And <this> relieved her of herself; she felt almost irresponsible

[longxianchen]

Hi,
Here are some words from the novel Lady Chatterley's Lover（page 127-128, Chapter 7) by DH Lawrence (planetebook,here):
(background: Connie was outing in the forest, and then went to Mellors' hut, watching him working ..……）

It was the stillness, and the timeless sort of patience, in a man impatient and passionate, that touched Connie's womb.She saw it in his bent head, the quick quiet hands, the crouching of his slender, sensitive loins; something patient and withdrawn. She felt his experience had been deeper and wider than her own; much deeper and wider, and perhaps more deadly. And this relieved her of herself; she felt almost irresponsible.

The blue sentence is quite difficult to me. How should I understand it please?
I know this relieved her of herself means this relieved her responsibility, i.e, she was almost irresponsible.
But what does this refer to?

Thank you in advance
Error corrected

 

[PaulQ]

I know this relieved her of herself means this relieved his responsibility,

Please note the pronouns.

And this relieved her of herself; she felt almost irresponsible. -> this = his deeper, wider, and deadly experience than her own,

"this relieved her of herself" -> "this took away her self-conscious effort to be "Lady Chatterley" and all that the title implied"; "this enabled her to relax."

 

[longxianchen]

"this relieved her of herself" -> "this took away her self-conscious effort to be "Lady Chatterley" and all that the title implied"; "this enabled her to relax."

But if explained this way, it will have no logical relationship with following part she felt almost irresponsible

And it will have nothing to do with the previous sentence in logic She felt his experience had been deeper and wider than her own; much deeper and wider, and perhaps more deadly

 

[PaulQ]

But if explained this way, it will have no logical relationship with following part she felt almost irresponsible

Hmm... I have no difficulty seeing the connection.

And it will have nothing to do with the previous sentence in logic She felt his experience had been deeper and wider than her own; much deeper and wider, and perhaps more deadly

It has everything to do with it. It is the very start of the entire plot of the story.