Kyoko Kay Kondo
Chiba University of Commerce, UK
The Influence of Eastern Initiatory Rites in Women in Love
In his essay 'Ars Erotica or Scientia Sexualis?: Narrative Vicissitudes in D. H. Lawrence's Women in Love' Gerald Doherty makes some persuasive claims about the impact of an oriental 'Ars Erotica' in Women in Love. Some of his claims, however, are more persuasive than others, and this paper offers some revision and expansion of his argument by incorporating into the discussion 'The First Women in Love' which has become more readily available to readers since Doherty first presented his case. Comparison with The First Women in Love reveals that the 'Excurse' chapter was first written for the published novel, Women in Love, and closer textual comparison shows that Lawrence scattered some vocabulary associated with 'Eastern mystery rituals' for 'initiates' in earlier chapters in order to prepare readers for the new chapter, 'Excurse.' This modifies Doherty's claim that Lawrence applied all the techniques of 'Ars Eotica' in this single chapter.