摘 要

小说中的性描写是扩充小说内容，提升小说内涵的重要手段。但是由于性这个话题的敏感性，很多人忽视了这一点，且很容易被人误解为淫秽写作并以此为耻。事实上，文学创作中的性描写是有意写“性”，无意引欲，他们将有意性与人物品性，宗教及其他话题混合起来。劳伦斯和厄普代克是两位在小说中运用性的大师，《儿子和情人》及《兔子，跑吧》是他们分别的代表作。本文首先用佛洛伊德的理论分析性的本质，再主要经过逐个场景的列举处理性元素在这两本小说中的角色扮演情况。通过分析，一共有两种性元素：心理上的性和肉欲上的性。更重要的是，它们各自会根据需求和环境表现出不同的性质。通过分析这些异变了的性质，本文将揭示所提及的两位作家的困境，他们对性的态度，以及通过性，他们想达到的终极目标。

关键词：劳伦斯；厄普代克；《儿子与情人》；《兔子，跑吧》；性元素

Abstract

Sexuality is a valuable method to extend the line of content and fortify the implication of the novel. However, many people never notice this point because the issue of sex is so sensitive. They confuse the sexuality with pornography and feel shameful about it. Actually, the sexuality in literary works has its own purpose and usually contains no desire for arousing sexual pleasure. D. H. Lawrence and John Updike are the two masters on using sex elements in their novel-writings. Sons and Lovers and Rabbit, Run are their respective masterpieces. This paper firstly talks about the essence of sex with the theory of Sigmund Freud, then scenes by scenes analyzes the different roles the sexuality plays in these two books. There are two kinds of sexuality: psychosexuality and sensual sexuality. Furthermore, the feature of each sex element will appear different when the demand and background have been changed. By analyzing the altered sexual narration of them, the paper will reveal the different dilemmas of the two writers, their different attitudes and their different ultimate goals they want to achieve through sexuality.

Key Words: John Updike, D. H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, Rabbit, Run, Sexuality.

Contents

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Brief introduction of two writers and their works 1

1.2 The concept of sex 3

1.3 The theory of Freud 5

2 The Sex Elements in Sons and lovers 7

2.1 Outside the novel: the meaning of sex in Lawrence’s mind 7

2.2 Inside the novel: Sex as the key to deconstruct the characters’ psychology 7

2.2.1 Miriam: Sex as an act of sacrifice 7

2.2.2 Mrs. Morel: Her psychosexuality with her sons as the substitution of her husband 9

2.2.4 William: the psychosexuality with the mother as the model of lover and the obstacle 10

2.2.5 Clara: sex as a healing of her wounded pride. 11

3. The Sex Elements in Rabbit, Run 13

3.1 Sexual description as a weapon to revenge the rotten society. 13

3.2 Winning in sex: An androcentric ideology of Rabbit 14

3.3 Sex: A betrayal from religion 16

4. The different answers from John Updike and D. H. Lawrence: 18

5. Conclusion: 20

References 21

Acknowledgements 23

Sex Elements: different roles in Rabbit, Run and Sons and Lovers

1 Introduction

1.1 Brief introduction of two writers and their works

John Updike (1932-2009) is one of the most prolific and significant writers in the contemporary America. Once majoring in painting, he applies his sensibility of art in afterwards novel-writing. “One of only three writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth Tarkington and William Faulkner), Updike published more than twenty novels, more than a dozen short-story collections, as well as poetry, art and literary criticism and children’s books during his career.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Updike). The novels of Updike mainly describe the life of “the American small town, Protestant middle class”, dealing with the various issues such as politics, morality, individuality. But among all these issues, Updike, resembling his predecessor Hawthorne, joins in the road of investigating the complex variables among sex, sin and salvation (Donald J. Greiner, 1989). As his masterpiece, Rabbit, Run inclusively is involved in these variables. Harry, the protagonist, the once high-school superstar runs away from his alcoholic wife and their messed-up life, searches his salvation between religion and sex as he runs among family, Ruth( a prostitute) and Eccles (the minister). Then the book inevitably deals with plenty of sexual description, which later on become the so-called testimony for those “moral” critics because it is too naturalistic. Some of Updike’s novels are even required for modification to pass the censorship.

The influence of Rabbit, Run is great around the world, but critics are more concerning about the act of running, evading mentioning of sexual elements, which they think would make the novel somehow pornographic. Like CS Burhans Jr expresses in his article Things Falling Apart: Structure and Theme in "Rabbit, Run"(1973): Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom moves, like his namesake, in the closing trap of ever more frantic and tightening circles. The novel is built on such circles, beginning with a wide geographical one and ending in the disappearing point of a subjective one.