Masculinity and Relationships

As Jessica pointed out earlier, although society at this time believes women should find a husband and settle down and have a family, the sisters seem to rebel against this norm. Even though Lawrence takes on a more feminist stance in his female characters, the male still cling gender roles. Evidence for this is seen in the relationship between Birkin and Gerald. The two often have heated debates where it seems they despise each other. At the end of Shortlands, Lawrence describes their relationship differently in the last paragraph that their hearts burned from the other and with each other. The thing keeping them apart was only their belief that men should not have deep relationships with other men. Lawrence keeps his male characters closer to gender expectations than his female characters. I wonder if this means he saw something wrong with expectations placed on women, but not on men.