Smut

Speaking of mistresses, I have started reading Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence (he of Lawrence of Arabia fame).

Actually, since she is married, she is not a mistress, but it seemed like a natural link to the previous post. Her husband was wounded in World War I and is subsequently unable to perform that particular husbandly duty. Ergo, she seeks physical companionship elsewhere.

I've read just the first chapter so far. I find it interesting because of the characterization, and the exposition Lawrence uses is complete yet not wordy. Actually, the book itself is quite thin.

All I knew about the book was that it was supposed to be "naughty", so it's not something you'd likely read in high school English class or discuss at the dinner table (not if you had my parents). I always pictured Lady Chatterley as a wife in her 40's or 50's whose husband no longer satisfies her. I was surprised to learn that she is in her early 20's, and her husband is just in his late 20's.

The book was written in 1924 or 1925, which also surprised me. I always thought of it as a Victorian novel, but it is quite modern. (Anything during my grandparents' lifetimes is "modern".) Still, I am sure that the topic itself, if not the language in addition to it, was quite daring for its time. Lawrence is not explicit in his vocabulary (not for the U.S. in 2007 A.D.), but he did use the word "orgasm", which I can guess caused quite a bit of consternation in the 1920's. Let's see what that just did to my G rating.

"Who needs a hobby like tennis or philately?
I've got a hobby: rereading Lady Chattlerley."
("Smut" by Tom Lehrer)