1、 本科毕业论文 （ 20 届） 英语 A Study of Materialism in Sons and Lovers 外语学院学生毕业论文独创性声明 本人郑重申明：所呈交的毕业论文是本人在导师的认真指导下，独立进行研究工作所取得的研究成果。除文中已经注明引用的内容外，本论文不包含其他个人或集体已经发表的学术成果，也不包含为获得浙江万里学院或其它教育机构的学位证书而使用过的材料。对本文的研究做出的重要贡献的个人和集体，均已在文中以明确方式表明。如本文涉及上述声明及任何知识产权纠纷，本人将承担一切 责任。 学生签名： _日期： _ 摘 要 本文旨在研究小说儿子与情人中所反映的物质主义观 ,并引
2、发人们对经济高速发展的社会对人们所造成的负面影响的思考。小说儿子与情人发生在工业社会起步之初，那个时代人们热切追求物质享受，对物质有着过于强烈的兴趣和渴望，从而导致了忽略精神追求的可悲结果。本文正是以物质主义为理论基础，结合小说创作的时代背景，分析了小说儿子与情人中的这种现象。作者通过大量的举例作为论据，以客观的角度从物质主义者的五大特点入手， 阐释了莫瑞尔夫妇的婚姻悲剧和他们的儿子的扭曲的成长经历都是物质主义价值观的产物。结论表示，高度发展的经济社会使得人们崇尚物质主义，精神世界崩塌。 关键词： 物质主义 物质 精神 Abstract The purpose of this study is
3、 to investigate the adverse impact of peoples life with the great economic development of industrial society. At the period of that time, many people follow materialism to have a great desire for possessions and money. The discussion is based on the theory of “materialism”, which explains the phenom
4、enon in the novel Sons and Lovers. The author gives plenty of examples from an objective perspective as the evidences of the study. Through the search of five features of materialists, the findings indicate the unsuccessful marriage of Mr. Morel and Mrs. Morel and the abnormal state of their sons gr
5、owth are the products of materialism. The study concludes that the social environment of a high-speed economic society leads people to follow the theory of “materialism” and makes their spiritual life be damaged. Key Words: Materialism Physical SpiritualContents 1 Introduction-1 2 Definition of Mate
6、rialism-2 3 Introduction of Sons and Lovers-3 3.1Social Background of Sons and Lovers-3 3.2Introduction to Main Roles-4 3.3 Introduction to Lawrence-5 4 Analysis of Materialism in Sons and Lovers-6 4.1Pursuit of More Property -6 4.2Belief in Property can Bring Them with Happiness-8 4.3Materialists A
7、ppraise Goods with High Comments-10 4.4Eagerness to Achieve and Keep Property-11 4.5 Representation of Peoples Sense of Insecurity-12 5 Conclusion-13 Works Cited-15 Acknowledgement1 A Study of Materialism in Sons and Lovers 1 Introduction The novel Sons and Lovers is written by Lawrence. It shows th
8、e situation in Lawrences time. It was a period just followed by the industrial revolution. Industrialization spread over almost every corner of the world at that time. Even the peace and harmony with natural environment was replaced by strong will towards money and higher social status. In other wor
9、ds, materialism was very common in that period of time. Almost all the tragedies result in the change. The aspect of materialism is a good angle to analyze this novel. Lawrence(1913) has pointed out that, the task of art is to manifest the relation between people and alive surroundings. People alway
10、s struggle hard in the relation network(p.9). This novel explains the phenomenon of materialism through the relation network as well. Whats more, the modern society is going on an even more severe way than that period. Too many people pay all their attention to money and social status. The study fro
11、m this aspect can offer some advice and suggestions for people in the modern society. This study is based on the theory of materialism. It discusses the features of materialists according to their behaviors and dialogues in the novel. The concept of materialism, which comes from Wikipedia, is that “
12、materialism is the idea that everything is either made only of matter or is ultimately dependent upon matter for its existence and nature. It is possible for a philosophy to be materialistic and still accord spirit a (secondary or dependent) place, but most forms of materialism tend to reject the ex
13、istence of spirit or anything non-physical.”(2012) 2 This paper consists of five parts: The first part offers the significance of the analysis and structure of the study. The second part is about the definition of the core concept“materialism”. It concludes the appearance and the application of it.
14、The third point is relevant to the introduction of Sons and Lovers with its background, plot, and the simple instance of the writerD.H.Lawrence. The fourth part is the analysis of “materialism” of Sons and Lovers. It is analyzed from three main aspects: peoples lifestyle, thoughts and behavior. The
15、fifth part is the last part which is the conclusion of the whole paper. 2 Definition of Materialism Materialism is defined in Wikipedia as “in philosophy, the theory of materialism holds that the only thing that exists is matter; that all things are composed of material and all phenomena (including
16、consciousness) are the result of material interactions. In other words, matter is the only substance.” It has a simple and similar definition in Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary which was edited by Hornby(2009):“A tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important th
17、an spiritual values.”(p.343). It means that people are indulged in the requirement and desire for physical comfort. Under such a situation, it leads to the neglect of spiritual comfort. The interest of physical comfort is embodied in lifestyle, thoughts and behavior. Psychologists Richard Ryan and T
18、im Kasser (2002) think, materialism is an important value of life. Fournier and Richin(2004) think, materialists consider material possessions as the focus in their life. Besides, materialists achieve satisfaction by consumption. Therefore, to materialists, property and achievement of them is their
19、first aim and a main living method. Materialists evaluate that property and achievement of property is higher than any other things and activities in life. Property and achievement of property is their value of themselves. Ger and Belk(1996) have collected and studied the research of materialism fro
20、m the previous scholars. Materialists has concluded 5 features of materialists as follows: materialists chase more property than others; Materialists believe that property can bring them with happiness; Materialists appraise goods with high comments; Materialists are eager to achieve and keep proper
21、ty, 3 which includes goods, people and memory (such as photos and memorials which stands for their experience); Materialism is the representation of peoples sense of insecurity. Some evidence will be held in detail to support them in this thesis. As what has been mentioned above, materialism is a ki
22、nd of value. To materialists, it is a value which means to pursuit happiness and show their social status by owning money and property. Most of them consume to show their difference and think it is a good way to be spectacular and respected. Whats more, achieving property is their way to be satisfie
23、d and get happiness. 3 Introduction to Sons and Lovers The story of main roles in Sons and Lovers is described at the period of British industrial revolution. As the social background is an important clue and incentive, so the details of British industrial revolution should be put forward as below.
24、In addition, the relations among the main roles are very crucial as well. And the writer of this novelLawrence lived at that period of time. So the introduction of Lawrence is necessary to be represented for the study. 3.1 Social Background of Sons and Lovers The novel was accomplished in 1913. It w
25、as in the period of industrial revolution. The industrial revolution was a period from the 18th century to the 19th century. Yi Jiexiong(2000) pointed out that at the period of industrial revolution, Britain became the factory of the world with dramatic economic development(p.32). Lawrence(1914) poi
26、nted out that the reason why British people were afraid of everything was that people needed to bear suffer while a big revolution happened(p.58). It started in the United Kingdom first, then spread throughout Europe, North America, and eventually affected most of the world. Wen Hongrui(2004)wrote t
27、hat “It began with the introduction of machinery in the textile industry in the 1760s and 4 lasted until the 1840s when machinery was widely used in practically every field of major industries.”(p.98). The impact of industrial revolution on society was enormous. It brought lots of changes in some fi
28、elds, such as, agriculture, manufacturing, mining. These changes has direct influences on the iron-making techniques development and coals increased use. There began a transition in Great Britain， that from manual labor towards machine-based manufacturing. Trades were largely depended on the use of
29、canals, advanced roads and railways. Peoples life turned into a transitional period as well. The first alteration of the industrial revolution was from agricultural society to industrial society. The basic method of living was changed from farming to industrial production. As a result, a great many
30、people altered their status from farmer to worker. The second alteration of the industrial revolution was that lots of countries turned to cities or more people from countries inflow to cities. The related reason is that there are more opportunities of jobs in cities. The third alteration of the ind
31、ustrial revolution was that, the inner world of many people distorted because of the large change of this period. Wang Mintong(1980) stated that the main goal of industrialization is to get a fortune for capitalists, not to improve the living standard of all British people(p.33). So that workers are
32、 suffering from the bad working environment and difficult life. Many people in the period couldnt accept the situation of new society and the vanishing of the simple style of agricultural life. 3.2 Introduction to Main Roles To some extent, this novel is an autobiography. As the main resources of it
33、 is from the writers early part of life. It is said that if the focus of a family is on material life, people will neglect spiritual life. This phenomenon will cause a series of critical problems. In the Morels family: father Walter Morel is a rude and illiterate miner, who is vigorous and addicted
34、in drinking. MotherMrs. Morel is from a middle class family, and she is a delicate woman. She feels disappointed with her husband, so she transfers all her love to her two sonsWilliam and Paul. At that time of England is different in the relation between parents and children. Wu Fei(2011)wrote that
35、“Another change 5 in family life is the attitude of adults to children: parents treat their children more as equals than they used to and the child is given more freedom to make his or her own decisions in life.”(p.355). Oppositely, children are mainly influenced by their parents and almost controll
36、ed by them. William is the eldest brother among the children of Mrs. Morel. He is smart, through his efforts, he works in London and nearly gets married with a girl, but he is influenced by his mother so that he always has doubts with the girl. After Williams death, Mrs. Morel gives all her love to
37、her second son Paul. Paul is intelligent and good at drawing. He is a sensitive man as well. In this novel, he falls in love with two women. One is Miriam, who has high respect to religion and spiritual love. Because Mrs. Morel doesnt like Miriam, so Paul has a lot of pressure to be with her and is
38、afraid of Miriams romantic passion. The other one is Clara. She has a husband, but they get departed for the moment. Paul is fascinated with her and attracted by her feminine appeal. As Paul is deeply influenced by his mother and dominated by his mothers love, he cant continue the relation with Clar
39、a. Until after Mrs. Morels death, Paul starts to look for his real life. 3.3 Introduction of Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence is a very famous modernism writer in the history of English novels. Lawrence lived in a family which was distorted. He was born in a working class family in a small village wh
40、ich is along the river bank. As Pike(1983) pointed out that, the earlier factories were set along the river bank as they were described in the novel(p.23). And Professor Xing Jianchang(2003) wrote that Lawrences hometown was traditional mining area which was surrounded by dirty cottages and drunk mi
41、ners(p.1). His father was a miner of Nottingham, who is rude and illiterate. Oppositely, his mother was from a middle-class family and she was lettered. His parents quarreled much because of shortage of money and great difference in character. Lawrence was an unsocial and silent boy when he was young but he was very close with his mother. Lawrence(1926) himself wrote that “The one thing men have not learned to do is to stick up for their own instinctive feelings, against the things they are taught. The trouble is, we are all caught young.”(p.206).
