David Herbert Lawrence
David Herbert Lawrence (1885-1930). British novelist, poet, and dramatist. The son of a coal-miner, Lawrence was born and educated in Nottinghamshire, the setting of many of his works. He taught for a time but devoted himself to literature after the publication of his first novel, The White Peacock (1911). In 1912 he eloped to Germany with Frieda Weekley, whom he married after her divorce in 1914. They returned to Britain before the outbreak of World War I. The semi-autobiographical Sons and Lovers (1913) brought him considerable success. Frieda Lawrence’s German nationality made the couple unpopular during World War I, and they were closely watched by police. Lawrence’s novels describe human relationships and sexual desires with a franknes that led to The Rainbow (1915) being judged obscene. The whole edition was confiscated. There was a similar reaction to his subsequent novels; Women in Love (1921) had to be privately printed in New York, while Lady Chatterley’s Lover (1928) was banned for many years. Lawrence’s other works include short stories, travel books, plays, and criticism.
“One of the great denouncers, the great missionaries the English send to themselves to tell them they are crass, gross, lost, dead, mad and addicted to unnatural vice. I suppose it is a good thing that these chaps continue to roll up, though in this case I wonder whether as much silly conduct has not been encouraged as heartless conduct deterred. Kingsley Amis on D. H. Lawrence, What Became of lane Austen? (1970)”
