RELATIONS OF DOMINANCE AND EQUALITY IN D. H. LAWRENCE

17
in this dissertation.
Vivas' view of the novel is divided into two parts: the
religious theme and the sexual one.
The critic claims that the
main defect of the book lies in the ideology which he thinks
does not come from the story.
He considers the characters who
put forth Lawrence's ideas are mere ventriloquists and "Because
the primary interest centers in the exposition of an ideology,
the characters are mere dummies" (p.67).
Vivas' analysis seems
to be based on a biased view of religion and its weakness is
due to his lack of belief in what he is writing.
This is
perhaps the reason why in the middle of his analysis of the book,
Vivas offers the reader this silly excuse for his religious
opinions:
I am not arguing for or against the Roman Catholic
Church when I speak of the contemporary polytheism
of the Mexican population. I am not a Roman
Catholic, although being of Venezuelan birth and
ancestry I was brought up one... (p.84).
In relation to the characters of the novel, Vivas' ideas
do not.seem- faithful to the text. He considers that the
climax of the story occurs when Kate "accepts apotheosis as the
living Malintzi, the wife of Cipriano, the living Huitzilopochtli,
and learns to accept the kind of love he offers her, a love
beyond love, in which she finds pure fulfillment" (p.66).
The
question I ask (and answer in chapter V of this dissertation) is
whether Kate really finds 'pure fulfillment' with Cipriano.
The
critic claims this but does: not provide any evidence.
Vivas thinks that The Plumed Serpent, as well as Lawrence's
other novels, contains Lawrence's assertion that women must
submit to men in what refers to sex.
Vivas says that this novel
presents the conflict between couples in terms of Lawrence