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Chapter XV

1 (p. 190) there was no beyond, from which one had to leap like Sappho into the unknown: A legend that has grown up around lyric Greek poet Sappho (c.610-c. 580 B.C.) is that, in despair over an unrequited love, she took her own life by throwing herself into the sea. Ursula, unlike her sister Gudrun, shows herself to have deep feelings about love, though she does not accept the fact that it must come with “baggage.”

2 (p. 192) There is complete ignominy in an unreplenished, mechanised life: Lawrence here is saying that death is better than the mechanized love of meaningless routine. It sounds romantic and heroic, but it is unlikely that either Lawrence or Ursula would actually be willing to die rather than live a life of infinite boredom.

Chapter XVI

1 (p. 198) The old way of love seemed a dreadful bondage: This is further evidence that Birkin’s intent, like that of Ursula, and of Lawrence, is to reinvent love. This chapter, “Man to Man,” explores the idea of male love as an alternative to the old way of relating, a dominant theme throughout the novel.

2 (p. 206) “You know how the old German knights used to swear a Blutbruderschaft”: The German word means “blood-brotherhood.” Birkin wants to evoke the old German ritual, which for Lawrence has latent homosexual undertones. Lawrence proposed a similar pact to his friend John Middleton Murry (1889-1957), which apparently Murry accepted after Lawrence browbeat him.

Chapter XVII

1 (p. 210) The Industrial Magnate: In Sons and Lovers, Lawrence explores the condition of miners in England largely from an autobiographical perspective. Here he covers some of the same material, but this time from the perspective of the mine owners.

2 (p. 230) There was a new world, a new order, strict, terrible, inhuman, but satisfying in its very destructiveness: Gerald symbolizes the mechanization of modern society and thus the destruction of humanity. At the same time, Lawrence is opposed to democracy, though not to individualism in society. This would appear to be a contradiction, but Lawrence does not appear to be troubled by contradictions.

Chapter XVIII

1 (p. 243) “God be praised we aren’t rabbits....—All that, and more. ”Her eyes looked up at him with shocking nonchalance: This is a clear sexual suggestion that again shocks Gerald. The madness of the rabbit is linked by Lawrence with Gudrun’s taunting of the bulls and the subsequent smacking of Gerald.

Chapter XIX

1 (p. 244) Moony: This is the pivotal chapter in Women in Love. Most of the major themes are addressed or re-addressed here. As mentioned in note 1 to chapter I, the name Ursula is associated with the Norse moon-goddess of the same name. There is also the pun in the word “moony,” the idea of madness or delirium that superstitions attribute to the effects of the moon.

2 (p. 246) “Cybele—curse her! The accursed Syria Dea!”: Cybele is the Roman goddess of fertility, identified with the Great Mother. On the Day of Blood, initiates who worshiped the female principle in the person of Astarte, the Syrian moon goddess, or Syria Dea, often castrated themselves in sacrifice to her. This is Birkin’s lament on castrating women, which gets a rise out of Ursula.

3 (p. 253) He remembered the African fetishes.... one, a statuette about two feet high, a tall, slim, elegant figure_ from West Africa, in dark wood, glossy and suave: The questions about art and culture posed in “Totem” are resolved. Lawrence identifies man’s primitive past with sensuality and blood-knowledge and Western Europe, especially northern Europe, with snow-destruction and death, of which Gerald is the symbol.

Chapter XX

1 (p. 266) Gladiatorial: Some psychologists claim that wrestling has a latent homosexual character. There is no question that this is the case in the Japanese wrestling between Birkin and Gerald. Lawrence was very advanced to view homosexuality as a possible alternative for the reinvention of love; the novel ultimately rejects