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Item The king of glory : an exploration into the resurrection motif in the writitngs of D.H. Lawrence : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English at Massey University(Massey University, 1993) Godfrey, Michael Julian HolylandIn this thesis I seek to relate the early Congregationalist up-bringing of Lawrence, and the rheological factors that shaped that theological milieu, to the subsequent rejection by Lawrence of orthodox Christian belief, and to the search for dark gods and an adequate resurrection symbolism with which he replaced it. I do so first by looking at the paramount theological and sociological forces shaping Lawrence's early thought, and briefly comparing Lawrence's response to those influences to the response of other philosophers and theologians of the era. In doing so, however, I recognize that Lawrence is not accurately described as a theologian or a philosopher, but rather that he is open to common influences with those scholars. Having placed Lawrence into a religious and historical context, I explore his responses to that context as it is revealed in his search for an adequate resurrection imagery, first in the more raw treatment given in three poems, and then, more exhaustively, in Lawrence's more complete treatment given to the theme in three novels, representative of three major phases of Lawrence's life. In the poems I find first a rejection of institutionalized religion, then a belief in resurrection as a ' rite of passage' within an individual life, and finally as an existential option by which to face death, as life, with integrity. In the novels I find a recognition of death and resurrection as a cyclical, personal experience in life available to those who continue to grasp life to its full potential, and not to adopt some form of mauvais fois, then as a collective societal experience based on recapturing ancient rites and beliefs, and finally as a potential, personal experience based on intense personal self communicat ion, epitomized by authentic and adventurous - self-giving in sex. [From Precis]Item Lawrence's people : levels of character in three of the Prussian officer stories : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English at Massey University(Massey University, 1987) Upperton, TimThis thesis examines D.H. Lawrence's presentation of character in three stories from his first published collection, The Prussian Officer and Other Stories. Chapter One provides a brief historical survey of the criticism of Lawrence's work, and relates past misunderstandings of Lawrence's methods of characterization to present ones. It also attempts to explain what it is about Lawrence's art that provokes these misunderstandings. Chapters Two, Three, and Four, through contextualised analyses of, respectively, "The Prussian Officer," "Daughters of the Vicar," and "The White Stocking," attempt to do justice to the detached, subtle, and discriminating intelligence that Lawrence demonstrates in his presentation of different levels of character. In particular, I draw attention to those distinctions he makes at the deeper levels, which critics have often ignored. Throughout, I consider the stories as firmly belonging to the body of Lawrence's great creative art. Concluding the thesis is a brief afterword, which defends my particular method of approach to the stories. Such a method of contextualised interpretation is considered necessary to a sensitive appreciation of Lawrence's varied presentation of character.Item A consideration of the social commentary within D.H. Lawrence's novel The rainbow : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English at Massey University(Massey University, 1971) Miller, Raymond PD.H. Lawrence's critical essay "Why The Novel Matters" contains the personal claim: "Nothing is important but life... For this reason I am a novelist... The novel is the book of life." 1 D.H. Lawrence, "Why The Novel Matters" D.H. Lawrence. Selected Literary Criticism (1956), ed. Anthony Beal, Mercury Books, London. 1961. pp. 104, 105. This claim is elaborated upon in "Morality And The Novel": "The business of art is to reveal the relation between man and his circumambient universe at the living moment... If we think about it, we find that our life consists in this achieving of a pure relationship between ourselves and the living universe about us." 2 D.H. Lawrence, "Morality and The Novel" D.H. Lawrence. Selected Literary Criticism pp. 108, 109. Arnold Kettle, writing in An Introduction to the English Novel suggests that The Rainbow contains within it a manifestation of these assertions. He contends: "The search, the passionate, desperate search of the characters of The Rainbow is to achieve personal relationships which make them at one with the universe." 3 Arnold Kettle, An Introduction to the English Novel Volume II (1953) Hutchinson University Library, London. 1965. p. 109. He adds to this contention his conviction that this novel is firmly grounded in reality, that within The Rainbow Lawrence is concerned with "actual human social issues". 4 ibid., p. 111. Some of these issues he then indicates: " ...there is the whole question of the relationship between work and personality; there is an examination of the social set-up of Cossethay and Beldover, the position of the squire and the vicar and the schoolmaster; there is the problem of industrialism, the significance of the canal and the railways and the pits; there is a great deal and from many points of view about the English educational system; there is the question of the impact of the English Midlands on the Polish émigrés; above all there is all that is implied in the phrase 'the emancipation of women'." 5