D. H. Lawrence
English modernist writer whose works faced censorship for explicit content.
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David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) wore many hats: novelist, short story writer, poet, playwright, literary critic, travel writer, essayist, and painter. His modernist writing tackled modernity, social alienation, and industrialisation, while pushing for sexuality, vitality, and instinct. Four of his best-known novels—*Sons and Lovers* (1913), *The Rainbow* (1915), *Women in Love* (1920), and *Lady Chatterley's Lover* (1928)—faced censorship trials because they boldly portrayed romance and sexuality, and used explicit language. Lawrence’s views and artistic tastes made him a controversial figure. He suffered persecution and misunderstanding of his work throughout his life, spending much of it in a self-imposed exile he called a “savage enough pilgrimage.”
Lawrence entered the world on 11 September 1885 in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire. He was the fourth child of Arthur John Lawrence, a barely literate miner at Brinsley Colliery, and Lydia Lawrence (née Beardsall), a former pupil-teacher who had to do manual work in a lace factory because her family was short on money. He grew up in the coal mining town of Eastwood. The house where he was born, 8a Victoria Street, is now the D. H. Lawrence Birthplace Museum. His working-class background and the friction between his parents gave him material for some of his early writing. From a young age, Lawrence roamed the open, hilly country and leftover bits of Sherwood Forest in Felley woods north of Eastwood, starting a lifelong love of nature. He often wrote about “the country of my heart” as a setting for his fiction. Though his father wanted his sons to go down the pit, his mother was fiercely determined that her children would not earn their living through manual labor, and she got her way, at least with Lawrence.
From 1891 to 1898, Lawrence attended Greasley Beauvale Board School near Eastwood. He became the first local student to win a county council scholarship to Nottingham High School. He left that school in 1901 and worked for three months as a junior clerk at Haywood’s surgical appliances factory, but a bad case of pneumonia ended that job. While recovering, he often visited Hagg’s Farm, home of the Chambers family, and began a friendship with one of the daughters, Jessie Chambers. She would later inspire characters in his writing. A key part of his bond with Chambers and other teenage friends was a shared love of books, an interest that stayed with Lawrence his whole life. In a private letter from 1908, Lawrence expressed support for eugenics, suggesting a “lethal chamber” to get rid of “all the sick, the halt, the maimed.” He also backed the poet Anna Wickham early on, admiring and encouraging her work, and recommending her poetry for publication.
Lawrence worked as a pupil-teacher at the British School in Eastwood from 1902 to 1906. He then became a full-time student and earned a teaching certificate from University College, Nottingham (then an external college of the University of London) in 1908. During these early years, he wrote his first poems, some short stories, and a draft of a novel called *Laetitia*, which eventually became *The White Peacock*. At the end of 1907, he won a short story competition in the *Nottinghamshire Guardian*, the first time he gained wider recognition for his writing.
In the autumn of 1908, the newly qualified Lawrence left his childhood home for London. While teaching at Davidson Road School in Croydon, he kept writing. Jessie Chambers submitted some of his early poetry to Ford Madox Ford (then known as Ford Hermann Hueffer), editor of the influential *The English Review*. Ford commissioned the story “Odour of Chrysanthemums,” and when it appeared in that magazine, it encouraged Heinemann, a London publisher, to ask Lawrence for more work. His career as a professional author took off, though he taught for another year.
Shortly after the final proofs of his first published novel, *The White Peacock*, came out in 1910, Lawrence’s mother died of cancer. He was devastated and called the next few months his “sick year.” Because he was so close to his mother, this grief became a major turning point in his life. The novel is mainly about the emotional struggle for Lawrence’s love between his mother and “Miriam” (based on Jessie Chambers). It also documents Lawrence’s (through his protagonist, Paul) brief intimate relationship with Chambers, which he started at Christmas 1909 and ended in August 1910. The hurt this caused Chambers, and finally her portrayal in the novel, ended their friendship; after it was published, they never spoke again. In 1911, Lawrence met Edward Garnett, a publisher’s reader, who became a mentor and valued friend, along with Garnett’s son David. During these months, the young author revised *Paul Morel*, the first draft of what became *Sons and Lovers*. Also, a teaching colleague, Helen Corke, gave him access to her private diaries about an unhappy love affair, which became the basis for *The Trespasser*, his second novel.
- born
- 11 September 1885
- died
- 2 March 1930
- field
- Novelist, short story writer, poet, playwright, literary critic, travel writer,
- nationality
- English
- known_for
- Modernist works exploring sexuality, vitality, and industrialisation; censorship
Lore & Background
Lawrence was born on 11 September 1885 in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, England, the fourth child of Arthur John Lawrence, a barely literate miner at Brinsley Colliery, and Lydia Lawrence, a former pupil-teacher who had been obliged to perform manual work in a lace factory. His working class background and the tensions between his parents provided raw material for some of his early works. He roamed from an early age in the patches of open, hilly country and remaining fragments of Sherwood Forest in Felley woods, beginning a lifelong appreciation of the natural world. He attended Greasley Beauvale Board School from 1891 until 1898, becoming the first local pupil to win a county council scholarship to Nottingham High School. He left in 1901, working three months as a junior clerk at Haywood's surgical appliances factory, but a severe bout of pneumonia ended that career. During convalescence he often visited Hagg's Farm and began a friendship with Jessie Chambers, who would inspire characters in his writing. In a private letter written in 1908, Lawrence voiced support for eugenics by the method of a 'lethal chamber' to dispose of 'all the sick, the halt, the maimed'. He was an early supporter of the poet Anna Wickham, recommending her poetry for publication. From 1902 to 1906, Lawrence was a pupil-teacher at the British School in Eastwood. He received a teaching certificate from University College, Nottingham in 1908. In autumn 1908 he moved to London, teaching at Davidson Road School, Croydon, while continuing to write. Jessie Chambers submitted his early poetry to Ford Madox Hueffer, editor of The English Review, who commissioned the story 'Odour of Chrysanthemums'. Heinemann then asked Lawrence for more work. His first published novel, The White Peacock, appeared in 1910, shortly after his mother died of cancer, leaving him devastated. He broke off an engagement to Louie Burrows in February 1912. In March 1912, he met Frieda Weekley, six years his senior and married to his former modern languages professor Ernest Weekley; they eloped and left England for Metz, Germany. Lawrence was arrested and accused of being a British spy before being released. They walked south across the Alps to Italy, a journey recorded in Twilight in Italy. In Italy, Lawrence completed Sons and Lovers, published in 1913. He also wrote the first of his 'mining plays', The Daughter-in-Law, in Nottingham dialect, which was not performed or published in his lifetime. Lawrence and Frieda returned to Britain in 1913, befriending critic John Middleton Murry and writer Katherine Mansfield. On 28 July 1913, Lawrence met Welsh tramp poet W. H. Davies, whose nature poetry he initially admired but later cooled on, calling Nature Poems 'so thin, one can hardly feel them'. Back in Italy, in a cottage in Fiascherino on the Gulf of Spezia, he wrote the first draft of what became The Rainbow and Women in Love.
Reader's Guide
Lawrence's significance lies in his modernist challenge to conventional morality and literary form. His novels Sons and Lovers (1913), The Rainbow (1915), Women in Love (1920), and Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928) were subjected to censorship trials for their radical portrayals of romance, sexuality, and use of explicit language. The Rainbow follows three generations of a Nottinghamshire farming family, focusing on daughter Ursula and her aspiration for a more fulfilling life. Women in Love explores complex relationships between four major characters, including Ursula and her sister Gudrun. Both novels were banned in the UK for obscenity—The Rainbow permanently, Women in Love only temporarily—in part due to frank treatment of sexual attraction and same-sex attraction: Ursula has an affair with a woman in The Rainbow, and there is an undercurrent of attraction between the two principal male characters in Women in Love. At his death, Lawrence was scorned as tasteless, avant-garde, and a pornographer who had only garnered success for erotica. However, novelist and critic E. M. Forster, in an obituary notice, described him as 'the greatest imaginative novelist of our generation'. Later, literary critic F. R. Leavis championed both Lawrence's artistic integrity and his moral seriousness. Lawrence's voluntary exile, which he called a 'savage enough pilgrimage', shaped his perspective and output. His early support for eugenics remains a controversial aspect of his views.
Did You Know?
- Lawrence was the first local pupil to win a county council scholarship to Nottingham High School.
- In a private letter written in 1908, Lawrence voiced support for eugenics by the method of a 'lethal chamber' to dispose of 'all the sick, the halt, the maimed'.
- Lawrence was arrested and accused of being a British spy in Metz, Germany, before being released following an intervention from Frieda's father.
- His first 'mining play', The Daughter-in-Law, written in Nottingham dialect in 1912, was not performed or even published in Lawrence's lifetime.
- Novelist and critic E. M. Forster, in an obituary notice, described Lawrence as 'the greatest imaginative novelist of our generation'.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is D. H. Lawrence?
David Herbert Lawrence was an English writer born in 1885 who worked across novels, poetry, plays, essays, and even painting. He is best remembered as a modernist voice who challenged the social and industrial norms of early twentieth-century England.
What are D. H. Lawrence's most famous novels?
His four most widely known novels are Sons and Lovers (1913), The Rainbow (1915), Women in Love (1920), and Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928). Each one provoked controversy for its frank treatment of romance, desire, and the human body.
Why did D. H. Lawrence's books face censorship trials?
Four of his novels were prosecuted in court because they depicted sexuality and used explicit language that the prevailing moral sensibilities of the time found unacceptable. The legal battles turned him into a cause célèbre for free expression in literary circles.
What major themes run through D. H. Lawrence's writing?
His work consistently interrogates the alienating effects of industrialisation and modern life while celebrating instinct, physical vitality, and emotional authenticity. He saw the mechanised, class-bound society of his day as a direct threat to genuine human connection.
When did D. H. Lawrence die and how old was he?
Lawrence passed away on 2 March 1930, at the age of forty-four. His relatively brief life left behind a body of work that continues to shape discussions of modernism, sexuality, and social critique in English literature.
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