Are we minds living in bodies, or are we bodies that just happen to have minds? Is the mind part of the body, or is it something different? Are you uncomfortably aware of your breathing right now? D.H. Lawrence, for all that he's a pretty brainy guy, wants you to be uncomfortably aware of your breathing. Lady Chatterley's Lover hates the life of the mind—for almost everyone. It says the majority of people would be a lot happier if they danced and had a lot more sex than they currently do. Of course, he's not talking about heading down to Ft. Lauderdale for a drunken, overly tanned orgy. Bodies are serious stuff, and he wants you to respect yours as much as any Promise Keeper.
Questions About The Body
- What would D.H. Lawrence say is the ideal relationship between the body and the mind?
- If the life of the mind is so bad, why is Lady Chatterley's Lover such a brainy book?
- How do people abuse their bodies in Lady Chatterley's Lover? What counts as abuse of the mind?
- How realistic is Lawrence's vision of merry peasants? What changes would have to come about for the world to go back to a pre-Industrial model?
Chew on This
In Lady Chatterley's Lover, the body and mind are inseparable. Any attempt to live a life of the mind without the body, or body without the mind, will end in failure.
The novel suggests that two people can only know each other through the body. Talking is not a substitute for touching.