RELATIONS OF DOMINANCE AND EQUALITY IN D. H. LAWRENCE

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her, whispering softly, forcing her to answer him.
But Banford
interrupts again, calling March crossly from upstairs.
Here
there is a feeling that March is on a road that forks into two
paths and must decide which one to go.
On the one hand, there
are the claims for her femininity - Henry.
On the other, there
is the maintainance of her masculinity - Banford.
March's
conflict increases.
However, the road in which Henry is seems
much more appealing: he is there, soft, caressive,
demanding
her, touching her.
Whereas where Banford is, there is a kind of
menace because of the cross calling: no caress is present.
Banford sounds like a mother, a conscience, a nagging one:
'NellieI Nellie! Whatever are you so long for?'
came Banford's faint cry from the outer darkness.
But he held her fast, and was murmuring with
that intolerable softness and insistency:
'You will, won't you? Say yes! Say yes!' (ibid).
Henry has already got March because he has kissed her with the
same brushing kiss of her first dream with the fox:
... as she drew back, the fox, turning round to
bound away, whisked his brush across her face,
and it seemed his brush was on fire, for it seared
and burned her mouth with a great pain... (p.100 -
My underlining).
And as she did so, quick as lightning [Henry]
kissed her on the mouth, with a quick brushing
kiss. It seemed to burn her every fibre. She
gave a queer little cry (p.115 - My underlining).
Besides this, there is Henry's demanding 'Say yes! Say yes'.
Henry is so insistent that there is no choice for March.
She is
on fire, all her sexually repressed femaleness is awakened at once.
She wants him and so he wins: "'Yes! Yes! Anything you like!
Anything you like!
Only let me go! Only let me go! Jill is
calling!'" (ibid - My underlining).
On the following day Henry fells as if he himself were the