D. H. Lawrence
(1885–1930)

D. H. Lawrence occupies a unique position among the leading Modernist writers of the generation that came of age before the outbreak of the First World War. The originality of his literature achievements was partly clouded by the explosive controversy attached to his name during his lifetime and for some years after. As with Shelley and Byron before him, the controversy that swirled around Lawrence touched on several points, not the least of which were his unorthodox opinions on politics, society, and morality.

David Herbert Lawrence was born near Nottingham in the English Midlands, the son of a miner. His childhood was marked by poverty, illness, constant bickering between his parents, and his mother's driving ambition to make something of her son. After attending local schools, the young Lawrence spent several years as a teacher before turning to writing as a livelihood.

As a writer, Lawrence was deeply influenced by the pioneering psychological theories of Sigmund Freud and by the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. He restlessly researched their writings, seeking confirmation of the underlying moral rightness of his convictions—which the industrial social order was unjust, that open expression of sexuality was healthy, and that human beings could find true fulfillment only by living in harmony with nature.

In 1913, shortly before eloping to Germany with a woman several years older than himself, Lawrence published his first major novel, Sons and Lovers—a thinly disguised autobiographical account of his childhood and his adolescent years. During World War I, he returned with his wife to England were he published his next major work, The Rainbow (1915). His frank treatment of sexuality in the book caused it to be declared obscene.

At the end of the war, the Lawrences left England for extended travels in Italy, Ceylon, Australia, Mexico, and the United States. Lawrence used many of these locales in his fiction: Kangaroo (1923), for example, is set in Australia; and Plumed Serpent (1926) is steeped in the mythology of ancient Mexico. It was during his prolonged absence from England that Lawrence found a publisher for one of his greatest novels, Women in Love (1921). Ill from tuberculosis, Lawrence completed his last novel, Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928), while living in Italy.

Since his death, society's views on Lawrence's writings have changed profoundly. Today, his fiction is almost universally admired for its vivid settings, fine craftsmanship, and psychological insight.

A  |  B  |  C  |  D  |  E  |  F  |  G  |  H  |  I  |  J  |  K  |  L  |  M
N  |  O  |  P  |  Q  |  R  |  S  |  T  |  U  |  V  |  W  |  X  |  Y  |  Z