The theme of female individualism in Gift from the Sea finds some precedent in the fiction of D. H. Lawrence. Ursula's sense of awakening in The Rainbow (1915) acknowledges Lawrence's recognition of women's growing desire for independence and need for personal awareness. In Women in Love (1920), he alludes to ideal relationships that stress the importance of individuality and the autonomy of both sexes as is true of the "pure" relationship Lindbergh describes. While Lawrence's style tends to be somewhat cynical and critical, Lindbergh's social consciousness is more temperate.

Lindbergh's themes and her literary style also owe much to the work of Virginia Woolf whose exploration of literary techniques and attention to women's issues continues to influence generations of women writers. Gift from the Sea may itself be counted as a precursor of the "quest for identity" genre of feminist fiction further developed by writers such as Erica...