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
277 quick and perceptive animal. If it is not approached carefully, intelligently, it will escape from the hunter. It is a battle of power. Power on the side of the hunter who must use the most accurate tricks to catch the animal. And power on the side of the deer which will fight for freedom: It is a subtle, profound battle of wills which takes place in the invisible. And it is a battle never finished till your bullet goes home. When you are really worked up to the true pitch, and you come at last into range, you don't then aim as you do when you are firing at a bottle. It is your own will which carries the bullet into the heart of your quarry. The bullet's flight home is a sheer projection of your own fate into the deer. It happens like a supreme act of volition, not as a dodge of cleverness (pp.104-5). As it is said, it is more a battle between mind and mind. It is not a question of firing a bullet into the flesh of the animal merely. No. Henry must get hold of March's soul, otherwise she will run away from his 'tomfoolery'. Henry thus becomes a hunter. The important thing to notice is not the fact that Henry is a hunter but the fact that March is suspicious: He was a huntsman in spirit, not a farmer, and not a soldier stuck in a regiment. And it was as a young hunter that he wanted to bring down March as his quarry, to make her his wife. So he gathered himself subtly together, seemed to . withdraw into a kind of invisibility. He was not quite sure how he would go on. And March was suspicious as a hare~! So he remained in appearance just the nice, odd stranger-youth, staying for a fortnight on the place (p.105 - My underlining). The fact that March is suspicious may be a guide that leads to her dream of the fox singing. In the dream she could not approach the fox because he ran away and, as she identifies Henry with the animal, she becomes too sensitive and feels that he wants to take something out of her, and also that she is not quite sure if she wants to give him this something. This is
278 because she is not conscious of her coming change. When Henry approaches March to start the hunting, there is another hint that he does not match entirely with the description of the ideal hunter. He acts exactly in the way described as being the wrong way to approach 'the animal': 'Well,1 he said, and his voice was so soft it seemed a subtle touch, like the merest touch of a cat's paw,.a feeling rather than a sound. 'Well - I wanted to ask you to marry me.' March felt rather than heard him ... It seemed to her that fine sparks came out of him. Then very suddenly she said: 'Don't try any of your tomfoolery on me ' (pp. 105-6 - My underlining) . Henry loses the first round of the hunt. March up to now is still mistress of herself. An interesting point here is the choice of the image for his voice: a cat's paw. A cat's paw is at the same time caressive and also aggressive because of the hidden sharp claws. Anyway, the hunter misses his first leap proving once more that he is not so clever as the hunter of the description. However, he is persistent for he does not give up. Perhaps the second round is exactly what Lawrence meant when he said that this hunt should be like a battle of wills. Thus Henry's persistence makes him get some success out of his second attempt: 'Yes, I do know what I'm talking about. Yes, I do,' he persisted softly, as if he were producing his voice in her blood... A swoon went over her as he concluded. He spoke rapidly in the rapid Cornish fashion - and his voice seemed to sound in her somewhere where she was helpless against it. 'Age is nothing'. The soft, heavy insistence of it made her sway dimly out there in the darkness. She could not answer (p.106 - My underlining). Despite the fact that March tells him 'I'm old enough to be your mother' which implies the Oedipal dimension of the relation, Henry does not seem to care about this. In fact he has become
- Page 235 and 236: 226 because he thinks that people,
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- Page 239 and 240: everyone develops the "river of dis
- Page 241 and 242: Ursula: '... I think that a new wor
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- Page 247 and 248: egathers itself in the water as if
- Page 249 and 250: 240 (p.252 - My underlining). His a
- Page 251 and 252: 242 the two because somehow he acce
- Page 253 and 254: 244 as alternatives to the relation
- Page 255 and 256: 246 energy. Hermione. That is how U
- Page 257 and 258: 248 'finger-tips'. The couple decid
- Page 259 and 260: 250 as you are always saying? You t
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- Page 265 and 266: 256 which no one can escape from. H
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- Page 271 and 272: 262 can only feel the 'unison in se
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- Page 285: The underlined sentences are the ke
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- Page 301 and 302: 292 and chiffon dresses. The Banfor
- Page 303 and 304: 294 From this point on, March has f
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- Page 307 and 308: 298 and once more the answer goes b
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- Page 321 and 322: 312 Ramon cannot be compared to Wal
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277<br />
quick and perceptive animal.<br />
If it is not approached carefully,<br />
intelligently, it will escape from the hunter.<br />
It is a battle<br />
of power.<br />
Power on the side of the hunter who must use the most<br />
accurate tricks to catch the animal.<br />
And power on the side of<br />
the deer which will fight for freedom:<br />
It is a subtle, profound battle of wills which<br />
takes place in the invisible. And it is a battle<br />
never finished till your bullet goes home. When<br />
you are really worked up to the true pitch, and<br />
you come at last into range, you don't then aim<br />
as you do when you are firing at a bottle. It is<br />
your own will which carries the bullet into the<br />
heart of your quarry. The bullet's flight home<br />
is a sheer projection of your own fate into the<br />
deer. It happens like a supreme act of volition,<br />
not as a dodge of cleverness (pp.104-5).<br />
As it is said, it is more a battle between mind and mind.<br />
It is<br />
not a question of firing a bullet into the flesh of the animal<br />
merely. No. Henry must get hold of March's soul, otherwise she<br />
will run away from his 'tomfoolery'.<br />
Henry thus becomes a hunter.<br />
The important thing to notice<br />
is not the fact that Henry is a hunter but the fact that March<br />
is suspicious:<br />
He was a huntsman in spirit, not a farmer, and<br />
not a soldier stuck in a regiment. And it was as<br />
a young hunter that he wanted to bring down March<br />
as his quarry, to make her his wife. So he<br />
gathered himself subtly together, seemed to .<br />
withdraw into a kind of invisibility. He was not<br />
quite sure how he would go on. And March was<br />
suspicious as a hare~! So he remained in appearance<br />
just the nice, odd stranger-youth, staying for a<br />
fortnight on the place (p.105 - My underlining).<br />
The fact that March is suspicious may be a guide that leads to<br />
her dream of the fox singing.<br />
In the dream she could not<br />
approach the fox because he ran away and, as she identifies<br />
Henry with the animal, she becomes too sensitive and feels that<br />
he wants to take something out of her, and also that she is not<br />
quite sure if she wants to give him this something.<br />
This is
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