"What they do is no concern of us": Desire, Imitation, and Self

Desire, in part, seems to be based on a need to constitute the self (and not necessarily a desire for the other).  Bodies are fragmented and detached in Loving—“Kate’s arms lay along her purple uniformed sides” (88) and “One of his [Raunce’s] arms fell across her lap.  He lifted it off at once”(103)—suggesting that the desire for others through mimicry and repetition really is, perhaps, a desire for self.  Edith is distraught when Raunce appears disinterested in her news about the Captain and Mrs. Jack:  he claims that he is going to “try and take it from her” (80), demonstrating how this discovery has become not only a possession but also a constitution of self.  (it is only “hers” when she tells of this secret, which, ironically, causes this “self-knowledge” to become common knowledge).  Raunce undermines Edith’s sense of self in this passage by discrediting the significance of her witnessing the event and caring about it enough for it to become a “possession.”  He repeats twice “What they do is no concern of us” (80), undermining not only Edith’s agency in this passage but also contributing to the devaluation of the “work” or “labor” that occurs throughout the text (since the work of the servants—namely, to provide for their masters—revolves precisely around such concerns).  It should be noted, however, that Raunce’s repetition of this line further highlights its irony.