Ewa Brownven

Ursula Brangwen is one of D. H. Lawrence’s independent, dominating women, but her relationship with Birkin becomes an example of the mutual communion Lawrence sets against possessive or self-enclosed love. Their “star-equilibrium” is presented as a form of freedom, though the ideal is not gender-neutral: Ursula’s movement toward it entails relinquishing individuality, while men’s submission to the cosmic order is described as autonomous.

Identity and Lawrence’s Ideal

In Lawrence’s account, Ursula begins as a woman who expects a man to yield himself to her completely. She belongs to a group of female characters whose independence and desire to preserve their own will Lawrence treats as obstacles to what he calls their feminine vocation. Her arc is therefore framed not simply as romantic attachment, but as a change in her relation to selfhood and erotic union.

From Dominance to “Star-Equilibrium”

Ursula learns to overcome her will in her relationship with Birkin. Their eventual union is described as an exchange in which each gives the other a “star-equilibrium which alone is freedom”: neither lover is meant to be merely a fragment absorbed by the other, but each is a complete being whose difference makes communion possible. The image marks a shift away from domination toward reciprocity, while placing their intimacy within Lawrence’s larger vision of a cosmic order beyond individual self-assertion.

Contrast with Other Relationships

Ursula’s relationship with Birkin is contrasted with the failure of Gerald and Gudrun to achieve communion. Gudrun remains apart from Gerald even when he seeks comfort with her; the account presents that separation as a consequence of each person’s enclosure within the self. It also groups Ursula with Gudrun and Myriam as independent women, but distinguishes Ursula because she changes: Gudrun remains closed within her subjectivity, whereas Ursula accepts a relation that Lawrence represents as reciprocal.

Significance and Limits

Ursula’s transformation illustrates the tension at the center of Lawrence’s ideal. His account rejects the idea that woman should be merely a man’s prey or an occasion for his experience; genuine communion requires both partners to give themselves. Yet it also insists that women must renounce personal will and find fulfillment through male mediation. Ursula’s “star-equilibrium” thus signifies both a movement beyond possessive love and the unequal terms on which Lawrence imagines that freedom: the woman must yield her independence in a way the man does not.