RELATIONS OF DOMINANCE AND EQUALITY IN D. H. LAWRENCE

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emotionally.
This may be because she is in conflict over the
duplicity of her being: she stands for the man, she has to be
strong; on the other hand, she is a "sleeping princess" waiting
for a man to come to her and awaken her femininity.
Thus, her
fragile emotions are in conflict with her strong physique.
On one of these evenings of early winter, the girls are in
the kitchen after tea:
March is crocheting and Banford is
staring at the fire and listening to the sounds outside.
Then a
stranger arrives surreptitiously like an animal looking for a
prey.
The mystery of his coming is described by Lawrence in
such a way that it seems easy to see March's dominance over
Banford:
Suddenly both girls started, and lifted their
heads. They heard a footstep - distinctly a
footstep. Banford recoiled in fear. March stood
listening. Then rapidly she approached the door
that led into the kitchen. At the same time
they heard the footsteps approach the back door.
They waited a second. The back door opened
softly... (p.92).
The moment the young man enters the kitchen there are
several points which deserve special attention.
For instance,
there is a kind of balance between what he says and the answers
he gets from March.
First of all, this young man has a soft
voice. This is noted when he greets the girls. Then "March
recoiled, and took a gun from a corner" (ibid).
Next, she cries
in a sharp voice and the answer from the boy is again soft and
vibrating.
March continues her harsh tones whereas he goes on
with his melodious voice.
Later on they are simply talking.
Banford is by this time hidden in fear till she understands that
the youth is not a tramp.
The second point to consider is that
this young man has no name in the beginning.
He is considered
as 'a young soldier', 'the young man', someone who is 'boyish',