An Analysis of Homoerotic Relationships in D. H. Lawrence's "Women in Love"

In this essay I will consider homoerotic relationships in D. H. Lawrence’s novel Women in Love, comparing those of Rupert and Gerald and Hermione and Ursula. I will argue that these homoerotic relationships are affected by restraints placed on gender, in that Rupert and Gerald have various outlets available to them for channelling their desire, whereas Hermione and Ursula do not, and their desire is instead channelled through largely male-centered jealousy and competition. I will be referring to existing literature to examine the homoerotic relationship of Rupert and Gerald and will aim to further that discourse by arguing that Hermione and Ursula also have a homoerotic relationship, but it is less developed due to societal constraints on females. To begin the essay, I will contextualize the female subject and same-sex desire within the larger umbrella of Modernism and will identify their Gothic aspects. In her dissertation “Ghosts Within Us”: A Study of Women Writers of Gothic Modernism, Nihad Laouar writes that “Modernist texts … reveal the way the Gothic departs from its traditional locus of castles to make the individual’s subject its main site in Modernism. The female subject particularly becomes a central zone where Modernist ghosts lurk”. Thus, though some gothic modernist texts might depart from explicit and traditional gothic symbols such as ghosts and vampires, new haunted symbols emerge, in particular the female subject that is haunted by the past while adapting to the changing modern world. Laouar focuses her dissertation specifically on female modernist authors, but nevertheless her insights are applicable to the literature of D. H. Lawrence as well. She writes that the gothic approach of certain female authors “is born from their need to articulate gender issues of their times” (Laouar, 2) and their attempts to “reform the classical Gothic conventions … to adapt to a new historical era while trying to give a definition to women’s shifting but challenging position within the chaos of Modernity” (Laouar, 2). Laouar also adds that “the Gothic is used to respond to the anxieties of the period as they affect women, and the way in which the Gothic evolves in women’s fiction accordingly. This means that the Modernist Gothic arises as a reaction to anxieties such as the rise of the New Woman in the 1890s” (Laouar, 2). The female subject situated on the cusp of modernity and surrounded by changing values is thus haunted by previous ideals and limitations that the world imposes on it in a way that it does not on men. In Women in Love, as I will go on to show, this haunting is demonstrated through the limitations placed on Hermione and Ursula’s channelling of their homoerotic feelings for each other.

Insofar as situating same-sex desire within Gothic literature, it is important to consider what E. L. McCallum writes in the chapter titled The “queer limits” in the modern Gothic in the book The Cambridge Companion to the Modern Gothic - “[l]et us examine more closely the queer sense of inversion as the Gothic’s structural principle. The conversion of light into darkness is just one swing of the Gothic’s pendulum of horror. The classic Gothic figures rely on this conversion. … [and i]f the Gothic’s structural principle is inversion, then what destabilizes or queers the Gothic is a continuous, dynamic inversion (McCallum, 77). Since, according to McCallum, inversion is a key Gothic principle, the queer subject becomes an inherently Gothic character, and, when considered in the context of Laouar’s comments on the female subject as a Gothic figure, the queer female subject is firmly situated within the Gothic discourse.

Before exploring the aforementioned limitations imposed on the same-sex desire of Hermione and Ursula, it is important to consider the homoerotic relationship of Rupert and Gerald. I will begin by establishing their desire for each other and will then explore the outlets that are available to them for channelling it. Later on I will point out a similar desire between Hermione and Ursula and will contrast the means available to them for channelling their desire to those available to the male characters in a homoerotic relationship. Rupert and Gerald become interested in each other quickly after meeting. While in conversation on a train ride to London, both feel an attraction to each other, noticing also that the other is good-looking. “Birkin could not help seeing how beautiful and soldierly [Gerald’s] face was” (Lawrence, 58), while “Gerald was held unconsciously by the other man. He wanted to be near him, he wanted to be within his sphere of influence” (Lawrence, 59). The speaker comments on the men’s mutual attraction as well as on their desire to be near each other, thus setting up the homoerotic relationship between them. There are several outlets available to the two men for channelling this mutual desire, notably the nude wrestling scene.

After his rejected marriage proposal to Ursula, Rupert and Gerald engage in an existentialist conversation and agree to channel their mutual boredom through wrestling, adding that it should be done nude (Lawrence, 268). What follows is an incredibly descriptive account of their nude wrestling, with specific word choice utilised to create a sense of intimacy between the two men. It is said that “they got a kind of mutual physical understanding … [and] seemed to drive their white flesh deeper and deeper against each other, as if they would break into oneness” (Lawrence, 270). The impending oneness that is alluded to suggests an incredible intimacy, which is built precisely through this wrestling. Birkin is said to be seeming to “penetrate into Gerald’s … bulk, to interfuse his body through the body of the other, as if to bring it subtly into subjection” (Lawrence, 270). Here, again, the specific choice of words is used to create a sense of intimacy and even eroticism between the two men, as it does again when the two lay on the ground, exhausted after the wrestling, still naked and close to each other, as two people would after making love. The two even briefly hold hands (Lawrence, 272), in what can be construed as a furthering of this intimacy. Thus, physical contact is available to the two men as a means of channelling their desire for one another.

Another outlet that is available to Rupert for his desire for Gerald is being able to openly discuss it with Ursula. “‘It’s the problem I can’t solve. I know I want a perfect and complete relationship with you: and we’ve nearly got it—we really have. But beyond that. Do I want a real, ultimate relationship with Gerald? Do I want a final almost extra-human relationship with him—a relationship in the ultimate of me and him—or don’t I?’” (Lawrence, 363), he wonders aloud to Ursula as the two of them browse a market. At the end of the novel, Rupert expresses refusal to accept that the kind of relationship that he wanted to have with Gerald is impossible. “‘You can’t have two kinds of love. Why should you!’” (Lawrence, 481), Ursula tells him, to which he replies “‘It seems as if I can’t,’ he said. ‘Yet I wanted it.’” (Lawrence, 481). “‘You can’t have it, because it’s false, impossible’” (Lawrence, 481), Ursula pushes on, but Rupert defiantly replies “‘I don’t believe that’”. Thus, Rupert expresses his desire for Gerald to Ursula on more than one occasion. The very ability to openly discuss his desire for a relationship with another man, as well as remaining adamant that such a love is possible, indicates a degree of freedom that men have when it comes to the discussion of and engagement in homoerotic relationships. Paired with the wrestling scene, in which Rupert and Gerald engaged in nude physical contact, it can be construed that the two men had the ability to channel their desire for one another and felt able to openly discuss it, thereby having outlets for their homoerotic relationship.

The female homoerotic relationship, on the other hand, differs from the male one of the novel, as does its channelling. I will now consider the homoerotic relationship of Ursula and Hermione and will conclude that because the same channelling isn’t available to the female homoerotic relationship, same-sex desire is gendered and restricted for women. Firstly, it is important to identify moments of intimacy and mutual desire and curiosity between Ursula and Hermione. Intimacy, desire, and curiosity between the two women is initially established in the chapter titled Class-room, in which intimacy between them is established through the subtle ways in which they size each other up, both aware that the other is or has been a love interest of Rupert. During their interaction, Ursula notices that Hermione “seemed to be compelling her, coming very close to her, as if intimate with her; and yet, how could she be intimate?” (Lawrence, 37), Ursula wonders. Hermione’s other interactions with Ursula, such as “turn[ing] with a pleasant intimacy to Ursula” (Lawrence, 43) further the development of mutual curiosity between the women. Ursula’s reciprocation is mentioned when Hermione “looked down at Ursula with that long, detached scrutinising gaze that excited the younger woman” (Lawrence, 39). Ursula’s excitement to Hermione’ scrutiny indicates the reciprocation of curiosity and desire, which is then developed further in the chapter titled Carpeting when Hermione turns to Ursula “with the curious motion of intimacy that seemed to envelop the woman, draw her almost to Hermione’s breast, and which left the others standing apart” (Lawrence, 136). The reference of Hermione’s breast, of drawing Ursula in toward her, and of excluding others from this moment solidifies intimacy between the two women of a kind that others are not granted access to. When Hermione approached Ursula in her bedroom, described “to be bearing down on her, awful and inchoate, making some appeal”(Lawrence, 93), and then “com[ing] near, and her bosom writh[ing]“ (Lawrence, 93), Ursula panics. This moment is interrupted when “Hermione’s maid entered silently and Ursula, overcome with dread, escaped, carried away by powerful impulse” (Lawrence, 93). Descriptions of Hermione coming close to Ursula, as well as the repeated mentioning of her bosom create a sense of intimacy between the women, and Ursula’s panic might be construed as fear of such intimacy.

Thus, there exists a homoerotic intimacy between Hermione and Ursula, much like between Rupert and Gerald. However, while the two men have outlets such as nude wrestling, intellectual conversations, and confiding in others, through which to channel their desire for each other, in the case of Ursula and Hermione, intimacy is channelled through sizing each other up and competing for the same man. In the Class-room scene, it is said that Hermione “knew Ursula as an immediate rival, and the knowledge strangely exhilarated her”, indicating that the jealousy she feels toward Ursula, noticing that Rupert is romantically interested in her, excites her and furthers her desire for Ursula. This excitement is continued as the two women continue to size each other up at various points in the novel, exhilarated by each other as their competition. Thus, since Hermione and Ursula’s intimacy is channelled through competition and mutual desire for the same man, this intimacy and desire are presented through a very male-centred lens. Though they have a similar desire for each other that Rupert and Gerald do, the same outlets for this desire are not available to them, which can be construed as the novel’s commentary on same-sex relationships being gendered and therefore unequal.

There exists an extensive body of discourse on homoeroticism and same-sex interest in Women in Love, and yet most literature seems to focus only on the relationship of Rupert and Gerald, as well as on Lawrence’s own views on such relationships, while Hermione and Ursula’s relationship is not mentioned. Many opinions on the homoerotic male relationship in the novel and interpretations of Lawrence’s own views on it are summarized by Charles L. Ross in his section of the book D. H. Lawrence: The Man Who Lived, titled Homoerotic Feeling in Women in Love: Lawrence’s ‘Struggle for Verbal Consciousness’ in the Manuscripts. Essentially, Ross concludes that Lawrence does not restrict himself in the discussion of heterosexual relationships, but, through the novel’s plot and its revisions, explores it. “Homoerotic feelings, which had been feared and repressed, are now openly discussed and potentially part of a new society. The novel we read, unlike its early versions, is balanced and mutedly hopeful without being complicated or dishonest” (Ross, 182), he writes. With that, Ross concludes that Lawrence is open to the exploration of the male homoerotic relationship, but, in my opinion, what is missing in Ross’ review of existing literature on this subject is the acknowledgement of a female homoerotic relationship that is equally worth considering.

This is perhaps not surprising when we consider what McCallum writes in The “queer limits” in the modern Gothic. As McCallum points out, “the Gothic became a rich literary source for thinking about how sexual differences are inherently relative and unstable. At the same time, however, insofar as the Gothic is still invested in some degree of conventional closure, focused on realistic styles over experimental aesthetics, or otherwise inclined to use form to stabilize meaning, it puts a limit on how much the same-sex content or gender play can radically disrupt any supposed ‘norms’” (McCallum, 73). McCallum continues by stating that “the Gothic can serve as a release valve in the cultural system. … [W]hile the Gothic does frequently offer a feminist critique of patriarchy, it also heeds capitalist norms” (McCallum, 74). Here again we run into the problem of the female subject being on the cusp of modernity and changing norms, yet being haunted by the ghosts of past norms and ideals. This effect is not felt to the same extent on the male same-sex couple of the novel, and so, since it is only the female subject that occupies this in-between space, it can be concluded that females experience constraints on same-sex desire in a way that men do not. Therefore, the female homoerotic relationship between Ursula and Hermione, which I have pointed out in this essay, provides an insight into the uneven progress of same-sex relationships in the time of modernist development - while these relationships are available to both men and women, men have many more outlets for them, while the female homoerotic relationships are restricted, haunted by ghosts of past ideals, and largely center around men.

Works Cited:

Laouar, Nihad. “Ghosts within Us”: A Study of Women Writers of Gothic Modernism, Canterbury Christ Church University (United Kingdom), Ann Arbor, 2019. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/ghosts-within-us-study-women-writers-gothic/docview/2462233868/se-2?accountid=14656.

Lawrence, D. H. Women in Love. Penguin Classics, 2006.

McCallum, E. L. “The ‘Queer Limits’ in the Modern Gothic.” The Cambridge Companion to the Modern Gothic, edited by Jerrold E. Hogle, Cambridge University Press, 2014, pp. 71–86. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=shib&db=mzh&AN=2017100285&site=ehost-live&scope=site. Ross, Charles L. “Homoerotic Feeling in Women in Love: Lawrence’s ‘Struggle for Verbal Consciousness’ in the Manuscripts.” D. H. Lawrence: The Man Who Lived, by Robert B. Partlow, Southern Illinois University Press, 1980, pp. 168–182.