Women's Role in Society: D. H. Lawrence
For many years, women played a small role socially, economically, and politically. Because of this, many writers portray this role of women in their works of literature. D. H. Lawrence was the first great writer of the twentieth century to come from the working class. Much of his work deals with issues of class and society. His famous novels such as Sons and Lovers, Women in Love, and Lady Chatterley 's Lover are about the position of men and women in society. In "Give Her a Pattern," from Phoenix II: Uncollected Papers of D. H. Lawrence, Lawrence criticizes men for not accepting women as real human beings of the feminine sex.
The feminist movement of Lawrence 's time continued to evolve becoming more powerful. However, D. H. Lawrence purports a fact of life that "men are fools," and that women follow patterns men set for them. Men don 't know what they really want, since most times once they achieve something, they move on to improved things. A man has this perception of how he portrays the perfect woman or wife, yet once he finds a woman of his liking, he will pursue her until he is satisfied and then immediately begins to see other women, which he now wants more. Women on the other hand are always looking for the right type of "pattern ' to follow so that they become more attractive to men. Usually after marriage, the woman 's pattern falls to pieces because men begin to admire other patterns and therefore other women.
Lawrence believed women of his day were unable to make a choice without the direction of their men and they were unable to control their emotions. He states that women need to become stronger, more powerful, and more independent. There is always something wrong with the female character that needs to be fixed. They did what was asked of them without much of a fight. It was not until women started standing up for their rights that they were heard and taken seriously. A woman can have just the same power over a man as a man might over a woman.
In
The feminist movement of Lawrence 's time continued to evolve becoming more powerful. However, D. H. Lawrence purports a fact of life that "men are fools," and that women follow patterns men set for them. Men don 't know what they really want, since most times once they achieve something, they move on to improved things. A man has this perception of how he portrays the perfect woman or wife, yet once he finds a woman of his liking, he will pursue her until he is satisfied and then immediately begins to see other women, which he now wants more. Women on the other hand are always looking for the right type of "pattern ' to follow so that they become more attractive to men. Usually after marriage, the woman 's pattern falls to pieces because men begin to admire other patterns and therefore other women.
Lawrence believed women of his day were unable to make a choice without the direction of their men and they were unable to control their emotions. He states that women need to become stronger, more powerful, and more independent. There is always something wrong with the female character that needs to be fixed. They did what was asked of them without much of a fight. It was not until women started standing up for their rights that they were heard and taken seriously. A woman can have just the same power over a man as a man might over a woman.
In
Cited: itch. Dir. Andy Tennant. Writ. Kevin Bisch. Perf. Will Smith, Eva Mendes, and Kevin James. 2005