文学导论

Thesis

The dubious progress of women’s status under the overturned sexual roles

— A Star-equilibrium Approach to D. H.

Lawrence’s “Tickets, Please!

学院：外国语学院

专业：英语

学号：222013310032056

姓名：司西惠

班级：2013级英语5班

课程名称：文学导论

指导老师：胡蕾

Content

摘要 (3)

Abstract (4)

I.Introduction (5)

A.Introduction to D. H. Lawrence and Tickets, Please! (5)

B.Theoretical Basis: “star-equilibrium” (6)

II.The overturned sexual roles (7)

A.The analysis of overturned sexual roles (7)

B.The reasons of the overturned sexual roles (8)

wrence’s attitude towards this overturned sexual roles (9)

III.Dubious progress of women’s sta tus (10)

A.How to reflect the dubious progress of women’s status (10)

B.The reasons of dubious progress of women’s status (11)

IV. Conclusion (12)

Works Cited: (13)

【摘要】

论文通过采用劳伦斯的“星际平衡”理论分析了戴维.赫伯特.劳伦斯的作品《请出示车票》中从书中人物名字及其性格表现出的男女角色颠覆的特点以及在当时背景下出现这一现象的原因和劳伦斯在其书中对这种颠覆性角色的态度，继而揭示了在颠覆男女角色的背景下，女性的地位并没有得到真正意义上的提升。通过以上分析，本文旨在帮助女性更清醒地认识自身的价值及地位，从而能站起来反抗这种社会对其不公平的待遇。

【关键词】男女角色颠覆“星际平衡”女性地位可疑性进步

【Abstract】This paper illustrates the D. H. Lawrence’s Tickets, Please, using his theoretical basis of “star-equilibrium” to analyze its overturned sexual roles from the character s’ names and their characters, as well as the causes of this phenomenon and Lawrence’s attitude towards it. Besides, this paper reveals the dubious progress of women’s status under this overturned sexual roles, as well as its reasons of fictitious progress of women’s status. This paper is aimed to help female realize their valuation and their status, so that they can stand up to fight for this unequal treatment.

【Key Words】overturned sexual roles; star-equilibrium; dubious progress of women’s status

I Introduction

A. Introduction to D. H. Lawrence and Tickets, Please!

D. H. Lawrence, an English modernist writer, is probably best remembered for his quest of “an ‘inhuman’ vitalistic energy born out of blood rhythms, states of consciousness, and the solar plexus” (Malcolm, 2006, p.122) with a language of vernacular sexual tenderness. His expression and exploration of this “energy” are his constant denouncement towards industrial civilization. He came f rom a miner’s fam ily in Nottinghamshire, England. He saw the aggressively advancing industrial civilization in his hometown, which, in his opinion, had corrupted man’s life. He thought the going-on industrialization was destructive, “for its cut-throat competitiveness and its encouragement to war, for its mechanical progress and diminution of industrial creativeness, and for its intellectualism that dried up the springs of human vitality.” In his statement, man’s life was reduced to the stuffy humdrum, which was unnatural, morbid and anguishing emotionally and psychologically. However, the only way to heal this devastated modern world was to return to a balanced man-woman relationship or in his words, the “star-equilibrium” relationship.

"Tickets, Please" is one of the short stories in the collection England My England, published in 1922. It is a simple story. A young inspector of the tramway system seduces all the conductresses on the Midlands line. One of them, Annie, eventually falls for him on a special occasion, but she wants his true love rather than just a flirtation. As she becomes more and more possessive, the young man lets her down and picks up another girl. Annie then decides to take revenge. As all the other conductresses more or less bear a grudge against the seducer, they set a trap for him. One evening they manage to attract him into their waiting-room at the depot where they molest him just like what he has done towards them. Their purpose is just to make him choose one of them for his wife. Eventually he spitefully chooses Annie who, far from being proud and contented, falls prey to conflicting feelings. The inspector is freed at last and walks away alone in the night while the girls leave the depot one by one "with mute, stupefied faces".