Aldous Huxley's novel Point Counter Point begins with the showcasing of Walter Bidlake, an emotional and romantic young journalist who finds himself trapped in a relationship he is no longer interested in. Walter is depicted as rather "high-class," which becomes clear when he collides with a man who "[hates] the uniformed gentleman," (11).
Walter's story is simple, but possesses some very complex emotional roots. He strikes up an affair with Marjorie, an insecure woman stuck in a rather unhappy marriage, and later runs away with her. It is right about the time that Walter begins to lose interest in his once passionate and spontaneous relationship that Marjorie becomes pregnant. Walter soon becomes hatefully resentful of both his lover and his unborn child. His urge to escape the dreary future ahead of him manifests in a newfound obsession: Lucy Tantamount.
Lucy, an independent sadomasochist, loves to string along poor, weak Walter. His attraction to her reveals another side of him. In his relationship with Marjorie, he is the one who holds the power. He manipulates her, suppresses her feelings, and ultimately decides whether to stay or leave (with exception to the pregnancy.) With Lucy, however, Walter forfeits all power, all strength. He becomes a beggar for love, perhaps because of his deeply romantic personality. It's possible that his attraction stems from the fact that Lucy is unreachable, unlike the sad, ugly woman he has left at home.
"I ought to have insisted,' he was thinking. 'Brutally. Kissed her again and again. Compelled her to love me. Why didn't I? Why?' He didn't know. Or why she had kissed him, unless it was just provocatively, to make her desire her more violently, to make him more hopelessly her slave." (Huxley 90).
