Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
"Women in Love," a novel by D. H. Lawrence, delves into the complexities of love and human relationships through the intertwined lives of two sisters, Ursula and Gudrun Brangwen, and their connections with two men, Rupert Birkin and Gerald Crich. Set in early 20th-century England, the narrative unfolds around themes of passion, existential contemplation, and the struggle for personal autonomy in romantic entanglements.
As the sisters navigate their relationships, they encounter emotional turmoil and philosophical dialogues about the nature of love and societal expectations. The characters engage in profound discussions on themes such as the essence of happiness and the implications of gender dynamics.
The story captures a series of intense interactions, from the sisters' explorations of intimacy with Rupert and Gerald to moments of conflict and violence, reflecting the turbulence of their emotional landscapes. The backdrop includes settings such as their families' homes and a trip to the Alps, symbolizing both isolation and the search for deeper connections.
Ultimately, "Women in Love" presents a rich tapestry of human experience, challenging traditional notions of love and exploring the intricate balance between connection and individuality. The novel is a poignant examination of how identity and relationships evolve in the face of societal constraints and personal desires.
Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
First published: 1920
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Psychological realism
Time of plot: Early twentieth century
Locale: England and Austria
Principal Characters
Rupert Birkin , a school inspectorGerald Crich , a coal mine operatorUrsula Brangwen , a teacherGudrun Brangwen , her sister, an artistHermione Roddice , a wealthy intellectualLoerke , a sculptor
The Story
Ursula Brangwen and her sister Gudrun first notice Rupert Birkin and Gerald Crich as the sisters are watching a wedding party arrive at a church. Ursula explains that Rupert, the best man, is trying to terminate his prolonged affair with Hermione Roddice, one of the bridesmaids. Some days later, Rupert comes to inspect Ursula’s classroom with Hermione in tow. Hermione, after arguing fiercely with Rupert, invites Ursula and Gudrun to visit her home. Once alone, Ursula inexplicably weeps. Gudrun is drawn to Gerald, the bride’s older brother; when the sisters catch sight of him swimming, Ursula tells Gudrun that when he was a boy, Gerald accidentally killed his brother.
When Rupert and Gerald meet on a train to London, they discuss whether love is the “center of life”; Rupert expresses his pessimism about humanity. That evening, Gerald joins Rupert and some bohemian friends at a café and sleeps with a young model after they all retire to her former lover’s flat. In the morning, Gerald joins Rupert and his friends as they chat, naked, around the fireplace.
The Brangwen sisters become better acquainted with Rupert and Gerald when they visit Breadalby, Hermione’s home. Gerald finds Gudrun arousing when the women, in silk robes, improvise a modern ballet. After Rupert and Hermione again quarrel, Hermione tries to break his skull with a paperweight.
Some days afterward, Gerald appalls the sisters when he brutally forces his horse to stand as a train passes. Gerald and Hermione later find Gudrun sketching by the lake. Gudrun clumsily drops her sketchbook into the water. Gudrun, though blaming Gerald, establishes a silent intimacy with him. Meanwhile, Ursula finds Rupert repairing a punt, and, on an overgrown island, they discuss true happiness. Ursula finds Rupert’s misanthropic vision of a world rid of humans strangely pleasing. Afterward, having tea with Gerald and Hermione at Rupert’s new lodgings, Ursula objects when Rupert compares a horse’s will to submit to its master to a woman’s will to submit to a man. When she meets Rupert alone, however, he avows that while he does not “love” her, he seeks a relationship deeper than love, a “pure balance.” They watch as a cat playfully cuffs a female stray, and Rupert suggests that the cat wants the same equilibrium, like a star in orbit. Ursula still believes he wants a mere satellite.
When Gerald’s father gives the annual “water party” for the townspeople, the Brangwen sisters take a canoe to a clearing on the far shore. There, Gudrun dances as Ursula sings, and when some cattle appear, Gudrun brazenly dances before their horns until suddenly Gerald intrudes and, alarmed, shoos them off. Gudrun, repudiating his protection, strikes his face. As night falls, the couples row by lantern light, and Ursula reaches an understanding, a shared pessimism, with Rupert. They hear screams; Gerald’s sister fell into the water, and her fiancé dived in after her. In vain Gerald tries desperately to find the pair in the darkness. Rupert assures him that death is better for them. Toward dawn, they find the bodies, the girl’s arms clasped round her lover’s neck.
Rupert later drops in on Ursula at home. The profound sympathy between the young pair becomes evident as compared with her parents’ conventionality. After Rupert leaves, however, Ursula feels a strange hatred for him, even as she feels his possession of her. Still unable to reconcile himself to any marriage, Rupert begins to envision some new, freer relationship with women. When Gerald visits, the tenderness between them induces Rupert to invite him to swear blood-brotherhood, but Gerald demurs.
Gudrun is invited to tutor Gerald’s young sister in drawing, and when they agree to sketch the girl’s pet rabbit, it scratches Gudrun as she takes it from its cage. When it also scratches Gerald, he subdues it with a blow, and they share an appreciation of the fierce energy in the rabbit’s “madness.”
Near the lake by moonlight, Ursula discovers Rupert talking to himself. Rupert again tries to explain what he wants: not Ursula’s love exactly, but her spirit. They kiss, despite her misgivings. The next evening, Rupert comes to her home to propose but, instead, quarrels with her father and angrily leaves. He finds Gerald, and the two men agree to wrestle naked. They fight to complete exhaustion, then they clasp hands as Gerald confesses his love for his friend.
Later, while waiting for Rupert in his lodgings, Hermione advises Ursula not to marry him. Ursula decides that all of Hermione’s ideas are merely abstractions, but after Rupert arrives, Ursula is mortified by the easy familiarity between Rupert and Hermione. She leaves abruptly as they plan Hermione’s departure for Italy. Soon afterward, Rupert drives Ursula into the countryside to give her three gemstone rings, but when she learns that he intends to join Hermione for dinner, she angrily throws them away and walks off. She immediately relents, and after reconciling, they spend the night in the car in Sherwood Forest.
As Gerald holds vigil over his father’s demise, Gudrun brings needed comfort, and as he walks her home, they kiss passionately under a bridge. At last his father dies, and Gerald hurries to the Brangwen home and steals into Gudrun’s bedroom where he silently makes love to her.
When Gerald suggests a double wedding, Rupert argues against conventional marriage, insisting that love between man and man is marriage’s necessary complement. Again, Gerald resists. When Ursula tells her family that she plans to marry Rupert the next day, her outraged father strikes her, and Ursula moves in with Rupert that evening. Gerald suggests the four of them go away together.
The couples travel separately to the Continent, met in Innsbruck, and proceed to a hostel high in the Alps. In this brilliant, snow-bound, silent world, Gudrun and Gerald immediately began to drift apart.
Among the guests is a German sculptor, Loerke, who, with his aesthetic theory and scorn for opinion and “life,” exercises a perverse fascination over Gudrun. Ursula becomes repelled, and she leaves with Rupert for Italy.
Alone in this otherworldly realm, the hostility between Gudrun and Gerald intensifies. To Gerald’s disgust, Gudrun falls further under Loerke’s spell. She decides to leave Gerald, but while she is tobogganing with Loerke, Gerald appears and begins to strangle her. He then wanders off into the snow until he falls, exhausted. After Rupert returns with Ursula, he gazes grief-stricken at Gerald’s icy corpse. He tells Ursula that things would be different if Gerald accepted his love.
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