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RELATIONS OF DOMINANCE AND EQUALITY IN D. H. LAWRENCE

RELATIONS OF DOMINANCE AND EQUALITY IN D. H. LAWRENCE

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312<br />

Ramon cannot be compared to Walter Morel in what refers to the<br />

children.<br />

Walter loves his children and is put apart from them<br />

because of the mother.<br />

Ramon, on the other hand, does not seem<br />

to love his children very much.<br />

feels some contempt for them.<br />

I would rather say that he<br />

This may occur because Ramon<br />

feels as if they belonged exclusively to Carlota and not to them<br />

both.<br />

And Ramon in a way despises his two sons who have<br />

preferred to follow their mother's ideas.<br />

One may even say that<br />

although Lawrence in his later works has tried to redeem his<br />

father, he could not because these children of The Plumed<br />

Serpent, like the ones of Sons and Lovers, still hate the father<br />

(although Ramon cannot in the least be said to represent the<br />

father.<br />

He would rather represent Paul Morel because of his<br />

conflict with soulful women) and the children even say that when<br />

they grow up they will kill Ramon.<br />

Ramon fears women like Carlota (and Kate) because they<br />

compete with men with their ideas.<br />

They represent a danger for<br />

men like Ramon who needs by his side a submissive woman (like<br />

Teresa whom he marries by the end of the novel) so that he can<br />

be the master of the home.<br />

Ram5n classifies women as if they<br />

belonged to two classes, as he tells Kate:<br />

'Those that.want to be ravished are parasites<br />

on the soul, and one has revulsions. Those that<br />

want to ravish a man are vampires. And between<br />

the two, there is nothing.'<br />

'Surely there are some really good women?'<br />

'Well, show me them. They are all potential<br />

Carlotas or-or-yes, Caterinas...' (pp.300-1).<br />

What Ramon implies with his sophisticated talking is that he<br />

does not believe in a relation of harmony between man and woman.<br />

Carlota, as he implies, is a 'ravisher', a 'vampire', as well as<br />

Kate.<br />

He must get rid of Carlota and he will never be able to<br />

love Kate because she is also a 'ravisher'.<br />

He also implies

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