The critics were reactionary but not obtuse: Lawrence did indeed intend to undermine traditional notions of the human which he, in common with later modernists such as Woolf, saw as alien encrustations, foisted upon the person by modern social institutions such as the factory and the school.
On the surface The Rainbow does not seem to be a novel much concerned with historical reality, concentrating instead on the consciousnesses and states of feeling of its main characters. However, there is recognition that consciousness is not separate from history. The Brangwens have for generations been farmers in the Midlands of England and the novel focuses on three generations of the family, starting from around 1840 and continuing up to the beginning of the twentieth century. This of course was a period of fundamental change in virtually every area of life: the consolidation and further development of the industrial revolution and its associated technological innovations such as the railway; increasing urbanization; the decline of conventional religion and the establishment of science as the dominant belief system; advances in education, to name only some of the most obvious. The Rainbow is not interested in dealing with those directly but rather explores their implicit effect on consciousness and feeling, particularly in the context of relationships between men and women. By the time of the final generation of Brangwens, represented by Ursula Brangwen, we see the emergence of a modern consciousness. .
At the beginning of The Rainbow the Brangwen men are dominated by the female principle. The women in contrast feel a desire to break away from the dominance of the female principle to experience a greater sense of individuality and contact with otherness. The world is changing but the men have difficulty coming to terms with it. In the various relationships that make up The Rainbow, women tend to dominate men in whom there is an imbalance between the male and female principles and as a result none of the relationships in the novel is fully satisfying, the male characters failing to measure up to the challenge presented by the women.
