THE ROLE OF SOCIAL NORMS IN SHAPING HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF D. H. LAWRENCE AND VIRGINIA WOOLF

Abstract

Social norms constitute an essential framework within which the human relationships are formed, negotiated, and transformed. These norms are unspoken rules that guide what is considered to be appropriate behaviour within a society and determine emotional attachment, gender roles, hierarchies and personal identity. The present research paper is a comparison of the social norms in the novels by D. H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf. The attitudes towards social structures of both authors, who are the major representatives of Modernist literature, are rather critical and their approaches are quite different. Lawrence is expecting the presence of instinct, sexuality and rebellion against the stifling norms, and Woolf is focusing on the inner world of the psyche, gender limitation, and the shades of social demand. The way in which social norms shape, control and in a few cases even liberate human relationship is discussed in the paper by examining some of the most renowned works such as Sons and Lovers, Lady Chatterley Lover, Mrs Dalloway, and A Room of One own. According to it, both authors dismantle the norms of the society, yet propose some other concepts of human relations as Lawrence concentrates on the emotional and physical authenticity and Woolf on the intellectual and psychological freedom.