Women In Love

On Sunday, Ursula sits at home, contemplating death. Rupert arrives just as her young siblings, Billy and Dora, are getting ready for bed. During the visit, he feels like Ursula is distant. Billy allows Rupert to kiss him goodnight, but Dora does not. After the children are in bed, Ursula notes that Rupert looks ill and is disgusted by his lack of care for himself. Her family comes home from church, and Rupert tells them that he had tea with Gerald. Gudrun, her mother, and Rupert discuss the differences between public and private grief. When Rupert leaves, Ursula realizes she hates him.

Rupert is ill and thinks about death and love while in his bed. He considers marriage outdated and longs for a purer union. Rupert fears women being in control of him and compares Hermione and Ursula. He rejects the idea of lovers being two halves of the same whole; rather, lovers should be a mixture of two complete beings.

Gerald comes to visit, and they joke about sin making Rupert ill. After they discuss Gerald’s success in business, Gerald admits that Gudrun hit him the night Diana died and they haven’t seen each other since. They talk about Gerald’s lack of grief over his sister’s death and whether death is the most important thing in life. Their conversation turns to his younger sister Winnie’s education. Rupert argues against sending her away to a private school, which Gerald takes as evidence of Rupert’s lower-class status. Rupert changes the subject to male friendships and asks if they can swear to be true to each other. Gerald replies maybe someday, but not now.

Rupert suggests that Gudrun tutor Winnie, though he doesn’t know whether Gudrun will accept a position as a private tutor. The men discuss the merits of private versus public education, and Gerald again thinks he is socially superior to Rupert. When Gerald is about to leave, the men shake hands, and Rupert assures Gerald he will be back at the mill soon.

Both Ursula and Gudrun lose interest in their men, and Gudrun makes plans to leave England and stay with friends in other countries. The sisters talk to Mrs. Kirk, a honey seller who used to be a nurse for the Crich family. She tells them stories about Gerald’s mother spoiling the children when Gerald was a baby, while his father would punish them. Gudrun dislikes Mrs. Kirk but wants to tell Gerald the stories about his infancy that Mrs. Kirk shared.

At Shortlands, Gerald’s father, Thomas, is dying. The narrative shifts to his perspective as he thinks about how he fears and pities his wife, Christiana. He tried to behave like a generous Christian toward his workers because he believes that the lower class is closer to Christ. However, his wife does not like the poor and would turn people away seeking charity. Thomas thinks he loves her, but the narrator insists that death will reveal his true feelings about his wife. He is close to his son, but like Christiana, Gerald does not believe in charity. Thomas is closest to his youngest daughter, Winnie, and desires to become closer to her after Diana’s death. Winnie, the narrator says, is “a pure anarchist [and] a pure aristocrat at once” (220). She sees people as her equal or does not pay attention to them at all, regardless of their class. Thomas is hopeful that Gudrun will become Winnie’s tutor and hopes to secure the arrangement before he dies.

Meanwhile, Gerald feels guilty as his father dies. When he was a boy, he did not want to be part of his father’s business and went away to Germany for university. Then he traveled overseas, but the traveling didn’t end up being as fulfilling as working in the mines. He finds being at the top of the coal industry empowering, and he begins to like mining more than he did as a child: He likes to exert his will over nature through the act of mining. When Gerald was young, the mine closed because the miners refused to accept a pay cut. Soldiers were brought in, riots ensued, and eventually, Thomas reopened the mines. During that time, Thomas donated food to the workers’ families; Gerald, a child at the time, wanted the workers to return so they could make money for the mine. Today, he believes that technology is mining’s future; under his control, the mine runs smoothly and profitably. However, despite the mine’s success, Gerald feels his life lacks meaning. Rupert’s ideas reassure him, but only temporarily. While sexual activities with women used to make him feel better, he has recently lost interest in them.

Gudrun resists going to Shortlands but ends up accepting Thomas’s request to tutor Winnie. Winnie is initially distant when she meets Gudrun. However, when she learns Gudrun is a successful artist, Winnie becomes interested in her. They first draw Winnie’s dog, Looloo, with pencils on paper. Winnie pauses in her drawing to lavish affection on the dog. When she finishes, she shows the dog her portrait of him, then shows Gudrun, who compliments her work. Gerald is away during this meeting.

When Gudrun visits again, Gerald is at Shortlands. Gudrun’s light-colored clothing contrasts with the black mourning clothes of the Crich family. They discuss how Winnie is going to draw Bismarck, her rabbit, while Gerald jokes that they are going to draw and quarter the rabbit and have it for dinner. When Gerald shows Gudrun flowers, her reaction causes him to love her. The group goes to the stables to find the rabbit. It runs around its cage, and Winnie warns Gudrun that the rabbit is not tame. Gudrun picks up the rabbit, which scratches her and makes her angry.

Gerald takes the rabbit from her. The rabbit screams, which causes Gudrun to become pale. Gudrun declares that Bismarck is insane, and Gerald thinks it is a typical rabbit. They share a smile of understanding when Gerald compares humans and rabbits. Gudrun’s smile and her comment that people are rabbits feels like another slap to Gerald.