The Virgin and The Gipsy Written by D.H. Lawrence Essays -- Virgin Gip

The Virgin and The Gipsy Written by D.H. Lawrence This novel is very intriguing and teaches lessons of morality, religion, and of life and death intended for those with imagination and insight. The author's style contributes deeply to the intrigue and true meaning to this novel. The author's use of imagery makes tensions in the story vivid and emphatic. In this story there is a re-occurring tension between religion and desire. The tension between religion and desire is most clearly demonstrated between the characters of Yvette and the rector. Yvette was brought up in a world of religious conventions and beliefs, an environment of forgiveness, love, and morality. This world is later realized to truly be a world of repression towards all feelings of passion and desire; not the environment of forgiveness, love, and morality Yvette and the readers are lead to believe. This starts the conflict between religion and desire, and confuses Yvette greatly because her religious upbringing denies and contradicts all her natural instincts of love, passion, and sexuality. The rector and Yvette do not share the same understanding of love. They are both very different in their thoughts and expressions, of what love is. The narrator in the story tells us what the rector thinks of Cynthia, his lost wife. He describes her as 'the pure white snow-flower'; (p.6) and expresses that her husband thought of her 'on inaccessible heights†¦that she was throned in lone splendor aloft their lives, never to be touched'; (p.7) This would have the reader believe that Cynthia is considered in the rector's eyes to be like god not bodily in his life. At another point in the novel the narrator informs the reader that the rector believes Cynthia to be sacred and that she was enshrined in his heart, as if she were a religious idol, never simply expressing any love or desire for his lost wife. It's like the rector has moral religious love for his lost wife, and not passion or desire, like the love Yvette feels for the gypsy. When Yvette matures and realizes that she feels differently than her family, she undergoes a change in her heart, and attitude. Yvette's father picks up on her chan ge and resents her for it because the rector wishes Yvette to be pure and clean like him, or her sister Lucille who turned out the way the rector intended. Therefore not expressing or experiencing true l... ...der that the truth will set you free, and lead you into making the right decisions. The flood is a symbol of re-birth, the flood wiped out the dark, dull stone house, and giving Yvette a second chance at the life she wishes to pursue. The characters are a very important role in the novel and are very diversified. Each character is unique and opinionated which adds contrast and intrigue. Cynthia left her husband for another man, but in her husband's eyes is still considered as pure. The rector is an odd man. Even though his wife left him for another man, he worships her as if she were his god. Perhaps this emphasizes his feelings and beliefs towards her, which are holy and without desire. He does not know the meaning of love, or desire so the reader is lead to believe that his beliefs of holiness, and of purity are his means of recognizing love. This novel was very symbolic and had an extensive vocabulary. It was very intriguing and kept the reader's interest throughout the whole novel. I would recommend this novel to anyone who would like an exercise for his or her mind. There is a lot of insight needed to interpret this novel, but the challenge only adds to the intrigue.