RELATIONS OF DOMINANCE AND EQUALITY IN D. H. LAWRENCE

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and his sensuality and this seems to be what Kate does not want.
What is then Lawrence's purpose in marrying this woman with
Cipriano?
Is Kate wishing unconsciously for a communion in the
flesh though she does not realize this? The answer does not
seem clear since Lawrence does not provide it in his narrative.
Kate's marriage to Joachim looks much like Lydia's to Paul
Lensky. Both men are revolutionaries. Their difference lies
perhaps in the fact that Lydia lived through a blind obedience
to Paul's ideals. She did not think by herself. Joachim, on .
the other hand, seems more flexible and Kate does not apparently
complain about the fact that she lived through Joachim.
The
idea one gets, looking at Kate and Joachim's marriage, is that
Kate is a woman who can only love men who are not ordinary, as
Joachim was not:
'...It took me years to understand that a woman
can't love a man - at least a woman like I am
can't - if he is only the sort of good, decent
citizen. With Joachim I came to realise that a
woman like me can only love a man who is
fighting to change the world, to make it freer,
more alive... A woman who isn't quite ordinary
herself can only love a man who is fighting for
something beyond the ordinary life' (pp.74-5).
This makes Kate seem much more like Ramon than Cipriano. Firstly
because Ramon wants to change Mexico, he is a fighter, as Kate
says. Secondly because Cipriano is only a shadow of Ramon. He
takes no attitude apart from those Ramon demands of him.
Furthermore, Joachim was an Irish leader who fought to free
Ireland from British dominion and Cipriano belongs to the
Mexican army, he is a general and he is transforming nothing. He
is a mere soldier in the lowest sense. He is no fighter. Only
Ramon seems able to give Kate what she wants:
... she knew that what she wanted was for her
soul to live. The life of days and facts and