D.H.Lawrence'S
"TheWomanWhoRodeAway"
‑ TheW oman W ho Died and Revived‑
TakashiToyokuni Untilrecently,■D.H.Lawrence'sshortstory "TheWoman Who Rode Away"hasbeen eitherignored orcriticized severely. Julian Moynahanregards"TheWomanWhoRodeAway"as"aheartlesstale au fond" in spite of "Lawrence's most brilliant renderings of
landscape."1Anth叩 y WestsaysthatthewholethinglS"aforgery,"2
concludingthatthestorylS"actuallycorrupt''3asLawrence'sshallow,
bad work. Frank Kermode maintains that"the end ofthe tale is nakeddoctrine,racialmastery.''4
A few 乍riticsare,however,infavorof"TheWomanWhoRode Away.''F.R.Leavisfavorablylooksuponthetale,saylngthatitgives usuan astonishing featofimagination〃becauseofits"reality."5 He alsopraises:"ThepoeticpowerofthetalelS,ln itscreativeway,′an earnestnessand profundity ofresponse to the problemsofmodern civilization.M6similarly,Graham Houghconsidersthetaleasasuccess‑
1JulianM.oynahan,TheDeedofLife,TheNovelsandTalesofD.H.LawrlenCe (Princeton:PrincetonUniversityPress,1963),p.178.
2AnthonyWest,D.H.Lawrence(London:ArthurBarkerLimited,1966),p.96.
3Ibid.,p.97.
4FrankKermode,Lawrence(Fontana/Collins,1976),p.111.
5F.R.Leavis,D.H.Lawrence,Novelist(Harmondsworth:PenguinBooksLtd.,
1978,FirstPublished1955),p.332.
〔107〕
fulonein finding ･･a modemidway between realism and symbolism,"7 With thestatementthatitis Lawrence'S."completestartistic achieve‑
mentMand"hisprofoundestcommentontheworld ofhistime.''8 L D.
Clark admires this story as "one of Lawrence's most startling and intenseworks,''adding thattheofferoftheheroineashuman sacrifice is"completely credible.''9
1n hisrecentarticle,PeterBalbertmakesan attemptto demon‑
strate thatthe story "Offers a more sensible understanding ofinter‑ culturalconflictthan hisiratecriticsacknowledge:'10 He alSo admits thatsuch adisturbing fable aboutreligiouspractice and sexualsacri‑
fice m ight produce "impassioned criticalresp?nse" in "this era of
w om en's liberation and heigh tened politicalconsciousness:'llIMore‑
over,the lndian'Striumph and racialmasteryoverthewhitewoman
and hercruelsacrificialdeath are,itseemsto me,unacceptablefrom
the realisticandmoral pointofview by mostEliropean andAmerican
critics. Consequently,itcan besaidthatthestory hasbeen neglected
for a long time.
This paper is,therefore,an attempttoelucidate"The Woman
W ho RodeAway"from theviewpointofsymbolism,and toshed new
6Ibid.
7Graham Hough,TheDarkSun,A StudyofD.H.Law ence(London:Duck‑
worth&Co.LTD.,1956),p.140. 8Ibid.,p.146.
9L.D.Clark,"D.H.LawrenceandtheAmericanindian:'TheD.H.Lawrence Review,vol.9,no.3 (Fall1976),353.
10peterBalbert,"Snake･sEye and Obsidian Knife:Art,Ideology,and The woman whoRodeAway,"The'D.H.LawrenciReview,vol.18,no.2‑3 (Summer/Fall,1985‑1986),256.
llIbi'd.,255.
D.H.Lawrence'S"TheWomanW ho RodeAway" 109 lightuponit.
MrsLederman,theheroine,isan American woman ofthirty･
threewho married uawlry,twisted manM12twenty yearsolderthan herself. Herhusband is more orless rich,owning Silverlminesin Mexico. Hersurroundingsarealsosqualidlydead:
AndinhisbatteredFordcarherhusbandwouldtake herintothedead,thn'ce‑deadlittleSpanishtownforgotten amongthemountains. Thegreat,sun‑drieddeadchurch, the dead portales,the hopeless covered market‑place, where,thefirsttimeshewent,Shesaw adeaddoglying betweenthemeatstallsandthevegetablearray,stretched outasifforever,nobody troubling to throw itaway.
Deadnesswithindeadness. (italicsmine)(pp.45‑46)
Asiseasily known from theabove‑mentioned quotation,the words
"dead''and "deadness"arerepeatedly used hereto stressthedeath imageoftheMexicantown. Thetownalsosymbolizesthedeadend oftheirmarriedlifebecausethereisnorealtcomrn叫icationbetween manandwife:herhusbandisaboss,anindustrial tycoon,andlives thelifeofthewillwhilesheisstill"thegirlfrom Berkeley"swayedby･
12D.H.Lawrence,"TheWomanWhoRodeAway,"The Woman WhoRode Away and OtherSton'es(Harmondsworth:PenguinBooksLtd.,1977,First Published1928),p.45.Furtherrefetencestothistalewillbecitedparenth‑
eticallylnmytext.
him. Thechurch and themarket‑placearedeadbecausethey area
"grlm Symbolof modern Western civilisation"13 rotten among the powersoftheprlmitivenature. Theplacewherethey liveisatiny,
forgottensettlementofWesterncivilizationwithinwardemptinessand noneoftheexcitements.
WhenayoungmantellsherabouttheChilchuiIndianslivingin ahighvalleyofthemountainsinMexico,MrsLedermanisovercome and fascinated by "afoolish romanticism moreunrealthan agirl'S'' (p･48)･ She thinks itis her destiny to go and find the timeless,.･
mysteriousIndiansofthemountains. Oneday when herhusbandis away on businessforseveraldays,shesetsoffbyherself,riding on her"strongroanhorse." Herridingawayisher"Separation,''thefirst st9p in theritesofpassageofthe monomyth,14from the world of Western civilization.Thehorsestandsfor
"
sun:'becauseitisasolaranimalrelated to the wheeland Helios;itissacred to the Great MotherGoddess or the moon.15 1tis also a symbolofHfertility,''
"death,''and川theunconscious.け16 Thehorse,whichhelpsherescapade from dead,modern civilization,glVeShernotonly death butalso a kindofresurrectionintheend.
13Hough,p.142.
14seeJosephCahpbell,TheHerowithaThousandFaces(Princeton:Princeton UniversityPress,1971,FirstPublished1949),p.一30.Accordingto‑Campbell,
thenuclearunitofthemonomyth isT̀Separation‑ initiation‑ return."
Campbellexplains,"A heroventures･forthfrom theworldofcommonday intoareglOnOfsupernaturalwonder:fabulousforcesarethereencountered andadecisivevictorylSWOn:theherocomesbackfrom thismysterious adventurewiththepowertobestow boonsonhisfellow man."
15Ad deVries,Didiona叩 Of Symbolsand Imagery(Amsterdam & Lond,on:
North‑HollandCompany,1976),p.259.
16Ibid.,pp.260‑261.
D.H.Lawrence'S"TheWomanWhoRodeAway" 111 Thewomantravelsonandclimbstheslopeswhereflowerslapse andpinetreesgrow. Theplnetreeissymbolicalof"sun"and"fire,"
hence,"immortality"and "fertility",Iitisalso related to thefertility deitiessuchasAdonis,Attis,Dionysus,andOsiris.17 whenshesitsby hersmallcampfire,shefeelsstrangelyelated:
Itwasverycoldbeforedawn.ShelayJwrappedinher blanketlookingatthestars,listening･toherhorseshiver‑ 1ng,and feeling likeawoman whohasdiedand passed beyond.Shewasnotsurethatshehadnotheard,during thenight,agreatcrashatthecentreofherself,whichwas thecrashofherowndeath. Orelseitwasacrashatthe centreoftheearth,andmeantsomethingbigandmysteri‑ ous. (italicsmine)(p.51)
Sherealizesthatsheisalreadydead;namely,sheknowsthedeathof heroldself. Thequotationprefigurestheactualdeaththatshewill experienceatthehandsoftheIndians.Herridingofffrom homehas been"thesacrificeofheroldwayoflife‑ akindofpsychicdeath."18
Thewomantravelsontothesouth:
Butshehad nowillofherown. Herhorsesplashed throughabrook,andturnedupavalley,underimmense yellowing cotton‑wood trees. Shemusthavebeen near ninethousandfeetabovesea‑level,andherheadwaslight withthealtitudeandwithweariness.Beyondthecotton‑
woodtreesshecouldsee,Oneachside,thesteepsidesof
17Ibid.,p.367.
18Hough,p.142.
mountain‑slopes hemming her in,SharpIPlumaged with overlapplngaSpen,and,higherup,withsprouting,pointed spruceandpinetree.Herhorsewentonautomatically.In thistightvalley,onthisslighttrail,therewasnowhereto gobutahead,climbing. (p.52)
Theregrow cotton‑woodtreesoraspens,spruces,andpinetreesonthe mountain slopes. Thecotton‑wood treeortheaspen representsthe
"horror,'=̀fear,''and "arrogance"190ftheheroine,the white woman.
Thespruceorthefirsymbolizes"immortality,''"regeneration,""sun,"
and 山fire"20like the plne tree. In mythology,Attis,the Phrygian fertility一god,waschangedintoafir;itisalsosacredtoArtemis,the Greekmoon一goddess,ofchild‑birth;itisrelatedtoDionysus,whowas bornfrom afir.21 ThespruceandtheplnetreeSymbolizetheimmor‑ talityandregenerationoftheIndiantribe.
Themountain,wheretheChilchuislive,is､related to thesun, and means･･resurrection'.7;itisalso a symbolof"death.n22 Mircea EIiadesays:"Themountainoccursamongtheimagesthatexpressthe connectionbetweenheavenandearth;henceitisbelievedtobeatthe centerofthe world."23 The mountain is,accordingly,a holy and sacredplaceofoldreligionincontrasttomodernChristianity. Law‑
19AddeVries,p.26.
20Ibid.,p.186.
21Ibid.
22Ibid.,p.329:SeeGertrudeJobes,DictionaryofMythology,FolklorleandSymbols, part2(New York:TheScarecrow Presslnc.,1962),p.1129.Jobessaysthat themountainsymbolizes"aspiration.""lifeofman:'"mystical realm,incon‑
trasttoflatlandrealm ofreality,''and"light."
23MirceaEliade,TheSaclled and theHofane,trans.WillardR.Trask(New York:Harcourt,Brace&Worldlnc.,1957),p.38.
Lj.
D.H.LawrenceTs"TheWomanWhoRodeAway" 113
rencesaysthatamanmust‑bringhisspirit"intocontactwiththelife ofthemountain,"and"draw■strengthfrom themountain":
Itwasavastold religion,greaterthananything we know:morestarkly and nakedly religious. Thereisno God,noconceptionofagod.Allisgod.Butitisnotthe pantheism weareaccustomedto,whichexpressesitselfas
"Godiseverywhere,Godisineverything." Ⅰntheoldest religion,everythingwasalive,notsupernaturallybutnat‑ urallyalive. Therewereonlydeeperanddeeperstreams oflife,vibrationsoflifemore.and morevast.Sorocks werealive,butamountainhadadeeper,vasterlifethana rock,anditwasmuchharderforamantobringhisspirit, orhisenergy,intocontactwiththelifeofthemountain, andsodraw strengthfrom themountain,asfrom agreat standingwelloflife,thanitvQastocomeintocontactwith therock.Andhehadtoputforthagreatreligiouseffort. Forthewholelife‑effortofman wastogethislifeinto direct contact with the elementallife of the cosmos, mountain‑life,cloud‑life,thunder‑life,air‑life,earth‑life,sun‑
1ife. Tocomeintoimmediatefeltcontact,andsoderive energy,power,and a dark sortofjoy.Thiseffortinto sheetnakedcontact,WithoutanintermediaryOrmediator,is therqotmeanlng Ofreligion,andatthesacredracesthe runnershurledthemselvesinaterriblecumulativeeffort,
throughtheair,tocomeatlastintonakedcontactwith theverylifeoftheTalr,Whichisthelifeoftheclouds,and sooftherain.24
24D.H.Lawrence,Phoenix,ThePosthumousPapersofD.H.LawTICnCe,ed. EdwardD.McDonald(PenguiムBooks,1978,FirstPublished1936),pp.146‑
147.
