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
may be well seen when the couple receives Tom in their cottage some days after the wedding. Will feels that One ought to get up in the morning and wash oneself .and be a decent social being... [Anna] never washed her face but sat there talking to her father as bright and shameless as a daisy opened out of the dew (p.149). Anna does,not (yet) distinguish between day and night. At this moment of her life, everything is the same, no matter whether it is light or dark. Will cannot do anything because from this point he is already in her hands and "He let her do as she liked with him, and shone with strange pleasure. She was to dispose of him as she would" (ibid). So it goes. Anna becomes tired of her seclusion and decides to give a tea-party. It is her return to the 'dead world'. Here starts the love-hate cycle of the couple. Will cannot understand why Anna wants the 'dead world'. He thinks that both he and she are 'perfect' together. He starts to feel Anna going away from him: He wanted her back. Dread and desire for her to stay with him,- and shame at his own dependence on her drove him to anger... All the love, the magnificent new order was going to be lost, she would forfeit it all for the outside things. She would admit the outside world again, she would throw away the living fruit for the ostensible rind. He began to hate this in her. Driven by fear of her departure into a state of helplessness, almost of imbecility, he wandered about the house (p.151). The problem of Will's conflict is that he keeps it within himself. He says nothing to Anna. She, on the other hand, can only see his uneasiness as a sign of dissatisfaction, and then she begins to demand that he do something to busy himself and not hang around as if he were lost. Will hates her because of this. The two, instead of coming to an agreement, start to be separate, as
in the night they were gathering sheaves. Will revolts against Anna. Now he frightens her and she wants him back. But he is angry and unaware of her. Love and hate exchange places in both of them: "How she hated to hear him] How he hated her! How this hatred was like blows upon her! The tears were coming again" (p.154). new Will. Anna finds out that she is defenceless against the His anger does not last any longer: soon he is back to her but now it is her turn to reject him. from him as if immunized against his blows. She is distant After a whole set of disagreements between them, they meet again: When they came to themselves, the night was very dark. Two hours had gone by. They lay still and warm and weak, like the new-born together. And there was a silence almost of the unborn. Only his heart was weeping happily, after the pain. He did not understand, he had yielded, given way. was no understanding. There could be only There acquiescence and submission, and tremulous wonder of consummation (p.156). Even in their new meeting it seems quite clear that there is no possibility for them to be equals: "There was no understanding. There could be only acquiescence and submission". They simply meet in the flesh. In the darkness they are not thinking, nor disagreeing, nor hating. They are only feeling themselves. One must submit to the other. And since the passage is described from Will's point of view, and not from Anna's, Will is the one supposed to be submissive to the woman. Their marriage, as the months go by, confirms the intense polarized flux of the couple's love and hate feelings: One day it seemed as if everything was shattered, all life spoiled, ruined, desolated and laid waste. The next day it was all marvellous again, just marvellous. One day she thought she would go mad from his very presence, the sound of his drinking was detestable to her. The next day she loved and rejoiced in the way he crossed the floor, he was sun, moon and stars in one (p.167).
- Page 113 and 114: 103 any of the relationships, nor c
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- Page 117 and 118: 107 like him: She glanced up at Sie
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- Page 121 and 122: Ill the moon:"Rocked thus on his st
- Page 123 and 124: 113 connotation in his mind) . In f
- Page 125 and 126: 115 is to warn Siegmund of the dang
- Page 127 and 128: 117 ... For centuries a certain typ
- Page 129 and 130: 119 she alone will not bear the gui
- Page 131 and 132: 121 The idea which is implicit here
- Page 133 and 134: 123 not see it. He bowed in obedien
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- Page 137 and 138: 128 as always, is not aware of Sieg
- Page 139 and 140: 130 on her hat, her eyes, gazing he
- Page 141 and 142: 132 to perforin the action. The nar
- Page 143 and 144: 134 extreme splits of soul/body. 'B
- Page 145 and 146: 136 prepares the path to the other.
- Page 147 and 148: 138 connection with the land. This
- Page 149 and 150: 140 Tom proposes marriage to Lydia:
- Page 151 and 152: 142 They looked at each other, a de
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- Page 155 and 156: and thinks of them "as if they were
- Page 157 and 158: 148 actualy loves or hates. The mix
- Page 159 and 160: 15 0 Will is an artist and his conc
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- Page 167 and 168: is like a dwarf without power. exul
- Page 169 and 170: everything: life and death. He is c
- Page 171 and 172: take hers: but in her own way" (ibi
- Page 173 and 174: 164 family the inarticulate sorrow
- Page 175 and 176: much violence. Thus, her love for h
- Page 177 and 178: 168 time she walked in a confused h
- Page 179 and 180: 170 'separateness' is seen in Women
- Page 181 and 182: 172 destroying in people the creati
- Page 183 and 184: 174 Paul at this time, encounters t
- Page 185 and 186: 176 be a complete human being in th
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- Page 189 and 190: 180 When she leaves the school her
- Page 191 and 192: 182 dead. The only part of him whic
- Page 193 and 194: 184 Ursula first refused him cried
- Page 195 and 196: 186 the self Which has made Ursula
- Page 197 and 198: 188 compete with her. In fact Skreb
- Page 199 and 200: CHAPTER IV 1 WOMEN IN LOVE: THE PRO
- Page 201 and 202: 192 world is a world of dust which
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- Page 205 and 206: up to this. One of them refers to H
- Page 207 and 208: 198 because he is no 'clone', no sl
- Page 209 and 210: 200 London bohemianism which Birkin
- Page 211 and 212: 202 dominant figure in the affair.
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in the night they were gathering sheaves.<br />
Will revolts against<br />
Anna. Now he frightens her and she wants him back. But he is<br />
angry and unaware of her.<br />
Love and hate exchange places in both<br />
of them: "How she hated to hear him] How he hated her! How this<br />
hatred was like blows upon her! The tears were coming again"<br />
(p.154).<br />
new Will.<br />
Anna finds out that she is defenceless against the<br />
His anger does not last any longer: soon he is back<br />
to her but now it is her turn to reject him.<br />
from him as if immunized against his blows.<br />
She is distant<br />
After a whole set<br />
of disagreements between them, they meet again:<br />
When they came to themselves, the night was very<br />
dark. Two hours had gone by. They lay still and<br />
warm and weak, like the new-born together. And<br />
there was a silence almost of the unborn. Only his<br />
heart was weeping happily, after the pain. He did<br />
not understand, he had yielded, given way.<br />
was no understanding. There could be only<br />
There<br />
acquiescence and submission, and tremulous wonder<br />
of consummation (p.156).<br />
Even in their new meeting it seems quite clear that there is no<br />
possibility for them to be equals: "There was no understanding.<br />
There could be only acquiescence and submission".<br />
They simply<br />
meet in the flesh.<br />
In the darkness they are not thinking, nor<br />
disagreeing, nor hating. They are only feeling themselves. One<br />
must submit to the other.<br />
And since the passage is described<br />
from Will's point of view, and not from Anna's, Will is the one<br />
supposed to be submissive to the woman.<br />
Their marriage, as the months go by, confirms the intense<br />
polarized flux of the couple's love and hate feelings:<br />
One day it seemed as if everything was shattered,<br />
all life spoiled, ruined, desolated and laid waste.<br />
The next day it was all marvellous again, just<br />
marvellous. One day she thought she would go<br />
mad from his very presence, the sound of his<br />
drinking was detestable to her. The next day<br />
she loved and rejoiced in the way he crossed the<br />
floor, he was sun, moon and stars in one (p.167).
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