The Wife -- A Nostalgic Character
Some memories fade away with the passage of time. However, the reminiscence of first love refuses to wither away. The Wife in "The Shadow in the Rose Garden" by D.H. Lawrence still retrospects her first love passionately. Her issuelessness, choosing a familiar place for outing and ejaculation of pent-up emotions prove that she cannot help digging her past.
Firstly, the Wife is childless. She married Frank three years ago. Since then she has been living with him in Bridlington under the same roof. However, she has not given birth to a baby. It means she has not compromised with her present. She has not developed conjugality with her husband. In other words, she still loves her past.
Secondly, when the husband arranges for an outing, the Wife deliberately selects a sea-side village to revive her yore. Here there is her sweet memorial place, a rose garden. She visits this garden alone. This lush, enchanted garden, filled with red, pink and white roses reminds her of the time spent there with Archie, her erstwhile lover.
Thirdly, her discharging of repressed emotions shows her love for past. In the garden, she encounters Archie. Watching him alive but mad perturbs her greatly. Her mind is so full of the memories of past that it refuses to hide the present shock. Thus after coming back the garden, she blurts out a confession of her affair with Archie to her husband.
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