RELATIONS OF DOMINANCE AND EQUALITY IN D. H. LAWRENCE

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these transformations.
On the contrary, she wants her own
independence.
And at the same time "she was so tired, so tired
like a child that wants to go to sleep..." (ibid).
But she
seems to be in a state of alertness as if she were a soldier on
his sentry duty who is not allowed to sleep, no matter how
sleepy he is — March "fights against sleep as if sleep were
death" (ibid). -This .state of alertness makes her feel thus:
She would keep awake. She would know. She would
consider and judge and decide. She would have the
reins of her own life between her own hands. She
•would be an independent woman to the last (ibid).
This terrible struggle seems to last for a long time, for
even on the last page, in the last sentence, there is no
definition of who is the owner of the truth.
Henry will fight
till death to dominate March, to make her sleep to get the reins
of her life:
She would not be a man any more, an independent
woman with a man's responsibility. Nay, even the
responsibility for her own soul she would have to
commit to him. He knew it was so, and obstinately
held out against her, waiting for the surrender
(p.158 - My underlining).
But March, on the other hand, will never give in. Although she
is sleepy and wants sleep as death, she will go on fighting till
she fully wakes up to decide her life: "But she was so tired, so
tired of everything. And sleep seemed near. And there was such
rest in the boy... Yet she would not sleep: no, never" (p.157 -
My underlining).
Also, when Henry presents her with the
alternative of crossing the sea to a new life, she
looked away to the sea's horizon, as if it were
not real. Then she looked round at him, with the
strange look of a child that is struggling against
sleep.
'Shall I?' she said (p.158 - My underlining).
Lawrence now passes the floor to the characters because he feels