The “Night Sea Journey” in D.H. Lawrence’s The Trespasser

Abstract

Lawrence’s fascination with the power of natural elements is noticeable practically in every text and particularly in his use of the mystical imagery of the sun, the moon and the sea. In his second novel, The Trespasser, he explores a romantic relationship which ends in tragedy. The semi-passionate and presumably adventurous part of the story is set on an island, surrounded by the overwhelming immensity of the sea that reflects back each subtle impulse of the lovers’ souls. However, the journey for pleasure Siegmund makes (“he gave himself to the breeze and to the sea, feeling like one of the ruddy sails”) turns into the journey that submerges him into the unconscious. This kind of journey C.G. Jung characterized as “the night sea journey” or “a kind of descensus ad inferos – a descent into Hades and a journey to the land of ghosts somewhere beyond this world, beyond consciousness, hence an immersion in the unconscious.”The basic components of the external, physical journey metaphorically evoke the call, the crossing of the threshold, the obstacles, the immersion into the “underworld” (the unconscious “demons” haunting Siegmund), and the inability to go back renewed by the new knowledge. The image of the sea in this respect acts as the powerful and uncontrollable force, the unconscious itself (both collective and individual), thus portending the potential for renewal (rebirth) and failure (death), in equal measure.