The Influence of D.H. Lawrence on John Fowles’s Early Fiction: Blood Consciousness, Women, and Heraclitus

Abstract

This interdisciplinary analysis considers the influence of D.H. Lawrence on John Fowles's early novels (The Magus and The Collector), with particular emphasis on the parallels between the writers' early experiences and personal lives which, I suggest, may have created a natural point of affinity between Fowles and his pariah predecessor.  The particular relevance of the times in which both authors were writing is also of particular interest in this article, since it focuses on the experience of male novelists writing during periods in English history following World Wars and overlapping with major social and economic convulsions, including the burgeoning Women’s Movement.  Ultimately, the article considers why an understanding of this influence is helpful to scholars of Fowles.

Opsomming

Hierdie interdissiplinêre analise beskou die invloed van D.H. Lawrence op John Fowles, met besondere klem op die parallelle tussen die skrywers se vroeë ervarings en persoonlike lewens, wat volgens my moontlik 'n natuurlike punt van affiniteit tussen Fowles en sy paria-voorganger geskep het. Die besondere relevansie van die tye waarin beide outeurs skryf, is ook van besondere belang in hierdie artikel, aangesien dit fokus op die ervaring van manlike romanskrywers wat geskryf het oor periodes in die Engelse geskiedenis wat beide wêreldoorloë gevolg het en ook oorvleuel het met groot sosiale en ekonomiese stuiptrekkings, insluitend die ontluikende Vroue-beweging. Uiteindelik oorweeg die artikel waarom 'n begrip van hierdie invloed nuttig is vir studente van Fowles om sy werk te verstaan.