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영어

This thesis aims to analyze the true nature of Lawrence's woman characters of his early novels and to present the misunderstanding and misreading of Lawrence and the woman chatacters of his early novels by feminists who consider Lawrence as a male chauvinist. The feminists who condider Lawrence as a male chauvinist like Millett misunderstand the major woman characters of Lawrence's early novels. As Lettie of The White Peacook, Helena of Trespasser. and Gerutrude Morel and Miriam of Sons and Lovers are spiritual, they belong to the dreaming women. Though Lawrence dislikes these dreaming women, the reason he dislikes these dreaming women is not that he is a male chauvinist, but he believes that they encroach the vitality of human being. As Lawrence think reason and passion must be harmonized and balanced, he fears that the life of human being will be partial toward the side of spirit and anti-vitality by the spirirual women. This literalistic idea of Lawrence is related to the dualism. The dualism of Lawrence cosists of the male principle and the female principle. If a man is vital, he belongs to the female principle. If a woman is spiritual, she belongs to the male principle. When we devide the woman characters of Lawrence's early novels by dualism, Lettie, Helena, Gertrude Morel and Miriam belongs to the male principle, Clara belongs to the female principle. According to Lawrence's dualism, the reason the dreaming women of Lawrence's early novels are denounced by Lawrence is not that they are women, but they are so spiritual that they are apt to be an ti-vitality . So the fact that the feminists who consider Lawrence as a male chauvinist assert that Lawrence intentionally underestimate the woman characters and subordinate them to the man characters as Lawrence is a male chauvinist is very shortsighted.