Nature and Sex: The Latitude and Longitude of Lady Chatterley’s Lover

【Abstract】Lady Chatterleys Lover is D. H. Lawrences last novel. It is also one of the most controversial works in the world. A number of readers and critics only focus on its bold descriptions of sex， but they neglect the authors serious motivation and deep thoughts about this topic. In addition， the remarkable descriptions of the environment in the novel， which fully show Lawrences views of the nature， is the other clue. Therefore， nature and sex are the very latitude and longitude to properly locate the novel， Lady Chatterleys Lover.

【Key words】sex; nature; industrialization

【作者簡介】陈灏君（1985.07-），女，汉族，云南昆明人，昆明理工大学津桥学院，研究生，讲师，研究方向：英语语言文学。

As soon as Lady Chatterleys Lover was first published in 1928， it was violently attacked and misread as a pornorgraphic writing and the author， D.H Lawrence， was also controversially criticized as “that dirty man”， “the prisoner of sex”， “son of woman”， “male chauvinist” and “an admirable astute politician”， who “saw in this two possibilities： it could grant women an autonomy and independence he feared and hated， or it could be manipulated to create a new order of dependence and subordination， another form of compliance to masculine direction and prerogative.” （Millett， 1970： 240-241） Since the judgement on July 21， 1959， in which Judge Bryan declared Lady Chatterleys Lover was a literary masterwork that contained important ideas， a wave of re-evaluation and research has arisen.

However， the lastingly controversial criticisms the book received and its extraordinary experiences unintentionally divert readers major attentions——their heads are occupied by merely the theme of mentally and physically harmony in love affairs， but the other one is always neglected， that is， criticism of industrialization and return to nature. How to understand the two themes appropriately？ What the relations between them？ How does D. H. Lawrence weave his works with the two？ All these questions are a key to enter the door of Lady Chatterleys Lover and to see its essence .

David Herbert Richards Lawrence is the fourth child of a “disharmonious” couple. His father， “Arthur John Lawrence is one of the last generation who manage to escape from compulsory education in England.” As a result， he barely writes down his name correctly and becomes a miner at 10. “He tries to sensually enjoy life”， such as drinking and chatting and “refuses to worry about the misfortunes in reality”. His mother， Lydia Beardsall， is “totally different， neither in character nor in breeding”. She reads a lot and writes poems. She prefers to discuss religious， philosophical and political issues with well-educated men. “She is inflexibly self-confident as if she would never make any mistakes”. （Aldington， 1999： 4-7）

It is preditable that such a disharmonious couple nearly quarrel everyday and sometimes even resort to violence. The shadow induces Lawrence to think and debate about the mentally and physically harmony in relationship between men and women， even in a little more violent and radical way. “His deliberate decision to write about a womans adultery， to use taboo words， and to issue ‘my lady privately and under his own name insured him a choleric struggle with the ‘censor-morons.” （Gertzman， 1989： 1）

“As the lily among thorns， so is my love among the daughters.” “As the apple tree among the trees of the wood， so is my beloved among the sons.” （The Bible， 2003： 651-652） For lovers， women are as beautiful as “lily” and men， as attractive as “apple tree”. Therefore， it is not strange at all that the love and sex between women and men are so fascinating and sweet. But， “the trees of the wood” can be a maze and “thorns” hurt.   So do love and sex. From his first novel， The White Peacock， to the last one， Lady Chatterleys Lover， Lawrence devotes himself to a discussion about losing and hurting and also a quest for the balance and harmony between men and women. He compares every single woman to a flowing river with her own specific direction. Sometimes， it converges with the other， a man; after some time， they divert， running in their own ways. Such change， the relation between women and men， circulates in the whole life. （Hei， 1993： 102）

Lawrence says that he gets used to creating two pairs of lovers. Stories happen among them. The two couples of Lady Chatterleys Lover is an example.

The failed marriage between Constance Reid and Clifford Chatterley is abnormal. It is the “inevitable product of the abnormal society and abnormal family”.（Zhang， 2002： 524）It belongs to a sort of sheer Platonic love， though they are forced to be. Platonic love means： “a chaste but passionate love， based not on lack of erotic interest but on spiritual transmutation of the sex force， opening up vast expanses of subtler enjoyments than sex.”  （Platonic love， 2009） Nevertheless， it proves that sheer Platonic love is not the right way to happiness.

Mrs. Morel， in another great works of D. H. Lawrence， Sons and Lovers， exclaims her sufferings the same as Lady Chatterleys， “Ive never--you know， Paul--Ive never had a husband--not really---” （Lawrence， 2009，Sons and Lovers） Under the circumstance， Lady Chatterley is shackled in the name of love and marriage and her nature is restrained. Her life becomes depressing and stagnant. This is the very situation of contemporary women，  “whose instincts， Lawrence thinks， are suppressed by the Industrial Revolution”. “Lawrence ever said that he would strive for something better than suffrage for women， which he defined as ‘victory of love”. “Therefore， with his own special manner， he keeps to create different female figures， describing their dramatically innermost conflicts， revealing their diversified attitudes towards love and marriage and trying to look for a real road for them to really happy life.” （Jiang， 1989： 8）

Another kind of failed marriage is the one between Oliver Mellors and Bertha Coutts. It is a representative of the wedlock only based on physical， or rather sensual passions. Such a relationship is too fragile， just like “a fire fed on books—if there were no more volumes it would die out”.  （Lawrence， 2009，Sons and Lovers）

D. H. Lawrence was born in 1885， during the period of the Second Industrial Revolution. As a result， “two things appeared simultaneously： modern individualism and industrialism. Individualism encouraged the pursuit of rights and developments and respect for personal interests， emotions and benefits， while industrialism asked for reason， organizations and mechanization. Thus， the conflict occurred. The freedom and passion of human was severely suppressing by increasing reason and developing technology. ” （Liu， 1977： 365） Lawrence has experienced all. He witnesses the nature in his home， Eastwood of Nottinghamshire， is destroyed; he and his family suffer from capitalists ruthless exploitation of coal-miners.

In addition， sickness and poor health are always the nightmare for D. H. Lawrence in his entire life. He assures that he gets bronchitis when he comes to the world for only two weeks. At four， he is portrayed as “quiet and fragile”， while he himself inclines to use the words “weak and pale”. He grows up; He graduates and works; He gets married. But he is never able to get rid of the haunting illness. Finally， he dies of complications from tuberculosis.

The bad health sharpens his sensitivity to nature. Nature touches him， consoles him， both mentally and physically. Nature expires him to be such a master of the environmental depiction that nearly no one can be beyond. His works， no matter novels， poems， plays， are all adundant in natural air， as well as his hearty love to nature. In his books， he takes every chance to express his attitudes to the antithetical pair， nature and industrialization： approving the former while depreciating the latter.

“…the chimney of Tevershall pit， with its clouds of steam and smoke， and on the damp， hazy distance of the hill the raw straggle of Tevershall village， a village which began almost at the park gates， and trailed in utter hopeless ugliness for a long and gruesome mile： houses， rows of wretched， small， begrimed， brick houses， with black slate roofs for lids， sharp angles and wilful， blank dreariness.” （Lawrence， 2006： 10）

Lawrence sketches the dim， dirty and depressing surroundings around the Wragby with a grey shade. It is a place in which natural beauty， animal instincts and even human perception are totally devoured by black cinders. It is Tevershall village. Meanwhile， it is not. It can be a village in Midland or Nottingham. It can be any village in England. It must be each village in Europe wherever industrialization dominates.