Md Daniyal Ansari

Modern Fiction

Prof. Nishat Haider

MA English Semester III

Q. Comment on Lawrence’s treatment of love, sexuality and marriage in “The Rainbow”

Inspired by his reading of Thomas Hardy and experiencing married life with Frieda, D. H. Lawrence
delved into the realms of human psychology through the process he called ‘the exhaustive method’,
using it in various stages of his composition of the novels ‘The Sisters’ and then ‘The Wedding Ring’.
Lawrence started writing his novel “The Rainbow” on Frieda’s suggestion, and gave the character of
Ursula a social history, making the storyline last for three generations that enabled him to explore
human psyche during the reign of Queen Victoria. In a letter to Garnett, Lawrence revealed his wish
to write about the relationship between a man and a woman.

Lawrence’s emergence in his faith in marital life, which was reflected in the first generation of
Brangwens revealed his strong belief that marriage is the prime path to get in contact with the
unknown. In “The Rainbow”, a woman and a man try to delve into the unknown in order to reach a
point where the conflict between the binaries could be resolved and Law and Love could unite. In the
text, the women are shown capable to apprehend the unknown and form a connection with it. This is
because apparently, women can reach closer to the unknown and to eternity than men in the text
can. Lawrence talks about women fertilizing men’s souls.

In “The Rainbow”, Lydia, Anna and Ursula experience their share of love in different ways contributed
by the difference in living conditions and the levelling up of tension from one generation to the next.
The feminine principle that dominates the novel “The Rainbow”, gives the sexual relation its
singularity. The novel shows clearly the difference between men and women, and up to an extent that
they would seem to be different species psychologically. The men on Marsh Farm are shown to be
content with their lives, and unbothered by the restlessness of ambition. The women on the other
hand are shown to be more ambitious, who looked towards a different world of cities and
governments and wanted different lives for themselves than the heat-blind intercourse of country life.
They wanted to live a life of more mystery and surprise, of luxury and desire and of extravagance. Mrs.
Brangwen, for instance, was intrigued by the life of the well-off Vicar, and realising that education was
a key to take the next step in life, wanted to educate her children. The difference between the two
sexes would make their unity complex but Lawrence believed that in a marriage, a husband and wife
should not just become one but also retain their individual characteristics.

The re-establishment of the relationship between woman and man is shown through the agency of
the character of Lydia. Her and Tom are the only couple in the novel who are able to keep their
marriage and the sexuality required in a relationship inseparable. Her experience as widow and a
mother to a four-year-old daughter gives her a certain level of maturity which turns out to be
instrumental in her successful union with Tom, an achievement made possible through her wisdom
and command over her own being, that is shown as a necessary condition for conjugal harmony. Her
hardship as a foreigner enables her to treat the marriage with Tom with an acute degree of
seriousness. The adjustment they make and the efforts they put in make their marriage more
successful than any other couple in the novel. Their relationship works on the foundation of treating
each other with equality. Lydia confesses to her granddaughter Ursula that her first marriage with Paul
Lensky failed as she was not free to be her own self, she was more like a prop in the marriage and her
status as a human being was always lower to that of her husband. This failure taught her the lesson of
equality, which she tried to apply in her marriage with Tom. Even though Tom wanted to never
surrender to her and even though that intimidated Tom and made him feel that Lydia was not a part
of his existence but an ‘other’, his pride and mental anguish, dissatisfaction and self-consciousness
gave him a stature equal to that of Lydia’s self-control and mysterious serenity. Lawrence equates the
coming together of the two sexes as a union of water and fire that could be gradual or violent. Tom,
unlike Paul protected her individuality and gave her space for which she was grate to him.

William and Anna Brangwen represent the subsequent generation of the Brangwen family line.
Lawrence has contrasted William and Anna as completely opposite binaries, equating them to the
symbol of light and dark. Anna is a fair, sharp and bright woman while William on the other hand is
dark, vital and carries a certain amount of intensity within himself. William and Anna to put efforts
into making their relationship a successful one by readjusting themselves according to the walks of a
harmonious married life. Their union seems more violent in nature, where one tries to dominate or
ridicule the other. This happens mostly because of their contrasting interests in life. For instance,
William is fascinated by the Christian legends, mythology and architecture, believes in the spirituality
of life and loves to carve wood. Anna does not believe in those things but instead of being respectful
and giving him space for his individuality to manifest freely, she constantly tries to bring him down by
ridiculing his choices and interests. Her sarcastic tone and mockery of his faith wounds him badly. She
destroys them by comparing them to mundane everyday reality. William Brangwen, on the other hand
tries to dominate her and cage her free-spirited nature which further brings misunderstanding and
fights which often take an ugly turn. This constant fight for dominance over the need for
understanding and respecting each other is the contrast to the equality the reader sees in Tom and
Lydia’s relationship. Through this contrast, Lawrence shows his readers that retention of individuality
is crucial to a successful relationship. Tom’s marriage with Lydia is a better union than William’s
marriage with Anna in the eyes of the writer. In contrast to Lydia’s comfort with Tom, Anna always
feels stressful when William is around even though she loves him. The difference between ‘opposites’
and ‘complements’ can be seen in the two relationships. While Tom and Lydia’s marriage is a wholistic
one, William and Anna’s marriage is incomplete as it is only based on sexual gratification.

Ursula Brangwen, the eldest daughter of William and Anna Brangwen, represents the third generation
of the Brangwen family line. A passionate, adventurous and knowledgeable young woman, Ursula’s
early affinity towards religion and Christian faith fades due to unanswered questions and confusion
because of it that created hatred in her mind towards it. Ursula’s relationship with Anton Skrebensky
was merely a physical need, the foundation of which could be the deteriorating relationship between
William and Anna. Lawrence believes that every physical relationship died if there is no emotional or
intellectual interests between the partners to bind them together, which is why Ursula’s relationship
does not last for very long. Skrebensky believes that it was his duty to serve his country in war and
thus wanted to get married but Lydia believes that there is more to life than marriage as she has seen
her parents’ torn marriage. Domestic life and household duties are to her restrictions to her ambitions
of continuing her studies. “How Ursula resented it, how she fought against the close, physical, limited
life of herded domesticity! Calm, placid, unshakeable as ever, Mrs. Brangwen went about in her
dominance of physical maternity”. Her relationship with her father was estranged because of his
tendency to control her life to as he did her mother, Anna’s. Lawrence here shows that equality in
treatment and understanding is important to not only marriage but any relationship. William believed
that a woman’s place in the world is within the house and since Ursula’s relationship with her father
did not adhere to this idea, it broke and they drifted apart.
“The Rainbow” represents the importance of the perfect union of water and fire which indicates
towards a perfectly established relationship between a man and a woman, be it marriage, or familial
love. In the end, Ursula sees a rainbow somewhere far off which means that even though she has not
yet succeeded in creating a rainbow for herself, there is always a possibility in the future. Ursula
chooses her life on her terms and hopes to establish a more successful union in her future. Lawrence
strongly feels and shows his readers that for a successful marriage or in fact in other relationship,
equality, freedom of expression and individuality and understanding in order to transcend their
differences is of utmost importance. He says, “I can only write what I feel pretty strongly about and
that, at present, is the relations between men and women. After all, it is ‘the’ problem of today, the
establishment of a new relation, or the readjustment of the old one, between men and women.”