RELATIONS OF DOMINANCE AND EQUALITY IN D. H. LAWRENCE

76
Paul's inconsistency is sometimes boring.
He does not
know where he can put his hands with safety.
His extreme points
of view make the reader angry with the young man.
For instance,
he hated Miriam for her unreserve in showing feelings.
Clara
makes him angry because she hardly expresses her inner feelings.
Paul cannot stand this, nor the feeling of disdain and superiority
with which Clara often treats him.
Because of this he tries to
boss her.
If he cannot do this as a man, he tries to do it
professionally:
'Here, I say, you seem to forget I'm your boss.
It just occurs to me.'
'And what does that mean?' she asked cooly.
'It means I've got a right to boss you.'...'
'I don't know what you want,' she said,
continuing her task.
'I want you to treat me nicely and respectfully.'
'Call your "sir" perhaps?' she asked quietly.
'Yes, call me "sir". I should love it.'
'Then I wish you to go upstairs, sir.' (pp.325-6)
The impression is that this relationship can be taken as a 'duel'
in which hostility is mixed with desire.
Clara seems distant and
this makes Paul wish to bring her close to him.
To achieve this,
his way is to diminish her importance (and larger size) by
mistreating her in her work since he is superior to her there.
As with Miriam who first resented Paul's proximity, but
gradually accepted him, Paul and Clara grow intimate.
Their first
serious talk refers to the subject of marriage and, later on,
Miriam.
The first part of their marriage conversation is somehow
unilateral.
At least in the sense that Paul is not able to
understand what Clara means by being nearly asleep all her life
before getting separated from her husband.
Paul's questioning of
Clara's reasons for separation are not in fact directed to her.
He seems to be asking his mother about her marriage.
What may
seem important here is the fact that Paul does not feel Clara
answering, but puts his mother to a vicarious trial: whose fault