（1） The story：
The Rainbow is a story about the three generations of the Brangwen family on the Marsh farm. The first part is about the marriage and life of Tom Brangwen and Lydia Lensky， a Polish widow. They have a deep and loving understanding of each other in spite of the utter foreignness between them. They can also communicate with the mysterious natural world. Their relationship is presented as the model one in the novel.
The second part of the novel is about Anna Lensky， Lydia's daughter by her first husband， and Will， Tom's nephew. They have physical passion for each other；but， in Lawrence's words， "their souls remain separate." Their relationship is fraught with conflicts， and their marriage fails to achieve the final fulfillment of the older generation.
The last part of the novel deals with Ursula， the eldest daughter of Will and Anna， who carries the story on into the third generation. This part of the novel traces Ursula's life from childhood through adolescence up to adulthood. At the end of the novel；Ursula is left with much experience behind her， but still "uncreated" in face of the unknown future.
（2） The social significance of The Rainbow：
In this novel， Lawrence illustrates a terrible social corruption that accompanies the progress of human civilization. In Lawrence's opinion， the mechanical civilization is responsible for the unhealthy development of human personalities， the perversion of love and the failure of human fulfillment in marital relationships.
In reading the novel， the reader often feels the threatening shadows of the disintegration and destructiveness of the whole civilized world which loom 若隐若现behind the emotional conflicts and psychological tensions of the characters. As a matter of fact， it is the first time for Lawrence to make a conscious attempt to combine social criticism with psychological exploration in his novel writing.
