"I hate her now!"

Today, class began with the exclamation of “I hate her (Gudrun) now!”  I found myself startled by this exclamation since I have recently become enthralled with Gudrun.  Granted, she is becoming increasingly superficial and concerned with class (which are both characteristics that I despised in Hermione), but there is still something so intriguing about her.  For my post, I would will focus briefly on some of the changes that I have seen occur in Gudrun.

There was a moment when Gerald was kissing Gudrun where she paused and looked into his face and thought “this was the glistening forbidden apple, this face of a man” (332).  This alludes to the apple that contains the knowledge of good and evil from the biblical story of Adam and Eve.  When Eve eats the fruit, she and Adam are cast out of the Garden of Eden, and so here when Gudrun is with Gerald she is becoming more knowledgeable about the world he lives in and therefore more corrupt.

When Gerald and Gudrun are in London, and later the mountains, and obvious change is seen in her dress – more fur is added, she wears bolder colors, the fabric is fancier.  The change in her clothing is mirrored by a change in her attitude and mannerisms.  As she leaves the bar in London, she moves with “slow, fashionable indifference toward the door” (385) with an air that suggests that she is above her former artist friends and acquaintances.  Later, the novel mentions that Gudrun moves with the “cold movement of a woman who is well-dressed and contemptuous in her soul” (385).  This cold movement reminds me of the stiff and condescending air that Hermione often walks with.  

One of the final items which confirms that Gudrun has been transformed by Gerald was when she was reunited with Ursula and said “really, Ursula, he seems to reap the women like a harvest: there wasn’t one that would have resisted him.  It was too amazing!” (394).  This shows not only is Gudrun proud to have knowledge that others want, and clothing that everyone wants, but she gets pride in having other women want her lover.  This moment confirms that Gudrun is now very interested in the material world and exerting her newfound status – something that I expect to see much more of now that she is outside of England.