Chapters 5-8 Summary

In Chapter 5, Gerald Crich and Rupert Birkin see each other on the train into London. They get to talking, and Birkin says that man wants a new gospel, to renew his industrial circumstance. He says that thing have gotten completely bad...in every way" (p. 106). Birkin has a low opinion of social convention, which puts people in place based on their profitability. He says that he would rather a spiritual purpose than a material one. Birkin asks Gerald whether love is the purpose of his life, and Birkin says that he wants to love. Gerald says that he wants a single woman, but Birkin says that he wants a unique bond with a man as well. All that remains is the marriage with a woman, he says. (p. 109).

Gerald asks Birkin where he stays in London, and Birkin tells Gerald about...