In Women in Love, Ursula and Gudrun Brangwen who first appeared in Lawrence's earlier novel, The Rainbow, take center stage as Lawrence explores their growth and development in their relationships with two powerful men, Rupert Birkin and his friend Gerald Crich. A novel of regeneration and dark, destructive human passion, Women in Love reflects the impact on Lawrence of the First World War in the potential both for annihilation and salvation of the self.