Idea of Rebellion in The Virgin and the Gipsy by D. H. Lawrence - Book Report/Review Example

Discuss the Idea of Rebellion in The Virgin and the Gipsy by D. H. Lawrence and A Hand Full of Dust by Evelyn Waugh It is widely known that literature, as a specific discipline of art and humanities, encompasses within its scope a detailed picture of the development of human civilization from socio-historical and socio-cultural perspective. Due to this reason, scholars, artists and humanists widely consider literature as one of the primary sources of social documentation. However, the scope of this discipline does not only remain limited as one of the primary sources of social document; rather the independent voice of artists often has helped in orienting common people’s outlook to the affairs occurring around them. In different ages, at different points of time artists of literature have pointed out the inherent wrongs and oppressions of various social institutions against spontaneity of life and common people. The novels of D.H. Lawrence and Evelyn Waugh reassert the same rebellious voice. Rebellion is regarded by political scientists, sociologists and humanists as a spontaneous social process, which essentially helps in deconstructing certain social evils and lead to germination of a new social order, aimed at welfare of the common people. Claude Emerson Welch has opined rebellion as a process which testifies “to the inability of members of a political system to resolve issues peacefully. Directed against those widening the levels of control, or against agents of a resented economic or social order, rebellion shows something is not well in the state….it suggests shortcomings in the conduct of political affairs, often intensified by economic pressures or cultural conflicts” (Welch 1980, p.1). Despite the fact, that opinion of the concerned scholar is technically very correct and does not really suit in the present context of discussion, however, essence of this definition clearly indicates the general reason behind rebellious upheaval in any social, cultural, political and economic context. It clearly elaborates the fact that angst and reaction of inhabitants in a specific socio-cultural context receives a wide and spontaneous expression through rebellion. Literature is one of the most important mediums that provide such reaction a strong foundation both morally and ideologically. The Virgin and the Gipsy by D.H. Lawrence and A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh conspicuously represent the truth behind such observation. Authors of both these novels have not only raised their rebellious voice against convention form of social existence but women have emerged in their novels as entities that have provided special focus on individualism, going beyond the realm of orthodox socio-cultural discourse. Women as individual entity: The conventional ideas of social construction regard women as subservient to men and do not recognize them as individual entities. Voices regarding women freedom and individualization have been raised in different ages but those were not strong enough so that the conventional social outlook regarding position of women could have been altered. Prior to the time of D.H. Lawrence and Evelyn Waugh, the entire socio-cultural outlook regarding position of women was almost same but since the Victorian era, through writings of women novelists, the issue of women liberalization was increasingly becoming a matter of serious concern. Finally, radical change in the conventional socio-cultural outlook, introduced by the Great War I, during the inception of 20th century, provided the aspect of women liberty and individualization with an extremely strong support that was never heard before. Despite the fact that conventional social structure was not entirely in agreement with such metamorphosis, however, indication for changes in favor of women liberalization was gradually becoming explicit. Backdrop of both these novels have been has been set during such time when the entire Western society was undergoing through a process of dynamic change, ignoring all those aspects that attempted to retain the traditional structure of male hierarchy. The voice of rebellion, which very strongly flows in The Virgin and the Gipsy and A Handful of Dust, ultimately subdues the dominating stature of patriarchy against feminine spontaneity and the theme of social equality. D.H. Lawrence, both as an author and as a humanist, has always accepted the fact that without equal participation of women, proper social welfare is not possible. This aspect has always been reflected in his creative works and through his writing he has always expressed an explicit support as well as empathy for those women, who wised to see themselves as individual entities. His writing to Cynthia Asquith, “I very much want you to tell me what you think, because it is a question for the women of the land now to decide: the men will never see it.” … or his letter of Katherine Mansfield, “I do think a woman must yield some sort of precedence to a man, and he must take this precedence” clearly speak on behalf of his rational support for women (Lawrence; Simpson 1982, p. 65-66). The spontaneity of woman emotion has always received a special focus in his creations and in The Virgin and the Gipsy this aspect sets immediate backdrop of the novel. Elopement of the vicar’s young wife with another man, desolating her children, though evoked a great deal of scandalous discussion but implicit sarcastic tone of the author against such discussion showed his empathy, “Only the pious said, she was a bad woman. While some of the good women kept silent. They knew” (Lawrence 1996, p. 3). Vicar’s wife, as she has emerged through the author’s portrayal, is definitely such a human being, who wises to live her life in her own ways and refuses to submit before patriarchal “self-righteousness” of which the vicar becomes a perfect representative. Her spontaneous desire to survive, retaining her individual identity as a human being, remains uncompromised and impression of such uncompromising nature has been made evident by the author through emphasis over the aspect of her deprivation of her children from motherly love. The traditional, patriarchal social structure is habituated to regard a woman in conventional roles of mother, daughter or family caretaker. Elopement of the vicar’s wife represents a shocking defiance against such traditional approach. This issue of defiance has been made even more explicit as the author has made implicit comparison of the character against other traditional women figures that emerge as stereotypical product of patriarchy, namely, Granny and Aunt Cissie. Granny’s was so dependent on her counterpart that in his absence she fails to sleep alone and this dependence does not seem to generate out of mutual love, as she criticizes her husband’s inability if he would have been in her condition, “I have never slept alone. For fifty-four years I have never slept a night without the Peter’s arm round me….but the Peter, … no I don’t think he would have been able to bear up” (Lawrence 1996, p. 11). Flow of the story revolves around Yvette, the younger girl of the vicar, and the author’s medium of conveying rebellion against the established system of restraining emotion of women and their spontaneity. Yvette and her elder sister though were born of one woman but were completely different in nature. The elder one, while reflected the traits of following established rules of social norm, Yvette always had shown the urge to defy it and in that way she was very much similar to her mother. Deep inside her heart she always revolted against the restrictions that her family put before her. She always wished to live freely, both in terms of physical and emotional freedom and her wish to live like a gipsy expresses such spontaneous urge, “Only she lay and wished she were a gipsy. To live in a camp, in a caravan, and never set foot in a house … never look at a church….She hated the rectory, and everything it implied” (Lawrence 1996, p. 27). Establishments, such as, house or church or profession or religion appeared to her as stagnation against her spontaneous desire to live life according to her own terms. Physically her existence within the domain of rules set by Granny, Aunt Cissie and her father was suffocating her. She wished to find certain solace through her elder’s sister’s support but even her sister also lacked the courage to give her adequate emotional support. Her journey towards her emotional fulfillment receives the desired support through her association with the gipsy. David Holbrook identifies the gipsy as a symbol of an unmistakable sexual impulse, “The gypsy represents the libido, the sexual urge, and all the dark forces with which we need to come to terms” (1992, p. 113). However, in the context of the novel, the gipsy is not only a figure of sexual embodiment only but on a broader plain it has become representative of the spontaneous emotional urge of every human being to be in touch with the mystery, the unknown or the unexplored experiences of life. As Yvette was confined within the realms of her social and so-called moral confinement, she was completely unaware about such experiences but the most important aspect of her character is that unlike other women characters surrounding her, she never bowed down before the patriarchal methods of emotional confinement. Her physical association with the gipsy is not only becomes symbol of her emotional freedom but it also represents her desperate rebellion against contemporary social, cultural and religious outlook towards women. Her physical intimacy with the gipsy is a truth that is organically, naturally and spontaneously obvious for any living creature. Compared to their male counterparts, the females have always been restrained from receiving such experience of sensuous pleasure. Yvette, despite being encountered by such oppressions, has never really allowed her spontaneous human spirit to be subservient to the oppressing forces and has emerged as a perfect figure of rebellion when it comes to expression of human emotions, going beyond the scope of time, place and action. It is through her experience of physical association with the gipsy, she has rediscovered herself not only as a representative of womanhood but on a more elaborate plain she has proved herself as a complete human being, who knows to live life according to her own terms. The rebellious voice and aspect of women liberty against traditional social rule have received a different, yet an extremely bold treatment through the creations of Evelyn Waugh. Compared to the time of D.H. Lawrence, Waugh observed the ongoing process of women liberty and individualism from a more close perspective. This is one of the important reasons that in his novels women have emerged as bolder compared to protagonists of D.H. Lawrence’s novels. Evelyn Waugh also has differed from D.H. Lawrence in another aspect: the issue of empathy for women, which is identified in Lawrence’s approach in a quite conspicuous manner, is not explicit in Waugh’s women characters to equal magnitude; rather his women protagonists are more human, with all the essential virtues and vices of human existence and freed from any kind of authoritarian favoritism. However, there is no denial of the fact that women in Waugh’s novel, like that of Lawrence, have also emerged as a very strong medium for the author to convey his liberal voice, directed against conventional norms and regulations of several social institutions. A Handful of Dust is one of the most important of his creations that clearly assert truth behind such observation. Regarding structure of the novel, Robert Reginald Garnett has opined, “The structure of A Handful of Dust in based on a system of emblematic oppositions, representing savage modernity in conflict with traditional civilized values, moral chaos ranged against moral orders” (1990, p. 100). Such series of oppositions or contrasts have been made more conspicuous as in the manner the author has presented his woman protagonist in the novel. It is a general trend of the conventional society that issues such as, values and morality receive a great deal of relaxation when those are associated with male inhabitants. However, the moment it comes to women, the same issues are regarded as parameters for measuring socio-cultural stability and act as set of rules that cannot be violated at any cost. Waugh has liberated his woman protagonist from such constraining forces very deliberately and her dispassionate way of treating his character makes it evident that women are equal like all other human beings existing in a social plain. The trivialities or lack of moral values, which are becoming conspicuous in her nature, is ultimately a result of an entire socio-cultural transformation. In the modern world, “To be a human was to be fallen, that is, self-conscious, self-absorbed, and irremediably alienated from the natural world. Despite the modern religion of self-fulfillment, there was for him no remedy, no return to prelapsarian wholeness” (McCartney 2003, p. 50). Waugh, through her protagonist, Brenda Last, in A Handful of Dust, has represented the truth behind such observation in such unpretentious, truthful and dispassionate way that feminist scholar like Ann Pasternak Salter has denied any scope “to categorize the writer as ‘the archetypal male chauvinist pig’” (Slater 1997, p. 3). Brenda Last, in A Handful of Dust, has emerged as a true embodiment of women spontaneity and “self-absorbed attitude” (McCartney, 2003, p. 150), entirely ignoring the fact whether such approach has any relevance with established code of moral conduct or not. In this way, to a certain extent, Brenda definitely bears certain similarity with D.H. Lawrence’s protagonist Yvette and her mother, who left both her daughters only to elope with a man so that she could live her life according to her own ways. However, the ruthlessness and emotional uprightness that Brenda has exhibited during course of the novel, is definitely absent in Lawrence’s characters. She may not have any specific goal for living her life or is not preoccupied with any conventional social code of conduct but she always looks forward to live every moment of her life and on this aspect she remains entirely uncompromising. The author’s portrayal of her character is so intense and elaborate that “we are made to feel that she is savagely determined to let nothing get in the way of her desire for intense experience, not even the death of her son” (McCartney 2003, p. 150). This very approach of Brenda, both to life and living, clearly asserts that she provides highest importance to her existence as an individual entity and anything that could have become hindrance for such self-respect or self-importance, has automatically been set aside. Her marital life with Tony has not been a happy one and despite being mother of a son, she never gets into the pretention of carrying forward such a failed relationship. It can be said that Brenda was searching for an opportunity to escape the futile marital bond and using the occasion of her son’s fatal accident to fulfill the same in extremely ruthless on her part. However, it cannot be denied at the same time that she very practically accepted the fact that her son was the only thread that kept Tony and her together and in his absence there is no point in pursuing futile marital relationship. Tony was optimistic that the situation between them can improve but Brenda completely declined to give the futility another chance, “We’re both young. Of course, we can never forget John. He’ll always be our eldest son but … Don’t go on, Tony, please don’t go on” (Waugh 1999, p. 169). Brenda is such a rebellious figure and so much concerned about her own emotional life that she does not even react to her son’s demise out of genuine emotion. The moment she heard about John’s name and the accident, she apprehended death of her beloved John Beaver but the moment her confusion was cleared she pretended to cry and from the description of the author it also becomes evident that her tears were not result of a genuine sense of loss, but it was her helplessness regarding her realization of emotional void even towards her own son, “She wept helplessly, turning round in the chair and pressing her forehead against is gilt back” (Waugh 1999, p. 162). Perhaps, in the entire course of the novel, Brenda has reacted in a pretentious manner, though her intention was not to covey her sorrow to other people. She has always remained very true to herself and never goes to justify her actions to anyone. Consider her approaches on the ground of universal morality, which to a great extent, has been determined by the conventional social structure, she definitely has taken certain very immoral steps. At the same time, it cannot be denied that she always has stood upright against established set of social conventions and rebelled against the system that has tried to oppress spontaneity of women emotions. The spontaneity of her emotional expressions has always received enormous respect to herself and in this aspect she has done perfect justice to her individual identity as a woman, as a complete human being. Conclusion: Yvette and Brenda are rebellious today? Both Yvette and Brenda encompass those traits in their characters that represent honestly, genuineness and spontaneity of women as human beings. More elaborately it can be said that essential traits of their characters actually represent reflection of free human will and approach to life, which is universal in nature. They have never gone forward to seek approval of the society or the traditional system regarding their behaviorist approach; rather they have remained completely honest to themselves. This very aspect of being true to one self provides a strong foundation to modern approach of individualism and feminist socio-cultural discourse. Respective struggle of both these characters to retain their individual identity as both women and individual human beings transcends mere boundaries of gender and represents rebellious voice of humankind against all sorts of social or institutional oppressions. References Garnett, R.G. 1990. From Grimes to Brideshead: the early novels of Evelyn Waugh. Pennsylvania: Bucknell University Press Holbrook, D. 1992. Where D.H. Lawrence was wrong about woman. Pennsylvania: Bucknell University Press Lawrence, D.H. 1996. Virgin and the Gypsy. Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions McCartney, G. 2003. Evelyn Waugh and the modernist tradition. New Jersey: Transaction Publishers Simpson, H. 1982. D.H. Lawrence and feminism. New York: Taylor & Francis Slater, M. 1997. Women voice men: gender in European culture. Bristol: Intellect Books Waugh, E. 1999. A Handful of Dust. New York: Back Bay Books Welch, C.E. 1980. Anatomy of rebellion. New York: SUNY Press Read More