amywoolsey_93 's review for:

Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence

4.0

challenging funny slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I didn't expect the sex scenes to so closely resemble sex scenes in a mass-market romance novel! Not complaining, it's just interesting how blurry the line is between what's considered "literature" and "trash." On the whole, Lady Chatterley's Lover intrigued me more for its underlying themes -- the disintegration of the British aristocracy, the effect of industrialization on the natural world and human relationships, the role of power in intimacy -- than its overarching narrative, though of course, the two are inextricably intertwined. All three main characters have facets that are relatable and repellant, at once complex and primarily symbolic. Clifford in particular teeters on the verge of caricature, fitting into the ableist cliché of an impotent disabled man, but his symbolic role as a representative of the old aristocracy and industrial capitalism makes him impossible to dismiss; he's arguably the most important and tragic character in the book. Also, the fact that his disability is the result of his experience in World War I, a historical event that hangs over the proceedings like smog, complicates the contempt that Lawrence seems to have for him. He comes to worship the very thing that killed his soul.