When D.H. Lawrence’s ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ first appeared in print in the late 1920’s, it was an immediate sensation. A vivid – often graphic – exploration of infidelity, sexual awakening, intimacy and free thinking, ‘Chatterley’ was banned in Britain, America and dozens of other countries for its frank depiction of the sexual act, explicit descriptions of physical love and the liberal use of once-prohibited four-letter words.
It was not until 1960 that Penguin Books, in a watershed obscenity trial victory, was finally able to publish the book in England and the novel soon sold an astonishing three million copies and became a celebrated literary landmark.
‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ follows the marriage of Constance Reid to Sir Clifford Chatterley, a wealthy landlord who was paralyzed fighting in World War I. As Sir Clifford is unable to have a physical relationship with his wife, Connie seeks the comfort of lovers, finally finding true fulfillment in the bed of the estate’s groundskeeper, Oliver Mellors. As Lady Chatterley and Mellors relationship grows and class differences threaten their alliance, Connie comes to realize that true love and affection between a man and woman must come from both a mental and physical connection.
About the author
D.H. Lawrence was an English novelist and poet whose most famous works broke barriers in the publishing world with their frank and graphic discussions of sexuality and his examination of social norms. Born into poverty, young Lawrence began writing early. He graduated with a teaching certificate and soon began working as an instructor, but his success in writing soon eclipsed his career in academics. By 1910, he had published his first novel, ‘The White Peacock.’After eloping to Germany with Frieda Weekley, Lawrence began traveling about Europe, writing all the while. He published ‘The Trespasser’ in 1912, a play called ‘The Daughter-in-Law’ the same year and then gained real notoriety by penning ‘The Rainbow’ (1915) and ‘Women In Love’ (1920), both of which were banned in the UK due to the books’ adult themes and frank discussions of both sexuality and homosexuality. Lawrence attempted to return to England, but was under constant harassment by the authorities who viewed him – because of his literary themes – to be an undesirable in his native country. This compelled Lawrence to begin a worldwide ‘savage pilgrimage’ which took him all over the planet and inspired him to write a number of popular travel books. He and Frieda settled in New Mexico for two years before moving to Northern Italy where he would write a series of poems, essays and his most famous novel, ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover.’ Lawrence suffered from a number of serious health problems and, after a brief stint in a sanitarium, he died of tuberculosis in 1930 at the age of forty-four. After his death, ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ became the subject of a groundbreaking obscenity lawsuit in England and the ‘not guilty’ verdict in 1960 cleared the way for publishers to print a number of books – including Lawrence’s – that had been previously banned. Seen during his lifetime as a writer who had dabbled in dirty books and squandered his talents, Lawrence’s reputation grew immensely in the years following his death and he is now seen as an important and celebrated literary artist.
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