D.H. Lawrence's literary eminence has risen steadily over the past 75 years. In the first book-length study devoted to his controversial novel The Rainbow (1915), Edwards goes beyond the limits of traditional critical approaches to offer the first illumination of Lawrence's philosophy of the soul. He focuses his discussion on Ursula, the novel's heroine, and her dissatisfaction with prevailing social constraints. Pointing out that she still finds peace only through a process of self-discovery. Edwards illustrates that Lawrence created not only the first modern woman in literature, but also a paradigm for every individual's need to cultivate his or her own inner spirit.