# IV: Girlhood of Anna Brangwen explained — The Rainbow > Chapter companion for The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence. ## What happens This chapter follows Anna Brangwen from childhood through her courtship and marriage to Will Brangwen. As a girl, Anna is aloof, proud, and alienated from her surroundings, finding significance only in her parents and later in Baron Skrebensky. She grows into a restless young woman, feeling belittled and confined at Marsh Farm. Her cousin Will Brangwen arrives to work in Ilkeston, and a passionate, wordless courtship develops between them. They marry and move into a cottage at Cossethay, where Anna begins her new life as a wife and mistress of her own home. ## Themes in this chapter ### Individual vs. Society Anna feels alienated from the ordinary people of Cossethay and Ilkeston, regarding them as a 'herd.' Her sense of being an outsider and her contempt for respectability highlight the tension between her individual spirit and societal expectations. ### Self-Discovery and Growth Anna's journey from a proud, aloof child to a woman seeking meaning and escape from her parents' home, and finally finding fulfillment in her relationship with Will, illustrates her process of self-discovery and personal growth. ### Love and Marriage The courtship and marriage of Anna and Will are central to the chapter. Their passionate, wordless connection and the anticipation of the wedding day explore the themes of love, physical intimacy, and the transition into married life. ### Class and Social Mobility Baron Skrebensky's aristocratic background and his struggles in a working-class parish, along with Will Brangwen's rise from apprentice to husband and homeowner, reflect themes of class and social mobility. ## Character check-ins ### Anna Brangwen Anna is the central figure of the chapter, depicted as a shy, wild, and proud child who grows into a restless young woman. She feels alienated from ordinary people and seeks escape from the suffocating intimacy of her parents' home, eventually finding passion and purpose in her relationship with Will Brangwen. ### Tom Brangwen Tom Brangwen is Anna's father, a fairy godfather figure who provides a cottage for the newlyweds. He is uneasy with Anna's verbal criticisms and maintains a deep, wordless bond with his wife, Lydia. ### Lydia Brangwen Lydia Brangwen is Anna's mother, with whom Anna has a resentful yet worshipping relationship. She is silent and ominous, and her intense, inarticulate connection with Tom creates a powerful atmosphere that Anna both resists and is drawn to. ### Will Brangwen Will Brangwen is Anna's cousin and eventual husband. He is a young draughtsman with a keen interest in woodwork. He is portrayed as suspended in waiting for the wedding day, and his physical presence becomes the center of Anna's reality. ### Baron Skrebensky Baron Skrebensky is a Polish exile and vicar, a friend of Anna's mother. He impresses young Anna as a 'real person' and represents a world of kings and princes, sparking her imagination and sense of freedom. ### Fred Brangwen Fred is Anna's brother, whom she adores but does not consider as a separate, real person. He is mentioned briefly as part of Anna's family background. ### Tom Brangwen Jr. Tom is Anna's other brother, dark-haired and small, with whom she is intimately related but never mingles. He is mentioned in the context of Anna's childhood. ## Key lines > She had a curious contempt for ordinary people, a benevolent superiority. She was very shy, and tortured with misery when people did not like her. Anna felt both superior to and painfully sensitive about the opinions of ordinary people. _This captures Anna's complex social attitude as a child._ > He at any rate represented to the child the real world, where kings and lords and princes moved and fulfilled their shining lives, whilst queens and ladies and princesses upheld the noble order. Baron Skrebensky symbolized for Anna a glamorous, aristocratic world of royalty and nobility. _This illustrates the impact of Baron Skrebensky on Anna's imagination._ > In her world, there was this one tense, vivid body of a man, and then many other shadowy men, all unreal. In him, she touched the centre of reality. For Anna, Will's physical presence was the only real thing, making all other men seem insignificant. _This highlights the intensity of Anna's physical and emotional connection to Will._ > She tried to read. But again the tedium and the sense of the falsity of the spoken word put her off. Anna found reading tedious and felt that words were false and unsatisfying. _This reflects Anna's preference for inarticulate, emotional experience over verbal expression._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rainbow_se/chapters/iv-girlhood-of-anna-brangwen - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rainbow_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rainbow_se/chapters