Abstract

This dissertation deploys a premise that has not received sustained attention in modernist or Lawrentian studies. The specificity of the project lies in its perception of the centrality of Lawrence's aesthetic theory as a constitutive motif that pressures and shapes his work from within. The argument draws upon his debt to theoretical texts like Schiller's Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man and Kant's Critique of Judgment. However, it concentrates on the aesthetic philosophy enunciated by Lawrence himself, to demonstrate his advocacy of intuitive knowledge instead of pre-meditated and analytical "mental understanding." It considers Lawrence's early novels, expository writings and some of his posthumous papers as a series of exemplifying moments in his artistic development. The first chapter examines his letters from 1905 to 1913 as early articulations of his aesthetic experience via the influential women of his youth. Chapters 2 and 3 investigate the autobiographical personae that represent stages in the progression of Lawrence's aesthetic vision in the early novels---Paul Morel in Sons and Lovers, Rupert Birkin in Women in Love and Rawdon Lilly in Aaron's Rod. Chapters 4 and 5 access Lawrence's formal definitions of his philosophy from Fantasia of the Unconscious, Apocalypse, and selections from both volumes of Phoenix. The concluding section locates him in current scholarship and evidences the enduring value of his work