Lawrences Samson and Delilah - Essay Example

Samson and Delilah Order No: 184671 No: of pages: 5 Premium 6530 Twentieth century literature has evolved to a great extent with the influenceof great writers such as David Herbert Lawrence. He was born in a small mining town in England on the 11th of September 1885. His brazen but realistic stories with its sensuous lyrical beauty and signature style, continues to influence writers even today. Lawrence’s “Samson and Delilah”, which is one of his most famous stories and also having a Bible version, took place during the ancient period of Christianity. It is a story based on the Israelites1 and the Philistines2. Lawrence’s short stories are so innovative and always portray a spellbinding array of realistic human situations. “Samson and Delilah” is a classic example of this and written by him with great depth and insight. The story is a beautiful depiction of a tragic love story which revolves around this theme as he meticulously spins magic into it. The beginning of the narrative shows how a young man alights from an omnibus that came from Penzance to St Just-in-Penwith. The man seemed to be in search of something or someone as he speculated on the rows of miners houses that were bathed in the first light of darkness. Lawrence’s writing is very descriptive and vivid in content. For example we could see this vividness in the lines “The lights of many miners cottages3 scattered on the hilly darkness twinkled desolate in their disorder, yet twinkled with the lonely homeliness of the Celtic night”. The stranger was a man in the prime of his life, tall and broad shouldered. He had a Cornish accent and intonation as he wished passing miners goodnight. He wandered into a lonely mining village that he had once known and sought a small inn4 whose lights shone warmly, at the end of the road. It was called the “Tinner’s Rest”. He stopped at the door to listen and heard loud peals of laughter of men and women emanating from within. The young man went in and took stock of the warm inn. Lawrence infuses both sympathy and anger in the hearts of his readers as he narrates the beautiful yet tragic story of “Samson loved Delilah”. He tells of how the man approached the bar and ordered for a glass of wine. The lady had a buxom figure, with dark hair and dark brown eyes and she answered him impatiently because she wanted to return to her game of cards that she had been playing with the other men at a table. The stranger ordered for another glass of wine as he watched the card game. All of a sudden the door opened and four men entered. The lady exclaimed that they looked perished and offered them food and wine. A young girl named Maryann made her appearance from the kitchen and was heartily greeted by the men. The stranger by the fire place watched Maryann with an unabated curiosity and going near her he asked if he could have dinner with her to which she said that she had to ask her mother. Her mother had agreed and so he ordered some cold meat for supper. The landlady was more than curious at the stranger and was also annoyed by his intense scrutiny of her. Whenever she spoke he looked at her with wide clear eyes and she began to get even angrier than before. Lawrence was extremely good at building up the tension in the story as he carries on with the narration. Maryann wished everyone and retreated from the room but the stranger just sat there and refused to move. The land lady became more agitated as she told everyone that she was going to close for the day. She held the door open as the other men retired to rest. Then she approached the stranger and asked him to go as she was closed for the day. But to her surprise he said that he was going to stay there for the night. When she ordered him to go out he came towards her saying that he knew her very well and that she was his wife and Maryann was his daughter. The Landlady stared at him in astonishment and disbelief and said that she had no husband. D.H Lawrence’s skillful treatment of this part of the story is commendable as he plays between the sympathy, anger and regret of his characters. She filled her speech with such sarcasm as she ordered him once again out of the house. But the stranger could not take no for an answer as he told her that he was her rightful husband and hence had all rights to stay in his house. She was not only aghast but beside herself with anger as she determined to gather all her forces and see that this frightful episode came to an end here and now. Of the four soldiers who had dinner at the inn just a few hours ago, one of them was a sergeant who did all the questioning. But both of them were stuck to their guns in holding on to their own story. Then the sergeant took over and asked her if she knew the whereabouts of her husband. As soon as she heard this she began sobbing and crying saying that her husband had left her and Maryann when she was a small baby and he never came back again. She had to fend for herself and the child and went through very difficult days. D.H Lawrence was very proficient in making his readers feel sympathy for Specific characters in his stories, making the tale revolve around a sad or tragic incident. The man was steadfast as said that at no cost he was going to leave this place. The lady became very angry as she implored the soldiers to help her catch and bind him and hand him over to the police. She drew out a plaited grass rope and gave it to them to do the needful. Once again she asked him to be a man and go out of the inn. He was stubborn and refused to go at any cost. With that the woman lunged forward and held the man tightly around in a vindictive grip and called out to the soldiers to help tie him up. The man struggled furtively but was no match for the soldiers. They quickly had him bound hand and foot and decided to carry him outside the inn and set him free. Lawrence gives his readers a sense of hopelessness and regret as he continues to narrate their tragic story. The soldiers untied him and left the place. He lay there motionless for some time and then gathered his bruised self once again and retraced his steps back to the inn. He was quite surprised to find the door ajar and he went to sit near his wife at the fire place. He tried to make small conversation with her but she did not answer him. After much coaxing and questioning she finally answered him when she asked if this was the act of a decent man. He had no proper words to explain that it was indeed not. He told her that he did miss her so much and always enquired about her from the others. Saying what a fine woman she was, he drew close to her and began caressing her telling her that she can never deny that she was his lawful wife. “Samson and Delilah” is considered by most as one of the captivating of human tragedies ever written in literary circles and Lawrence should get full credit being its author. Some of the other famous works of D.H Lawrence are “Lady Chatterleys Lover” (1928) “Sons and Lovers (1913), Women in Love (1921) and besides these, his other works include plays, poetry, essays, criticism, travel books, and a good number of interesting short stories. From birth Lawrence was a weak and frail child and suffered throughout his life from tuberculosis. In 1930, when he became very sick, he was admitted into a sanatorium in Nice, where he breathed his last at the young age of 44. But even during his short life span he had instigated a revolution in the literary world. References: D.H Lawrence/ A Study of Short Fiction. by Weldon Thornton – Literary Criticism - 1993 - 174 pages D.H Lawrence/ England my England http://www.classicreader.com/read.php/sid.1/bookid.2772/sec.1 Chapters Indigo.ca/ Short Stories www.chapters.indigo.ca/.../9780521352673-item.html Read More