RELATIONS OF DOMINANCE AND EQUALITY IN D. H. LAWRENCE

is like a dwarf without power.
exultation beyond him" (ibid).
Therefore, "she had to dance in
To be more provocative she takes
her clothes off and aware of her superiority (because of her
pregnancy) she dances Will's nullification.
It is as if he were
not the father but rather the stars were the father, or Anna
were both mother and father.
Will sees with amazement the apex
of Anna's dance and he feels that "The strangeness, the power
of her in her dancing consumed him, he was burned, he could not
grasp, he could not understand" (p.184).
As he can do nothing
to stop the destructive power of his wife, Will is forced to
leave the room.
From now on Anna will be the master in the
relation. Husband and wife are separated. They now sleep in
different rooms.
Will is only to be with Anna when she orders
him to. Apart from this he has no function at home. He becomes
an object of decoration which Anna manipulates at her wish.
Her victory over the man is complemented when Anna gives
birth.
The living child makes Anna's victory more real and
concrete.
As the pains of the birth start Anna feels she is
getting closer and closer to victory.
The only disappointment
in Anna's success is that she wanted a boy and the baby is a girl.
However, the mother soon forgets the sex of the child when it
starts sucking her milk. She has become 'Anna Victrix'. As for
Will, his wife "was indeed Anna Victrix.
He could not combat her
any more" (p.193).
The enchantment of the baby soon passes and Anna feels
unfulfilled. She wants more than a simple child. One may think
that motherhood is not sufficient for Anna and that her wish is
to go beyond this. However, it is not true. What Anna really
wants is to bear more and more children.
The 'beyond' she will
leave to her children to find.
She is satisfied where she is: