Women in Love · Chapter
XII: Carpeting explained
Hermione and Ursula form a temporary bond over their shared aversion to Birkin's analytical approach to life, while Hermione insists on measuring and carpeting Birkin's new rooms, asserting her will over him.
What happens
Hermione and Ursula form a temporary bond over their shared aversion to Birkin's analytical approach to life, while Hermione insists on measuring and carpeting Birkin's new rooms, asserting her will over him. Gerald and Birkin discuss the dual will in horses, and Ursula challenges Gerald's treatment of animals. The chapter explores the tension between intellectual analysis and holistic appreciation, as well as the power dynamics in relationships.
Themes in this chapter
Male-Female Polarity and Power
The chapter explores power dynamics between Hermione and Birkin, as well as the tension between Ursula and Birkin, highlighting the struggle for dominance and submission in relationships.
Art, Sensibility, and the Artist
Hermione and Ursula advocate for preserving beauty and wholeness against Birkin's analytical dissection, reflecting a conflict between artistic sensibility and intellectual analysis.
Human Connection and Isolation
Ursula and Hermione form a temporary bond, but mutual mistrust and revulsion emerge, illustrating the fragility of human connection and the isolation of individuals.
Characters to notice
- Ursula Brangwen
Ursula aligns with Hermione against Birkin's analytical tendencies, feeling a bond with Hermione yet also a revulsion. She challenges Gerald's treatment of horses and feels a deep conflict with Birkin.
- Hermione Roddice
Hermione seeks Ursula's validation in rejecting intellectual analysis, asserts her will in measuring and carpeting Birkin's rooms, and displays a possessive intimacy with Birkin.
- Rupert Birkin
Birkin is resistant to Hermione's gifts and control, discusses the dual will in horses with Gerald, and is seen as destructive and analytical by Ursula and Hermione.
- Gerald Crich
Gerald is intrigued by Birkin's ideas about the dual will in horses, shows a flicker of excitement, and is challenged by Ursula for his treatment of animals.
Key passages
“I really do not want to be forced into all this criticism and analysis of life. I really do want to see things in their entirety, with their beauty left to them, and their wholeness, their natural holiness.”
Hermione expresses her desire to avoid analytical dissection of life and to appreciate things in their complete, beautiful, and sacred state.
This quote encapsulates the central conflict between holistic appreciation and intellectual analysis.
“It is fatal to use the will like that, disgusting. Such a will is an obscenity.”
Birkin harshly criticizes the use of willpower as a means of self-control, calling it obscene.
Birkin's reaction to Hermione's discussion of willpower highlights his opposition to her controlling nature.