Peculiarities of the images in the novel by D.H. Lawrence "Women in love"

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Peculiarities of the images in the novel by D.H. Lawrence “Women in love”

leliseienko A. P.,

Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor at the Department of European Languages State Biotechnological University

Єлісеєнко А. Особливості образів в романі Д.Г. Лоуренса «Жінки у коханні»

Анотація

У статті досліджено особливості образів у романі англійського письменника, поета, літературознавця та художника Д. Г. Лоуренса «Закохані жінки». Цей роман є продовженням попереднього твору Лоуренса «Веселка», який незабаром після публікації був заборонений урядом. У «Веселці» автор намагався створити нову мову для своїх сучасників, сповнивши її біблійними алюзіями. «Закохані жінки» мають інший підхід. Роман неодноразово ставав об'єктом дослідження у сучасному літературознавстві. Образи Герміони Роддіс, Гудрун, Джеральда Кріча та Руперта Біркіна були вже проаналізовані та визначені їхні прототипи. Однак витоки створення образів Урсули, Джошуа та Халлідея детально не вивчені, що перешкоджає їх глибшому розумінню з огляду на те, що всі вони мали реальних прототипів із середовища письменника. Досліджено вплив «Леді з Шалотт» Тенні- сона на образ Урсули та Герміони з урахуванням реального та нереального світів, пов'язаних із цими героїнями. Образ Джошуа створений під впливом знайомого Лоуренса Бертрана Рассела. Дружба з Хезелтайном призвела до створення образу Халлідея, який викликав суперечки між автором і його другом. Лоуренс часто використовував у своєму романі реальні історії із життя своїх знайомих. Інтимні стосунки між Хезелтайном і його коханкою Пумою стали частиною роману, що призвело до розриву відносин між Лоуренсом і Хезелтайном. Як живописець Лоуренс використовував біблійні мотиви, але сприймав і показував їх не традиційно. На деякі образи (Урсули Брангвен, Герміони) вплинули англійська поезія та історії з Старого Завіту. Релігійні мотиви використовувалися для поглиблення сприйняття образу, створюючи додаткове значення. Біблійні міста Содом і Гоморра були використані як алюзії Старого Завіту для створення нереального грішного світу лондонського кафе Pompadour. Саме це місце використовує Лоуренс для відповідності міст біблійних історій.

Ключові слова: Теннісон, прототип, Старий Завіт, Лоуренс.

Summary

The article studies the peculiarities of the images in the novel by English writer, poet, literary critic and painter D.H. Lawrence “Women in love”. This novel is a continuation of the previous work by Lawrence “Rainbow” which was banned by the government soon after publication. In “Rainbow” the author tried to create a new language for his contemporaries making it full of biblical allusions. “Women in love” takes a different approach. Most of the characters have prototypes among contemporaries that made the novel controversial. This novel has repeatedly become the object of study in modern literary criticism. The images of Hermiona Roddis, Rudrun, Gerald Crich and Rupert Kirkin were analyzed and their prototypes determined. However, the creation origins of the images of Ursula, Joshua and Halliday have not been studied in detail that prevents their deeper understanding taking into account the fact that they all had real prototypes from the writer's circle. The influence of Tennyson's “Lady of Shalott” on the image of Ursula and Hermiona is investigated taking into account real and unreal worlds associated with this character. The image of Joshua is based on one of Lawrence's friends Bertrand Russel. Friendship with Heseltine led to the creation of Halliday image which caused controversy among the author and his friend. Lawrence often used real life stories in his novel to create vivid scenes. The intimate relationships between the Heseltine and his mistress Puma became the part of the novel that led to the break of relationships between Lawrence and Heseltine. As a painter Lawrence used biblical motifs but perceived and showed them in a different from a traditional way. Some of the images (Ursula Brangwen, Hermiona) were influenced by poetry and Old Testament. Religious motifs were used to deepen the character creating additional meaning and understanding. Biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were used as allusions of Old Testament to make up unreal sinful world of the cafe Pompadour in London. This exact place is used by Lawrence to correspond to the cities of biblical stories. women love lawrence

Key words: Tennyson, prototype, Old Testament, Lawrence.

Definition of the problem. The novel “Women in love” by D.H. Lawrence has repeatedly become the object of study in modern literary criticism. However, the creation origins of the images of Ursula, Joshua and Halliday have not been studied in detail. It prevents their deeper understanding taking into account the fact that they all had real prototypes from the writer's circle.

Analysis of recent research. The images in the novel “Women in love” were partly discussed in the works by Chamberlain L. Robert where the image of Halliday and relationships between Lawrence and H. Heseltine were investigated. [1], Kirty Martin [2] and Kaplan Sydney Janet [3] paid more attention to the image of Ursula having mentioned the influence of Lawrence's wife Frida on the creation of Ursuala's image. The book by Kate SAagar “Lawrence's painting” establishes the relationships between some of Lawrence's artistic works and the ideas of the novels [4]. Ferreira Aline developed the study of the Ursula image suggesting the influence of Tennyson's “The Lady of Shalott”. The image of Joshua was not considered before as a prototype of Bertrand Russell. The study concerning the images of Ursula, Hermiona and Halliday were complemented by author's investigations.

Purpose of the article. The article attempts to analyze the peculiarities of creation of the images of Ursula, Hermione, Joshua and Halliday, as well as points out the religious connotations associated with the perception of these images.

“Women in love” is a novel by English writer, poet and painter D.H. Lawrence. He created it as a continuation to the novel “Rainbow” which was banned by the government as it was accused of immorality. The second novel shows the life of Lawrence's contemporaries through the prism of his philosophical beliefs and religious vision.

In “Women in Love” an argument occurs between Rupert (the prototype for Lawrence) and Hermione, whose prototype was the author's close friend Lady Ottoline Morrell. Lady Ottoline is convinced that reason and the burden of knowledge can harm children, as it forces them to control themselves, pass them through consciousness, depriving them of the opportunity to live, spontaneously submitting to sincere desires and instincts. This point of view infuriates Rupert. He reproaches Hermione for seeing the unreal world in a mirror image as “The Lady of Shalott.”

The distorted world that Hermione sees in the “mirror” is an allusion to Alfred Tennyson's poem “The Lady of Shalott” (1832). Hermione is identified with the girl locked in the tower, destined to observe only visions of the world, shadows of a dream in a mirror image. This is not the first allusion to Tennyson's poem in Lawrence's works. In the novel "The Rainbow" Ursula waits for her lover, looking out of the window, dreaming that her Lancelot will pass by and wave to her, and she will wait patiently, locked up high in the tower. We can pay attention to the fact that Ursula, being in the grip of dreams, nevertheless looks at the real world through an open window, while Hermione sees the world distorted - in a mirror image. This is one of the reasons why the “real world of Ursula” (Lawrence's wife Frida) will be closer to Rupert than the “unreal world” of Hermione (Lady Ottoline Morrell).

It seems important to consider intermedial connections that create the visual perception of images. In the novel “Rainbow” the influence of painting is repeatedly noted, in particular the paintings of the Pre-Raphaelite Fra Angelico on biblical motifs (“The Last Judgment”, “The Ascension of the Blessed into Paradise”), which is discussed in detail in the articles “Intermediality in the novel by D.H. Lawrence “Rainbow” [5]. Turning to art in the novel “Women in Love” allows us not only to trace the development and specifics of the creation of images, but also to note their characteristic features through visual perception.

After the publication of Tennyson's aforementioned poem, Pre-Raphaelite John William Waterhouse created one of his most famous paintings, The Lady of Shalott (1888). A few years later, he wrote two more works dedicated to Tennyson's poem - “The Lady of Shalott Looking at Lancelot”, 1894 and “I am Half-Sick of Shadows”, 1911. The title of the latter is a line from the poem. Lawrence may have been familiar with these reproductions, given his great interest in painting, especially the work of the Pre-Raphaelites.

Ursula in “Rainbow” was constantly at the mercy of shadows; the miners and local residents seemed like ghosts to her. The novel “Women in Love” repeats the same negative connotations regarding the miners and the town as a whole. Both in the first and second novels, before meeting the man she loves, a premonition of something romantic and beautiful reigns in the girl's soul. In the first novel, Lawrence creates an allusion to Tennyson's poem "Elaine". Ursula, hiding from the noisy seven younger children, locked herself on the top floor. Her soul is filled with the romantic stories she has read. She imagines herself as the beautiful Elaine, who is waiting for her Lancelot, just to wave her hand to him, remaining locked high in the tower, and “wait, wait, always high and far away” [6, p. 222]. The quoted fragment from “The Rainbow” coincides in emotional tone with Waterhouse's painting “The Lady of Shalott Looks at Lancelot.” The meeting with her first love - Anton Skrebensky in "Rainbow", their love relationship, ends with Ursula's severe illness. In her delirium, she again sees shadows instead of people and is half-forgotten. The girl's condition can be correlated with Waterhouse's second painting. It is also interesting that in the original version of the novel Ursula's name was Ella, which is similar to the name of Tennyson's heroine Elleine.

The prototype for the image of Joshua, Hermione Roddis' friend from high society, is Lady Ottoline Morrell's close friend, Bertrand Russell. For Lawrence, he became a “lean” baronet of fifty years old, who “spitted out witticisms and laughed good-naturedly at everyone with a sharp laugh, reminiscent of a horse's neighing” [7, p. 108]. Ursula and her sister are invited to visit Hermione. There, under a huge tree (as in Lady Ottoline's estate), the girls witness the boring “intellectual struggle” of Hermione's inner circle. Among them, a place of honor is occupied by Joshua Matteson - “an elderly sociologist who had such an intricate turn of mind that he did not perceive what was happening at all” [7, p. 109].

The psychological portrait that Lawrence gives to both Hermione and Joshua could not but outrage Lady Ottoline Morell and Bertrand Russell. Lawyer Philip Morrell, Lady Ottoline's husband, threatened to sue Lawrence for libel, after which the writer made some minor changes, for example moving Hermione's country house, modeled on the real Morrell house near Oxford, to Willersley Castle in Derbyshire called "Bradolby."

Ottoline later wrote that in 1929, when she became very ill, Lawrence wrote her several delightful letters in which he expressed regret for what he had done. Lady Ottoline admitted that her wound had healed, she would have been ready to meet the writer again, laugh at old grievances and plan a new “Elysian Peace” (an allusion to the Greek myth about the place to live in the afterlife), but his death prevented her from carrying out her personal reconciliation.

It should also be noted that Lawrence introduces several Old Testament stories into the narrative, which are of direct importance when studying the images. Thus, Rupert reflects on the following: “If humanity is destroyed, if our race is destroyed as Sodom was destroyed, and there remains this evening sun that will flood the earth and the trees with light, then I am ready to die” [7, p. 75]. According to the Book of Genesis (19:4-11), Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by the Lord for the sins of their inhabitants, in particular for debauchery and homosexual relations. Abraham's nephew Lot lived in Sodom. Abraham asked God to give the righteous a chance to escape before the city was overtaken by fire and brimstone from heaven.

Rupert thought of Sodom on the way to London, where he, accompanied by Gerald, would fall into the circle of local bohemia, among the most calculating “hook-makers who ever counted their pennies” [7, p. 76]. Among them are “artists, musicians, writers, slackers, models, advanced young people - everyone who openly flouts conventions and does not belong to any environment. Often these are young men who were expelled from the university, and girls <...> free from prejudice,” but “completely limited” [7, p. 76]. However, among them there are also “several decent people who sometimes know how to behave quite decently” [7, p. 76]. These “few” will play the role of the few “righteous” who may be able to escape. Thus, Rupert does not count himself among the sinners, but among the righteous who will be saved. This generally coincides with the image of Rupert, who positions himself as “different from others.”

On the train Rupert mutters "like a man on death row" [7, p. 77]. These are lines from Robert Browning's poem "Love Among the Ruins". The remembrance of the city's former greatness also emphasizes the theme of the city's destruction and creates an intertextual connection with Browning's poetry. The painting by the English artist John Martyn “The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah” (1852) can be perceived as a visual embodiment of Rupert's premonitions that overcome him on his way to London. The righteous leaving Sodom were forbidden to look back at the burning city. Lot's wife disobeyed and looked back, after which she turned into a salt statue. The same fate awaited Alfred Tennyson's “The Lady of Shallot,” dying from a curse.

Approaching London, Rupert feels “a dislike for humanity, for the accumulation of human beings” [7, p. 78]. He has a feeling that he is “cursed” [7, p. 50]. It again creates an allusion to the biblical story about the “apple of knowledge” and the fall of Adam and Eve. Rupert identifies himself with the damned Adam. A visual embodiment of this fragment can be Masaccio's reproduction of “Expulsion from Paradise” (1426-1427) and Lawrence's painting “Flight Back Into Paradise” (1927). Lawrence largely adopts the basic idea of Masaccio. Their works depict Adam and Eve leaving paradise, as well as a fiery angel with a sword carrying out their expulsion. However, Lawrence completely distorts the biblical story. In Masaccio, the faces of Adam and Eve express suffering, despair, and shame. Adam covers his face with his hands. In Lawrence's painting, Adam and Eve struggle with a fiery angel, trying to "sneak" back into heaven. Their intention is indicated in the very title of the painting. Thus, Lawrence “reads” the same Old Testament story in a completely different way, as if asking the question, what if they had not agreed to leave heaven? What if they fought an angel? This reading coincides with another painting by Lawrence, also based on a biblical subject - “Throwing Back the Apple” (1927) [4], where Adam throws the apple of knowledge at God. Intermedial connections in Lawrence's works make it possible to note the writer's ability to think differently, without using the given, traditional cliches that people are accustomed to use. The author makes an attempt to look at things, events, history, religion, nature from a different angle. Studying and paying close attention to Lawrence's atypical thinking will provide an opportunity to read some of the details of the novel, which will be discussed below.

The London Pompadour Cafe, where Gerald and Rupert meet Halliday's tipsy company, is identified with the biblical Sodom. The very name of this hero is also a “mockery”, taking into account where he is and his lifestyle. His name Halliday should be pronounced "Holiday". "Holy" means "saint" and "holiday" means a religious festival.

Cafe "Pompadour" creates a certain surreal, collective image. In puffs of smoke, the faces and heads of visitors are reflected in the wall mirrors (again, a surreal mirror world as in Tennyson's allusion). It seems to Gerald that he “fell into the foggy, gloomy kingdom of ghosts with a passion for wine, whose voices merged into a single hum” [7, p. 79]. And in this “ghostly abode of pleasures” he sought “refuge” [7, p. 79]. He walked to another world “past souls mired in vices” [7, p. 79]. Gerald notices a girl next to Rupert, to whom he is attracted by “almost beauty” and “attractive vulgarity” [7, p. 79]. This girl, nicknamed Pussum, was Halliday's mistress. Now Gerald becomes the object of her attention, ready to conquer the beauty and dominate her.

Before a more detailed study of the images of Halliday and Pussy, it is necessary to turn to their prototypes. In 1915-1916, Lawrence met Philip Heseltine, who was an admirer and ardent defender of the writer's work. Lawrence repeatedly mentioned him in correspondence regarding those few friends with whom he would like to settle in another country (in the USA, in Florida), creating his own small society of like-minded people - Rananim. When “Rainbow” was withdrawn from print, Heseltine proposed, secretly from the government, to collect subscriptions for the publication of works that would otherwise be “buried under dirty commercialism”. Money from sales would be partly transferred to the authors, and partly would go towards the costs of publishing further prohibited texts. Heseltine typed Lawrence's texts and considered him a transcendent genius. Taking into account Lawrence's poor financial situation and health problems, he proposed publishing Lawrence's “Rainbow” as the first book published at the expense of subscribers.

Publication did not take place. Lawrence and Heseltine's ways separated, but over the next five years they continued to make caustic remarks about each other, as is evident from the latter's letters, published by Paul Delaney in 1980, and correspondence by Lawrence.

Heseltine became the prototype for Halliday's character in the novel “Women in Love”. Lawrence shows a story of Heseltine's love relationship with his girlfriend Minnie Channing, better known as Puma. In the novel, Halliday is presented as an eccentric neurotic with a squeaky voice who forces his pregnant mistress to live in the village and forbids her to appear in society. Having learned that she will have a child, he “wants to buy himself off with a hundred pounds” [7, p. 87]. He himself is not able to make decisions and is only waiting “for someone to tell him what to do” [7, p. 86]. A quarrel breaks out between Pussum and Halliday. Another man intervenes in their argument, and the girl, in anger, pierces his hand with a fork. The sight of blood triggers Halliday's gag reflex. Pussum reproaches her lover for being the biggest coward in the world and always faints if she takes a knife. Halliday invites the whole company to his apartment. At that moment, Gerald already feels complete power over Pussum, her servility makes him want to take possession of her. “Her being penetrated his veins with bewitching darkness and accumulated at the base of his spine, ready at any second to splash out to the surface with terrible force” [7, p. 94]. At Halliday's apartment, the men exchange glances, letting Gerald know that they are glad and approve of him being among them. The Pussum will belong to him and thereby “leave” Halliday alone.

Several other similarities between the image of Pussum and Heseltine's mistress are noteworthy. Puma (the prototype of Pussum) worked as a model. In 1916 she gave birth to a son. The young people got married, but lived separately. Their son was raised by Heseltine's mother. From the correspondence it is known that for Heseltine life with Puma was unbearable, but he also could not exist without her. David Garnett recalled that Puma participated in an exhibition in 1924-1925 that featured twelve of the most beautiful women in history, dressed as Cleopatra.

In Lawrence's novel, Gerald draws attention to Pussum's shortcropped hair, "like an ancient Egyptian's" [7, p. 79]. The girl works part-time as a model. She posed in the image of Madonna (biblical motif, the birth of her son), but now she plans to work for a photographer - “transparent fabric, bare shoulders”, “but everything is completely decent” [7, p. 80]. Later, when Gerald remembers Pussum in a conversation with Rupert, he learns that the girl finally married Halliday and get what she wanted.

After the novel's publication in 1921, Philip Heseltine threatened to sue Lawrence for libel and demanded changes to the novel's descriptions of Halliday and his mistress. As Chamberlain L. Robert noted in “Pussum, Minette, and the Africo-Nordic Symbol” (1963), Lawrence “pretended to make the change” [1, p. 408], changing the hair color of Halliday and Pussum. Heseltine called these edits “ridiculously inadequate” [1, p. 408]. Thus, the former ardent supporter of Lawrence's work became one of his “enemies.”

Conclusions

Most of the images of the novel “Women in love” by D.H. Lawrence were based on prototypes from author's contemporaries. Lawrence often used real life stories in his novel to create vivid scenes. Religious motifs were used to deepen the character creating additional meaning and understanding. The images of Joshua and Halliday had the prototypes of Bertrand Russell and Heseltine. The intimate relationships between the latter and his mistress became the part of the novel that led to the break of relationships between Lawrence and Heseltine. As a painter Lawrence used biblical motivs but perceived and showed them different from traditional view. Some of the images (Ursula Brangwen, Hermiona) were influenced by poetry and Old Testament.

Bibliography

Chamberlain L. Robert. Pussum, Minette, and the Africo-Nordic Symbol in Lawrence's Women in love. PMLA. 1963. #78. P. 407-416.

Kirty M. D.H. Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield and Happiness.

Katherine Mansfield Studies. Edinburg University Press. 2010. #2. P. 87-99.

Kaplan S. J. Circulating Genius: John Middleton Murry, Katherine Mansfield and D.H. Lawrence. Edinburg University Press. 2010, 240 p.

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Ieliseienko A. Intermediary in the novel by D.H. Lawrence “Rainvow”. Проблеми гуманітарних наук: збірник наукових праць Дрогобицького державного педагогічного університету ім. І. Франка. 2023. № 53. 2023. C. 26-32.

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