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The Lawrence 's Ideas Of Love And Interpersonal Attraction

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D.H Lawrence 's ideas of love and interpersonal attraction are nothing if not polarizing. His distillation of love to an animalistic desire can be seen as either the height or death of romanticism. One may argue that such uncontrollable hormonal puppeteering undermines the human element of restraint or a more noble idea of love as unique companionship. In a sense, Lawrence challenges the notion of separation between and the beasts; he suggests the protestant-fueled traditions of courtship are not a sign of human elevation, but a convolution of instinct that is as primal as the lust of thirst. However, Lawrence may also represent the life of romanticism, shaping such animal drive into the current of a more galvanistic construct of romance.…show more content…
Early conflict, before grandiose confrontations of love, is found when Dr. Fergusson considers the contradictions he feels for the town he works and lives in. Walking through the dreary countryside he muses:
It wore him out, but at the same time he had a craving for it. It was a stimulant to him to be in the homes of the working people, moving as it were through the innermost body of their life. His nerves were excited and gratified. He could come so near, into the very lives of the rough, inarticulate, powerfully emotional men and women. He grumbled, he said he hated the hellish hole. But as a matter of fact it excited him, the contact with the rough, strongly-feeling people was a stimulant applied direct to his nerves. (237)
His love-hate relationship stems from two conflicting inner personalities. The first Fergusson is a man of medicine, sophisticated and reasonable. He is repulsed by downtrodden town, seeing it as the antithesis of all that his education represents. The second man is a reaction to the discipline and restraint required to create the first—emotional, craving excitement, and attracted to the simplicity and assertiveness of uneducated people. The conflicts between the doctor 's opposing sides are soon mirrored in his blooming, although sudden, romance. Initially, the logical side of Dr. Fergusson views Mabel as simply his friend 's sister, willing to strike up polite conversation, yet hesitant at her "dangerous eyes that always
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