Instinctual Desire and Repression in Lawrence's Women in Love

Abstract

D. H. Lawrence's novel Women in Love is about the instinctual and repressive desire of the characters. The novel is characterized by the contribution of the characters of the novel who have suffered from the various kind of desires that have affected their life. Desire is the psychological feeling about what one may not be aware what is going on within himself or herself. One may be doing one thing but his/her psychology drives him/her to do another. In other words, one does not realize what he/she is doing in clear way. Women in Love is mainly about two young and marriageable sisters Ursula and Gudrun. They are suffering from psychological conditions like instinctual and repressive desires. The difficult relationship between instinctual desire and repression is central issue in the novel. The main characters Ursula, Gudrun, Birkin, and Gerald all suffer in various ways from the conflict between their desires and the social world. Birkin and Gerald love each other, but repress and stifle their love while pursuing marriages with the Brangwen sisters. Because of psychological conditions, they have dysfunctional problems. Thus, they cannot be happy with their life and their relation with each other.