Deconstructingthe Bible inThe Rainbowby D. H. Lawrence

Abstract

This thesis analyzes how D. H Lawrence treats Christianity in his novelThe Rainbow.His language in this novel is imbued with scriptural language of the Bible and myths. This novelbelongs to twentieth century and reflects the spirit of that time when religious faith wasdeclining. Lawrence's letters to his friends also reveals his religious vision and his trust ofreligion especially Christianity. This research makes a modest attempt to discover how Lawrenceis influenced by Nietzschean philosophy 'God is Dead', especially through Ursula, as an agentand freedom seeker from religious life. From the discussion on Lawrence's own philosophy of'Blood Consciousness and the Nature’, this research concludes that Lawrence is notunderestimating Christianity or rejecting it's doctrine, rather he is modernizing the Bible andcreating his own philosophy for this religion. This analysis was performed through thesignificance of the terms like Church, Sunday school, Christ and Religious World. Bychallenging the deeply rooted religious thought, Lawrence rejects the church and tries toestablish its place with the church of genuine human relationship. In response to this narrowinterpretation of the novel, the present research tries to examine the literal application of thescripture by questioning the duality of Sunday world and weekday world.Key words: Christianity, bible, marriage, church, resurrection, weekday world and Sunday world