D.H. Lawrence hates a lot of things—men, women, machines, London, Wragby, literature, idiots, modernity—but he hates money most of all. Because, he implies in Lady Chatterley's Lover, money makes people do things that dehumanize them. The problem with money is that once you start using it, you start working to get it rather than working to live. So instead of working at something that will directly help you survive, like farming, and then prancing around the rest of the time in red trousers (seriously), you work at a soul-crushing job to get money to spend at movie theaters and jazz clubs to convince yourself that you don't hate your life. Big words, D.H.
Questions About Wealth
- Lawrence criticizes money, but he also criticizes the working classes and seems to favor people who are well-off and well-educated. Is this a contradiction, or is there a way to resolve the text's different attitudes?
- Does the book offer an alternative to an industrial and capitalist economy, or is it just a lot of noise without any solutions?
- Why exactly does Lady Chatterley's Lover consider money the root of all evil? Is the problem work and trade, or does it specifically blame currency?
- Is wealth a disadvantage? Given the choice between being rich and poor, which offers a person the better chance at an integrated life?
Chew on This
Lady Chatterley's Lover suggests that the practice of working for money is at the root of all modern evils.
Although Lawrence claims to dislike money, the novel implicitly favors the wealthy characters over the working class and poor.