NotonlydoesthedestructionofClifford's"genitalprimacy"cuthimofffromthepathofnormaldevelopment:
inaddition,thecourseofhisaffairwithMrs.Boltonmovespreciselyfromaninitialanalfixationbacktoanobsessivelyoralone--thestandardpathof"perversion"asmappedoutbyFreud.Ishallnowofferdetailedtextualevidencetobackuptheseassertions.
1.GENITALTRAUMAS
ThestoryofClifford'swar-woundingiscompressedintoonesimplesentence:
hewas"shippedovertoEnglandagainsixmonthslater,moreorlessinbits"(5).OnepossiblereasonforsubjectingCliffordtosuchadrasticformofmutilation--paralysisfrom"thehipsdown"--istomakecastrationofthegenitalzonesecurefromthestart.Inneutralizingonepossibility--thereturntofullpotency--it,however,raisesanother--thepossibilityofsubstitutegratificationstocompensateforthislack.Indeedevenbeforehisparalysis,wearetold,Clifford'sgenitalprimacywasalreadyweaklyestablished:
hewas"notjustkeenonhis"satisfaction"--sexwasmerelyanaccident...oneofthecuriousorganicprocesseswhich...wasnotreallynecessary"(12)(Lawrence'suseofoneofFreud'sfavoriteepithetsforsexualfulfillment--"satisfaction"(atermFreudendlesslyrepeatsintheThreeEssays)--andhisplacingitinquotationmarkssignalshissatiricintention).Clifford'sphysicalparalysisisthusameresymbolicreinforcementofatendencyalreadypronounced,onethatpointstofurtherdeclinationsfromthesexual"norm."
IndeedthegoverningobsessionunderwritingthediscussionsbetweenCliffordandhisCambridge"cronies"isthepossibilityofsubstitutesatisfactionsinplaceofthesexualact.(6)Itisthiswhichgivestheirconversationatingeofthe"perverse."Amongthevarietyofsurrogatestheydiscuss,themoststrikingislanguageitself:
itistheritualizedfocusoftheireroticdesire,andtheobjectoftheirfetishisticconcern.Theirobsessivetalkaboutsexisthesymptomofalackoranabsenceforwhichwordsarethesubstituteobjects.Alltheirerections,asitwere,areerectionsofsignifiers(theyareLacaniansavantlalettre).AllforexampleshareCharlesMay'sviewthat"sexisjustanotherformoftalk,whereyouactthewordsinsteadofsayingthem...asortofnormalphysicalconversationbetweenamanandawoman"(33-34).Thecronies'pronouncedlackofinterestinactualsex(twooutoffour,forexample,appeartobeimpotent)meansthatalmostanysocio-culturalobject--fame,money,success--oritslinguisticequivalentservesasasubstituteforthesexualperformanceitself.Inthissense,spee
- 配套讲稿:
如PPT文件的首页显示word图标,表示该PPT已包含配套word讲稿。双击word图标可打开word文档。
- 特殊限制:
部分文档作品中含有的国旗、国徽等图片,仅作为作品整体效果示例展示,禁止商用。设计者仅对作品中独创性部分享有著作权。
- 关 键 词:
- lady chatterleys lover