RELATIONS OF DOMINANCE AND EQUALITY IN D. H. LAWRENCE

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thing. She resented being made so conscious of
his physical presence, his full, male body inside
his thin white clothes, the strong, yet soft
shoulders, the full, rich male thighs. It was if
she herself, also being in presence of this
Sultan, should succumb as part of the harem (pp.
434-5).
Kate is again desiring Ramon sexually.
That is why she resents
his marriage.
Also it can be said that up to now Kate has
decided not to mix the two Kates in two marriages (the one by
Quetzalcoatl and the legal one) with Cipriano because she still
had some hopes to have RamSn with her.
As he is now married to
Teresa, Kate has no hopes anymore and, therefore, this is the
reason why she decides to marry Cipriano legally.
It is
perhaps one more punishment for herself since she could not
have Ramon.
The only thing which seems inexplicable, at least at first
glance, is that Kate is aware that both men need her for certain
purposes: Ramon needs her mind as his friend and Cipriano needs
her body for some moments.
Then, Ramon has his submissive
Teresa and Cipriano has his soldiers.
Kate is left floating in
the air with no connection with any of the men.
My question is,
why does she stay with them?
It must be only Lawrence's
stubborn desire to make her always submit even when she seems
aware that Ramon and Cipriano have nothing to offer her. I would
say that the author in these moments may be seen as Kate's
super-ego.
If he is taken like this, the only possible
explanation for Kate's internal conflict is that her ego wants
to get rid of both Ramon and Cipriano but her super-ego forces
her to remain in this conflict and to be more inclined to stay
by their sides and submit to them.
Ramon and Cipriano are the
bread of the sandwich and Kate is in the middle of them being
squeezed by the soul and the body, having no chance to escape.