RELATIONS OF DOMINANCE AND EQUALITY IN D. H. LAWRENCE

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she cannot be satisfied.
Birkin tries to fight her off but she
is, up to now, stronger and she wins.
After the wedding of
Gerald's sister, Hermione's attempt to hold Birkin with her
succeeds and
She had a rapt, triumphant look, like the fallen
angels restored, yet still subtly demoniacal, now
she held Birkin by the arm. And he was
expressionless, neutralised, possessed by her as if
it were his fate, without question (pp.16-7).
We may say that Hermione is another version of the 'dreaming
woman' from The Trespasser. Both Helena and' Hermione are soulful
women who want to destroy their men because of their excessive
mental love.
Thus, Hermione is also another 'femme fatale'. The
difference is perhaps that Helena is not criticized, nor defeated
as Hermione is.
If one can make such a comparison, Hermione is like a
vampire or a dirty shadow sticking to Birkin wherever he goes.
She seems to smell his way, licking his brain like flies in a
sauce of sweets.
She does not have a life of her own if she is
not stuck to him trying to pluck from him everything he knows:
"It was a dreadful tyranny, an obsession in her, to know all he
knew" (p.81).
When she is not exerting her consciousness over
him, she cannot be happy.
However, the more she tries, the less
she holds Birkin.
There are two important scenes in which
Lawrence ironically makes 'knowledge' punish Hermione.
The
interesting point is that one happens in Ursula's school. Birkin
is talking with Ursula about Botany when Hermione comes in and
interrupts them. Birkin is explaining to Ursula how she could
make her pupils understand the male and female parts of catkins
if she used crayons with different colors.
in she wants to know what they are doing.
When Hermione comes
The three start
talking till Birkin, unable to bear Hermione's thirst for