RELATIONS OF DOMINANCE AND EQUALITY IN D. H. LAWRENCE

RELATIONS OF DOMINANCE AND EQUALITY IN D. H. LAWRENCE RELATIONS OF DOMINANCE AND EQUALITY IN D. H. LAWRENCE

repositorio.ufsc.br
from repositorio.ufsc.br More from this publisher
29.12.2013 Views

147 becomes the first love of Ursula, Anna's daughter. At seventeen Anna starts rebelling against her parents. A way to escape from them is to go to the church. Not that she is a religious girl. The church and its language mean nothing for her. The church is only her escape from Tom and Lydia. The culminating point of her distaste for religion happens when she laughs hysterically in the church. This event is posterior to her meeting with Will Brangwen, her future husband and nephew to her step-father. The Sunday she meets Will they go together to the church. Anna is somehow unaware of her step-cousin1s presence till he rises to sing a hymn. She is unable to control herself and then she starts giggling till she breaks up with wild laughter. Although she tries to regain control over herself she cannot. Her outburst of laughter is stronger than her will. In fact, one plausible explanation of her hysteria may be the idea that Anna is rejecting what Will represents to her. He may mean to her a symbol of obedience, of the false religiosity she does not like. Her outburst of mocking laughter may be seen as Anna's first real denial of Will's beliefs. Or it may be her sensual awakening. Eros is a form of rebellion or defiance of traditional forms for her. Will becomes an assiduous visitor to the Marsh farm. Through him Lawrence presents to us his (the author's) most terrible conflict: the circle of love and hate. Lawrence says that Sometimes [Will] talked of his father, whom he hated with a hatred that was burningly close to love, of his mother, whom he loved, with a love that was keenly close to hatred, or to revolt (p.114). This passage implies Will's inability to really discern who he

148 actualy loves or hates. The mixture of feelings for his parents anticipates the kind of relation he is going to have with Anna. The idea of extreme feelings in polarized flux is somehow disconcerting, but in fact they mean that the author could not well define which of them is more meaningful to him. Love and hate are too close to make a clear distinction. These confused feelings also occur in Sons and Lovers and The Trespasser; Paul Morel, for instance, is always going from love to hate in his relation with Miriam and Clara. Cecyl Burne also loves Helena but his love reverses to hate when he unconsciously associates the woman's affair with Siegmund with something destructive. Thus, the idea of polarized flux is very frequent in Lawrence's characters. Will starts courting Anna. In order to do this he tries to please both his uncle and aunt: Will "worked in the garden to propitiate . his uncle. He talked churches to propitiate his aunt" (p.115). This may imply two things:a lack of self-will and self-confidence or it implies Will's cleverness: he is like a shrewd fox who gets what he wants by stratagem. His way of courting Anna leads one to sense his implicit dependence on the woman: "He followed Anna like a shadow: like a long, persistent, unswerving black shadow he went after the girl" (ibid). This fact shows Will's early dependence on the strong, modern woman Anna represents. Besides this, there is also a feeling that Will is like a predatory creature. Anna soon shows her control over the young man. She realizes she is passionately in love with Will and she finds a way of telling him of her love. Once Will is talking to her parents and Anna, unable to be distant from him, provides an excuse to go to the barn with him. Even though her father tells

147<br />

becomes the first love of Ursula, Anna's daughter.<br />

At seventeen Anna starts rebelling against her parents.<br />

A way to escape from them is to go to the church.<br />

Not that she<br />

is a religious girl.<br />

The church and its language mean nothing<br />

for her.<br />

The church is only her escape from Tom and Lydia. The<br />

culminating point of her distaste for religion happens when she<br />

laughs hysterically in the church.<br />

This event is posterior to<br />

her meeting with Will Brangwen, her future husband and nephew to<br />

her step-father.<br />

The Sunday she meets Will they go together to the church.<br />

Anna is somehow unaware of her step-cousin1s presence till he<br />

rises to sing a hymn.<br />

She is unable to control herself and then<br />

she starts giggling till she breaks up with wild laughter.<br />

Although she tries to regain control over herself she cannot.<br />

Her outburst of laughter is stronger than her will.<br />

In fact,<br />

one plausible explanation of her hysteria may be the idea that<br />

Anna is rejecting what Will represents to her.<br />

He may mean to<br />

her a symbol of obedience, of the false religiosity she does not<br />

like.<br />

Her outburst of mocking laughter may be seen as Anna's<br />

first real denial of Will's beliefs.<br />

Or it may be her sensual<br />

awakening.<br />

Eros is a form of rebellion or defiance of<br />

traditional forms for her.<br />

Will becomes an assiduous visitor to the Marsh farm.<br />

Through him Lawrence presents to us his (the author's) most<br />

terrible conflict: the circle of love and hate.<br />

Lawrence says<br />

that<br />

Sometimes [Will] talked of his father, whom he hated<br />

with a hatred that was burningly close to love, of<br />

his mother, whom he loved, with a love that was<br />

keenly close to hatred, or to revolt (p.114).<br />

This passage implies Will's inability to really discern who he

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!