Women In Love: The Chair by D.H. Lawrence

In the twenty-sixth chapter of D.H. Lawrence's Women in Love, much is shown about the relationship between not only Ursula and Birkin, but also between men and women as a whole. The chapter begins with Ursula and Birkin on an outing, shopping for a piece of furniture. While the novel is usually very descriptive when it comes to facial expressions and personal appearances, it does not usually describe in any detail places visited in …

…and is sickly looking yet still attractive. Gerald, however, is very aggressive and domineering, and extremely physically attractive. This chapter is used to better illustrate the relationship of man and woman- how it should be and how it is. Perhaps Lawrence is calling for a compromise between the domestic and wild, between submission and control. Either way, Birkin is not completely mastered, yet it is quite obvious that Ursula is the controller of this relationship.