The Prussian Officer and The White Stocking by Lawrence - Coursework Example

The relationship between fiction and metaphysics and ethics in D. H. Lawrence’s The Prussian Officer and The White Stocking Introduction D. H. Lawrence’s short stories are characterized by a deeper exploration of the nature of characters involved, as a way of not just developing the plot, but also enabling the audience to understand the metaphysics and the ethical dimensions of the fictional works. Thus, the concept of being and existence has been deliberately explored in D. H. Lawrence’s short stories, while venturing deep into analyzing the distinction between what is in existence and the reality of what is in the being (Thornton, 72). On the other hand, the concept of ethics; seeking to establish what is right or wrong, good or bad, is yet another concept that has been explored extensively in D. H. Lawrence’s short stories. Therefore, this discussion seeks to analyze the relationship between fiction and metaphysics and ethics in D. H. Lawrence’s The Prussian Officer and The White Stocking, with a view to establishing the role of metaphysics and ethics in the two fictions. Metaphysics in D. H. Lawrence’s The Prussian Officer The analysis of Metaphysics in D. H. Lawrence’s The Prussian Officer takes the form of evaluating how the individuals in the fictional short story live their lives, while experiencing defeats, happiness and failure, all arising from the pressure created by the forces of nature (Worthen, 47). Thus, the metaphysical analysis looks into the true nature of the characters applied in the short story, and then ventures into assessing how the forces of nature has forced the individuals to live a life that either reflects their true self or forces them to adapt an overall different lifestyle. Where the individuals are forced to adapt a different lifestyle, the metaphysical analysis then looks into the conflict between the true self and the lifestyle forced upon an individual by the forces of nature, and what is the ultimate result of the conflict. The conflict created by the attempt by individuals to express themselves based on the limits of time and context is a fundamental metaphysical aspect, while the interchangeable violence and sexual passion in the fictional story, ‘The Prussian Officer ‘ drives at presenting the authenticity of life, not as a ideal but real (Englander, 607). The relationship between fiction and metaphysics in D. H. Lawrence’s The Prussian Officer, borders on the exploration of the personal character of the Prussian army Captain and his orderly, Schoner, regarding the difference in their positions in the army as well as their different positions in the world of happiness. The Captain is a bitter and impersonal leader of the army, who rarely shows any emotions toward the rest of the normal soldiers, unless when he is aroused, in which case then his emotions are expressed in a brutal and tragic manner that always harms Schoner (Lawrence, n.p.). The captain is unmarried, since “his position did not allow of it, and no woman had ever moved him to it” (Lawrence, n.p.). Therefore, his passion for love and sexual satisfaction always rule the interaction between the Captain and his orderly, because the captain desires him sexually and at the same time envy his happy lifestyle, which he cannot attain himself. In this respect, D. H. Lawrence explores the conflict between the true self of the Captain and the life that the forces of nature have forced him to live. The captain is a handsome man in his forties, with muscles around his loin that demonstrates of high sexual capability, yet the forces of nature have denied him any reasonable sexual satisfaction, thus his life is characterized by the burning desire for sexual fulfilment that does not appear to materialize in reality (Harrison, 63). The metaphysics of this short story shows a great conflict between the true personality of the Captain and the life that the forces of nature have forced him to live. The true nature of the Captain is that of a man who is in need of regular sexual satisfaction. However, the realities of life have forced him to live a life of sexual depravity, since “now and then he took himself a mistress”, only to return back to his captaincy duty when he was even more tense and irritable, owing to the fact that he could not get the desired sexual satisfaction (Lawrence, n.p.). D. H. Lawrence has deliberately contrasted the character and the life situation of the older Prussian captain with that of one of his orderly, Schoner, who seems to be full of life, vigorous, happy and determined to live his life fully, undeterred by the circumstances of life (Lawrence, n.p.). In this respect, the real nature of the orderly has been presented as the happy-go kind of person who is deterred by nothing from achieving happiness. However, the forces of life are in contrast with the true nature of this orderly, owing to the fact that; while he is determine to live his life happy and fully without being deterred by any life circumstances, his captain has made it his duty to make the orderly’s life totally painful and unbearable (Thornton, 77). The forces of nature that face Schoner makes his life unworthy of living, despite the fact that his inner capacity for life is capable of making him live a fulfilling life even in the existing conditions, if only his life is not intruded and his space invaded by the Captain, so much so that the context does not warrant a continued struggle to live. Metaphysics deal with answering two specific questions; what is there and what it is like, as a way of establishing the true nature of existence of a being or an object (Widmer, 45). Thus, in answering these two questions, D. H. Lawrence’s The Prussian Officer presents the conflict between passion for sexual satisfaction and the high capacity for sexual performance as the reality of this fiction. It is evident that D. H. Lawrence’s The Prussian Officer applies both the Captain and his simple orderly as objects of high sexual appeal and capability, in answering the metaphysical question of what is there, such that he can demonstrate that the two characters are capable of living a full sexual satisfactory life, if the time and context would allow them access to it (Philipse, 173). However, in answering the second metaphysical question of what is it like; D. H. Lawrence’s The Prussian Officer applies the highly restrictive, inhibitive and unfavourable external environment that does not allow either the Captain or the orderly to fulfil their capacity for a sexual fulfilling life. The captain is hindered by the fact that his position in the army does not allow him to marry, and as such he must contend with the occasional sexual encounters that he gets when he takes mistresses occasionally (Lawrence, n.p.). Therefore, for the captain, the reality is in total contrast with what is ideal, since both the mental and the physical characteristics of the captain allow for regular sexual engagement, but the forces of nature have denied him that opportunity, causing him to live a life of bitterness, irritability and emotional instability. Similarly, for the simple orderly, Schoner, the physical and the mental states actually allows for living a life of full happiness, including a life of sexual satisfaction considering the fact that his physical stature is sexually appealing, but the external forces of nature, which arises from his interaction with the captain eventually sees him living a life that is deprived of happiness (Black, 77). D. H. Lawrence’s The Prussian Officer, through presenting the true nature of the two characters as that of individuals with a capacity for full sexual satisfaction, has gone ahead to contrast their mental statuses, while presenting their physical status as similar. The mental status of the orderly depicts the readiness to live a fulfilling life full happiness despite the existing restrictive external forces of nature (Lawrence, n.p.). On the other hand, the mental status of the captain depicts a conflicting state of will and readiness, where the captain seems mentally willing to live a life of happiness, but at the same time appearing not to be ready for the same. Thus, he goes ahead to hinder his simple orderly, Schoner, from realizing his true capacity, readiness and willingness for happiness, since he is subconsciously envious of him, thus seeing the vigour and strength with which Schoner pursued happiness as “an unhampered young animal…irritated the officer (Lawrence, n.p.). Additionally, the true nature of the captain was that of anger, rage and capable of breaking out, but the time and context always constrained him from expressing such extreme attributes, thus the external forces of nature had forced the captain to live a life that was not commensurate with his true self, thus the reality of life contrasted with the innate nature of the captain’s personality. This represents a metaphysical exploration of the characters by the fictional story ‘The Prussian Officer’, where D. H. Lawrence was seeking to responds to the primary metaphysical question of what is there, and what is it like. Through the contrasted innate attributes to the real life reactions of the captain, the audience is able to understand that the reality of life shapes peoples’ character such that they can no longer live their innately capable life, but rather have to adapt to the external forces of nature. Thus simply put, the metaphysical exploration of the captains innate attributes and his real life reactions is an indication of the fact that the reality of life is completely different from the esteemed people’s will to live, and thus human beings have to shelve their innate life capacities, for the sake of conferring to the demands of the reality of life (Cushman, 102). D. H. Lawrence’s fictional story, ‘The Prussian Officer’, has also contrasted the true innate nature of the orderly with the demands of the reality of life, which eventually saw the orderly end up killing his master, the captain, despite an extended period of self-control and strong personality that was able to absorb all the abuses, mistreatments and psychological torture that the captain had caused him (Harrison, 21). The orderly is described as a person of strong personality and high restraint, capable of resisting the temptations to show his anger and dissatisfaction with the harsh treatment of the captain, where the “young soldier seemed to live out his warm, impervious full nature” (Lawrence, n.p.). Nevertheless, the external forces that shape the realities of life pushed the young self-controlled soldier against the wall, until at such a time that he could no longer be able to withstand the pressures anymore and thus had to react against his true innate nature, by killing his master the captain, and later live regretfully until he died (Englander, 613). Thus, in presenting the contrasted nature of the orderly’s innate character against his reactions in real life, the fictional story, ‘The Prussian Officer’, has been able to answer the primary metaphysical questions of what there is and what it is like, by showing that what there is; is a young soldier with a high level of self-control, but what it is like; is the reality of strong pressures of life that pushes the orderly to act against his will by killing the captain. The reality of life has been contrasted with the innate capacity, so that the fictional story can show that the forces of nature compel people to live contrary to who they are, since they have to conform to the pressures of the external forces of nature as opposed to living their true selves (Sagar, 89). The physical contact is yet another metaphysical concept that has been explored by the fictional story. The captain and the orderly could not make any physical contact, and not even their eyes would meet directly, since they had a certain weird feeling running between them (Lawrence, n.p.). On the other hand, the orderly had a girl whom he loved, and the only thing that gave him satisfaction was the physical contact with her, when he threw his arm around her waist and had her leaning tightly against his chest (Lawrence, n.p.). The metaphysical essence of presenting the two scenarios is simply to show that true love has to have physical contact. The captain and the orderly never endeavoured to have a physical contact despite the existence of a high sexual tension between them, but the forces of nature made the reality different, since they had a physical contact in death, when they were placed beside each other in the morgue, an indication that there was love between them. Ethics in D. H. Lawrence’s ‘The Prussian Officer’ Ethics is a concept that assesses the rightness or wrongness of an action or behaviour, with the intention of presenting to the society what is right or wrong. The fictional story, The Prussian Officer, seeks to portray to the society what is right and what is wrong, through contrasting the characters of two fictional individuals, thus making it possible for the society to understand that wrongdoing/un-ethicalness can eventually resulting in a disaster, not only for the unethical party but also for the others who are adversely affected by such wrongdoing. Ethics is a concept that has been widely explored in D. H. Lawrence’s fictional story, ‘The Prussian Officer’, most especially as related to the ethicalness of the captain’s treatment of the simple orderly. The captain treated the orderly harshly and even bullied him (Lawrence, n.p.). The application of this ethical scenario in the fictional story is meant to reflect on the realities of life, where those in position of authority have the tendency to mistreat their subordinates, especially when such subordinates seems to be better at something than the superiors. The captain did not allow the orderly any free time from his duties of serving him, often keeping him engaged all day long, to prevent him from seeing the girl that he loved, since the mere fact that the orderly was in love with a girl irritated the captain even more (Lawrence, n.p.). The concept of ethics in this case assess the issue of envy, by portraying the captain as an individual who was envious of the orderly, simply because the orderly was able to sustain a stable romantic relationship with a woman, yet the captain could not do the same despite the fact that he highly desired it. The captain once again comes out as an individual who is unethical, since he takes pleasure in the suffering of others, considering the fact that he “took pleasure in the dark look” that appeared on the orderly’s face, after the captain kept him engaged all evening, to prevent him from seeing the girl he loved (Lawrence, n.p.). The fictional story ‘The Prussian Officer’, portrays the captain and the orderly as being on the two extreme ends of the behavioural spectrum, with the captain demonstrating unethical behaviour such as rage, outbursts, envy, bullying, lack of self-control and cruelty (Lawrence, n.p.). On the other hand, the orderly has been portrayed as a man of virtues such as high level of discipline, intelligence, perseverance and self-control, making him impermeable and impenetrable by the abuses and the mistreatments of his master (Thornton, 114). Through showing these extremes, the fictional story seeks to underscore the relevance of virtues over vices, in such a way that the audience continuously grows sympathetic towards the orderly, while at the same time becoming increasingly repelled to the character of the captain. The captain abused his position of authority by harassing the orderly, where he could slap him on his face using gloves and at times even whip his face using a belt, despite the fact that the orderly served his master diligently by following all orders even when such orders were oppressive. The ethical question however is whether the captain had the right to treat the orderly the way he did. Despite the fact that the orderly was all obedient and persevered all manner of abuses, there are numerous instance when the captain spoke to him over different matters, but he rarely got a reply (Lawrence, n.p.). Ethical dilemma arises when there is a difficulty in determining whether an action was right or wrong. Thus, it could be that the captain treated the orderly the way he did, because the orderly was not fully responsive to the captain. In this respect, it is possible to argue that the captain was prompted to treat the orderly the way he did, since the orderly had called for it. At this point then the question becomes; who was on the wrong between the orderly and the captain? The other ethical dilemma arises from the fact that the young orderly was not able to exercise self-control and restraint until the end, but his capacity to withstand the abuses and assault from the captain eventually reached a breaking point, where he ended up pinning the captain down a tree stump and killing him (Widmer, 84). The concept of ethical dilemma, illustrated in the fictional story ‘The Prussian Officer’, has been applied to show that the reality of life at times forces people to go against their innate values and character, to engage in incidences that eventually contrast their true self. The concept of ethical dilemma in this fictional story leaves many questions desiring to be answered, creating a scenario where the whole society cannot agree on whether certain behaviour by the characters is good or bad, right or wrong. The ethical question that arises is whether the orderly was justified to kill his master, after the wrong periods of torture and abuses he had received. The proponents of self-control and self-restraint would argue that the orderly in the fictional story ‘The Prussian Officer’, would have persisted resisting the temptation to act in anger and demonstrate his virtues of being impenetrable and impervious to the end (Becket, 44). However, this would be disputed by the opponents of this view, holding that the orderly was forced into reacting the way he did, through a series of abuses and mistreatments that did not seem to end. Nevertheless, to end the ethical dilemma related to whether the orderly was justified to kill his master, D. H. Lawrence’s fictional story, ‘The Prussian Officer’, equates the two characters in their wrong doing, through finally placing the dead bodies of the orderly and his master laying besides each other in the morgue. Metaphysics in D. H. Lawrence’s The White Stocking Metaphysics in D. H. Lawrence’s The White Stocking takes the form of presenting the true nature of the characters in the short story, ‘The White Stocking’, as portrayed by their innate values and attributes, while contrasting the same with the reality of the characters behaviour as demonstrated in real life. This is owing to the characters innate values and attributes being subjected to the external forces of nature, thus making the characters live a life that is different from what their innate characteristics would display. Thus, the fundamental metaphysical question relating to this fictional story would be; what is there in the true innate character and nature of both Elsie and Whiston? Secondly, what is the real life of Elsie and Whiston like? Finally, the metaphysical analysis would seek the answer to the question; how has the interaction between Elsie, Whiston and the external forces of nature corrupted their innate true characters, so that they demonstrate entirely different attributes in real life? D. H. Lawrence’s ‘The White Stocking’ is fictional story that illuminates the life of a young family comprising of Whiston and his wife Elsie, who appear to have reached a certain stage in their marriage life, where the love for Whiston by Elsie seems to be declining (Cushman, 22). However, the case is totally different for Whiston, who seems to love his wife even more. Despite the fact that they had been married for two years, “he felt as if all his light and warmth were taken away”, whenever Elsie walked out of the room” (Lawrence, n.p.). Elsie’s true nature is characterized by honesty, such that she would only tell a lie to save the situation, but she would also feel the guilty for having told a lie and end-up confessing the truth (Sagar, 14). Her innate nature is that of a loving and honest person, but the external forces of nature that comes as a result of her interaction with her husband in marriage, has turned her into a character that tells lies. She had loved her husband truthfully, and did nothing to suggest that she would change, only for the fact that at times her husband behaved in such an insecure manner that left both of them hurt. On the other hand, Whiston loved his wife dearly, but was insecure about their love (Widmer, 42). He found Elsie very beautiful, and that was the reason he became even more insecure, once he found that he was receiving valentine gifts from Sam Adams, a man with whom she had been working before. Thus, the true nature of both Whiston and Elsie is that they are two loving people, capable of living a full life that is full of happiness, if it were not for the external forces of nature that made their interaction become more and more distancing. Following the little argument they had over the white stockings that Elsie had received as a valentine gift from Sam Adams, their life was no longer the same again. Elsie started displaying behaviours that would suggest that she was distancing herself from Whiston more and more, a feeling that made him hurt very much, due to the deep love that he harboured for her. The fundamental concepts of metaphysics; being and existence, come into play in this story, where the true innate nature of the characters in the fictional story is sharply contrasted with the real life situation of their marriage. Both Whiston and Elsie are loving and they feel deep love for each other inwardly. However, their interactions have changed the manner in which they interact with each other, such that in real life, their true loving characteristics do not get displayed. Elsie would like to be truthful with her husband, but the forces of nature forces her to lie, as she would confess when she had first received her valentine gift by saying, “I told you a lie” (Lawrence, n.p.). The fact that Elsie would confess on her own volition is a clear indication that she her true innate nature was not that of a liar and that is why she would feel guilty anytime she hid anything from her husband. Nevertheless, telling him the truth about such a sensitive issue as receiving a valentine gift from her former employer is something she feared, since it would turn out to be the cause of their conflict. In this respect, the external force such as Whiston’s insecurity is a factor that contributed to changing the true nature of Elsie’s honest personality, into that of a liar. On the other hand, Whiston was a loving man, who cared very much for her wife in his true innate nature, but the in reality he came out as a brutal, insecure and unloving husband, who was capable of hitting his wife for apparently no solid reason showing that she had become unfaithful (Becket, 17). The conflict between sexual passion and violent tension that ruled their interpersonal interaction is a metaphysical characteristic that serves to indicate that the true nature of people is not always displayed in real life, considering the fact that the pressures of life change individuals into reacting differently in real life than they would, if the time and context were different to allow for the manifestation of their true nature. The fact that Whiston could not dance is yet another external force of nature that saw Elsie hold a grudge again him, due to the fact that she loved him, and wanted him to be his partner during the dance at Sam Adams Christmas party (Lawrence, n.p.). Therefore, the true loving nature of Elsie would be converted into a grudge by the external forces of nature, since she wanted him to be a dancer but she could not make him one. On the other hand, Whiston also felt repulsed to Elsie because she could dance with her employer, and she really seemed to enjoy it and for that, “he did not feel in touch with her” (Lawrence, n.p.). Thus, the external forces and pressures of life kept pulling the couple apart from each other, despite the fact that deep down they loved each other. The fact that they could find something in each other that they did not like, created a conflict of identity, which made the couple fail to understand each other at times. Whiston formed an untrue identity of Elsie in his mind, as that of an unfaithful wife who had feelings for another man, simply because he did not understand why she was interested in Sam Adams (Harrison, 81). On the other hand, Elsie formed an untrue identity of Whiston in her mind, as a man who did not love enough, simply because he could not let her be free with Sam Adams. Thus, the conflict of innate nature and the reality of life form the fundamental metaphysical element of D. H. Lawrence’s ‘The White Stocking’. Ethics in D. H. Lawrence’s ‘The White Stocking’ Ethical judgment is a complex concept, owing to the fact that determining what is good or bad; right or wrong, is a relative aspect that depends on the place, time and context, as well as the subjectivity of the perceivers of the action. Thus, D. H. Lawrence’s factional story, ‘The White Stocking’ raises several ethical issues, mostly surrounding the three characters in the short story; Whiston, Elsie and Sam Adams. There is the ethical question of whether it is right for Whiston to prevent Elsie from receiving valentine gifts, or even meeting and spending time with Sam Adams, while realizing that Elsie feels that it is her right to receive gifts and to interact with Sam (Sagar, 33). There are some people who will find nothing wrong in Elsie receiving gifts or spending time with Sam Adams, while others will find it inappropriate for a married woman to continue a close relationship with her former employer, whom she is openly attracted to, and who has openly shown his interest in her. Thus, D. H. Lawrence leaves the audience to grapple with this question, as a way of reflecting on the conflict of family life and external social interactions (Philipse, 97). Secondly, there is the question of whether it is right or wrong for Whiston to feel insecure and threatened by the impending relationship between Sam Adams and his wife. While some people are of the opinion that there is nothing wrong with Elsie’s continued relationship with Sam Adams, and thus Whiston should not feel insecure, others will be of the opinion that Elsie as a married woman, is deliberately making Whiston insecure through her continued relationship with her former employer. This too, is an ethical question that the fictional story, ‘The White Stocking’ has left open for discussion by the audience, as a way of reflecting on the marital life, and trying to define the limits of extramarital social interactions for the married individuals (Cushman, 56). Thus, the ethical dilemma that has been created by the fictional short story seeks to act as a mirror for the society to reflect on the conflict between marriage life and external social relationships, with a view to establishing the necessary boundaries. Works Cited Becket, Fiona. The Complete Critical Guide to D. H. Lawrence. London: Routledge, 2002. Print. Black, Michael H. D.H. Lawrence, the Early Fiction: A Commentary. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press, 1986. Print. Cushman, Keith. D. H. Lawrence at Work: The Emergence of the Prussian Officer Stories. Sussex: Harvester, 1978. Print. Lawrence, D. H. “The White Stocking” in The Prussian Officer and Other Stories, March 17, 2014. Web. November 5, 2014 < https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/l/lawrence/dh/prussian/chapter9.html> Lawrence, D. H. The Prussian Officer. London: Duckworth & Co, 1914. Web. November 5, 2014 < http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22480/22480-h/22480-h.htm> Harrison, Andrew. D. H. Lawrence and Italian Futurism: A Study of Influence. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2003. Print. Philipse, Herman. Heideggers Philosophy of Being: A Critical Interpretation. Princeton University Press, 2001. Print. Englander, Ann. "The Prussian Officer": The Self Divided. The Sewanee Review 71, 4:1963, pp. 605-619. Print. Sagar, Keith M. The Art of D. H. Lawrence. Cambridge University Press, 1966. Print. Thornton, Weldon. D. H. Lawrence: A Study of the Short Fiction. New York: Twayne, 1993. Print. Widmer, Kingsley. Defiant Desire: Some Dialectical Legacies of D.H. Lawrence. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1992. Print. Worthen, John. D. H. Lawrence: The Early Years, 1885-1912. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. Print. Read More