Battle between Husband And Wife A Review on the First Part of

was D.H.Laawrence¡¯s first major novel.His only major novel,some would say.I have finished reading it during the winter holiday.For I am not quite sure that I understand the novel enough to depict the complicated relationship between Paul and his possesive mother,so I would like to pay attention mainly to the Part One of the novel in this review,especially ¡°the battle between husband and wife ¡±.

At the first glance of the book,we find Mr.Morel a coal miner in turn-over-the-century Britain,lives a life of drudgery ,anger and desperation.He takes his frustrations out on his wife Gertrude.But with a deeper look into the internal subtleties of marital relationship.We can see it is both the husband and wife who are suffering and it is the vast differences in the social backgrounds divide them.

Walter and Gertrude encountered in a local dance.Let¡¯s discuss the social background of the two involved first.Gertrude grew up in a steady lower-middle-class family with a strong work ethic and pride in its self-sufficiency.She inherited most of his father¡¯s rigid moral and religious beliefs though she also has her mother¡¯s gentle,humerous streak.As a practising Congregationalists of her day,she disapproves of dancing,frivolity and drink,which Walter is a man of action rather than words.They were both attracted by each other¡¯s difference at their first meet.Gertrude was fascinated by Walter who seemed as a mysterious stranger from another planet to her,rough and vigorous.He,in turn,arouses a passion in her----a woman with class ,culture and education.They married and shared a brief happy union.Then follows the ever-lasting battle.

The first dispute between them was when Gertrude found that they did not own their house. To her puritanical mind,the debt is not only shameful but sinful.In her eyes,it is a Christian duty to be financially responsible and struggling to improve the social rank of one¡¯s family while such concerns are very far from the mind of the fun-loving Walter.The couple began to battle viciously as Gertrude embarked on an almost religious mission to reform herhusband.

Though Lawrence place his sympathy towards Mrs Morel because he truly believed his own mother suffers unjustly at the hands of her crude,unreliable husband.I still hold the view that she is partly blamed for the declining of Morel by expecting him to live up to her ideals rather than accepting him for himself.

Mrs Morel runs the house while her husband bring the money.As a coal miner,he is too tired to be sensitive to other¡¯s needs.Hereby I want to refer to the splendid description of the birth of Paul,Walter is working away at a difficult rock deposit .He curses,and sweated and finally exhausted,must give up the impossible task.Ther is one important difference between Walter¡¯s labor and his wife.While Morel struggles fruitlessly to a cold lifeless rock ,Gertrude¡¯s struggle produces a warm,living child.That illustrates the cause of the unsolvable dispute between the couple and explains the reasons for Morel¡¯s often extreme actions.

Above is my¡¯interpretation¡¯ and understanding of Part One of .