Women In Love

Before World War I, the British Empire was the foremost colonial power, the center of international banking, and the technological forerunner in the West, despite rapid progress in the US in the late 19th century. Wars to suppress colonial uprisings defined this era, as Great Britain sought to maintain control of its colonial territories in India, Africa, and the Caribbean, which it exploited for natural resources and human labor. In the West, technological developments in transportation and navigation drastically increased travel, meaning that tourism, trade, and other forms of cultural exchange increased, bringing more prosperity to the ruling classes in Europe, North America, and the UK. This dynamic also created greater economic inequality than in the past. In Women in Love, these changes are demonstrated through Gerald’s control of the coal mine. Gerald views his workers as replaceable cogs in the industrial machine. They reap very little benefit from their work, other than basic sustenance, while Gerald’s wealth from the mines helps fund his education in Europe and visits to exotic locations, such as the Alps.

The novel also reflects Britain’s status as an imperial power in its portrayal of its colonized regions. After traveling in Europe, Gerald visits British-controlled colonies in Africa and India. His trips leave him with negative opinions about non-European culture, though he never recognizes his role in the system of imperial oppression. In The Rainbow, Ursula’s first betrothed was a soldier who leaves to fight first in the Boer War, a war between Dutch and English colonists in South Africa for control of the gold mines, which brutally exploited the Indigenous population and originated the concentration-camp model used by the Nazis in World War II. Later, the soldier leaves to serve in the colonial forces of India to suppress local uprisings (the brutality of British rule in India resulted in doctrines of colonial resistance, including that of Gandhi). In the novel, people from colonized regions are seen as a commodity: Halliday, like many wealthy British citizens at the time, has a Hindu servant. Rupert mentions having been taught wrestling by a Japanese man. Halliday and Rupert don’t see these individuals as people; they provide valuable labor and skills but are seen as racially and culturally inferior to Westerners.