Women in Love

It's post-World War I in the Midlands. Gudrun and Ursula Brangwen are sisters from a working class family, both teachers, while Gudrun is also an artist. From a higher social standing, Rupert Birkin and Gerald Crich are best friends, Rupert a school inspector, Gerald a mining heir who currently manages the town's coal mine. In separate situations, each pair talks about their individual feelings concerning emotional love, marriage, the associated physical act of sex, and whether each of those three components can or should exist without the other two. The four individuals are all aware of the others, but are brought together into a more intimate situation when pretentious Hermione Roddice invites the Brangwen sisters to a weekend gathering at her country mansion, the gathering to which Rupert, her boyfriend, and Gerald are also invited. Hermione has ulterior motives in inviting the sisters, Gudrun, who is more aware of that motive than Ursula. Regardless, from that weekend, Rupert and Ursula, and Gerald and Gudrun begin relationships with each other. All four are different in mentality, each requiring something different from their respective relationship. As such, each of the two couplings end up taking different paths. Based on those needs and wants, the question also arises if a partner or spouse can truly fulfill all the emotional needs, "love", of the other being only one of two genders.