Anna begins attending school but struggles to form close friendships with her peers. The novel’s second section follows Anna Brangwen as she comes of age, attends school, and marries Will Brangwen, her step-cousin. After a heated argument, Tom and Lydia realize they are each neglectful of the other, and this leads to their reconciliation. Tom struggles with alcohol use and with feelings of purposelessness, and Lydia becomes increasingly indifferent to him when she is pregnant with their first child.

He relies on the child to build up his self-confidence, which is boosted when she grows to regard him as a father. Their cultural differences and Tom’s insecurities make their marriage difficult at times, and the distance between them leads Tom to develop a close bond with his stepdaughter, Anna. She is sexually attracted to Tom but fears becoming subservient to another husband. Lydia is a Polish refugee who has already buried two children and a husband. The first section of the novel follows Tom Brangwen’s young adulthood and his marriage to Lydia Lensky. The Rainbow explores coming of age, the shift from an agricultural to an industrial economy, religion, and family relationships-particularly marriage-through the changing attitudes of three generations. This study guide uses the 2007 Penguin Classics edition of the novel, edited by Mark Kinkead-Weekes, with an introduction by James Wood. Ursula Brangwen’s quest for personal and spiritual fulfillment continues in Women in Love, in which she is also a protagonist. Lawrence originally conceived of The Rainbow and its 1920 sequel Women in Love as one longer novel.

The rainbow novel by dh lawrence