D. H. Lawrence

Biography

At the time of D.H. Lawrence’s death, less than a handful of writers and critics commented positively on his legacy, remarking that he had squandered his great potential due to his enthusiasm for taboo subjects. Though, like Lawrence’s revival of Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, Lawrence’s legacy, too, was raised from the ashes, and he is now often considered as a member of the pantheon of first-rate Modernist writers: Katherine Mansfield, Virginia Woolf, and James Joyce. What’s more, Lawrence cannot be confined to any certain medium. He wrote an abundance of novels, short stories, poems, and even plays. Some of his best known works include Sons and Lovers, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, and the short story Odour of Chrysanthemums.

Born in the mining town of Eastwood, September 11, 1885, David Herbert Lawrence lived a short life and published a dozen literary masterpieces. His parents, John Arthur Lawrence and Lydia Beardsall came from very different backgrounds—his father was a drinker, basically illiterate, and had worked in the coal mines from a young age; his mother was from the South of England. She was well-educated and very religious. Unlike the other boys in Eastwood, Lawrence did not desire to follow in his father’s footsteps to work in the mines, mainly because of his poor health. While he was alive, his working-class sentiments created a division between him and his wife, since she had a great desire to move out of the working class through her education, and “left their children permanently divided in loyalty, and played a considerable role in Lawrence's subsequent writing” (Worthen). He flourished in school, receiving a scholarship to the Nottingham High School and eventually graduated from the Nottingham University College thanks to his mother’s financial sacrifices.

Though much can be said about his upbringing, Lawrence’s relationships with women play a large part in his writings. Jessie Chambers, a family friend during Lawrence’s childhood, held sway over a young Lawrence, encouraging his literary ambitions. She even eventually helped him to meet Ford Madox Ford and William Heinemann who published Lawrence’s first novel, The White Peacock. Furthermore, while a schoolteacher in his 20’s, Lawrence had multiple affairs with other schoolteachers and eventually married the wife of a former professor, Frieda Richthofen, convincing her to leave behind three children. He and Frieda traveled and he continued writing, producing two novels set in Nottinghamshire. Consequently, compounded with Lawrence’s advocacy for women’s suffrage, his writings frequently dealt with sexual matters to the point that some considered him a pornographer.

The Lawrence’s moved frequently, living in Italy, Germany, Austria, London, Cornwall, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Australia, America, Mexico, Spain and France, where he died. While living with Frieda in Cornwall, they were forced to leave the coastal town during the First World War for suspicion of Lawrence’s anti-war sentiments and his wife’s German nationality. They left England in 1919 and did not return during Lawrence’s lifetime.

Lawrence’s pastoral, small factory town upbringing had a significant influence on his short story “Goose Fair.” This story is set during Nottingham’s annual goose fair, which takes place during the first week of October. Written in 1910, the story chronicles a day-in-the-life of a factory owner’s daughter and her relationship with another factory owner. The harsh economic backdrop of the story closely mirrors the dire financial straits of his own working class family, despite the story’s focus on the upper class.

“The Soiled Rose” was written during a period of turmoil for Lawrence that involved his mother’s passing and failed relationship with Jessie Chambers. The story itself involves a young married man named Syson hiking to a manor in the woods in order to visit a former lover named Hilda, now newly betrothed to another. Syson encounters Hilda and her family, who are surprised and disdain his presence. Subsequently, Syson leaves the manor, disappointed that Hilda no longer reciprocates any love for him.

“A Proper Study” reflects the influence of his mother’s religious beliefs and his introspective exploration of what he feels as truth. He philosophized that the body and soul could reveal more about wisdom, and contrary to the aesthetic seekers like James, Conrad, and Ford, he did not adhere to the rules of the time and experiments with form in this short story.