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The transition from childhood to adulthood is a complex but universal passage. Both Katherine Mansfield's The Wind Blows and D. H. Lawrence's The Virgin and the Gipsy embody adolescent angst in their characterization. Matilda and Yvette search for meaning beyond the lives they perceive they are condemned to lead. Both bring about greater understanding of the struggle between a young girls struggle of innocence versus sexuality.
In similar uses of metaphor and imagery the stories tell the tale of social convention, romanticism and sexual awakening. The Virgin and the Gipsy is written with little surprise or subtlety in it, as is suggested by the title. Lawrence has a theme of human connectedness throughout the story. However there is force that threatens the conventional existence of Yvette. Yvette is a young girl that in her own way was rescued by a dark manly figure from outside her world. However the stories intrigue is the intensity and conviction written by Lawrence.
We never learn about Yvette which they dont and would never see (Lawrence 75). The Wind goes through little in the way of dramatic action. Our understanding of Matilda comes with her frustration of seemingly meaningless chores and a simple routine to wistfully thinking of places far away. The characterization from The Virgin and the Gipsy is more complex than that of Mansfield's short story.
The denial of the two protagonists emotions lead to the eventual loss of childlike youth and spontaneity Her young soul knew the wisdom of it (145). Only slightly more expansive is the tale of Yvette which lasts only two seasons, the latter spans only a day with a brief reflection in the end. Through thoughts and feelings of the central protagonists we get an overwhelming insight into the lives they lead and the lives they crave. Each of the two girls has a high spirit infused by passion.
Neither actually experiences desire person but awaken to the idea itself. Yvette dreams of falling violently in love (12) and Matilda hints at love through heading for the open gate (Mansfield 58). Both seem to imply the context of a society that pretends desire only occurs on a limited basis within marriage or class structure, for fear the thought was obscene, (115). Anything outside of that realm of possibility should not be expressed. Mansfield implies the passion that Matilda feels for Mr. Bullen with her heart racing and him waiting for her (55).
Matilda feels content upon entrance to her piano teachers home. There is warmth that overcomes her through the smells and images that surround her senses. Matilda has a feeling that they know everything about each other (55) which suggests intimacy on her part. From Mr. Bullen's point of view, there is only a portrayal of adult concern as in two instances Matilda is reminded that she is still a little lady (55). Yvette lay and wishes she were a gypsy (52).
The life of the gipsy is different in every way from her own, she is smitten by him with her childlike eyes (67) but still paralyzed by the fear of social convention for fear the thought was obscene (115). The gypsies were most outside the world she was brought up in therefore subject to her fascination. The dark and handsome gipsy was a fantasy man for Yvette one in which she knew she could not have but wanted just the same. Both of these male figures were portrayed with washed hands implying cleanliness in thought and deed. Mr. Bullen may not have had passionate thoughts about Matilda as she had for him.
The gipsy nevertheless had a strong desire for Yvette as many looks passed between them in there brief encounters, ? his big, bold eyes upon her, with the naked insinuation of desire in them. (53) The hierarchy is a strong maternal figure in both stories. The heads of the household are portrayed as negative figures. Matilda is presumably an average adolescent rebelling against the parental figure; She hates Mother (54).
Yvette detests Granny with all of her soul (116). Yvette was an outsider in the beastly house (118) and the image of Matilda's home is to her like a prison that is dreary and cold, one in which she cannot escape. They are both constricted by their homes yet somehow bound to them. The Ship is gone now (58) Matilda escapes the world she was predestined to and breaks free through the water through the wind to her own life. Yvette comes into the dreariness of home on a ship. Foreshadows of water bring her into the wide seas of life (13).
The great flood in the end of the story creates the perfect ending. Water in the stories seems to wash away the life they had. Washing away the fantasy gave the gipsy a name and made him a reality still wrought with social constriction. It has washed away the stagnant elements signaling an oncoming birth allowing them to lead their own lives.
The wind of each of the stories blows through like a timeline. It is a force of nature as is a fading childhood to impending adulthood. When Yvette opens the window for fresh air Granny shuts it implying that she is still under the watchful eye of the hierarchy of the family. In the end the hated Granny dies, as the gypsy strips off his clothes and takes the naked Yvette into his arms to protect her from the rising wind and waters. The wind transforms from stifling to open air through time and the death of the old hierarchy and the start of the new. In the same token Matilda leaves her depressing world to enter that of the beloved piano teacher who brings her in from the wind.
But in the end Matilda has only the memories of the day long ago and ends the story with The wind, the wind, (58) much as her childhood ended and she too moved up the hierarchy scale to a life of her own. The forces of nature, being wind and water are elements out of the control of the characters. The wind will never stop. It will eventually blow through another life change. The water will wash clear the conscience of another adolescent. However remembered are the days through which these events took place long after the force of nature has died down.
From Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to the blockbuster movie Titanic the struggle against social convention, class structure and awakening desire is universal. Virgins and gypsies are both fascinating to our society by reason of depleting numbers. The sexual awakening that occurs in Mansfield and Lawrence depictions occurs through different means but conveys the same message. Every individual goes through a natural right of passage from childhood to adulthood. With the change of adolescence come sexual desire and maturity. The outcome or moral underlying these two stories is to become aware of the struggle of conformity versus consciousness of ones own sexual desire.
Bibliography Lawrence, D. H. The Virgin and the Gipsy. New York: Viking, 1992. Mansfield, Katherine. The Wind.
The Story-Makers 2 nd Ed, ed. Rudy Wiebe. Toronto: Gage, 1987. 349
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