In the twentieth century, an era marked by profound changes due to feminist movements, D.H. Lawrence and Carol Shields’ wrote novels, Women in Love and The Republic of Love, respectively, depicting the changing influence of parents on lovers. Women in Love was a novel in which parents had very little, if any, influence on the authenticity of their children’s love, whereas The Republic of Love revealed a marked increase of parental influence. Along the same time frame, there was also an expansion of women’s rights that may have played a contributing role to the role of parents on lovers. An analysis of Women in Love and The Republic of Love reveals the changing degrees of authenticity of love due to parental perspective and a growth in women’s
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The Brangwen parents were raised in a time of women’s docility and men’s patriarchy, roles that the feminist movement made strides to revolutionize. Although there are no direct implications of political influences on this novel, Ursula’s father may have utilized some political stances to use as a personal viewpoint in his disapproval of Ursula’s relationship. In his conversation with Rupert, Ursula’s father said, “I don’t believe in your new-fangled ways and your new-fangled ideas…. It would never do for me” (Page 257) This gap between the sister’s modernized beliefs and the father’s beliefs may explain the lack of parental influence shown in their relationships. This lack of influence does not, however, signify an inauthentic love between Ursula and Rupert. The lovers both have other people in their lives that serve as alternative viewpoints to the meaning of their love, and they are both introspective and understanding of what they want in their relationship. These characteristics highlight an authentic love that simply is missing a parental perspective. The Republic of Love, on the other hand, shows a significant parental influence on the main characters, Tom Avery and Fay McLeod. Tom and Fay are ordinary people who find themselves …show more content…
Although there was a drastic difference in parental influence from Lawrence’s novel to Shields’ novel and little difference in the women’s belief that they have the right to choose whom they love, both relationships were authentic, in their own way. Having the influence of others – friends in the case of Ursula and Rupert, and parents in the case of Fay and Tom, and allowing the women the freedom to make their own decisions demonstrate that both pairs of lovers developed their own philosophies of what it means to have an authentic
The Brangwen parents were raised in a time of women’s docility and men’s patriarchy, roles that the feminist movement made strides to revolutionize. Although there are no direct implications of political influences on this novel, Ursula’s father may have utilized some political stances to use as a personal viewpoint in his disapproval of Ursula’s relationship. In his conversation with Rupert, Ursula’s father said, “I don’t believe in your new-fangled ways and your new-fangled ideas…. It would never do for me” (Page 257) This gap between the sister’s modernized beliefs and the father’s beliefs may explain the lack of parental influence shown in their relationships. This lack of influence does not, however, signify an inauthentic love between Ursula and Rupert. The lovers both have other people in their lives that serve as alternative viewpoints to the meaning of their love, and they are both introspective and understanding of what they want in their relationship. These characteristics highlight an authentic love that simply is missing a parental perspective. The Republic of Love, on the other hand, shows a significant parental influence on the main characters, Tom Avery and Fay McLeod. Tom and Fay are ordinary people who find themselves …show more content…
Although there was a drastic difference in parental influence from Lawrence’s novel to Shields’ novel and little difference in the women’s belief that they have the right to choose whom they love, both relationships were authentic, in their own way. Having the influence of others – friends in the case of Ursula and Rupert, and parents in the case of Fay and Tom, and allowing the women the freedom to make their own decisions demonstrate that both pairs of lovers developed their own philosophies of what it means to have an authentic