PASSION-FLOWERS TO BE EMBROIDERED ON IT

PASSION-FLOWERS TO BE EMBROIDERED ON IT... but why passion-flowers?
A symbolic analysis of this subplot by Yoshinobu Umetsu

[···] Wilde deals more successfully with the burden of human suffering. 
[···] Rather than replicating socio-economic reality, he sets the tale in another world, [···].
Only once, and with skillful indirectness, he traces the problem (of human suffering) to its origin.
[···] a gown for one of the queen’s maids of honor. On [···] way [···], passes first over the cathedral, and then over the palace. And [···] overhears the maid’s murmur in conversation: “I hope my dress will be ready in time for the State-ball ... I have ordered passion-flowers to be embroidered on it; but the seamstresses are so lazy.”( p. 287) The flower’s symbolic significance is ironically suited to unfeeling materialism and indicates the great spiritual distance that separates palace from cathedral. This indirect method of criticism blends more smoothly into the tale’s core than the political speeches (in “The Young King.”) By concentrating on simple solutions rather than the complexity of the problem, Wilde uses this style with greater effect, creating a more unified, harmonious work of art.


Yoshinobu Umetsu


... unas pasionarias en un vestido que lucirá una camarera de la reina en un baile, ...
En contraste, la mujer que usará el vestido, y a quien su amante le expresa la maravillosa fuerza del amor al ver las hermosas estrellas, se queja de la pereza de las costureras, [···]

THE BEST FICTIONAL GENDER ROLE REVERSALS

THE BEST FICTIONAL GENDER ROLE REVERSALS (IMOHO)

-- The loveliest of the Queen's maids-of-honour (a beautiful girl) and her lover (Oscar Wilde, late 19th century, story set anytime in the 18th-19th century [in a time when oranges are a luxury for the lower middle class/upper proletariat]):

The loveliest of the Queen's maids-of-honour is to wear a satin gown at the next Court-ball.

From the palace, one heard the sound of dancing. A beautiful girl came out on the balcony with her lover. 

"How wonderful the stars are," he said to her, "and how wonderful is the power of love!"
"I hope my dress will be ready in time for the State-ball," she answered; "I have ordered passion-flowers to be embroidered on it; but the seamstresses are so lazy."

The second couple in the tale are also heterosexual. The lovers on the balcony do not seem to be successful in their relationship and have communication problems. The man is romantic and passionate whereas the maid-of-honour is portrayed as being cold, selfish, vain, and loveless. For example, the man romances the girl saying: "How beautiful the stars are, and how wonderful is the power of love!"; however, she replies that she is worried her dress will not be ready for the State-Ball and complains that the seamstress is "so lazy". Jacobs predicts that the indifference of the maid-of-honour and her inability to understand the lives of those who work for her will break down the lovers' relationship and the girl will be to blame. The relationship between the lovers... The female character conveys an attitude towards life and is unfocused on the fundamental needs of her relationship.
It is interesting to note that prior to the twentieth century, it was fully acceptable for men to express themselves romantically with poets such as Keats, Shelley, and Wordsworth as their role models.
Jacobs writes that Wilde inverts the usual stereotypes of the "manly male" and the "romantic female" rendering the last as materialistic, callous, and aggressive.

And the romantic couple on the palace balcony are a surprise.
Readers usually expect the comment about the lovely stars and the wonderful power of love to be attached with 'she said to him' but it's 'he said to her', inverting the usual stereotypes of the manly male and the romantic female. Not only that but, in a particularly sharp and even brutal piece of manipulation by Wilde, the beautiful girl is shown to be not only unromantic, and not only materialistic and callous, but her coldly aggressive remark cruelly contradicts what we ourselves...

Este fragmento de Wilde fue traducido por Jorge Luis Borges a la tierna edad de nueve años.


Un vestido de raso que debe lucir, en el próximo baile de corte, la más bella de las damas de honor de la Reina.
Sobre el palacio real, se oyó la música de baile. Una bella muchacha apareció en el balcón con su novio.

-¡Qué hermosas son las estrellas -la dijo- y qué poderosa es la fuerza del amor!

-Querría que mi vestido estuviese acabado para el baile oficial -respondió ella-. He mandado bordar en él unas pasionarias

-- Yael and Sisera (Book of Judges, around the time of the Trojan War):

15. And the LORD discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet.

16

But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left.

17

However, Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Yael, the wife of Heber the Kenite: for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.

18

And Yael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, "Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not." And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle.

19

And he said unto her, "Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty." And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him.

20

Again he said unto her, "Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, 'No.'"

21

Then Yael, Heber's wife, took a tent peg in her left hand, and took an hammer in her right hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the peg into his temples, and pinned him to o the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.

22

And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Yael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will show thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples.

23

So God subdued on that day Jabin, the king of Canaan, before the children of Israel.

24

And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin, the king of Canaan.

Aggressive female? Check. Passionate male? Check. Female dominance over the male? Check. Fixing him a drink to knock him out, before getting dangerous? A great figurehead of the patriarchy subjugated by a female? Double check, Yael being a twofer, female plus Gentile. 

--Salmacis and Hermaphroditus (classical myth, told and maybe penned by Ovid):

The Fountain Of Salmacis

The Naiads nurst an infant heretofore,
That Cytherea once to Hermes bore:
From both th' illustrious authors of his race
The child was nam'd, nor was it hard to trace
Both the bright parents thro' the infant's face.

From a dense forest of tall, dark, pinewood,
Mount Ida rises like an island.
Within a hidden cave, nymphs had kept a child;
Hermaphroditus, son of gods,
so afraid of their love.

When fifteen years in Ida's cool retreat
The boy had told, he left his native seat,
And sought fresh fountains in a foreign soil...

As the dawn creeps up the sky
The hunter caught sight of a doe.
In desire for conquest,
He found himself, within a glade
he'd not beheld before.

Hermaphroditus: “Where are you my father.
Give wisdom to your son.”
Narrator: “Then he could go no farther.
Now lost, the boy was guided by the sun”

And as his strength began to fail
He saw a shimmering lake.

It shew'd the bottom in a fairer light,
Nor kept a sand conceal'd from human sight.
The stream produc'd nor slimy ooze, nor weeds,
Nor miry rushes, nor the spiky reeds;
But dealt enriching moisture all around,
The fruitful banks with chearful verdure crown'd,
And kept the spring eternal on the ground.

A shadow in the dark green depths

Disturbed the strange tranquility.

A nymph presides, not practis'd in the chase,
Nor skilful at the bow, nor at the race;

Her sisters often, as 'tis said, wou'd cry,
"Fie Salmacis: what, always idle! fie.
Or take thy quiver, or thy arrows seize,
And mix the toils of hunting with thy ease."
Nor quiver she nor arrows e'er wou'd seize,
Nor mix the toils of hunting with her ease.
But oft would bathe her in the chrystal tide,
Oft with a comb her dewy locks divide;
Now in the limpid streams she views her face,
And drest her image in the floating glass:
On beds of leaves she now repos'd her limbs,
Now gather'd flow'rs that grew about her streams,

Salmacis: “The waters are disturbed

Some creature has been stirred”
Narrator: “The waters are disturbed
The naiad queen Salmacis has been…
stirred”

As he rushed to quench his thirst,
A fountain spring appeared before him
And as his heated breath
brushed through the cool mist,
A liquid voice called “Son of gods,
drink from my spring”.

The water tasted strangely sweet.
Behind him the voice called again.
He turned and saw her, in a cloak of mist alone
And as he gazed, her eyes were filled
with the darkness of the lake.

Salmacis: “We shall be one.
We shall be joined as one”

"Bright youth," she cries, "whom all thy features prove
A God, and, if a God, the God of love;

Blest are thy parents, and thy sisters blest:

But oh how blest! how more than blest thy bride,

Ally'd in bliss, if any yet ally'd.

If so, let mine the stol'n enjoyments be;

If not, behold a willing bride in me!"

Narrator: “She wanted them as one.

Yet he had no desire to be one”

The boy knew nought of love, and toucht with shame,
He strove, and blusht, but still the blush became:
In rising blushes still fresh beauties rose;
The sunny side of fruit such blushes shows,
And such the moon, when all her silver white
Turns in eclipses to a ruddy light.
The nymph still begs, if not a nobler bliss,
A cold salute at least, a sister's kiss:
And now prepares to take the lovely boy
Between her arms. He, innocently coy,
Replies, "Or leave me to my self alone,
You rude uncivil nymph, or I'll be gone."
"Fair stranger then," says she, "it shall be so";
And, for she fear'd his threats, she feign'd to go:
But hid within a covert's neighbouring green,
She kept him still in sight, herself unseen.
The boy now fancies all the danger o'er,
And innocently sports about the shore,
Playful and wanton to the stream he trips,
And dips his foot, and shivers as he dips.
The coolness pleas'd him, and with eager haste
His airy garments on the banks he cast;
His godlike features, and his heav'nly hue,
And all his beauties were expos'd to view.
His naked limbs the nymph with rapture spies,
While hotter passions in her bosom rise,
Flush in her cheeks, and sparkle in her eyes.
She longs, she burns to clasp him in her arms,
And looks, and sighs, and kindles at his charms.

Now all undresssed upon the banks he stood,
And clapt his sides, and leapt into the flood:
His lovely limbs the silver waves divide,
His limbs appear more lovely through the tide;
As lilies shut within a crystal case
Receive a glossy lustre from the glass.
He's mine, he's all my own, the Naiad cries,
And flings off all, and after him she flies.
And now she fastens on him as he swims,
And holds him close, and wraps about his limbs.
The more the boy resisted, and was coy,
The more she clipt, and kissed the struggling boy.

Hermaphroditus: “Away from me 

cold-blooded woman. Your thirst is not mine”

Salmacis: “Nothing will cause us to part

Hear me O gods”

The restless boy still obstinately strove
To free himself, and still refus'd her love.
Amidst his limbs she kept her limbs entwined,
"And why, coy youth," she cries, "why thus unkind!
Oh may the Gods thus keep us ever joined!
Oh may we never, never part again!"

Unearthly calm descended from the sky
And then their flesh and bones
were strangely merged
Forever to be joined as one.

For now she finds him, as his limbs she prest,
Grow nearer still, and nearer to her breast;
'Till, piercing each the other's flesh, they run
Together, and incorporate in one:
Last in one face are both their faces join'd,
As when the stock and grafted twig combin'd
Shoot up the same, and wear a common rind.

The creature crawled into the lake
A fading voice was heard:
“And I beg, that all who touch this spring
may share my fate”

(He prayed, but wonder'd at his softer tone,
Surprised to hear a voice but half his own.)
You parent-gods, whose heav'nly names I bear,
Hear your Hermaphroditus, grant my prayer;
Oh grant, that whomsoe'er these streams contain,
If man he enter'd, he may rise again
Supple, unsinew'd, and but half a man!

The heav'nly parents answer'd from on high,
Their two-shaped son, the double votary,
Then gave a secret virtue to the flood,
And tinged its source to make his wishes good.

Salmacis: “We are the one, we are the one”
Narrator: “The two are now made one.
Demi-god and nymph are now made one”

Both had given everything they had.
A lover's dream had been fulfilled at last,
Forever still beneath the lake.

Here, I combine the classical seventeenth-century translation of Ovid with the Genesis song retelling the myth from which I first learned to know it. She takes the lead in the relationship, he retreats, resists, fights for his rights, and finally surrenders. Not only is he defiled by her, but their bodies are even fused together in response to her wish that they never be parted.

-- Every single false bride/rival bride tale in which she drugs the male love interest:

Not only is the villainess always portrayed as aggressive, dynamic, self-centered and self-reliant; she often fixes the bridegroom a drink that puts him into an altered state and turns him basically into the rival bride's pleasure object. This is one of my favourite fairytale motifs EVER. I have even turned it into an EPIC Haikara-san fanfic...

Der Mann verschwindet daraufhin an einen weit entfernten, magischen Ort, wo er eine andere Frau (typischerweise die Tochter einer bösen Fee) heiraten soll. Die Schöne ist bereit, bis ans Ende der Welt zu gehen, um ihren Liebsten zu finden und zu erlösen, wobei ihr Zauberkräfte zuwachsen. Mit kostbaren Gegenständen erkauft sie sich drei Nächte bei ihrem Mann. Die neue Braut versucht, den Mann durch einen Schlaftrunk unempfindlich zu machen, doch in der letzten Nacht kann die rechtmäßige Frau ihn erreichen und erlösen.

Der Gatte entschwindet, und die Heldin zieht (in Eisenschuhen) aus, ihn zu suchen. 
Sie erhält Hilfe und Zaubergaben, z.B. Kästchen oder Nussschale, von klugen alten Frauen, von verschiedenen Winden oder Sternen (Sonne, Mond) - "den drei wegweisenden Instanzen" - und kommt über oder durch den Glasberg endlich zum fernen Ort, wo sich ihr Gatte aufhält. 
Dieser hat jedoch eine andere (dämonische) Braut.
 Die Heldin bietet der zweiten Frau ihren Dienst an und erkauft mit ihren kostbaren Gaben (goldenes Spinngerät, silbernes, goldenes, sternenbestücktes Kleid etc.), die aus dem Kästchen bzw. der Nuss wunderbar hervorkommen und die sich ihre neidische Herrin, als sie die Dinge entdeckt, in ihrem Besitz wünscht, drei Nächte im Schlafzimmer des Mannes. Dieser hat jedoch von der dämonischen Braut einen Schlaftrunk erhalten, so dass er die Erinnerungsversuche der ersten Frau nicht wahrnimmt. 
Erst als er in der dritten Nacht den Trunk verschüttet, bleibt er wach und hört die Geschichte seiner früheren Braut. Darauf folgt das Schlüsselgleichnis oder eine magische Flucht vom Zauberort der zweiten Frau.


Wir finden in einigen sowohl die drei gekauften Nächte als auch die vergessene Braut.
On the first two nights, the husband sleeps, drugged by the rival bride...
When he finally awakes -as if from the dead- and recognizes the heroine, the spell is broken: he rejects the false bride and embraces the true one.

...the alienation of enchantment, symbolized in the person of the rival bride...

Konsequenterweise wird die Neue Braut dazu eingesetzt, das Ansehen der Heldin zu erhöhen. 
In den Märchen mit Neuer Braut betrügt der Held seine Partnerin, und wird für seinen Seitensprung nicht bestraft.

Als Konkurrentin der Heldin gehören sowohl die neuen Bräute, als auch die Stiefmutter zum negativen Märchenpersonal.

Die weiblichen Nebenfiguren bekunden ihren Unmut bezüglich einer Beziehung. Sie müssen
den ungeliebten Mann nicht heiraten, zahlen dafür aber oft mit dem Tod. Entscheidend ist die Betonung ihrer Autonomie.

Neue Braut

In meist zweiteiligen Märchen mit einer Suchwanderung wendet sich der Mann durch von
außen zugeführte Magie oder schlichtes Vergessen einer anderen Frau zu. Die rechte Braut
versucht, ihn wieder an sich zu binden, und ihn aus den Fängen der neuen Braut zu befreien.
Die neuen Bräute stehen in keiner verwandtschaftlichen Beziehung zu der weiblichen Haupt-figur. Bis auf KHM 56 (Der liebste Roland), sind die wahren Bräute Königstöchter von Geburt bzw. durch Heirat.
In KHM 67, KHM 88 und KHM 186 ist die Neue Braut eine royale Infantin. Das Bild dieser
Frauen ist sehr divergent. Während die Königstöchter aus KHM 67 und KHM 186 ohne ihr
Zutun in die Position der Heiratsaspirantin geraten, und weiterhin keine aktive Rolle in den
Erzählungen einnehmen, ist die Neue Braut aus KHM 88 aktiv daran beteiligt, die Qualen der wahren Braut zu erhöhen. Aus dem erlittenen Gestaltverlust befreit, entführt sie den Prinzen, bezaubert ihn, und betrügt die wahre Braut, indem sie ihrem Mann Schlafmittel verabreicht. Sie dominiert den Prinzen, der sich ihr hingibt, und in dieser Situation eine passive Rolle einnimmt. In KHM 88 und KHM 186 geht das Märchen nicht auf das Schicksal der neuen Braut ein. In KHM 67 wird sie zurück in ihr Reich geschickt. Die Funktion der neuen Braut ist immer die der Konkurrentin. Neben ihr erscheint die Heldin strahlender und frommer. Sie kann nie zur Gewinnerin des Märchens werden.
Ist sie im Interesse des Handlungsfortgangs unwichtig, wird über ihre Person geschwiegen,
egal, ob sie absichtsvoll oder ohne Verschulden in diese Situation gelangt ist.

KHM 56, KHM 113, KHM 127, KHM 193 und KHM 198 geben keine Auskunft über den
Stand der neuen Heiratsaspirantin. Das Motiv der erkauften Nächte findet sich in KHM 113,
KHM 127 und KHM 198 wieder. Die neuen Bräute wollen die Hochzeit erst vollziehen,
nachdem sie ein bestimmtes Kleid von der wahren Braut erworben haben. Dabei betrügen alle die Besitzerin, indem sie dem Bräutigam einen Schlaftrunk zuführen. Dafür werden sie unterschiedlich bestraft: Sie bekommt die Kleider als Entschädigung für die geplatzte Hochzeit (KHM 193), muss weg (KHM 113), ihr wird der Kopf abgeschlagen (KHM 198), oder sie wird nackt denunziert (KHM 127). Der Kleiderwunsch unterstreicht die Freude an materiellen Gütern.
Die Neue Braut in KHM 56 wird nur kurz beschrieben: Roland gerät in ihre „Fallstricke“. Ihr
weiteres Schicksal bleibt unerwähnt.
Das Verhältnis des Bräutigams zur neuen Braut wird sehr distanziert und kühl beschrieben.
Eine solche Beziehung steht konträr zur oft leidenschaftlichen Beziehung von rechter Braut
und Partner. Die Zuwendung des Mannes zu einer neuen Partnerin verdeutlicht, wie austauschbar die Frauen für den Helden sind. Mitleid der Erzähler für die Neue Braut bleibt in allen Märchen aus. Es lässt sich feststellen, dass zwischen den Ständen kein signifikanter Unterschiedin der Beschreibung der neuen Braut stattfindet, da gleiche Motive in beiden Gruppen auftauchen. Auch lässt sich ein Gleichgewicht der Aktivität erkennen.
Alle Bräutigame akzeptieren die neuen Bräute vorbehaltlos, und widersprechen keiner Beziehung.
Die Funktion der neuen Braut muss als sehr frauenfeindlich bezeichnet werden, da sie
unschuldig und oft ohne Kenntnis der vorherigen Partnerschaft eine Bindung mit dem Mann eingeht und ungeachtet ihrer Zuneigung am Märchenende verschwindet, ohne erzählerische Spuren zu hinterlassen.


Eine andere Art von Zwangsschlaf findet ihren Ausdruck regelmäßig durch einen Schlaftrunk, der verabreicht wird, und zwar in dem Motivzusammenhang der vergessenen Ehefrau des Typs 425 A. Dort hat die junge Frau ein Verbot übertreten, infolgedessen wird der Mann ihr entrückt, und er hat sie vergessen. Am Ende sucht sie sich dem Schlafenden wieder ins Gedächtnis zu rufen durch die nächtliche Schilderung ihrer Suchwanderung oder durch die Anrufung des gemeinsam Erlebten. In den ersten beiden Nächten vernimmt der Mann nichts; denn seine jetzige Braut reicht ihm, nachdem sie der ersten Frau gegen eine Kostbarkeit die Nacht verkauft hat, abends einen Schlaftrunk. Nur die Diener tragen ihm am Morgen eine verworrene Kunde zu von der nächtlich klagenden Frau. Am dritten Abend meidet er den Trunk, vernimmt selbst die Klage, die Erinnerung kehrt ihm zurück, und das Paar hat sich damit wiedergefunden.

Schläferische Taubheit, vernehmendes Wachsein gegenüber den Erinnerungsworten sind in dieser Weise ganz sachlich verknüpft - der Sinn dieses Ablaufs aber scheint doch verborgener zu sein. Mit unwiederbringlichen Kostbarkeiten erkauft sich das junge Weib die Nächte von der zweiten Braut - statt auf eine praktische Weise entweder selbst dem Manne aufzulauern oder ihm in Gestalt von Worten oder Zeichen Kunde von sich zu übermitteln, ein Dienst, den sie ja ebenfalls leicht hätte erkaufen können. Auch sollen es ohnehin die Diener gewesen sein, die ihm den Hinweis auf die Klagende gegeben haben. lhre absonderliche, dem Anscheine nach umständliche oder unzweckmäßige Verfahrensweise muß auch einen sachlichen Grund haben, und der liegt eben darin, daß der Appell an den gemeinen Tagesverstand des Mannes sein Ziel nicht erreichen würde, was in der oben Seite zitierten irischen Fassung auch klar zu Tage liegt. Die Frau muß versuchen, durch die Nacht den Zugang zu seinem auf jeden Fall, ob mit oder ohne Trunk, schlummernden Gedächtnis zu finden, muß suchen, die in umnachtete Tiefe abgesunkene Gemeinsamkeit der Erinnerung wieder ins Tagesbewußtsein zu heben. Indem die zweite Braut, die dämonische Gefährtin in der Entrückung, den Mann absichtlich in Tiefschlaf versenkt, verhilft sie sogar dazu, den sinnvollen Vorsatz der ersten Frau zu verwirklichen. Auch die horchenden Diener könnte man als eine Teilkraft im Helden selbst auffassen, als ein Bild für sein Ahnungsvermögen, insofern sie dem im Tiefschlaf scheinbar gehörlos Versunkenen eine erste ferne Witterung vermitteln von dem, was in ihm aufdämmern will. - In dieser Szenerie wäre daher der durch den Trunk hervorgerufene Zwangsschlaf alles andere als ein Verschluß für das Miterleben, sondern vielmehr ein Zauberschlaf, der gerade zum Aufschließen der verkapselten Erinnerung verhilft.

Sehen wir uns veranlaßt zu behaupten, daß die Suchwanderin notwendigerweise die Verbindung zum Nachtbewußtsein ihres Mannes herzustellen sucht, dann erinnern wir uns daran, daß die Nacht für das Märchengeschehen uberhaupt eine bedeutsame Rolle spielt. Gewiß geht in den Märchen vieles auch unterm Tageshimmel vor, und wir haben schon gesehen, daß dies nicht etwa bedeutet, es verliefe das Geschehen in leibhaft-nüchterner, alltäglicher Weise. Auch im Sonnenschein, gerade auch am hohen Mittag vermag das Geschehen unter den Spiegel des Bewußtseins hinabzutauchen. Aber symbolisch für diese Nachtseite der Natur ist eben auch die Erdennacht, in die das märchenhafte Erzählen manches höchst Wichtige hineinlegt.

--Mac... I mean, the Scottish play:
http://shakespeare.mit.edu/macbeth/full.html
It's Lord M. who follows and Lady M. who leads. Seriously, I could have crammed the Thénardiers in here as well, or the Fawltys, or Cersei and Robert, but all of these married couples are second to the Thane of Glamis-Cawdor and his Lady: the most sinister and extreme example of a castrating wife and her wimpy valet of a husband. Check it out!!

MRS. FAWCETT AND MAJOR EASTWOOD (A Jewish businesswoman/breadwinner and her military officer/homemaker boyfriend. They also contrast physically: she is dark and petite, while he is blond, Nordic looking, and six feet tall):

Mrs. Fawcett, a rich Jewish divorcée. This thirty-six-year-old mother of two leaves her husband, a renowned engineer, for a man six years younger than she (the Major). She also contrasts physically with her boyfriend, she is dark and petite, while he is blond, Nordic looking, and six feet tall).

Major Charles Eastwood, Mrs. Fawcett's lover, a military officer. Is a “resurrected” man; he was literally dug out of the ground by his fellow soldiers. This handsome, athletic man has his disdain for work and in his assertion that anyone who can really feel desire is a king. Because of his relationship with a rich woman who is older than he, the major is viewed as a “sponge”.

The entire episode of Major Eastwood and Mrs Fawcett stopping by the gypsy camp in the quarry is dominated by Lawrence’s negative depiction of her as a Jewess, invoking classic tropes around her wealth, her fingers festooned with jewels, her sharp malice. So:

She was a very small woman, with a rather large nose: probably a Jewess. Tiny almost as a child, in that sable coat she looked much more bulky than she should, and her wide, rather resentful brown eyes of a spoilt Jewess gazed oddly out of her expensive get-up.

She crouched over the low fire, spreading her little hands, on which diamonds and emeralds glittered.

‘Ugh!’ she shuddered. ‘Of course we ought not to have come in an open car! But my husband won’t even let me say I’m cold!’ She looked round at him with her large, childish, reproachful eyes, that had still the canny shrewdness of a bourgeois Jewess: a rich one, probably.

Apparently she was in love, in a Jewess’s curious way, with the big, blond man…

Unexpectedly, the Eastwoods – Major Eastwood and the soon-to-be-divorced Mrs Fawcett, who give out to the world that they’re married – become a major part of the story. They’ve rented a small summer cottage, by the moors up at Scoresby, not far from the hills. Mrs Fawcett is diminished even further by being referred to as ‘the little Jewess’ or even ‘the tiny Jewess’. They have filled the rented cottage with fine treasures but have dispensed with a maid and so the tall strong blond Major does the washing up and ‘the tiny Jewess’ dries. Unconventional for the 1920s, we assume.

 ‘the Eastwoods’, where she is intrigued by ‘the little Jewess’ and attracted to tall, handsome, athletic, commanding Major Eastwood. 

There’s something quietly comic about the strong, mostly silent, pipe-smoking Major Charles Eastwood. He intervenes in Mrs Fawcett’s conversation to say:

‘I think,’ said the Major, taking his pipe from his mouth, ‘that desire is the most wonderful thing in life. Anybody who can really feel it, is a king, and I envy nobody else!’ He put back his pipe.
The Jewess looked at him stupefied.
‘But Charles!’ she cried. ‘Every common low man feels nothing else!’
He again took his pipe from his mouth.
‘That’s merely appetite,’ he said.
And he put back his pipe. (p.229)

Then he says something strange and mysterious. He nearly died of pneumonia in the war but survived. So the Major regards him as ‘a resurrected man’. This is all the more significant because the Major himself is a resurrected man. He was buried under a huge snowfall for 20 hours but survived. And then he survived pneumonia. In a throwaway but immensely telling detail, he says they only dug him out by accident.

A BEAUTIFUL GIRL AND HER LOVER

en satängklänning som skall bäras av drottningens skönaste hovfröken vid nästa bal på slottet.
Förbi slottet hördes ljud från dansen. En vacker flicka kom ut på balkongen med sin fästman. »Så underbara stjärnorna är«, sade han till henne, »och underbar är kärlekens makt!«
»Jag hoppas att min klänning blir färdig i tid till galabalen«, svarade hon; »jag har sagt till om att få passionsblommor broderade på den; «

un vestido de raso que la más bella de las damas de honor de la reina llevará en el próximo baile de la corte.
junto al palacio, se oyó la música del baile. Una bella muchacha salió al balcón con su amado.

-¡Qué maravillosas son las estrellas! -le dijo él-, ¡y qué maravilloso es el poder del amor!

-Espero que mi vestido esté a tiempo para el baile de gala -respondió ella-; he encargado que le borden pasionarias; 

Un vestido de seda que lucirá en el próximo baile de la Corte la más bella de las camareras de la reina.
Sobre el Palacio Real, llegaron las músicas del baile.
Una linda muchacha se asomó a un balcón con su prometido.
--¡Qué hermosas son las estrellas y qué maravillosa es la fuerza del amor! --le dijo.
--Quisiera tener mi vestido para el baile de la Corte --replicó ella--. He mandado bordar en él unas pasionarias;

egy atlaszruhára, amelyet a királyné legkedvesebb udvarhölgye visel majd a legközelebbi udvari bálon. 

a palota fölött, és hallotta a tánc dobogását. Egy szép fiatal lány épp akkor lépett ki az erkélyre szerelmesével. - Milyen csodálatosak a csillagok - mondta a férfi -, és milyen csodálatos a szerelem hatalma. - Remélem, hogy idejében elkészül a ruhám az udvari bálra - felelte a lány -, golgotavirág-hímzést rendeltem rá, .


a satin gown for the loveliest of the Queen's maids-of-honour to wear at the next Court-ball.

From the palace, one heard the sound of dancing. A beautiful girl came out on the balcony with her lover. "How wonderful the stars are," he said to her, "and how wonderful is the power of love!"
"I hope my dress will be ready in time for the State-ball," she answered; "I have ordered passion-flowers to be embroidered on it; "


Un vestido de raso que debe lucir, en el próximo baile de corte, la más bella de las damas de honor de la Reina.
Sobre el palacio real, se oyó la música de baile. Una bella muchacha apareció en el balcón con su novio.

-¡Qué hermosas son las estrellas -la dijo- y qué poderosa es la fuerza del amor!

-Querría que mi vestido estuviese acabado para el baile oficial -respondió ella-. He mandado bordar en él unas pasionarias, 
(J.L. BORGES, a la tierna edad de nueve años)

Une robe de satin que doit porter, au prochain bal de la cour, la plus belle des demoiselles d’honneur de la Reine.

 Sur le Palais, on entendit de la musique de danse.

Une belle jeune fille parut sur le balcon avec son amoureux.

— Combien les étoiles sont belles, lui dit-il, et combien est puissante la force de l’amour !

— Je voudrais que ma robe soit prête pour la bal officiel, répondit-elle. J’ai commandé d’y broder des fleurs de la passion, 

Ein seidenes Gewand, das die reizendste der königlichen Ehrendamen beim nächsten Hofball tragen will.

Am Palast vorbei vernahm man Tanzmusik. Ein hübsches Mädchen trat mit ihrem Liebsten auf den Balkon hinaus. »Wie wunderschön sind doch die Sterne«, sagte er zu ihr, »und wie wunderbar ist die Macht der Liebe!«

»Ich hoffe, dass mein Kleid rechtzeitig zum Hofball fertig werden wird«, sagte die Dame, »ich habe eine Näherin damit beauftragt, es mit Passionsblumen zu besticken, « .

Ein seidenes Kleid, das die lieblichste der Ehrendamen der Königin auf dem nächsten Hofball tragen soll. 

am Palast vorüber hörte man, wie man drinnen tanzte. Ein schönes Mädchen trat mit ihrem Geliebten auf den Balkon heraus. »Wie wundervoll sind die Sterne,« sagte er zu ihr, »und wie wundervoll ist die Macht der Liebe!«

»Hoffentlich wird mein Kleid rechtzeitig zum Hofball fertig,« antwortete sie; »ich habe bestellt, daß es mit Passionsblumen bestickt wird; .«

una sottana di raso per la più bella damigella d’onore della Regina, che la metterà al prossimo ballo a Corte. 

Accanto al palazzo se sentì ballare. Una bella fanciulla uscì sul balcone con l’innamorato. “Che meraviglia, le stelle” le diceva lui “e che meraviglia la potenza dell’amore!”.

“Spero che il vestito sia pronto in tempo per il Grande Ballo” rispose lei; “mi ci sono fatta ricamare delle passiflore: .”

un abito di raso che la più bella tra le damigelle d'onore della Regina indosserà al prossimo ballo di Corte. 

Accanto al palazzo se udì un suono di danze.
Una fanciulla bellissima si affacciò al balcone col suo innamorato. "Guarda che stelle meravigliose" egli le disse, "e come è meraviglioso il potere dell'amore!"
"Spero che il mio vestito sarà pronto per quando ci sarà il ballo di Stato" rispose la fanciulla. "Ho ordinato che sia ricamato a passiflore,!"

i guanti di satin che le più graziose damigelle della Regina indosseranno al prossimo ballo di corte.
Vicino ad un palazzo se sentì la musica di una sala da ballo. Una bellissima ragazza uscì sul balcone con il suo spasimante. 
"Che meraviglia le stelle - le disse lui, - meraviglioso il potere dell'Amore!" 
"Spero che il mio vestito sia pronto in tempo per il ballo di Stato - intervenne la ragazza, - ho ordinato che vi venissero ricamate alcune passiflore; " 

ANALYSIS

The second couple in the tale are also heterosexual. The lovers on the balcony do not seem to be successful in their relationship and have communication problems. The man is romantic and passionate whereas the maid-of-honour is portrayed as being cold, selfish, vain, and loveless. For example, the man romances the girl saying: "How beautiful the stars are, and how wonderful is the power of love!"; however, she replies that she is worried her dress will not be ready for the State-Ball and complains that the seamstress is "so lazy". Richard Jacobs predicts that the indifference of the maid-of-honour and her inability to understand the lives of those who work for her will break down the lovers' relationship and the girl will be to blame. The relationship between the lovers ... is similar to some measure. The female character conveys an attitude towards life and is unfocused on the fundamental needs of her relationship.
It is interesting to note that prior to the twentieth century, it was fully acceptable for men to express themselves romantically with poets such as Keats, Shelley, and Wordsworth as their role models.
Hence, I (Layla Bseiso) disagree with Richard Jacobs who writes that Wilde inverts the usual stereotypes of the "manly male" and the "romantic female" rendering the last as materialistic, callous, and aggressive. Wilde is merely presenting the Victorian society stereotypes rather than expressing a mysoginistic attitude of his own.
(Layla Bseiso, Högskolan Dalarna)

-- And the romantic couple on the palace balcony are a surprise. Readers usually expect the comment about the lovely stars and the wonderful power of love to be attached with 'she said to him' but it's 'he said to her', inverting the usual stereotypes of the manly male and the romantic female. Not only that but, in a particularly sharp and even brutal piece of manipulation by Wilde, the beautiful girl is shown to be not only unromantic, and not only materialistic and callous, but her coldly aggressive remark cruelly contradicts what we ourselves know to be the case, ... on this girl's dress. So this relationship presumably will break down and it will be the young woman's fault, because she's a - well, choose your own term of abuse.
(Richard Jacobs) --

The woman described as "the loveliest of the Queen's maids-of-honour" is supposed to appear smart "at the next Court ball" in "the satin gown". Wilde satirizes the injustice of how a woman shines in society at the expense of others. The noblewoman's worry is about the look of her dress.
The ballroom music of the time (18th century)... the young noblewoman who is going to wear the ball dress... the noblewoman insensitively complains ... the vanity of the noblewoman...
... the ostentatious limits...

...over the palace, as the only serious concern of the upper classes seems to be their dancing, the romantic atmosphere with the stars above, and the approaching Court-ball. The lady there turns out to be the Queen’s maid of honour for whom ... is embroidering the flowers, and she cold-heartedly criticizes and does not appreciate the value of the labour ... pays to ... struggle.

...hört ein schönes, reiches Mädchen über die Faulheit der Näherinnen klagen. 
(Märchenatlas)

(Reseña de ilustración de Carlos Nine, que yo quiero poder ver)
El lector es invitado a escuchar el diálogo de los amantes en un balcón.

the pampered princess ... is concerned that her dress 'will be ready in time for the State-ball'

... unas pasionarias en un vestido que lucirá una camarera de la reina en un baile, ...
En contraste, la mujer que usará el vestido, y a quien su amante le expresa la maravillosa fuerza del amor al ver las hermosas estrellas, se queja de la pereza de las costureras, [···]

Oscar Wilde analyzed by Nino Kirvalidze, 2018

... by a balcony of that beautiful maid-of-honour of the Queen speaking to her lover about the Court-ball, and complaining that ... to embroider passion flowers on her dress. Wilde displays the selfish nature of the rich. Ironically, the lovers speak about the power of love though it is obvious that they are not aware of its true essence which is not merely love of pleasures but sacrifice and self-denial for the sake of spiritual perfection that leads to true happiness. Wilde does his best to make this concept clear. His use of irony to reveal hypocrisy is poignant.

Comic panels of the couple (my Wilde fairytale OTP!) by Craig Russell. The lover especially fits my idea of a husbando, beign a delicate sensitive guy with fair features, a visual extension of a young man expressing himself romantically, whom I totally imagine saying "How wonderful the stars are, and how wonderful is the power of love!" in the voice of Freddie Mercury... The features of the beautiful girl/loveliest of the Queen's maids-of-honour are more angular and her face has more of a fixed expression, reminding me of Greta Garbo...