RELATIONS OF DOMINANCE AND EQUALITY IN D. H. LAWRENCE

347
up.
'I shall make marks on you,1 he said.
'They will come off,1 she replied.
'Yes, we come clean after everything. Time scrubs
all sorts of scars off us.'
^Some scars don't seem to go,' she smiled.
And she held out her other arm which had been
pressed warm against his side. There, just above
the wrist, was the red sun-inflammation from last
year. Byrne regarded it gravely.
'But it's wearing off — even that,' he said
wistfully (ibid - My underlining).
The main points to notice here are, first of all, the two kinds
of marks: the dirty marks of Byrne's hands Which "will come off”
and the sun-inflammation Helena got with Siegmund (the symbol of
her guilt?) which, it seems, will not "come off" ("Some scars
don't seem to go"). The second point is that one of the marks —
Byrne's — is physical and the other one is psychological which
implies its strength in comparison with the other.
The central
motif is the repetition of images used with the previous couple
with the difference that now Helena seems tired, weary and
distressed while Byrne seems to want to nurse and comfort her.
The son helping the tired mother! Even here Helena, although in
a weary state of mind, is the dominant figure in the relation.
The man is eager to help her no matter how hurt he will be in
attempting to get close to the fatal woman.
One good sign of
their relation lies in the fact that with Siegmund Helena wore
her hat with pins and, now with Byrne, she takes it off.
This
may imply that she no longer wants to hurt, but even here, the
implication is not of submission for she still directs her
desires.
The man only bows to her demands:
She laughed, and, making a small moaning noise,
as if of weariness and helplessness, she sank her
head on his chest. He put down his cheek against
hers.
'I want rest and warmth,' she said, in her dull
tones.
'All right!' he murmured (p.217).