Women In Love

Rupert, upset about Ursula’s comment that she felt like he was bullying her into marriage, goes to see Gerald. Rupert’s arrival at Shortlands improves Gerald’s mood. He shares his existential crisis (a feeling of ennui) with Rupert, who suggests that Rupert release his anger by hitting something. Rupert says he never boxed but learned a little Japanese wrestling (jiu-jitsu) and can teach Gerald. Gerald has his butler bring food and drinks. Then he tells the butler to make sure they are not disturbed.

They strip off their clothes, and Rupert teaches Gerald some wrestling moves. Rupert is tall and wiry while Gerald is thicker, which Rupert finds beautiful. Gerald turns red with exertion, though Rupert does not. They wrestle until they are exhausted and barely conscious. Rupert collapses on top of Gerald and slowly regains his senses.

When they can speak again, Gerald notes that he is stronger, but Rupert is more skilled. After Rupert moves his body off of Gerald’s, they hold hands. Eventually, they release their hands, make drinks, and dress. They talk about how it is important to be physically intimate, as well as mentally and spiritually intimate, with male friends. Rupert compliments Gerald’s beauty, and Gerald says Rupert helped lift his mood.

Rupert tells Gerald about his proposal to Ursula, and Gerald is shocked to hear that she felt bullied into it. Rupert says he will ask again later. Gerald wishes for true love but isn’t sure he will ever find it; he is seeking fulfillment or meaning in life but has no direction.

Gudrun travels to London to exhibit her art. Winnie writes to her while she is away, describing her new pieces of faience (fine French pottery) and how she misses Gudrun. She also writes that Gerald wants to put a studio over the stables for Gudrun to work and live in with Winnie. Gudrun considers this a better opportunity than working at the grammar school.

As the residents of Shortlands prepare for Gudrun’s return, Gerald tells Winnie that she should get Gudrun flowers. She composes an elaborate arrangement from their garden and gives them to Gudrun when she returns. Gudrun is delighted and kisses Winnie. Thomas tells Gudrun he’s happy that she returned; she could have stayed away longer because her show got positive reviews in the London papers.

Thomas’s illness is getting worse. Gudrun offers to tutor Winnie in exchange for residence in the studio, but Thomas becomes too weak to continue their conversation. Though other family and household members stay close to Thomas during this time, Gerald does not want to be around his dying father.

After the studio is completed, Gudrun and Winnie move in. This gives them some time away from Thomas’s declining health, his growing staff of nurses, and his constant visitors. Winnie still visits him three times a day in his room. Thomas has not yet accepted his death and wants to know that his son is concerned about him. However, Gerald remains distant.

Thomas meets with Gudrun one last time. He asks about her relationship with Winnie, and she says they are getting along well. She reassures him that she likes the studio and that Winnie is a talented artist. Gudrun lies to him, saying she is happy with her life. She admires Thomas’s fortitude and refusal to succumb to death.

One day, Rupert arrives to pick up Gerald, Gudrun, and Winnie in the car. Winnie sits up front with him while Gerald sits in the back with Gudrun. He asks if Rupert has any news about his marriage proposal. Rupert asserts that he wants to marry Ursula but repeats that he feels he is above conventional love. Privately, Gerald and Gudrun discuss how Rupert wants an ideal of love rather than Ursula herself. Rupert cannot hear them over the car’s engine but feels something is going on behind him. When it begins to rain, Rupert puts the roof on the car.

After the car ride, Gerald goes to the train station, and the others separate before meeting for tea at Rupert’s place. Hermione ends up there first, followed by Ursula. They dislike one another because of their mutual interest in Rupert and their opposite personalities: Hermione thinks Ursula is overly emotional, and Ursula thinks Hermione is too obsessed with knowledge. Ursula tells Hermione that Rupert proposed to her, but she is not sure if she wants to marry him. She does not want to submit to him, while Hermione longs to. They argue about the marriage until Rupert arrives.

Rupert enters and greets the women. Ursula feels awkward with Hermione and Rupert and wishes Gudrun and Winnie would arrive. Hermione talks about going to Florence and loving Italy. Ursula interrupts, asking how Hermione became interested in Italy, and Hermione explains that she lived there during her childhood and that her mother died in Florence.

During the awkward pause that follows, Rupert rings the bell for tea. The cat, Mino, comes in, and Hermione coos over it in Italian. Rupert and Hermione referencing their shared past makes Ursula feel like an outsider. Hermione demonstrates her power over the cat by presenting it with cream, then withholding it. Ursula thinks this is bullying behavior and leaves. As she walks down the road, she doesn’t care that her actions might be perceived as rude.

Rupert picks up Ursula from the grammar school in his car. He surprises her by presenting her with three rings, only one of which fits on her ring finger. Ursula is happy with the gift, but her mood changes when Rupert says he is having dinner at Shortlands with Hermione. They stop the car to argue. Rupert insists that things are over between him and Hermione and thinks Ursula is being needlessly jealous. Ursula calls him a liar, throws the rings at him, and walks up the road, telling him to leave her alone.

Rupert picks up the rings and cleans the mud off them. Eventually, Ursula returns and offers him a flower she found. They embrace and kiss while sharing vows of love for one another. Ursula takes the rings back, and Rupert feels happy.

They arrive at an inn near Southwell Minster and have tea. In front of the fire, Ursula kneels before Rupert and performs a sexual act on him. Afterward, they discuss leaving their jobs and traveling someplace warm. They ask the waiter to bring them paper, which they use to write their resignation letters. They decide to send their letters at different times to keep their affair a secret from their coworkers.

After they leave, Rupert says he won’t have dinner with Hermione. Instead, he suggests they spend the night in the car, which has seats that can be laid flat. She agrees, and they send a telegram to her father, saying she’s spending the night in town. Rupert gets some refreshments from a shop nearby, and they drive to Sherwood Forest, where they park amid the trees and make love.

Gerald now visits his father regularly, as his condition has become worse. He also frequently visits Gudrun in the studio and eventually invites her to dinner. Winnie joins them, and when Winnie announces she is going to bed, Gudrun says she should leave as well. Gerald asks her to stay, and they go to the library to smoke and talk about Thomas’s failing health; Gerald thinks he won’t make it through the night. Mrs. Crich enters the library and says she is worried about Gerald and doesn’t want him to witness his father’s death. Gerald assures her that he is okay and wants to stay until the end. He walks Gudrun home and on the way confesses that he wants to be with her. They kiss under a bridge, but Gudrun prevents them from having further intimacy. She allows Gerald to walk her part of the way home and then bids him goodnight.

The next day, Gudrun sends a note telling Gerald that she is ill, and Gerald replies that he misses her. The following day, Thomas passes away. The family, especially Mrs. Crich, is distraught. Gerald stays in for the rest of the day and does not contact Gudrun to tell her the news.

After the “detestable” (337) funeral, Gerald listens to his siblings exchange niceties about their father. Winnie leaves the group and goes to the studio, wishing Gudrun would come by. One of her sisters, Laura, takes her to London. Gerald remains at the house after the others leave. He isolates himself from his family, and on the third day, he sets off on a walk. He goes to the mill, but Rupert is not there. He then walks along a road past the grammar school and Willey Green Church to the gravesite, but it does not help resolve his grief. He decides he needs to see Gudrun. After getting directions from a drunken miner, Gerald finds his way to the Brangwen house, where he sees Rupert and Ursula talking in the garden.

Gerald slips into the house unnoticed and finds Gudrun in her room. It is dark, and as he gropes around, he accidentally touches her breast. She lights the candle, realizes it is him, and they have sex. Afterward, Gerald falls blissfully asleep, but Gudrun realizes they do not have a future together. She remains awake, waiting until morning so she can wake Gerald up. She wakes him around 5:00 a.m., and he does not want to get up. Eventually, she convinces him to get up before the rest of the house wakes. Gerald gets dressed—his clothes and boots are muddy from the previous day—and Gudrun tells him to keep his muddy boots off until he gets downstairs. They kiss, then pass silently through the kitchen. There, Gerald puts on his boots, and Gudrun lets him out the back door. At the gate, they kiss again, and he leaves. Gudrun goes back to bed, finally able to sleep.

The Brangwen family prepares to move into town, away from Beldover. Meanwhile, Ursula is a week away from leaving her job at the grammar school. Rupert gets the application for a marriage license, but Ursula still has not given him a response to his proposal. Later, Gerald and Rupert talk about Rupert’s upcoming marriage; Gerald is excited for him and considers whether he should marry Gudrun. Rupert thinks Gerald shouldn’t marry her because Gerald does not believe in marriage; however, Gerald doesn’t know what else to do.

Rupert suggests that they should value male friendships as much as marriage, but Gerald argues that the sexual bond between husbands and wives is stronger than platonic love between men. While Gerald is willing to give in to the social pressure of marriage, he isn’t willing to accept Rupert’s vow of love between friends.