TY - GEN A1 - Ma, Jiafan T1 - A Study on the Idea of >Balance< in D. H. Lawrence’s Works, Master thesis, English Language and Literature, Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan, China 2022 [application of Fromm's theories to art]. N2 - D. H. Lawrence (1885 – 1930) is one of the most important novelists in the history of English literature in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He lived at a time when capitalist industry was at its peak, but at the same time, a series of negative consequences of the industrial revolution were exposed. The nature of man is poisoned, the integrity of the individual is destroyed, and the relationship between man and man and nature loses its balance in traditional agricultural societies. For Lawrence, he was living in a time when the world was completely out of balance. For this reason, he keeps on writing, with sharp and bold strokes to express the alienated individual, abnormal interpersonal relationship and the imbalance between man and nature under the capitalist industrial civilization, and tirelessly explores the way to restore the balance between individual and self, between man and man, and between man and nature. Furthermore, in his opinion, these three levels do not exist in isolation, but constitute a mutually restrictive whole; An imbalance at any level leads to an imbalance at other levels, or problems at any level reflect problems at the other two levels. Thus, among the >imbalance< and >balance<, the individual, society and nature form an intricate internal relationship, presenting a systematic structure of three and one, one and three, which integrates Lawrence’s whole life exploration and literary creation. This provides an important entry point for us to re-understand Lawrence’s series of controversial topics and reassess their current significance. Based on this, this paper takes Lawrence’s novels as the research object and the concept of >balance< as the entry point to make a detailed discussion of the relationship between man and self, man and man, man and nature in his works.– This paper consists of three parts: introduction, text and conclusion. The introduction mainly focuses on Lawrence’s personal experience of >imbalance< and traces the origin of his concept of >balance<. The concept of >balance< is preliminarily defined; Review relevant research results at home and abroad.– The first part of the text discusses Lawrence’s concept of balance from the perspective of individual self. Under the background of industrial revolution, due to the poison of mechanical civilization and rampant materialism, human beings constantly overcome or tame their own nature. But when the civilization overcomes the nature, man gradually moves toward the one-sided. In Lawrence’s works, human nature and civilization correspond to >blood consciousness< and >mind consciousness< respectively, while the individuals in his works can be divided into >brain type< individuals and >blood type< individuals. In Lawrence’s opinion, when the >blood< of an individual is overwhelmed by the >mind<, his emotion and instinct will be suppressed, thus leading to the alienation of human nature. At the same time, the >blood< of the individual must resist the >mind< and call for the return of nature, so as to achieve the >balance< of the individual self.– The second part uses Erich Fromm’s theory of >possession and existence< to explore Lawrence’s thoughts on the relationship between people. In Lawrence’s opinion, due to the dominance of >possessive< value orientation, the lovers’ relationship, family relationship and class relationship in the era of industrial civilization were also out of balance, and they tried to control, dominate and possess others, resulting in the breakdown of interpersonal relationship. In view of this bad situation, Lawrence proposed the concept of >interstellar balance< relationship model, calling on modern people to get out of the dilemma of self-centeredness and build a relationship model of >existence<, sharing and symbiosis on the basis of respecting others, so as to rebuild the balance of human relations.– The third part discusses Lawrence’s thoughts on the relationship between human beings and nature in modern industrial civilization from the perspective of ecological criticism. Lawrence believed that the relationship between man and nature became estranged and antagonistic during the transition from agricultural civilization to industrial civilization. His works deeply reflect on and criticize the anthropocentrism and development-oriented concepts in western culture, and accuse human beings of unrestrained conquest of nature. In Lawrence’s view, human beings are part of nature, and they should Revere nature, return to nature, blend in with nature, and live in harmony with nature. Only by conquering nature and reconciling with nature and restoring the balance between man and nature can modern people overcome the ecological crisis and seek the healthy and all-round development of human society.– The conclusion focuses on the inner constitution and current significance of Lawrence’s concept of >balance<. Lawrence’s works comprehensively present his profound reflection on modern industrial civilization and his grand conception of future ideal civilization. His thought has obvious integrity and systematism. In this regard, his idea of >balance<, ostensibly derived from his meditation on the ideal of love, actually runs through his complex meditation on the whole of modern civilization. In his opinion, individuals, society and nature constitute an organic whole. Any imbalance at one level may lead to the imbalance at other levels and trigger a chain reaction at other levels. In order to restore balance at any level, the reconstruction of balance state at other levels is indispensable. Although Lawrence’s concept of >balance< is obviously utopian, it still has important reference value and significance in today’s era of numerous spiritual problems, continuous cultural conflicts and continuous deterioration of ecological environment. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 7/2023] Y1 - 2022 ER -