most productive times in British literature. Authors such as D. H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, and James Joyce pioneered a new literary form that rejected conventional literary structures. Before the twentieth century, writers crafted their works to reflect a belief in the stability of character and the clarity of experience. Traditionally, novels, stories, and poetry concluded with a definitive sense of closure as conflicts were resolved and characters gained insight into themselves and their world. Modernist writers, however, challenged these assumptions, expanding the genre’s traditional forms to explore their characters’ questions about the individual’s role in the world.

Characters in the works of these authors embody their creators’ growing sense of disillusionment, influenced by emerging ideas in psychology, anthropology, and philosophy that gained popularity early in the century. For instance, Freudianism began to be examined by these writers as they delved into their characters’ psyches and captured their subjective perspectives. Lawrence’s writings often highlight the tensions between men and women against the backdrop of social and political upheaval.

The New Woman
In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the seemingly stable Victorian universe began to show cracks. Charles Darwin’s 1859 publication, Origin of Species, intensified ongoing debates about religious ideology and human development. In 1867, Karl Marx released the first volume of Das Kapital, challenging established notions of class structure and economics. These influential thinkers prompted Victorians to question accepted morality and faith in their era. During this time, feminist thinkers also played a pivotal role in challenging traditional social norms by rigorously examining female identity in all aspects of a woman’s life. Any woman who questioned traditional female roles was labeled a New Woman, a term popularized by novelist Sarah Grand in her 1894 article in the North American Review, which identified a rising group of women. John Stuart Mill’s essay The Subjection of Women and plays like George Bernard Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession advocated for gender equality in education, the workforce, and voting rights. Legislative changes, such as the Married Women’s Property Act passed by Parliament, also empowered women and signaled a new era.

Mill compared the institution of marriage to that of slavery. He dismissed the idea that motherhood should be every woman's primary objective and contended that societal norms do not represent inherent abilities. In his essays and speeches in the House of Commons, Mill advocated for complete equality between men and women in all social aspects. Lawrence’s writings contribute to this discussion, examining a woman's role both within and beyond the conventional courtship and marriage narratives frequently portrayed in Victorian literature.

Recurrent Motifs
Lawrence uses recurring motifs in the novel to connect the Brangwen generations and emphasize its central themes. Motifs are recurring details, objects, or phrases that enhance the work's cohesion and thematic focus. The canal that crosses Marsh Farm at the novel's start signifies the onset of the industrial era in the once untouched, pastoral Midlands. This industrial world is ultimately rejected by Ursula in the novel's final chapters. The canal also symbolizes the sense of separation experienced by all three generations, particularly in their sexual relationships. Main characters often struggle between maintaining distance from their spouses or lovers and feeling an overwhelming desire for a perfect union. Through this dual nature of separation, represented by the canal, Lawrence underscores the conflicting impulses that surface in sexual relationships.

The rainbow, chosen by Lawrence as the novel's title and its dominant image in the conclusion, appears symbolically earlier in the story. Initially, it is seen as a doorway that Tom and Lydia walk through, indicating their transition to a more stable union, as “she was the doorway to him, he to her.” The doorway more clearly symbolizes the rainbow at the end of the Anna Victrix chapter, when Anna’s door opens “under the arch of the rainbow.” Here, the rainbow represents Anna's entry into the fulfillment of motherhood. The final appearance of the rainbow occurs at the novel's end as Ursula recovers from her miscarriage. In this instance, the rainbow embodies her ambiguous yet hopeful vision of the future, free from traditional roles of wife and mother, ready to find fulfillment in whichever path she chooses. These three visions of the rainbow depict different stages in the characters’ lives and provide images of fulfillment for them.

Referring to E. M. Forster's Aspects of the Novel, Gary D. Cox highlights Lawrence's prophetic role and mentions a "sense of ultimacy" in his work. Although Lawrence's message fundamentally contradicts those of other prophetic writers like Dostoevsky, Cox notes a similarity in their prophetic tone. He also points out their different, uniquely motivated breaks from traditional Christianity and Lawrence's intense fascination with the famous Russian author. Cox identifies the most significant Dostoevsky influence in Women in Love, yet the prophetic tone is also pervasive in The Rainbow. In this novel, characters grapple with or resist, to varying degrees of awareness, some ultimate, important change that, as Forster notes, remains somewhat undefined for the reader.

The narrative voice, which appears to be omniscient, shifts its perspective in relation to characters and events as the story progresses. Sometimes, it presents an objective viewpoint, while at other times, it seems to emerge from the consciousness of the character in focus. This technique complicates the reading experience, but it also provides a rich, multifaceted perspective on the action and an intense expression of the characters' emotions. Other narrative techniques, such as gestures, irony, dialogue, and dramatic encounters (or scenic construction), work together to ensure that the point of view remains clear.

Lawrence's use of natural settings serves not only to enhance and dramatize the characters' inner turmoil but also to show their intimate connection to a larger world. This romantic trait is not unique to Lawrence, but he gives it his distinctive mark. He goes beyond mere realism by linking what would be naturalistic details in other novels to his deep concern for what Julian Moynahan calls the matrix of life. This concept reflects Lawrence's view that all characters are in some state of either affirming or denying life, or are conflicted between the two. For instance, in the famous horse scene at the end of The Rainbow, the horses are not just natural symbols. They represent creatures whose lives, like those of some of Lawrence's human characters, are constrained. They become symbolic of repressed natural life in Ursula.

Characters are distinguished from one another by the extent to which they are connected to forces beyond themselves, often depicted as natural, and by their awareness of these connections. The scene on the beach where Ursula and Skrebensky begin to drift apart serves as a prime example:

The trouble began in the evening. An intense yearning for something unknown overwhelmed her, a desire for something she couldn't identify. She would walk the foreshore alone after dusk, anticipating, expecting something, as if she were heading to a rendezvous. The sea's salty, bitter passion, its indifference to the land, its rhythmic, deliberate motion, its strength, its forceful presence, and its burning saltiness seemed to drive her to madness, taunting her with vast promises of fulfillment. And then, personified, would come Skrebensky, Skrebensky, whom she knew and cared for, who was attractive but whose soul couldn't encompass her strength, nor his chest compel her in that burning, salty passion.

This scene unfolds right after Skrebensky has proposed marriage, and they are set to go to India together, where Ursula envisions him becoming just another cog in the colonial machine. Skrebensky simply wants to fit in and lead a predictable life; unlike Ursula, he doesn't have many demands from life. Any connections he might have to something beyond himself, he seems to deny.

A similar conflict between them is evident in an earlier scene with the microscope. Ursula lingers over the microscope, marveling at the miraculous things she finds, while the reader infers that Skrebensky wouldn't understand her intense joy. Their sexual passion is a dead end because Ursula has a broader grasp of life and a deeper understanding of it than he does. It is crucial to recognize that Lawrence's perspective on life is not materialistic: Ursula, who just failed her exams and barely survived a teaching job, is portrayed as connected to life, while Skrebensky, with his "bright" future in India, is depicted as barely alive.

Another hallmark of Lawrence's style is his tendency to repeat words or phrases, sometimes slightly altered (a trait that appears in his poetry as well). Notice the repetition of Skrebensky's name above, as if to convey the author's shared sense of Ursula's boredom and Skrebensky's inadequacy. Squires observes that scenes frequently recur in Lawrence's novels, such as repeated meetings between lovers that show similarities in setting but changes in the relationship dynamics, like Ursula's recurring encounters with Skrebensky or even with successive generations of lovers. Squires points out that the scenic structure shifts later in the novel when Ursula becomes isolated from family and society: Gestures of conciliation are absent, and the scenes usually end with a departure rather than a conciliatory event.

The narrative structure of The Rainbow spans multiple generations, giving it an organic and cyclical feel. Despite the significant challenges Ursula faces, the novel's format encourages us to compare relationships across generations. This allows us to see characters confronting different obstacles than their predecessors, but with distinct strengths and weaknesses. For example, Ursula eventually comes to admire her mother, Anna, for accepting the life provided by her father, Tom Brangwen. However, Anna's choice to find solace in childbearing is not an option for Ursula.

Unlike other generational novels, such as those by the French writer Emile Zola, Lawrence does not write with a specific agenda. Zola's works often feature recurring themes of low breeding and alcoholism over his twenty novels. In contrast, a character in Lawrence's work with an alcoholic father may or may not turn to drinking. Additionally, Lawrence does not, like Galsworthy, use social norms and manners merely to illustrate societal decline during a particular historical period. Instead, successive generations inherit some traits while developing their own unique identities. For instance, Ursula inherits her father Will's religious nature, allowing her to see eternity under a microscope. Yet, she also ventures beyond formal, organized religion. Ursula combines her mother's inquisitive nature without rejecting spirituality, a rejection that stemmed from Anna's feeling of alienation as a Polish Catholic child in an English Anglican world, which led Anna to abandon her rosary forever.

This exceptional novel, with its vividly depicted characters, lifelike setting, and multi-generational timeline, invites exploration in numerous ways. Are the social forces affecting the characters entirely beyond their control, or do they have some influence over them? How do the various characters handle the challenges in their lives, and what are their connections to the external world? What individual traits does the author seem to endorse? What sets Lawrence's approach to the popular saga novel apart? Much critical literature has been written about Lawrence's perspectives on social class, politics, religion, and the portrayal of women in fiction. This relatively early work offers numerous instances where Lawrence appears to be experimenting with ideas that receive more comprehensive treatment in his later novels. Lastly, Lawrence is renowned for delving deeper into the psychological realities of everyday life than previous novelists. Investigating where this originality lies and how exactly Lawrence differs from his predecessors promises to be both intriguing and significant.

1. Consider the three female characters from different generations: Lydia Lensky-Brangwen, Anna Brangwen, and Ursula Brangwen. Although their lives are quite different, they often face similar issues: struggles with religious impulses, stagnation in their marriages or romantic relationships, or a feeling of suffocation. Compare and contrast their efforts to overcome these problems and achieve a sense of balance. Which of these characters exhibits the most destructive tendencies?

2. The Rainbow has been described as an elegiac novel, lamenting the agrarian life lost with the advent of the industrial revolution. Examine the opening pages of the novel where the Brangwen's farm life is depicted. What evidence suggests that life on the farm is desirable? What indications are there that a shift from this life offers promise, at least for some characters?

3. Analyze the life choices made by the Brangwen sons as described in the first chapter. Which son appears the most unstable? Which one seems the most responsible? Who appears the happiest with his decision? What compromises does each one make? Do their choices seem unusual or typical for young men coming of age? What changes in their environment seem to influence or even determine their decisions?

4. Why does the narrator refer to the Brangwens as inheritors? Should the term be taken literally, in the sense that they have all inherited, and will inherit, the farm? In what other ways can the term be interpreted?

5. Follow the life of the Brangwen son introduced in the first chapter who becomes a lace maker. What talents does he possess? How do these talents manifest in his son Will, who marries Anna? In what ways is Will distinctly different from his father? What common obstacles do their lives share?

6. How does the marriage between Lydia Lensky and Tom Brangwen serve as an ideal against which other marriages in the novel are evaluated? How do they address and resolve their issues? How is this resolution depicted at the end of Chapter 3? Would you characterize Lawrence's perspective on marriage as traditional or non-traditional?

7. What were the problems in Lydia's previous marriage to Lensky? Did she truly love him?

8. In what ways does Ursula's relationship with Skrebensky mirror or at least echo Lydia's relationship with Lensky? Which man is the less appealing of the two? Support your choice with reasons.

9. How would you describe Ursula's relationship with Winifred Inger? Do you think the author presents it as a dead end because it is a same-sex relationship (and possibly reveals a bias), or are there other factors that make it unsatisfying for Ursula? How does the author seem to perceive the marriage between Winifred and Tom?

10. Compare Anna's religious views with those of her daughter, Ursula. What is the significance of Ursula looking through the microscope in Chapter 15? How do her beliefs differ from those of her instructor, Dr. Frankstone?

11. Lawrence titles the chapter in which Ursula attempts a teaching job, "The Man's World." Do you believe this title indicates he is sexist, or is he simply reflecting the societal norms of his time? Note that two of Ursula's female friends, Winifred and Maggie, are also teachers.

12. Tom Brangwen's decision to become the manager of a colliery brings with it the realization that the job is actually causing harm to the workers. How does he respond to this realization? How do the other characters react? Do you think the industrial world has improved in our present day?

13. How has the changing political, economic, and industrial landscape in England benefited the Brangwen characters by the end of the novel? In what ways has it compromised them?

14. Examine the final chapter where Ursula climbs a tree to protect herself from the horses. What do the horses seem to symbolize? By the end of the novel, does she manage to break free from what they represent? How optimistic do you find her vision of the rainbow?

Many critics regard The Rainbow as D. H. Lawrence's finest novel. They often highlight its sweeping yet meticulously detailed portrayal of three generations of the Brangwen family, who start out as farmers. Similar to his earlier work, Sons and Lovers (1913; see separate entry), this novel explores the significant impact of the Industrial Revolution on everyday human life.

The book begins with a depiction of Marsh Farm, with a church spire visible in the distance, evoking a sense of permanence and an Eden-like connection to the land. The Church represents enduring beliefs. However, this sense of stability soon gives way to an underlying threat. While the men focus on the land, which has always been their source of livelihood, purpose, and dignity, the women look outward "towards the activity of man in the world at large." Next to the vicar, Alfred Brangwen appears "dull and local." Like Gertrude Morel in the earlier novel, his wife desires "entry into the finer, more vivid circle of life" for her children.

Ironically, one form of entry occurs swiftly and with little effort. In 1840, a canal is built across the Brangwen's farm to transport coal from the Erewash Valley, soon followed by a railway spur. Although the Brangwens gain financially from selling their land rights and supplying the growing population, their farm becomes a peculiar, doomed oasis amid the industrial activity.

In the opening chapter, we catch a glimpse of the harsh compromises individuals are forced to make due to uncontrollable changes. The eldest son escapes to sea. The second son, Alfred, struggles academically because his talent lies solely in drawing. Eventually, he resigns himself to becoming a lace designer, which stifles his natural inclination towards "big, bold lines," condemning him to a life that, while financially stable, is deeply unfulfilling. Alfred marries a woman of slightly higher social standing, becomes a snob, and later compensates for his repression by indulging in "forbidden pleasure." The third son, Frank, remains on the farm, marries a factory worker, and ends up a butcher and an alcoholic. One daughter marries a coal miner, and another stays at home. The youngest son, Tom, who becomes Anna's stepfather and Ursula's grandfather, is the progenitor of the family central to the novel. Like his brothers, Tom struggles to fit in academically and bluntly tells his mother, who insists he attend school, that "you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear." He has a deep appreciation for poetry, but "the fact of the print causes a prickly sensation of repulsion to go over his skin." Ultimately, Tom returns to farming; his deep sense of failure occasionally manifests in rages, although he is generally good-natured. Each child's suffering is depicted as a consequence of cultural shifts in the community and the mother's pressure to join what she perceives as that "more vivid circle of life."

Lawrence typically portrays the Industrial Revolution and its aftermath through the lens of its impact on male-female relationships. In an effort to embody the qualities his mother desired for him, Tom marries Lydia, the widow of a Polish doctor who had come to the area to care for a dying vicar, and adopts her daughter, Anna. His profound passion for Lydia conflicts with their vastly different backgrounds, deepening his sense that his fundamental nature prevents him from thriving in a broader world, as shown when he visits the refined mistress of his brother Alfred. Tom and Lydia find renewal in their marriage when she acknowledges her need for him and her disappointment in what she perceives as his lack of interest, which is, in truth, his fear of her. The chapter's conclusion, which covers their marriage and Anna's childhood, depicts them in a religious union—akin to an ideal Christian marriage—that foreshadows the rainbow symbol that concludes the novel, replacing the broken gothic arch:

Once they finally joined hands, the house was completed, and the Lord made it His dwelling . . . Anna's soul found peace between them . . . Her father and mother now met in the expanse of the heavens, and she, their child, was free to play in the space beneath, between.

The Brangwen marriage in this generation doesn't suffer from the economic hardships faced by the Morels in Sons and Lovers. However, the impact of cultural and economic changes continues to weigh heavily on Anna as she matures, as well as on the generations that follow. As the passage above indicates, Anna begins to move beyond traditional Christianity and its rituals. Coupled with what some might see as typical adolescent rebellion, she starts to feel constrained not just by religion but also by family and societal norms. She feels trapped, much like Bishop la Balue, who was imprisoned in a cell too low to stand and too small to stretch out, "as if never could she stretch her length and stride her stride." When she falls in love with and marries her cousin Will, significant conflict arises because of his deep involvement in the church. She mocks his beliefs and ultimately dismantles them with her supposedly rational arguments.

In their marriage, Will becomes the more dependent partner, leaving Anna with unmet needs she doesn't fully understand. She finds solace in raising their children but remains somewhat unfulfilled. Their differences come to a head in a cathedral scene: while Will experiences a sense of fulfillment, Anna focuses on the small, defiant faces carved in stone that seem to resist the grand sweep toward the altar. Her voice becomes "the voice of the serpent in his Eden." Like his Uncle Tom, Will Brangwen feels bound by limitations he cannot control, stemming both from his thwarted religious feelings and from inhibitions similar to Tom Brangwen's about navigating the larger, male-dominated world. Will, much like Tom, harbors dark rages due to his repressed nature.

Their marriage reaches a sort of compromise when they surrender to physical pleasures, ironically occurring after Will nearly becomes involved with another woman. Their relationship significantly deviates from the marriage of Tom and Lydia, as the narrator notes that they "throw everything overboard . . . love, intimacy, responsibility."

Even men who appear to command the outer world are shown to have their own limitations. In flashbacks of Lydia's first marriage to Lensky, the young doctor exudes confidence and seems to dominate the marriage. However, the narrator notes, "By his acceptance of her self-subordination, he exhausted the feeling in her." Lydia soon seeks the company of other men, not for physical intimacy, but for intellectual conversations. When their two children, born before Anna, die, Lensky doesn't have the time to grieve; he appears broken by his political overwork and lacks true fulfillment. It seems as though he withers away because he has confined his life so narrowly. Later in the novel, the hollow Skrebensky proves to be an unsuitable partner for Ursula for similar reasons. Just as Lensky is enslaved by his political beliefs, Skrebensky is bound by utilitarian ideals of community—"the material, the immediate welfare of every man," which Ursula finds stifling. Their relationship faces a final blow when she refuses to go to India, feeling that Skrebensky and his peers will "make things as dead and mean as they are here." Additionally, her uncle Tom's self-avoidance in his role as a colliery manager is also criticized by Ursula and, implicitly, by the author.

Ursula's infatuation with Winifred Inger, which occurs after the initial strain in her relationship with Skrebensky (following his departure for the Boer War in South Africa), is partly due to a spiritual connection she lacked with Skrebensky and partly due to Miss Inger's mastery of the male world: "She was proud and free as a man, yet exquisite as a woman." Ursula desires the independence that Miss Inger possesses and persists with her disastrous first teaching job to prove her own independence, ironically compromising herself by conforming to the harsh discipline system. During the peak of her relationship with Miss Inger, they discuss religion. Ursula's mind is broadened by Inger, but she ultimately realizes that Miss Inger is narrow-minded, wanting to reduce everything to the scientific and rational. Sensing she is losing Ursula, Inger decides to marry Ursula's Uncle Tom, who has become the manager of a "big new colliery in Yorkshire," overseeing men who "alter themselves to fit the pits" instead of the reverse. They are portrayed as individuals who have essentially given up on life, sharing a "dark corruption." Tom notes that the men "die of consumption fairly often, but they earn good wages." Even the servant in Tom Brangwen's house is the widow of a miner who succumbed to consumption. To Ursula, "There was a horrible fascination in it—human bodies and lives subjected in slavery to that symmetric monster of the colliery."

The mechanization of life in The Rainbow extends beyond the industrial world, infiltrating the domestic sphere of Anna, Ursula's mother, who is pregnant for the ninth time. This mechanization also affects Ursula’s teaching job, which she takes to gain her independence. Characters compromise their deepest desires to avoid the challenges of pursuing truly fulfilling lives. Anna and Will have turned their marriage into a child-producing machine: "They were neither of them quite personal, quite defined as individuals, so much were they pervaded by the physical heat of breeding and rearing their young." However, there is hope for Will, as he returns to wood carving and engages in various artistic endeavors that provide some satisfaction. Ursula finds her home life increasingly restrictive, fueling her desire to work and live independently. Ironically, her efforts lead her to a teaching position that distorts her vision of education. She is compelled to discipline her students through corporal punishment or the threat of it. Ursula’s quest to find her place in the world and achieve personal fulfillment is constantly opposed by larger forces. What might be considered adolescent or young adult rebellion by another writer is depicted here as an all-consuming spiritual quest.

A healthier relationship emerges when Ursula meets Maggie Schofield, a fellow teacher. A potential healthy relationship with a man is hinted at through Maggie's brother, Anthony, but his premature advance ruins it. The remaining pages of the novel focus on the collapse of Ursula's relationship with Skrebensky. The famous scene with the horses symbolizes her struggle to find herself and break away from the deadness Skrebensky represents. Her baby with him is stillborn, and in a manner reminiscent of William's Gyp in Sons and Lovers, Skrebensky wires her, revealing he has married another woman just as she attempts to reconcile with him. Despite numerous defeats, Ursula achieves a vision of the kind of being that Lawrence believes is essential for a healthy society: "In everything she saw she grasped and groped to find the creation of the living God, instead of the old, hard barren form of bygone living." The rainbow, both a real phenomenon and a potent symbol of Lawrence's vision of interconnected life, remains an ideal that the novel’s action falls short of but is seen as a reachable goal for struggling characters like Ursula.

• Early 1900s: The term "New Woman" emerges to describe women who defy gender-specific roles that restrict their participation in the workforce or any roles beyond being a wife and mother. These women are viewed as a threat to the established social order and the patriarchal family structure.

  Today: Women have the flexibility to work both inside and outside the home. However, those balancing careers and motherhood often struggle with time management due to rigid work and promotion schedules.

• Early 1900s: Modernist writers of this era express Britain's growing disenchantment with Christian beliefs, with many questioning the existence of God.

  Today: Over the past century, Britain has become increasingly secular. Many church buildings are demolished or repurposed because the congregations are too small to sustain them.

• Early 1900s: The Boer War, which starts in 1899 and ends in 1902, is fought between the British Empire and two independent African republics: the Orange Free State and the South African Republic (Transvaal Republic). These republics are destroyed after surrendering to Britain.

  Today: The war in Iraq, initiated by a U.S.-led invasion in 2003, evolves into a civil conflict between Sunni and Shia Iraqis. The conflict results in the deaths of over 3,000 U.S. troops and an estimated 650,000 Iraqis, along with casualties from other groups.

Although Lawrence owes a significant debt to the renowned English novelists of the nineteenth century, his finest work, particularly this novel, is distinguished by his enhancements and notable deviations from their work. His immediate predecessor, Thomas Hardy, is frequently identified by critics as a major influence; Hardy is the only English writer on whom Lawrence composed a comprehensive study. Both Hardy and Lawrence shared a deep interest in male/female relationships, and it is easy to draw parallels between Ursula's struggles with the inadequate Skrebensky and Tess's with the sanctimonious Clare and the cynical, worldly D'Urberville (Tess of the D'Urbervilles, 1891; see separate entry). However, Lawrence's sensibility differs significantly, and his exploration of human character is more profound. For instance, in his earlier novels, Lawrence does not exhibit the pessimism and fatalism evident in Hardy's famous later works, such as Tess and Jude the Obscure (1895; see separate entry). Lawrence's antagonists, those who cause suffering to others, are often themselves victims—not of an impersonal fate, but of human-created systems. Because these systems are man-made, they can be avoided and even resisted by some characters. For example, in the relationship between Ursula and Skrebensky, both are victims of a socio-industrial machine. Their conflicts arise because Ursula recognizes this and envisions a better life, while Skrebensky does not. Although their sexual passion is genuine, it is destined to fail because Skrebensky will go to India, becoming a mere cog in this machine. This vision of what impedes human fulfillment is very different from Hardy's more traditional Greek curse concept, as evidenced by Tess's early fear expressed to her younger brother that they live on a "blighted" planet. To be fair to Hardy, it should be noted that his depiction of the dehumanization caused by the mechanization of farming is vividly portrayed, foreshadowing Lawrence's broader vision of industrial woes.

While the erotic is generally understated in the work of George Eliot, she must also be acknowledged as an important predecessor due to the seriousness with which she and her characters, like Lawrence and his characters, quest for something beyond themselves. The passionate Dorothea Brooke of Middlemarch (1871-1872), married to the debilitating cleric Casaubon, is undoubtedly an example of repressed life that Lawrence would have recognized.

In Daniel Deronda (1876), Eliot keenly observes human destructiveness, perversity, and wickedness through the character of Grandcourt, the cruel husband of Gwendolyn Harleth. Grandcourt is vicious not only to his wife but also to his dogs and others, ultimately meeting his end by drowning in a boating accident, which can be seen as a Freudian slip. The abusive and barren marriage of Grandcourt and Harleth may foreshadow the dehumanized relationship between Winifred Inger and Tom Brangwen in The Rainbow. Unlike Gwendolyn, Winifred fully understands what she is getting into. Both novels suggest the possibility of a higher moral state or redemption: Deronda's assurance to Gwendolyn that she can redeem herself despite her horrific marriage and implied complicity in her husband's death parallels Ursula's hopeful rainbow. Additionally, the relationship between Gerald and Gudrun in Women in Love echoes the marriage in Eliot's novel. Gerald is cruel to his wife and horses, and he too faces a grim fate, dying in the snow. Lawrence's admiration for Eliot is evident in Phoenix, where he reviews the work of Italian writer Giovanni Verga. Although he calls Silas Marner a "ridiculous book," he acknowledges its lasting impact.

Lawrence owes a debt not only to Hardy and Eliot but also to Thackeray, Dickens, and the Brontes. These authors influenced his vivid settings, domestic scenes, character development, attitude towards animals, and portrayal of human struggles. The Rainbow, with its saga format, is particularly indebted to Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte, 1847; see separate entry). However, Lawrence's novel lacks the gothic revenge theme and deus ex machina redemption found in Bronte's work. John Galsworthy, another writer of intergenerational novels, is notable for his focus on married love. However, the Forsyte saga, with its emphasis on the upper-middle-class and social criticism, is considered by most critics to be a lesser work compared to Lawrence's. Despite praising Galsworthy for "the superb courage of his satire," Lawrence criticized his characters for being "social beings" rather than "really vivid human" beings (Phoenix).

Among contemporary English novelists, Virginia Woolf stands in contrast to Galsworthy, though she shares with Lawrence an intense focus on inner consciousness. In To the Lighthouse (1927; see separate entry), scenes where Mrs. Ramsay finally finds some solitude can be likened to scenes in The Rainbow where Ursula contemplates her innermost aspirations. Other frequently mentioned English novelists include Arnold Bennett, known for his realistic depictions of the English countryside and life, as seen in The Old Wives Tale (1908), and, more distantly, the eighteenth-century novelists Richardson and Fielding. Ian Watt cites Lawrence's reaction to Richardson's portrayal of sexuality as "a union of 'calico purity and underclothing excitements'." Watt further differentiates Richardson's depiction of erotic scenes from his predecessors by noting that "the feelings of the actors involved are so much more real." It seems fair to conclude that, despite Lawrence's lack of a moralistic approach like Richardson's, he found in Richardson an important early predecessor with a similar focus. Fielding's influence is less significant, as Watt suggests, since Fielding's interest lies more in burlesque and satire.

The primary Russian writers who influenced Lawrence were Anton Chekhov, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, and to a lesser extent, Ivan Turgenev. Turgenev is notable because Fathers and Sons (1862), like The Rainbow, features an intergenerational structure. The first two authors are frequently mentioned in various places in Lawrence's posthumous papers, Phoenix. Regardless of Lawrence's numerous comments about them, whether he was borrowing from or reacting to them, he was deeply engaged with their ideas and fictional works. Dostoevsky's The Idiot (1868) is often cited by critics for its similarities to Women in Love. However, Lawrence's critique of Christianity in The Rainbow is undoubtedly influenced by Dostoevsky, as are some early novel characters who serve as prototypes for characters in Women in Love. For instance, Tom Brangwen's cruelty foreshadows Gerald in Women in Love and resembles Rogozhin in Dostoevsky's work. Dostoevsky's prophetic tone has also been compared to Lawrence's. Dostoevsky's short story "The Peasant Marey" may be cited as a literary precedent, idealizing agrarian life much like Lawrence does at the beginning of The Rainbow. Lawrence had read Chekhov's short stories, and several of these may have influenced him in a similar manner.

Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina (1875-1877), with its intense psychological depiction of the illicit love affair between Anna and Vronsky, serves as a significant precursor to Lawrence's exploration of love relationships, particularly those that are ultimately destructive. Unlike Tolstoy, however, Lawrence approached the subject without the intense nineteenth-century preoccupation with public reaction to moral transgressions. He remarked on the great Russian novelists: "The certain moral scheme is what I object to. In Turgenev, and in Tolstoi, and in Dostoievsky, the moral scheme into which all the characters fit and it is nearly the same scheme is, whatever the extraordinariness of the characters themselves, dull, old, dead."

Two other non-English authors also merit recognition: Emile Zola, the French novelist whose twenty-book series Les Rougon-MacQuart Lawrence had read parts of, and the Italian Giovanni Verga, whose work Cavalleria Rusticana (1880) Lawrence reviewed in Phoenix. Zola's novels trace the life of the Les Rougon-MacQuart family through several generations to illustrate his concept of the naturalistic novel and his belief that traits, particularly negative ones, recur. For example, the grandmother, Adele, had an affair with a drunken smuggler, and generations later, Antoine, a descendant of this dissolute union, dies in a drunken stupor. A genealogy is provided at the beginning, detailing the issues of each character. Lawrence concurred with Zola's critics of the time, stating that the characters are merely "physical-functional arrangements . . . without any 'higher' nature."

In contrast, Lawrence viewed Verga differently: "Verga's people are always people in the purest sense of the word." He saw Verga as a kindred spirit, a man who valued the unrefined peasant for possessing a higher nature than "the ordinary successful man of the world." However, Lawrence also criticized Verga's repetitive themes of "betrayed husbands killing the co-respondents" and ending up in jail. While neither Zola nor Verga matched Lawrence's caliber, he seems to have considered them as starting points for his own literary explorations and ideas.

None of Lawrence's other works are quite like The Rainbow. Although it can be compared to its distinct predecessor, Sons and Lovers, due to its intense exploration of romantic relationships between men and women, it also shares the vivid depiction of natural settings and domestic life. A notable difference is The Rainbow's focus, particularly toward the end, on the woman's perspective. Women in Love can be seen as a sequel to The Rainbow since characters Ursula and Gudrun have their beginnings in the earlier novel. Both books delve deeply into the complexities of romantic relationships between men and women. However, Women in Love surpasses The Rainbow in its intense and profound exploration of these relationships, often intertwined with elements of hate. It also touches on the possibility of same-sex relationships, hinted at in The Rainbow through Tom Brangwen's attraction to his school friend and the Winifred Inger-Ursula relationship. As with the earlier novel, Women in Love portrays how mechanization and various societal forces, along with destructive impulses within the characters themselves, hinder their ability to lead fulfilling lives. Unlike The Rainbow, which spans multiple generations, Women in Love focuses on a single generation, examining the different choices characters make in their romantic lives, whether constructively or destructively. Women in Love has been described as "Lawrence's most perfectly integrated study of disintegration" (Moynahan), in contrast to The Rainbow, whose conclusion suggests some form of redemptive action.

Ken Russell, known for adapting Women in Love into a critically acclaimed and commercially successful film, directed a 1989 feature film adaptation of The Rainbow. In this film, Sammi Davis portrays the young Ursula, who becomes the protégé and object of desire for the sophisticated Winifred Inger, played by Amanda Donohoe. Russell's approach, similar to his work in Women in Love, involves creating atmosphere through vivid imagery that offers the audience a deeper understanding of the characters' emotions.

In 1989, Ken Russell directed a film adaptation of The Rainbow, featuring British actors Sammi Davis as Ursula, Glenda Jackson as Anna, and Paul McGann as Anton. This adaptation skipped the narratives of the first two generations of the Brangwen family, concentrating solely on Ursula’s journey to adulthood.

A year earlier, in 1988, the BBC created a television version starring Imogen Stubbs as Ursula and Martin Wenner as Anton. Similar to the film, this rendition also centered on Ursula’s life.

Sources
Crump, G. B., “Lawrence’s Rainbow and Russell’s Rainbow,” in The D. H. Lawrence Review, Vol. 21, No. 2, Summer 1989, pp. 187, 188, 199, 200.

Lawrence, D. H., The Rainbow, Penguin, 1995.

Rosenzweig, Paul, “A Defense of the Second Half of The Rainbow: Its Structure and Characterization,” in The D. H. Lawrence Review, Vol. 13, No. 2, Summer 1980, pp. 150, 151.

Squire, J. C., “Books in General: The Rainbow,” in New Statesman, Vol. 6, No. 137, November 20, 1915, p. 161.

Stewart, Jack F., “Dialectics of Knowing in Women in Love,” in Twentieth Century Literature, Vol. 37, No. 1, Spring 1991, p. 63.

Widmer, Kingsley, “D. H. Lawrence,” in Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vol. 36: British Novelists, 1890–1929: Modernists, edited by Thomas F. Staley, Gale Research, 1985, pp. 115–149.

Further Reading
Brown, Homer O., “The Passionate Struggle into Conscious Being,” in The D. H. Lawrence Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 275–90. Brown delves into the characters’ search for identity in The Rainbow, focusing on their connections to the external world.

Jackson, Dennis, and Fleda Brown Jackson, eds., Critical Essays on D. H. Lawrence, G. K. Hall, 1988. This compilation includes a summary of how Lawrence’s works have been critically received and an essay on expressionism in The Rainbow.

Roberts, Warren, and James T. Boulton, eds., The Letters of D. H. Lawrence, Cambridge University Press, 2002. Lawrence, known for his extensive letter writing, discusses his ongoing projects, outlines key themes, and shares his philosophical views in these letters.

Sagar, Keith, The Life of D. H. Lawrence: An Illustrated Biography, Chaucer Press, 2004. Sagar emphasizes significant biographical events that shaped Lawrence’s writing. This book is particularly notable for its 170 illustrations, some in color and many previously unpublished.