RELATIONS OF DOMINANCE AND EQUALITY IN D. H. LAWRENCE

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polarity', or in his words:
'What I want is a strange conjunction with
you -' he said quietly; not meeting and
mingling; - you are quite right: - but an
equilibrium, a pure balance of two single
beings: as the stars balance each other' (ibid).
However contradictory it may seem, Birkin's idea of 'balance'
between two single beings is soon put in practice by his male
cat Mino and it proves to be not exactly a 'balance', but the
pure subjugation of the female in relation to the male.
Mino
is a pet cat and his features are described in terms of his
'lordly' trot, his 'gentleman-like' posture, etc.
A she-cat
appears and she is described as a wild creature, but she has a
'soft-obliterating manner', and moves like a 'shadow'.
The
'wild' she-cat falls down at the feet of the 'pet' Mino, in a
'submissive, wild patience'.
The two cats then come to intimate
terms and Mino hits the she-cat.
Ursula observing the whole
scene calls Mino 'a bully like all males' to which Birkin
disagrees, defending his 'pet' representative in the world of
animals: "'... I am with him entirely.
He wants superfine
stability'" (p.141).
Ursula then understands what Birkin means
by 'star polarity'.
Birkin says: "'... with Mino, it is the
t
desire to bring this female cat into a pure equilibrium, a
transcendent and abiding rapport with a single male... "' (p.142) .
Ursula's reply to this is that what Birkin really wants is a
satellite, not a balance:
'There you are - a star in its orbit! A satellite
- a satellite of Mars - that's what she is to be!
There - there - you've given yourself away! You
want a satellite, Mars and his satellite!...'
(ibid).
Birkin's theory, therefore, is a pure disguise for his
chauvinism, his desire to dominate the female. Ursula's
statement has as its proof Birkin's behaviour after Ursula's