Sexual politics

[Anonymous]

I don't have a direct response to your question since I attacked the book critically from another angle, but I suggest you should read the essay "War, Love, and Industrialism: The Ares/Aphrodite/Hephaestus Complex in Lady Chatterley's Lover" by Evelyn J. Hinz and John J. Teunissen. If you are interested in the different roles characters play, this may interest you. It shows you even more is going on in the book other than a fictional story based on Lawrence's own experiences.

[Mint]

Ive read Millet's Sexual Politics that referred to Lady chatterley's lover as a chauvunist book. Connie is the worshipper and Mellor, a god-like figure, whatca all think?

[Virgil]

Lawrence had worked out a rather complex philosophy. One tenet of his philosophy was that for a happy relationship and for a happy society women must be subserviant and worship men. He was really anti-feminist, and I guess you could say he was a chauvinist. I had a passionate feminist as a teacher for the modern english novel and I could tell she really hated him. The only reason she included The Rainbow (my favorite of his novels)on the syllabus was because she was forced to.

[Janine]

I recently read that the reason for Lawrence's attitude towards woman was born out of mortal fear of them. Have you ever heard this theory? He even wrote to a friend saying that he always thought woman got the worst end of things but now he believed men did instead. So perhpaps for compensation he wanted the man to have the upper hand. It certainly would explain Mellnors and his attitude towards Connie, but even that wavered and sometimes I felt Connie dominated. Ofcourse, class distinctions and conventionality played into that story prominently, also the awakening sexually of Connie. In some ways I think that Lawrence was not sure of his theories or ideas completely throughout his life. He explored these thoughts constantly shifting male and female dominance continually throughout his novels. The part of a woman being threatened by his writings makes no sense to me and never really has. Perhaps they could not see the sensual side of Lawrence and his passion. He had many woman friends and I cannot see how he would have thought himself dominant towards them. They all seemed to adore him, even when he broke with some of them.

[Virgil]

I recently read that the reason for Lawrence's attitude towards woman was born out of mortal fear of them. Have you ever heard this theory?

Perhaps. I don't pay attention to psycho babble. These are the types of rediculous statements that many literary critics make. It makes them feel important, as if they've uncovered some great insight.

It certainly would explain Mellnors and his attitude towards Connie, but even that wavered and sometimes I felt Connie dominated. Ofcourse, class distinctions and conventionality played into that story prominently, also the awakening sexually of Connie.

I think your comments on class, conventionality, and sexuality are more to what Lawrence was after.

In some ways I think that Lawrence was not sure of his theories or ideas completely throughout his life.

It's true that some of his theories evolved over his life, but there is also a remarkable consistent core.

He explored these thoughts constantly shifting male and female dominance continually throughout his novels.

I think he was after different implications of sexual roles. Plus as a story teller, he was trying to create different situations.

The part of a woman being threatened by his writings makes no sense to me and never really has.

If you want me to play with psycho babble, here's a theory I've come across. Women are afraid of being hurt (dominated) by men in a relationship, while men are afriad of being absorbed (losing their individuality) by women in a relationship. It supposedly stems from the sex act, women being punctured, men being sucked in. Psycho babble. While it does strike me as silly, it could have been something Lawrence was thinking about.

Perhaps they could not see the sensual side of Lawrence and his passion. He had many woman friends and I cannot see how he would have thought himself dominant towards them. They all seemed to adore him, even when he broke with some of them.

He and his wife Frieda had actual physical altercations. I suspect she was a domineering type of person from which he rebelled against, and perhaps was the spark for some of his fiction. He must have been very conscious of the power plays that go on in relationships. I think most people who knew Lawrence understood his passions and sensual side. He projected a certain intensity.