Lady Chatterley’s Lover written by D.H. Lawrence was at the time of publishing controversial in nature due to the use of language that was used at the time and also due to how the different classes interact with each other. Another fact was the book happened to have numerous pirated copies made, so there were different versions. How the author combated the various versions was to create copies printed for half the price to make it more attractive. This was an early way of dealing with piracy issues of popular media which in today’s world is being used on movies and music.
The book is about Constance Chatterley married to Clifford, who was wounded during the First World War. Clifford Chatterley needs help from his requirement of a wheelchair as he is unable to walk. He is well learned and has views upon the world as he looks down on the working class as anything but people. He does want his wife to have an affair to someone of their own class to bear a child in their name. Lady Chatterley has several affairs without the knowledge of her husband and ends up with the Games keeper who she falls for. When the affair is found out there is a strong reaction from Constance Chatterley’s family and from her husband too.
The book was seen as being very erotic at the time of printing and had been banned at certain points, but the book when viewed from the standards of the 21st century it is very tame in comparison as many other books go into minute details. He wrote other books such as Sons and Lovers and The Rainbow women in love. The book is well worth reading especially since it is a classic. The version I read was the Penguin Classics with an introduction by Doris Lessing and explanatory notes explaining the various phrases used throughout the book.
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