T H E S I S
T H E S I S T H E S I S
90 characters are striving for sexual fulfilment» This is true regarding Lawrence’s own representative, the natural hero Mellors, the "phallus-bearer". It would be better if the secret of sex remained a mystery, but mystery and secrecy are puritanical byproducts of the dirty idea of sex, and Lawrence is, paradoxically, an anti-puritan reformer in this respect, because he wants to end the secrecy. Two reasons prevent Lawrence from entering wholly in the mystery of the nphallic consciousness11«, One is moral and the ether is physical« The first one is his unconscious puritanism that persecutes him from The White Peacock period to his last days« Struggling with his deeply-rooted conservatism in the field of morality, he arrives at a peculiar paradox. Besides the leader and the prophet, Lawrence as a preacher is an anti-puritanical puritan, While he condemns the "grey puritans", he is a puritan himself, not only because he cannot escape from his background, but also because in his doctrine he preaches the "purification5* of every human activity through a puritanic honesty, mentally and materially. In Lady Ghatterlev{s Lover he^still the puritanical author of The White Peacock, Indeed, it is very paradoxical that a puritan becomes a preacher for sexual freedom. Undoubtedly it is because he came to understand the wrong side of puritanism in The White Peacock period« R,Aidington, having been his acquaintance, is the best biographer to talk about Lawrence*s strangeness of spirit and his controversial nature, in the light of Lady Chatterley*s Lovers "Even Lady Chatterley*s Loverf so desperate an attempt of his conscious mind to fly from his unconscious puritanism, is lowered by the fact that it was written less for delight
91 in a passionate love affair and joy of a woman's body than as a kind of erotic lesson, a sermon on sex. Clearly, it was a case of *sex in the head1, from every point of view, (such as he was always denouncing in others), since there is every reason to suppose that when he wrote the book he was already virtually if not completely impotent,5'1 (PGB 317) Here is the second reason, the physical one« "Lawrence has been impotent since 1926!" Frieda Lawrence confirmed it to H.T, Moore» (T1H k-7?) So, when Lawrence was writing his "phallic novel" he was already a dying man, because according to his doctors his tuberculosis could not be cured* Certainly his impotence was due to the illness* The phallus itself is used symbolically by the author of Lady Chatterley?s Loverf since in physical fact it was drooping. Here lies all the tragedy! Here lies the "mystery of the phallus" that Lawrence could not understand any moreJ Coming from an impotent man, the expression “the root of sanity is in the balls’* (LCL 227) would seem farcical« But it proves this man's conviction in sexual fulfilment as a remedy for the rottenness of the mechanical civilization. Together with his motto "Blood is basic!" these assertions represent the cornerstone of his doctrine of the primacy of the body over the in tel*» lect. Ladv Chatterley's Lover contains the real proofs of how deeply-rooted sex is in his head® The gamekeeper Mellors, despite his tenderness and his tentative "phallic consciousness", so glorifies the acts of sex that he is a clear example of the "sex in the head" which Lawrence abominated. Even Connie has more of "sex consciousness" than of "phallic consciousness". After she meets Mellors and his "sheer sensuality" she cannot renounce sex any more.
- Page 49 and 50: 39 So far, Lawrence’s early views
- Page 51 and 52: hi rainbow arch; it is the “toget
- Page 53 and 54: ^3 Lawrence said in his defence: "T
- Page 55 and 56: ubbing passage of The White Peacock
- Page 57 and 58: eautiful."(TRB 238) Why afraid? Bec
- Page 59 and 60: Chapter V LAURENCE AND PORNOGRAPHY
- Page 61 and 62: 51 sions then is Freud’s theory o
- Page 63 and 64: 53 male, in a negative or sundering
- Page 65 and 66: 55 he directly faced the censors an
- Page 67 and 68: 57 "the whole question of pornograp
- Page 69 and 70: 59 Girordias, (11) famous editor an
- Page 71 and 72: 61 secret".; Neither can be of any
- Page 73 and 74: 63 by January 1928 and is now widel
- Page 75 and 76: 65 So the general subject matter of
- Page 77 and 78: 67 The real theme, which recurs in
- Page 79 and 80: 69 built of rusticated sandstone an
- Page 81 and 82: 71 who want to dominate them, Mello
- Page 83 and 84: 73 question Lawrence puts to himsel
- Page 85 and 86: 75 the mechanical images are deflec
- Page 87 and 88: 77 lies, navels, and breasts* (It h
- Page 89 and 90: 79 Maybe they are the truth some cr
- Page 91 and 92: 81 heave her loins, and throw the m
- Page 93 and 94: 83 ’'darkness” is present in M
- Page 95 and 96: 85 11ty shook her to her foundation
- Page 97 and 98: 87 some kind of ’'arrest'** In al
- Page 99: Chapter ¥11 CONCLUSIONS Host of th
- Page 103 and 104: 93 distinguished from normal conduc
- Page 105 and 106: 95 presentative of most people's ex
- Page 107 and 108: 97 easy to say* I think that he has
- Page 109 and 110: APPENDIX NOTES 1 Title of the work
- Page 111 and 112: BIBLIOGRAPHY •* Aldington^ Richar
- Page 113 and 114: 103 Lawrence, D«E., (cont.) -"SunJ
91<br />
in a passionate love affair and joy of a woman's body than<br />
as a kind of erotic lesson, a sermon on sex. Clearly, it<br />
was a case of *sex in the head1, from every point of view,<br />
(such as he was always denouncing in others), since there<br />
is every reason to suppose that when he wrote the book he<br />
was already virtually if not completely impotent,5'1 (PGB 317)<br />
Here is the second reason, the physical one« "Lawrence has<br />
been impotent since 1926!" Frieda Lawrence confirmed it to H.T,<br />
Moore» (T1H k-7?) So, when Lawrence was writing his "phallic novel"<br />
he was already a dying man, because according to his doctors<br />
his tuberculosis could not be cured* Certainly his impotence was<br />
due to the illness* The phallus itself is used symbolically by<br />
the author of Lady Chatterley?s Loverf since in physical fact it<br />
was drooping. Here lies all the tragedy! Here lies the "mystery<br />
of the phallus" that Lawrence could not understand any moreJ<br />
Coming from an impotent man, the expression “the root of<br />
sanity is in the balls’* (LCL 227) would seem farcical« But it<br />
proves this man's conviction in sexual fulfilment as a remedy for<br />
the rottenness of the mechanical civilization. Together with his<br />
motto "Blood is basic!" these assertions represent the cornerstone<br />
of his doctrine of the primacy of the body over the in tel*»<br />
lect. Ladv Chatterley's Lover contains the real proofs of how<br />
deeply-rooted sex is in his head® The gamekeeper Mellors, despite<br />
his tenderness and his tentative "phallic consciousness", so glorifies<br />
the acts of sex that he is a clear example of the "sex in<br />
the head" which Lawrence abominated. Even Connie has more of<br />
"sex consciousness" than of "phallic consciousness". After she<br />
meets Mellors and his "sheer sensuality" she cannot renounce sex<br />
any more.
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