RELATIONS OF DOMINANCE AND EQUALITY IN D. H. LAWRENCE

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any of the relationships, nor cared a jot about
an adaptation or a modification. It pleased her
that the lowest browny florets of the clover
hung down; she cared no more. She clothed
everything in fancy... The value of all things
was in the fancy they evoked. She did not care
for people; they were vulgar, ugly and stupid,
as a rule (p.43).
Besides this disconnection from the world outside which we will
later find in Miriam of Sons and Lovers, there are more hints of her
autistic self-sufficiency.
In the sea she tries to get rid of
the "dirt" which she feels passion to be.
It is dirt because it
qoes beyond her dreams.
And also her admiration of the sea's
self-sufficiency mirrors her own feelings about human
relationships.
Helena does not need males to fulfil herself.
They are mere objects which inhibit her proud self-sufficiency.
She, too, seems a little narcissistic.
The difference between
her bath and Siegmund's is that his was a passionate sensual
bathing. Hers is a frigid, disinfectant one. Her only concern
is with herself. The rest does not matters
The sea playing by itself, intent on its own
game. Its aloofness, its self-sufficiency, are
its great charm. The sea does not give and take,
like the land and the sky. It has no traffic
with the world. It spends passion upon itself.
Helena was something like the sea, self-sufficient
and careless of the rest (ibid).
I have said that Helena is the ancestress to Mrs Morel:
similarly, Siegmund may be seen as the ancestor to Paul Morel.
Several analogies are evident. One of them is Siegmund's entire
dependence upon Helena, as Paul is dependent on his mother.
Siegmund is totally subject to Helena's will.
Without her he is
nothing.Helena decides everything and even if the man does not
agree with her, he expresses his position.
He prefers to take
the truth of what she says.
He is weak, he has no proper opinion.
The difference between Paul and Siegmund is that the former,