The D.H. Lawrence Collection

Collection of (1) Lady Chatterley's Lover : "Regarded notoriously pornographic when published in 1928, the novel is a triumph of passion, an erotic celebration of life, exploring the emotions of a lonely woman, Constance Chatterley, trapped in a sterile marriage and her growing love for Mellors, the robust gamekeeper of her husband’s estate, in whose arms she finds refuge and feels regenerated. (2) Sons and Lovers; "Sons and Lovers is considered to be D.H. Lawrence’s first mature novel. What is unique about this novel is its profound psychological insights into the complex relationships between son and mother and between son and other women. Novel is largely autobiographical and reflects Lawrence’s life at Nottinghamshire coalfields before he left home. This is perhaps the first English novel with a truly working-class background. " (3) Women in Love: "Women in Love, the book Lawrence considered his best, was written during World War I, and while that conflict is never mentioned in the novel, a sense of background danger, of lurking catastrophe, continually informs its drama of two couples dynamically engaged in a struggle with themselves, with each other and with life’s intractable limitations. The novel contains some of the clearest statements of Lawrence’s beliefs. It contains much philosophical discussion and description of characters’ emotional states and unconscious drives, and many of the ideas are expressed through elaborate symbolism. (4) The Rainbow : "Set in the rural midlands of England, The Rainbow chronicles the lives of three generations of the Brangwen family, conveying how their rural existence is gradually but profoundly changed by the influx of industry and urbanism. But it is far more ambitious than a family history. Using the language of religious experience, Lawrence shows the struggle of the individual human consciousness in facing an unknowable, infinite reality beyond the commonplace social self.