Lady Chatterley's Lover

I can understand what the fuss must have been about. Lady Chatterley’s Lover must have created quite a stir when it was published in 1928. The furor was enough to prevent publishing of the book in England till 1960. The book is replete with fairly descriptive sexual encounters, usage of what must have been uncharitable language back then (folks in the 1930’s did not have the benefit of gansta rap to acclimatize them to words like bitch et al). But I don’t think the indignation was about the presence of sex in the story, neither was it about the fact that most perceived the central theme of the book to be sex, ignoring the many more themes and undercurrents that weaved this good story. To my mind the ado was about the unapologetic presence of sex in the lives of the protagonists, the unabashed acknowledgement and enjoyment of (female) sexuality, that sex was not a thought to be buried deep down in the crevices of one’s imagination but a sentiment worthy of appreciation, that sex was not the excuse of a delinquent, not means to a devious end but in a way the end itself.
Today I am glad that I live in 2010 (as I am most of the times, are you kidding me healthcare sucked in the 1930s) and not 1930. That hopefully liberates me enough to enjoy the book in its entirety and not just obsess about one of the many, many themes that this story dwells upon.
At its heart Lady Chatterley’s Lover is a story about love and how love transcends the boundaries of class, judgment, morality, righteousness and convenience. The backdrop of this love story is a concoction of industrialization, aristocracy, war, class conflict etc etc. But you know a classic from the rest when not only are the central theme and the sub contexts dealt with a studied authority but also every conversation and observation in the book is a valuable (and not easily available or manifested) insight. Each page in the book is to savor and never does any detail seem like an interruption to the story. By this standard, Lady Chatterley’s Lover is sure a classic and is a book that makes the journey of reaching the culmination as enjoyable as the culmination itself.
Lady Chatterley (or Connie) is married to Clifford, a minor aristocrat who has inherited coal mines from his family. Clifford is paralyzed in World War I and is rendered impotent post which he settles down in Wragby. In due course of time he becomes a successful writer. Connie remains married (though not faithful) to him during all this time, contributing significantly to his literary success. Clifford cannot imagine his life without Connie. However what is striking, is the lack of love in the marriage. Connie does not love Clifford, in fact does not even like Clifford in most parts. There is also no memory of love and the past that they share, that keeps Connie going on in this love less, lackluster marriage, and ironically there is no sense of duty that bounds Connie to Clifford . There is just habit and the fact that Connie has no idea what to leave Clifford for. On the other hand Clifford is neither in love with Connie nor is grateful to her for uncomplainingly being his companion, nurse, brainstorming partner and trophy wife. He holds on to Connie with a brute selfishness, tying her down by being totally dependant on her, clinging on to her as the only connection to normalcy, as the only antidote to his impotency. It is this selfishness that Connie tries to run away in her dalliances with other men however ends up with men (and consequently runs away from them) consumed by their own demands.
Connie makes the beginning of severing the stifling mess of entangled ties, by hiring Mrs. Bolton to take care of Clifford and his everyday needs. The ease and urgency with which Mrs. Bolton replaces Connie in her role as nurse and companion to Clifford is a testimony to the fact that for Clifford, Connie was no more than just a nurse and companion, a little more dignified and qualified albeit.
A chance encounter in the woods leads Connie to Mellors the game keeper on Clifford’s estate. And thus begins the saga of their clandestine and passionate love affair teeming with many descriptions of their uninhibited and unaffected sex. Connie is intrigued by the unique combination of provincial wisdom and sophistication that this man presents. The rigid class distinction of those times forces her to seek familiarity in Mellors through his background of an army lieutenant or the books he reads. Finally what draws Connie towards Mellors is the equality of their relationship, summed up when she says “I liked your body” and his response is “Well, then, we’re quits because I liked yours”. The serenity, peace and the candid earthiness that the venue of their rendezvous offers is in infact a metaphor to how Connie feels when she is with Mellors. For Mellors Connie is the perfect combination of intellect and allure, independence and compassion.
Like most love stories this one too has a villain, class conflict being the one here. Clifford has no trouble in having an heir for his estate through one of the frivolous love affairs of Connie, presumably with a noble man. But cannot deal with the idea of Connie wanting to have a child and stay with a man of the working classes. This to him it is an ultimate defeat to the serving class, a thoughtless mass of animals fated to be ruled by industrialists like him.
For me one of the most fascinating passages in the book is where Mellors carries Clifford in his wheelchair and Connie views the two choices she has in contrast with each other. Clifford fazed by his dependence on one of Mellors’ kind, brings out his brutish best while Mellors is patiently struggling to help Clifford out of humanity and not servitude. This act for me is the essence of the story, where love, hatred, tension and bondage all come into play.
Mellors also, to my mind is finally committed to Connie only after his long separated wife comes into the picture, the tawdry and loud Bertha Coutts. Both Bertha and Clifford oppose the union of Mellors and Connie not so much for the pain that it brings them, but because they cannot fathom the happiness that this alliance brings the two protagonists. The book ends with Mellors and Connie embarking a journey towards each other and away from their past. As I wistfully finish the book I know it is about how life is complete only when you have someone you love to come back home to.
As for my Aha moment, it came pretty early in the book when Connie wondered “What was the good of discontented people who fitted in nowhere?”.
Lady Chatterley’s Lover is a must read and I think its enough to say that it felt like I had read a “real” book after a long long time.

Author: D.H. Lawrence