The following passage is from D. H. Lawrence’s 1915 novel, The Rainbow, which focuses on the lives of the
Brangwens, a farming family who lived in rural England during the late nineteenth century. Read the passage
carefully. Then write an essay in which you analyze how Lawrence employs literary devices to characterize the
woman and capture her situation.
It was enough for the men, that the earth heaved
and opened its furrow to them, that the wind blew to
dry the wet wheat, and set the young ears of corn
wheeling freshly round about; it was enough that they
5 helped the cow in labour, or ferreted the rats from
under the barn, or broke the back of a rabbit with a
sharp knock of the hand. So much warmth and
generating and pain and death did they know in their
blood, earth and sky and beast and green plants, so
10 much exchange and interchange they had with these,
that they lived full and surcharged, their senses full
fed, their faces always turned to the heat of the blood,
staring into the sun, dazed with looking towards the
source of generation, unable to turn around.
15 But the woman wanted another form of life than
this, something that was not blood-intimacy. Her
house faced out from the farm-buildings and fields,
looked out to the road and the village with church and
Hall and the world beyond. She stood to see the far-
20 off world of cities and governments and the active
scope of man, the magic land to her, where secrets
were made known and desires fulfilled. She faced
outwards to where men moved dominant and creative,
having turned their back on the pulsing heat of
25 creation, and with this behind them, were set out to
discover what was beyond, to enlarge their own scope
and range and freedom; whereas the Brangwen men
faced inwards to the teeming life of creation, which
poured unresolved into their veins.
30 Looking out, as she must, from the front of her
house towards the activity of man in the world at
large, whilst her husband looked out to the back at sky
and harvest and beast and land, she strained her eyes
to see what man had done in fighting outwards to
35 knowledge, she strained to hear how he uttered
himself in his conquest, her deepest desire hung on
the battle that she heard, far off, being waged on the
edge of the unknown. She also wanted to know, and
to be of the fighting host.
40 At home, even so near as Cossethay, was the vicar,
who spoke the other, magic language, and had the
other, finer bearing, both of which she could perceive,
but could never attain to. The vicar moved in worlds
beyond where her own menfolk existed. Did she not
45 know her own menfolk; fresh, slow, full-built men,
masterful enough, but easy, native to the earth,
lacking outwardness and range of motion. Whereas
the vicar, dark and dry and small beside her husband,
had yet a quickness and a range of being that made
50 Brangwen, in his large geniality, seem dull and local.
She knew her husband. But in the vicar’s nature was
that which passed beyond her knowledge. As
Brangwen had power over the cattle so the vicar had
power over her husband. What was it in the vicar, that
55 raised him above the common men as man is raised
above the beast? She craved to know. She craved to
achieve this higher being, if not in herself, then in her
children. That which makes a man strong even if he
be little and frail in body, just as any man is little and
60 frail beside a bull, and yet stronger than the bull, what
was it? It was not money nor power nor position.
What power had the vicar over Tom Brangwen—
none. Yet strip them and set them on a desert island,
and the vicar was the master. His soul was master of
65 the other man’s. And why—why? She decided it was
a question of knowledge.
D.H. Lawrence characterizes a spellbound, romantic woman who wants more than what a man wants. Lawrence uses literary devices to prove this in the excerpt from his novel "The Rainbow." A woman is more than a worker; she has to be a fighter and a lover for herself and children, especially in the early 1900s. The woman Lawrence writes about knows what she wants, and that's more than sowing the land. Lawrence's use of personification, juxtaposition, and parallelism created a character that many women and men can relate to in 1915 and even today as they grow older and find what life means for them.
ReplyDeleteThe excerpt begins with a description of how the men interact with the land. The personification of the traits in their blood, "so much warmth and generating and pain and death," is used to create the men. They are all these "people" put into one due to their love for the land being good enough. Men were content with caring for cows, ferrets, rabbits, and earth. They did not need anything more. Lawrence purposefully includes so much about the men to create a juxtaposition against the woman. She wants a life outside of farmland, something that is not "blood-intimacy." Lawrence even wrote that "Her house... Looked out to the road and the village with church and Hall and the world beyond." The woman is not content with her life the way her husband is. She needs people, God, order and structure, and experience. She needs to have the feeling as if the world is at her fingertips, but she knows it is a long shot.
The vicar plays a huge role in the eyes of the woman. He creates an emotion that is held inside of the woman. She craves for his power and strength, and if she could not have that she hoped her children would. She is comparing herself to the vicar, which develops into a parallelism. The vicar has a certain power over the common man that the woman is unable to place. Her husband knows how to care for the land, but if the vicar and her husband were set on a desert the vicar would be more helpful. She does not understand how his soul can be stronger than her husbands. They were physically equal, but the vicar he God and her husband did not. Although both are knowledgeable men in their are of expertise, her husband is dumb being content with his life. This makes the vicar and the woman parallels. The woman may not know how the vicar is more powerful than her husband but she has the drive to find out. The same exact thing the vicar had to do to create his powerful soul.
The literary devices used in this excerpt allows a reader to vividly see how a woman question life and the meaning of it for her. Lawrence captures the reader's attention by using words that can be connected to easily. His last sentence connects the reader's heart to the piece. What does it mean? Does the woman not feel deserving to question power because of societal opinion? Or does it make her more determined to become more educated? An excerpt only gives so much information, but it can help readers find something they have never thought of before.
Kaitlin,
DeleteI love love loved your first and third paragraphs! I focused on juxtaposition, but the way you drew in the other literary devices really elevated your essay. I really adored the way you explained the woman - it made me understand what you meant on Friday when you talked about how we should examine how the speaker felt. Your essay was far more intimate than mine, which made it both lovely and persuasive as you were pleasantly certain in your point. The comparison between your second and third paragraphs, which focused on the man and the woman separately, I really gained the same feeling I did from the excerpt of them being distant and almost unrelated - hence both of us using juxtaposition. What immediately drew me into your blog, though, was the line "He creates an emotion that is held inside of the woman." I caught this as I was scanning yours and it hooked me. I thought this was really well written. Excellent job!
Kaitlin,
DeleteI must say that after reading your blog I feel as though my thoughts towards this piece are elementary in understanding what Lawrence was trying to say. I absolutely love how you opened in your first paragraph, you caught my attention with your last line of threat paragraph. As we get closer to graduation day many of us must begin to think, or "find what life means for [us]." That concept was truly inspirational and solidified your view on this piece in my opinion. Your explanation for the juxtaposition between the man and women provided an idea that she is in a sense submissive to her husband. The one thing I must say is that I feel like you lost your momentum when coming into your third paragraph. To me the vicar did not play as big of a role as you made him out to be. I wouldn't necessarily say he "creates" an emotion for her, I'd say that he encouraged her to crave more knowledge. Other than that I fully agree with your closing statement "The literary devices used in this excerpt allows a reader to vividly see how a woman question life and the meaning of it for her." Great blog, Kaitlin.
In this excerpt from D. H. Lawrence’s novel, “The Rainbow,” Lawrence uses the predisposition of the man, Tom Brangwen, to contrast and elevate the character of his wife. The two are juxtaposed to one another – like complimentary colors they intensify the varying characteristics in one another. Lawrence achieves this juxtaposition on an emotional and a geological level as he explains the passions of each as well as the earth that they prefer to set their gaze upon. Through these methods, Lawrence is able to unfold the deep longing hidden within Mrs. Brangwen for something beyond the simple life of a farmer’s wife.
ReplyDeleteLawrence begins this section of his novel with the words “It was good enough for the men” (1). This line immediately implies that what the men of this story prefer is contrary to what some other group prefers. The life Lawrence continues to describe is one of a fervent and old-fashioned laborer who has “helped the cow in labor” (3) and stood “dazed with looking towards the source of generation” (7-8). The man described sees nature as the provider and man as the worker – in his mind the two work in tandem to produce the “warmth and generating and pain and death” (4-5) that make the man’s life satisfactory. But it is not so for the woman. The woman does not face the sun, the woman faces “the road and the village with church and Hall and the world beyond” (10-11).
Unlike the man, the woman is dazzled by the advances that mankind make as they fight “on the edge of the unknown” (21). The woman’s “deepest desire” (20) is “not money nor power nor position” (34) but something strange to her – what she believes to be “knowledge” (36). The woman sees this in the vicar of her town. Although he is “dark and dry and small beside her husband” (26-27), the vicar is “raised…above the common men” (30) by the same sort of force that raises “man…above the beast” (30-31). Through this comparison, Lawrence draws a third element, beasts, into his pyramid of comparison. Now the reader is aware, like the woman, that the man is wiser than the beast, but the vicar is even wiser than the man. It is that the woman longs for, and if not for her then for “her children” (32), to be above the average man. All of this the woman thinks with her back towards the fields and her face towards what she sees as “freedom” (15) from the life of a farmer’s wife.
With the woman, Lawrence creates a deeper sense of longing that leaves the man seeming shallow and content with a mediocre life. By doing this, the man elevates the position of the woman who is hungry for “knowledge” (36) rather than “blood-intimacy” (9). Lawrence makes this even more pronounced by comparing the difference to man and beast to the difference between a simple laborer and an intellectual – the intellectual becomes the “master” (36). Because of the woman’s attraction to this position in the spiritual hierarchy she is presented as the more passionate and restless character in the excerpt. Lawrence is able to capture this through the many juxtapositions he employs throughout the paragraph.
Ann,
DeleteI get you completely. I feel like we wrote about similar ideas. I absolutely love that you compared the wife and her husband to complimentary colors. That's spot on. The way you included the vicar in your blog intrigued me. You probably didn't mean to do this, but I felt like the vicar had become the beast and the common man that rises above the beast. I find him to be both after reading what you wrote. You see, the vicar overcomes the common man which overcomes the beast, but the vicar is the beast for making this woman believe that she needs to be the vicar or more-so her children. I don't know if that makes sense because it kind of doesn't make sense to me, but I think I know what I'm saying. I don't know anything anymore. Haha. Anyways, great blog!
Ann,
DeleteThis was a really great analysis of this passage. I'll admit that this was one I wasn't very comfortable with and reading your blog helped me to see things from a different post of view. I like how you brought in the "pyramid" of comparisons that he made between man, beast, and the vicar who kind of represented knowledge of the unknown. I really focused on the vicar in mine and just how drawn to him the woman was because of his ability to speak the "magic language" which I found to be interesting, because he could not have been speaking any crazy thing, but just the words that came out of his mouth seemed like magic to her because they were new ideas, something she hadn't experienced in a while. Your last paragraph really cements your analysis and draws everything to a conclusive end while tying all of the loose strings back into the story and leaving your reader with a complete sense of understanding of your ideas. Good work!
Ann,
DeleteI liked how you focused on the juxtaposition between the men working on the farm and the woman who wants something more. I really admire all of usages from the passage you implemented into your post. It really allows for a better idea of how you are relating the passage to your analysis. For some reason the woman in the passage reminds me of you. She is searching for knowledge amidst people who only long to work in the fields. You are constantly looking to learn something new among people in school who would much rather be doing anything else. Overall, this blog was pretty amazing. Great work!
In D. H. Lawrence’s 1915 novel, The Rainbow, the woman's situation is quite a unique point to focus on, which is key to understanding this passage. The woman in this piece shows not only an intellectual side, but also a religious understanding that proves to be very complex in nature. The woman and the man act as polar opposite, such as light and dark, fire and water, or yin and yang; in a way they balance each other while opposing each other.
ReplyDeleteThe major tools that Lawrence uses in this excerpt is the imagery depicting the farm life of the woman, and the personification of the . A majority of the first few lines are essentially setting a farm scene in England, such as "the earth heaved and opened its furrow to them", "the wind blew to dry the wet wheat", and "the young ears of corn wheeling freshly round about." These few lines give the base description of the rural farm landscape. This ultimately gives the reader the sense that she is an isolated individual on this outskirts of a city. Especially since when she stands on her front porch she looks off into the distance "to see the far off world of active cities" all of which in her mind are run by men. This ideal shows she somewhat imprisoned by her beliefs of the world run by men. More importantly the characters are not properly named, they are merely referred to as her husband, himself, etc.
This act of dehumanization does not allow the reader to become firmly acquainted with either character, instead it opens the reader to what is actually occurring. The woman is arguing in a sense that this is a man run world. She shows that she is not only arguing this point, but also the point of why are men dominant in this world? This concept is supported as she ponders how men in the cities get their " secrets known and desires fulfilled." Then she also wonders how the vicar is set so high above "common men." All of these questions not only lead the reader to believe this unnamed woman is not only intelligent, but she is also very knowledgable of religion. Her husband on the other hand is more concerned with the crops in the field, and is considered to be a very physical being. In a sense these two are complementary aspects of brain versus brawn. For she appears to be the more intellectual of the two, and the man seems to be more focused on the physical labor.
In a sense this woman situation is being secluded on this farm with her husband, when she has this desire/craving for more knowledge. The author in this particular excerpt seems to have dehumanized the woman and man to make their situation known. Although not much is given to describe their physical being, there is enough to composite an idea of what they are like. This ultimately makes the reader believe that these two characters compliment each other like light and dark, or brain and brawn.
Devyn,
DeleteWhen I read the blog assignment for this week, I knew I wanted to comment on yours because, as you said, it is critical to look at it from the woman’s point of view rather than the man looking at a woman’s view. Due to the fact that you are the only male in the class, which I give you a lot of credit on putting up with us, I was excited to read your thoughts on the piece and assignment. I really enjoy how you mentioned both the religious and intellectual aspects of the work because I think it would not be the same without one of the two. I don’t know if I would say that the man and woman are polar opposites, but I can see where you are coming from. They are rather different from each other but for the better. Maybe it’s just me not looking enough into the work, but I never thought of her as being isolated like she was outside of a town with no way to get in. I’m really glad you mentioned that though because it made me read back over the piece with that perspective and I got something completely different out of it. I think that is what makes this, and pieces of literature similar to it, so great; they can be interrupted in different ways. Good work this week!
Devyn,
DeleteThis was a really thought out blog post! You definitely understood the passage yet you analyzed it with your keen sense of picking out unique aspects of the work. The literary devices you mentioned were good and you explained fairly well. I thought it was interesting how you talked about the characters having general terms to describe them instead of actual names. This point really opened your blog to a more global thinking about men dominating the world. I liked how you went about the questions the woman poses in the passage. Overall, this was a wonderful blog. Great work this week!
Devyn,
DeleteAfter reading this weeks blog post , I knew immediatly I would be commenting on yours due to gender differences and opinions. I always look forward to seeing your opinion and how it compares to mine as well as the rest of the classes, due to us all being girls. I must admit, however, I was honestly shocked reading your post this weekend. I don't mean shocked in a bad way either, so please don't take it that way! I guess I was just caught off gaurd. I was expecting you to be favorable towards the man, as most of us seemed to favor the woman. Rather than that, you seemed to almost "take the womans side," even more than the rest of us had! I think that you really took alot of the gender roles to the extreme. While I don't agree with all of the points you made in regards to the man vs. female concept, I still do respect them. I am not sure that I would necesssarily say that the woman herself was "imprissoned." I think she knows that she can leave, but knows she isnt really supposed to. I think her struggle to escape is more of a mental one than a literal one. Also, I wondered about the namelessness as well. However, I'm not so sure that the purpose was to dehumanize, although it is deffinately possible! I know that in alot of literature, woman often dont have names because they were viewed as objects or accessories to the novel rather than full-developed characters. It is important to remember though that we are only reading an excerpt of the novel though, so it is quite possible that these people actually did have names. But then again, it is completely possible that they didnt, with intentions of dehumanization. It really could go either way, and that is a really interesting way to view it, and I enjoyed it along with the rest of your blog. Very thought-provoking!
That comment was alot longer than I thought it was. Haha, sorry. Nice blog, too, Devyn!
Delete“The Rainbow” is a novel written by D.H. Lawrence in 1915. The novel itself focuses on the farming family, the Brangwens. The excerpt included in the blog is mainly focused on the woman of the Brangwens, as D.H. Lawrence used multiple literary devices to compare the woman to the men. Throughout this specific excerpt, I myself noticed a lot of parralellism, symbolism, along side a lot of very vivid descriptions.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the excerpt, it remains unknown wether the speaker was a woman, or one of the men. Female, or male. This does a great deal in the comparison between the two to make excerpt as well as the comparison itself appear to be honest and unbiased. Due to this, I think that the reader and the audience can trust the speaker, whoever they may be.
The woman herself, in my opinion, can be compared to the description of “wanderlust.” The woman is constantly longing for more, and is not comfortable in the land that the man are more than content in. There is a lot of parallelism used to compare the woman with the men. Where the men are “unable to look away” from the farm life, where as the woman has a hard time forcing herself to focus on farm life. Just because it was “good enough for the men,” doesn't mean it was good enough for her. It wasn’t good enough for her. However, this is just the begging of the the comparison as the woman and the mens preferences, likes, and dislikes continue to be compared throughout the entire post.
Symbolism is another literary device that is used a lot as well. The men themselves are described as actions rather than adjectives. This really stood out to me. I thought that this really showed how gender roles go. Typically, men are associated with hard work and labor, and I believe this has a lot to do with the reason that their hard work and labor were used to describe them. Honestly I was a bit surprised when I noticed this, but then again I wasn’t all that shocked, especially given the time period that this was written in. Gender roles and assumptions were very strong during this time period.
Going back to my idea of the woman tied in with “wanderlust,” I think that the vivid descriptions used are what really enforced this idea for me. The woman is wanting something more. The woman doesn't just describe life on the farm, she describes the life she wishes she has as well in the far off land with “government”, “creation,” and “freedom.” I honestly wasn't a fan of this except itself, but I really could appreciate all of the descriptions given.
I know that this weeks prompt wasn't to give a general analysis, but rather a specific analysis on the literary devices, but I couldn't help but to share my analysis of the passage as a whole. Throughout the passage, I saw a woman who felt trapped around people she couldn't understand, and didn't understand her. Don’t we all feel that way sometimes? I feel like she felt as if she didn't belong there, and was mentally searching for an escape, somewhere where she could blend right in. Don’t we all feel that way sometimes, too? This goes back to gender roles and such, but reading this made me think of a Marilyn Monroe quote. (Judge me, I don't care. I love Marilyn Monroe!) “I don't mind living in a man's world, as long as I can be a woman in it.” I think the woman's problem was, she was living in a mans world where it was made almost impossible to “be a woman.”
Felicia,
DeleteWhile your whole blog was good your last paragraph evoked the most thought from me, especially your use of Marilyn Monroe's quote. It led me to wonder this - did the woman in this excerpt feel as if she could not be a woman in this man's world, or was it more that she was discontent with the role of a woman in this man's world. I think that laboring men like the ones described her treat their women like the stereotypical wife - they love her and provide for her, but her job is to care for the children and have dinner on the table and the house clean when he comes in from the field. I relate to this woman because I couldn't do that! She is basically chained to the house. I think the reason she doesn't like to look at the field is because it is both part of the house and symbolic of her husband's mentality while the outside world bears radical ideas of single women forging their own paths in life. For the woman, the vicar is an image of experience. She feels as if he has gone all the places and done all the things that she will never get to do because of her husband's lifestyle, hence her wanting better for her children. Anyway, I love that your blog made me consider this, and even though you seem to have felt as if your last paragraph crossed the boundaries of our prompt it was the one that really got me to reconsider how the woman felt, especially in relation to the man. Lovely work this week!
Felicia,
DeleteI have to agree with Ann. Your blog was very well put together and I really enjoyed the different things you found. I didn’t really think about some of them. What you said in the last paragraph about the woman being trapped in a world where people didn’t understand her and she didn’t understand them reminded me of something I wrote in one of my papers last year. It is from the “Prayer of St. Francis,” To be understood, as to understand. It’s really true especially when I analyze things like “The Rainbow.” I don’t know if I agree with her just wanting blend in, but I can see where you are coming for. I almost feel as if she was longing for something more than the life she currently possessed. That quote fit perfectly in with this blog and I am so happy you mentioned it. I’m not judging; I also like Marilyn Monroe and believe that, even though she did some questionable things, has a lot to teach us. Good work this week!
D.H. Lawrence uses several literary devices in the excerpt from his novel “The Rainbow.” These devices are not as apparent to the average reader as other works are. For example, the author uses tone throughout the piece to describe a longing and a disposition for something better than the typical life a man leads. The woman believes that she deserves as much if not more than any man and does not desire to have that be all like “It was enough for the men” (1).
ReplyDeleteThe piece opens up with strong imagery. The author writes about the scenery and the physical appearance of the surrounding in the hopes of allowing the reader to depict the beauty around the woman. She did not want “something that was not blood-intimacy” (16). She did not want the wheat blowing in the wind or the corn twirling about. The imagery depicts the woman’s surroundings and everything she does not want.
The description of the landscaping and scenery enveloping the woman helps to lay a foundation for the tone of the piece. At the beginning, the author describes how the world is enough for man. However, line 15 begins a whole other mood. The woman begins to almost degrade the men saying how she wants more from her world and the life she is living. She begins to say how she wants to be treated the same as the men because she is fully capable of doing the same things as they are.
The tone then shifts again and there begins to be a sense of push and pull. The author brings in a husband figure and commences a comparison between the two. The vicar plays critical role in the work. She is describes as dark and dull but yet quick witted. At the beginning of the work, the men are mentioned as being closely in with the cattle. The woman describes it just as the men “had power over the cattle so the vicar had power over her husband” (53). Men controlled other men and had their thoughts pondered and debated repeatedly. The woman controls her own emotions, fears, talents, and way of life. She said that if she could gain the strength and knowledge to be equal to men, she would hope to obtain that knowledge for her children.
The woman in the excerpt is very passionate about her desires and attempts to gain the knowledge necessary to achieve those wants. She says “what power had the vicar over Tom Brangwen— none.” Although she knows she is more than likely going to be unable to achieve her goals, she states “yet strip them and set them on a desert island, and the vicar was the master.” This really tells that when it comes down to it, the woman knows where she stands; she is just striving for a better life for her children. Why does she even bother trying though when so many before her have failed? “She decided it was a question of knowledge.”
Jessica,
DeleteThe imagery does start out strong, however I didn't really feel like it emphasized anything of great importance besides the fact that it sets the scene. I really want to acknowledge how you mentioned the last line of the excerpt. I personally don't believe the woman feels like her goals will be achieved. Instead, that last line is saying "I'm not intelligent enough to say whether my children will be above average citizens of society." She kind of blows it off like "Oh, well. Not for me to say." I just don't think you took that the right way, but I could be wrong. I didn't even think about tone as a literary device. You supported it strongly. Great job!
Jess,
DeleteThis was an interesting take on the passage. You and I focused on different things about this paragraph, and I'm glad I got to read your opinion on it because I found it to be very enlightening.i really like how you focused on the woman specifically and how she was unhappy, but especially how she compared the men to cattle and the men to the vicar. This was a big part of the passage I think and while our ideas may have been different, I still found your take on it to be interesting and thought provoking. Your last paragraph was cool too, I enjoyed the last few lines about how all she wanted was a better life for her kids. I think that lots of parents find themselves to be in that position, and why would she be any different. Good work this week.
D. H. Lawrence’s 1915 novel, "The Rainbow," portrays the Brangwen family. This short passage demonstrates the different views of the woman and the men of the family. In doing this, Lawrence creates a juxtaposition to reveal the true feelings of the woman, alongside the use of other literary devices such as intense imagery and parallelism.
ReplyDeleteLawrence begins the passage with strong imagery to depict the everyday lifestyle of the Brangwen men. The labor appears to be rough and designed for those with a will to work and the physical strength to suffer through it. The imagery also allows the reader to understand how forceful the work needed to survive and how unfitting it would be for a woman. Every detailed description of life on the farm is set up to be incriminated of barring the woman from experiencing what she wants to enjoy. The juxtaposition placed in the passage provides an opportunity for the woman's circumstance to exploit her longing to be something else. The men are clearly innovated to remain in this line of duty, but the woman needs to find something that does not revolve around "blood-intamacy." It is noted in the passage that the woman stood facing the world outside of her family's traditional farm and saw "where secrets were made known and desires fulfilled." On the other hand, the woman turned around and saw where her family stayed and followed in the footsteps of their ancestors. She simply wants more than what her family can offer her.
Parallelism reigns through the life of the vicar. The woman yearns for the chance to live like the vicar with her ability to leave her family name and journey to new lands. It is important that Lawrence included this parallelism to show that it is possible for the woman to fulfill her darkest wants. The woman needs to have some kind of hope provided that things will work out the way she wants them to.
The woman in this passage is stuck in a never ending cycle. Just as the men in her family wake every day just to complete the same tasks, she is left wishing for a better life that would suit her. The woman stands on the outskirts of the Brangwen family because she is different. While her family looks towards the ground that keeps them alive, the woman seeks the refuge of something more.
"The Rainbow" follows the brave journey of the Brangwen family of relying on their farm for a means of survival. The woman in the story is possessed to escape the routines of her family and to live as the vicar does. Lawrence utilizes literary devices like imagery, juxtaposition, and parallelism to develop the woman and her situation. It is obvious that the woman is handed the decision of leaving her home or living a life that does not meet her standards. The passage provided leaves the reader lusting for more as to how the woman goes about her situation.
(I decided to write this blog like how I would write it for the test. I actually set a timer for 40 minutes and I went by the notes I took during the first five or so minutes. I really hope I analyzed at least some of it correctly or even answered the prompt. I'm not even going to read it over before posting since my time ran out as I finished the last sentence, so, please, don't judge me haha.)
Natalie,
DeleteWow! First off, i just want to say that I thought it was very smart of you to treat this blog just as you would the test, right down to the 40 minute time limit! That makes for excellent practice for the test, on which I am sure you will do amazing! I also loved your honestly at the end, saying you wouldnt even read it over because your time ran out. That really shows alot about your work ethic and how seriously you take your education. You are such an amazing student, and a bit off topic but one of the most amazing human beings I know in general!
Anyway, focusing on your blog, there was no need to worry about this being off prompt. I thought it was amazing! I never would have guessed that you had spent only 40 minutes on this, as it is very well structured with locigal points and excellent literary devices that you did an amazing job at explaining. You were confident in what you were saying, and that really made such an impact! I know I have the problem of saying "i think" alot. If you doubt yourself, others will, too! You, however, were very confident, all for the better I promise! I agree with what you said in your blog as well, that the woman wanted more than they could offer her on the farm. Great blog this weekend, Natalie!
D.H. Lawrence creates in his novel, The Rainbow, a clear juxtaposition between the men and woman of the Brangwens family, a family whose lives were defined by the earth around them and the living they made from it. The woman of the group wished for something more than what she currently had. She wanted something beyond the life of a farmer, beyond the satisfaction that creating brought for the men. She desired to achieve something beyond the life the men were content with. She was intrigued with the vicar and his power that was from an intangible source. She wanted a better life for her children, she wanted that power and satisfaction for them.
ReplyDeleteThere is an obvious juxtaposition of the men and woman in this passage from The Rainbow. The men are content in their lives, satisfied with working the fields every day, dealing with creation in its rawest state. The first line of the passage states, "It was enough for the men" which really describes how they felt about that life. They were content with what they had found in the earth, and in the "source of generation, unable to turn around." However, the woman was not content with this, she often looked "outwards to where men moved dominant and creative, having turned their back on the pulsing heat of creation" away from the farmhouse where the men worked and lived in satisfaction. She desires the land where men now worked with the mysteries of the world, trying to discover what was beyond, not that she truly knows what that is. The men are happy with the "blood-intimacy" in which they lived, but the woman was not. She desired a life that was more intimate with knowledge than the workings of blood and life.
This woman is fascinated with the power that the vicar contains in his seemingly small and weak body. What makes this man have power over her husband, a man who is part of a family of "fresh, slow, full-built men, masterful enough, but easy, native to the earth, lacking outwardness and range of motion", a man who, with his physical strength should hold dominance over this small, physically weak man. But she discovers that knowledge is what gives him the power over her husband, and she is drawn to it. Not because she strives for dominance over him, but more because she wants to provide a better life for her children, one where they can be a part of the "magic land" that she pictured from her front porch when she stared off away from the farm buildings. Her desire, and the realization of this desire causes the reader to see that she might be alright with her situation, but she is just frustrated with it enough to want to escape.
Toward the end of the passage the author poses quite a few questions that really finalize the idea that this woman had come to realize. She now sees that while her husband might be one of the superior men based on his physical stature and the worldly goods that he had, this vicar had many more opportunities for power, namely in the name of knowledge and intelligence. He spoke the "magic language" and it was her uncontested thought that "his soul was the master of the other man's," which she finally determines to be a "question of knowledge". This woman has begun to realize that the life that she is living is not the one that she wants to pass on, and so she is working to change that for her children, and she desires knowledge, the knowledge past that of creation and blood intimacy, more about the things beyond what she knows and what the Brangwens know.
Hannah,
DeleteI must say that I did not get any of that. I actually had to go back to reread the story to understand where you were coming from in your first two paragraphs. Your concepts are understandable however, I don't quite grasp your third paragraph about the vicar. After rereading that part I still don't see what you are saying. Yes, she craves knowledge, but I don't quite understand how he shows it to her. Also, I don't see how she wants it to control her husband. It is quite unique how different your view is in comparison with mine, and that's one thing I love about literature/these blogs. Perhaps you can explain it to me another time; well Hannah, I look forward to the next.