Because of DH Lawrence, any comic has only to mention game- keepers to get a laugh, and what an irony, for Lawrence was preaching sex as a kind of sacrament, and more than that, one that would save us all from the results of war and the nastinesses of our civilisation. But Lady Godiva was a heroine of purity and integrity, and most people were ashamed to take even a peek at her, whereas Lady Chatterley is always good for a laugh, or rather a dirty snigger: Lady Chatterley and her bit of rough. But I don’t think we needed Lawrence to tell us that.Lady Chatterley is as alive in the popular imagination as is naked Lady Godiva riding on her horse through Coventry, hiding behind the curtains of her hair. It is not a gay relationship – though there are clearly elements of homosexuality – but rather Lawrence’s realisation that relationships between men and men and between women and men may be important but are in inevitable conflict. While this is not a key part of the book, the relationship between Birkin, the artist, and Crich, the flawed man of business, is almost as important as their relationships with the Brangwen sisters. Anyone who has seen the film will recall the famous nude wrestling scene between Birkin and Crich. But he is also concerned about the Birkin-Crich relationship. Primarily, of course he is concerned about the Ursula-Birkin and Gudrun-Crich relationships and the comparison between the two and this comparison is, to a great extent, the raison d’être of the novel. Lawrence was not particularly concerned about plots but about relationships and here he is concerned about three relationships. If the above sounds melodramatic, it is because it is. In true Lawrentian fashion we see Ursula and Birkin coming to a truly fulfilling relationship, while Gudrun and Crich’s relationship is increasingly destructive and results in Gerald wandering off into the snow and dying. Ursula and Birkin eventually get married and take a trip to the Alps with Gudrun and Crich where they meet the sinister sculptor Loerke, with whom Gudrun flirts. Gerald takes over the mine while his father is dying but, while he can be ruthless with the workers, he is less so with Gudrun. Ursula loves Rupert Birkin (modelled on Lawrence himself), a school inspector, while Gudrun falls for Birkin’s friend, Gerald Crich, son of the local mine owner. Ursula is a teacher while Gudrun has just returned from art school in London. We are in a Midlands mining town called Beldover. This novel reintroduces us to Ursula and Gudrun Brangwen from The Rainbow.

Love dh