RIFLE RANGE BOY: The post war awakening

Virgin And Gipsy
Book Written: DH Lawrence (first published 1930)
Film version: 1970

It was a time when the Western society was evolving from one that lived for the collective good of the community to one that emphasised personal exploration and realising their full potential. The time was ripe for an individual break out from the yoke of social mores and search out for the real reason for his existence. The world was changing. They saw what conformity brought them - the greatest war to end all wars. Women realised they are more than what they are credence for. The Great War illustrated that they could perform jobs deemed only 'suitable' for men. The Suffrage Movement made great strides in wage equality and voting. They also found educational opportunities.

Women in the 'Roaring Twenties' were held back not simply by political, social and economic obstacles but by unconscious psychological “stops and inhibitions planted in childhood”. The rebel streak in them struggled to bring out suppressed desires, one of them being sexual desires. Novelists were quite open about women’s stifled sexual desires, be it clandestine or against the course of Nature. 'The Virgin and the Gipsy/Gypsy' is one such book. 'Gentleman Jack' is another description of Anne Lister's sexual escapades written in coded journals.

The euphoria of the end of the war did not last long. The Great Depression, which rolled in 1928, also brought in unemployment, humiliating poverty, the rise of fascism, and another war was to muffle the postwar dreams of freedom, fulfilment and equality for women.

Women from the rest of the world may have followed the path shown by their counterparts in the Western of wanting to exhibit their sexual liberties. Although late for the party, even till today, they continue to find their new place in the sun. The struggle between conserving the sanctity of a biological process and controlling one's body is ongoing. One party calls it masculine toxicity, whilst the counterargument is that the female body is no business for societal scrutiny and rules.

'The Virgin and the Gipsy' is written by DH Lawrence. Lawrence had the dubious reputation of having many of his books banned for explicit sexual content during his lifetime. He was referred to as a pornographer in some circles, but many admired his openness. We grew up hearing about it through the forbidden book 'Lady Chatterley's Lover', which was surprisingly in the red spot section of my library. Still, we never laid our mere mortal hands on it as it was being passed around amongst the mafia of senior librarians and their inner circle. DH Lawrence also ran afoul with the law for being a British spy but was never convicted. He died of tuberculosis at the age of 44.

This novella tells the tale of two sisters, their late teenage years, Lucille and Yvette, returning from France after finishing their studies to a lifeless village in the English countryside. The girls grew up with their vicar father without a mother. Their mother had apparently abandoned them to elope with her lover. This dark moment is constantly reminded to them by their domineering paternal grandmother, Mather, who moved in, filling in the place of the absent mother. Moving in together with Mather were her daughter (Aunt Cissy, Vicar's fussy unwed sister) and her son, the reclusive Uncle Fred.

The sisters, especially Yvette, find their stay back quite suffocating. Even though Yvette fills up her time partying and gallivanting with friends of her age, she finds it unfulfilling. She wants to find love. This, she finds in an unnamed character (at least till the end), a married gipsy who is scorned upon by her society. Yvette also finds acquaintance in Mrs Fowler, a soon-to-divorced Jewess, who lands in the village with her lover for a 'brought forward' honeymoon.

Through the prism of her father's failed marriage, her domineering grandmother, the mousey behaviour of her father in front of his family and the restrictive atmosphere of the social mores, Yvette finds muscular virility in 'The Gipsy'.

It also looks at the invisibility of certain members of our society. The Gipsy, Joe Boswell, was a war hero in WW1, but he is just another social outcast in the post-war era. We can try to be politically correct by discontinuing the word 'Gipsy' and labelling them Romani instead. But the crux of the matter is that we have to change our mindset, not just the semantics. It is also a class issue.

Romani flag (Cakra!)
[P.S. For the record, the Romanis are said to have originated from Northern India. Known as nomadic travellers throughout Europe, and is often the subject of discrimination. They became a part of whichever land they sojourn. The Romani language is said to be almost 60% similar to the Punjabi language. During the WW2 Holocaust, Romanis perished in the concentration camp together with the 6 million Jews. In 1971, Gypsies from all over Europe congregated near London for the First World Romani Congress to stamp the existence. The representatives discussed multiple social, educational, war crimes, language, and cultural issues affecting the community. They agreed on a common flag for Romanis.]

[P.P.S. Gipsy evolved to Gypsy over the years]