RELATIONS OF DOMINANCE AND EQUALITY IN D. H. LAWRENCE

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'More than it has to do with you, probably,'
she replied, plaintive and venomous (p.117).
In this atmosphere of competition March feels as if happy
because she is the motive for the battle between Henry and
Banford to occur;
March seemed to flourish in this atmosphere.
She seemed to sit between two antagonists with
a little wicked smile on her face, enjoying
herself. There was even a sort of complacency
in the way she crocheted this evening (p.118).
It seems a good therapy for March's divided self to be between
the antagonists. This explains her new mood. She is feeling
somehow proud of herself.
"[The girls] seemed to be losing ground, somehow losing
hope as the month went by... they seemed to have to live too
much off themselves.
There was nothing to keep them up - and no
hope" (p.88).
This quotation is a way to remind us that since
the beginning of the story the girls' relationship was not going
to last long.
When Henry arrives at the farm and 'hunts' March,
he becomes the agent which dissolves the link that binds the
girls.
March, in her divided self, opens herself up and allows
him to discover the flower of femininity hidden in her manly
appearance.
He makes her become a weak, defenceless woman. This
means that she was not actually happy in her relationship with
Banford.
Banford, however, seems to be satisfied with her
homosexuality.
She does not need any man to fulfil herself.
March fulfils her completely.
As Henry's presence menaces the
relationship, Banford stops being the delicate girl to be like
she really is - the strongest, the dominant.
Her delicacy is a
mask to hide her strength.
Henry has made her take this mask
off and thus she starts behaving the way she really is.
A way
to fight Henry off is to make March aware of the kind of