Class Struggle Term Paper

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portrayed in 'Lady Chatterley's Lover'. The book is quite old and the period of happening in the book is that of the First World War. The book was written by David Herbert Lawrence, an author who did not have a very high reputation as a classic writer in English. His intention was only to make money by way using his writing skills. Considering the period in which this book was written, he had probably gone a little too far from the limits which were prevalent in those days and the book was banned from sale in many countries as it was being considered to be obscene. In some countries, the ban even progressed to exist till the period of the 1960s. The reason was due to the prevalence of obscenity in the book and that was the primary reason to make the book extremely famous.

People were not permitted to see or read the book, and this was especially restricted for young persons who were greatly attracted to the book. This gave them a lot of encouragement for breaking the discipline and going against the ban and somehow getting a chance to read and understand as to what is so particular about the book. This part of trying to see and read something that you are not permitted led to the great popularity of this book. The book had several quotes like which were given below which greatly attracted the attention of youngsters to read the book after getting to know from others that it had elements which were far ahead of their times. "Her breasts were rather small, and dropping pear-shaped. But they were unripe, a little bitter, without meaning hanging there. And her belly had lost the fresh, round gleam it had had when she was young, in the days of her German boy, who really loved her physically." (Lady Chatterley's Lover by David Herbert Lawrence (1885-1930): Chapter 7)

The novel depicts a woman that we normally do not see today. The importance of physical love is being stressed upon. The main character in the novel - Lady Chatterley is madly in love with the gamekeeper and the book portrays sexual attraction and action which were far ahead of the times. Lady Chatterley was worried about her body and was not fully satisfied with its condition. She was also feeling that she was growing comparatively old and not getting the benefit from it. It is also clear that she had utilized her body beyond the usual and permitted affairs early on. This is all pure conjecture as there is no evidence for this belief. (Lady Chatterley's Lover) The novel shows that it is the women who have doubts about the suitability of a man for her. This may be the feeling of some women, but historically it is the women who are supposed to be frail and emotional. (Lady Chatterley's Lover) The novel also shows that the woman has also made a mistake -- falling in love with a married man. These show the conditions in those days when it was not so easy for getting a divorce and also subsisting after that.

Let us remember that all authors plan their books before they start writing it, and writing of books does not go on with the advent of God. This makes it clear that the author had planned the book to be about the physical demand of women when their husbands became disabled. This is clear in the introduction of the lady when the author says "She married Clifford Chatterley in 1917, when he was on home for leave. They had a month's honeymoon. Then he went back to Flanders; to be shipped over to England six months later more or less in bits." (Lady Chatterley's Lover by David Herbert Lawrence (1885-1930): Chapter 1)

This shows that the lady was almost a widow at the start of the book. Now let us look at the society then. Remember that this was a society that fined a street trader in Blackpool for two guineas for selling "lewd and disgusting" photographs which were put inside white envelopes. These offensive photographs were of nude statues. Yet the attitude of the public kept changing during the course of the century and many books came out which had equally offensive descriptions. These were works like Ulysses, Lady Chatterley's Lover, Tropic of Cancer, Lolita, Peyton Place, Fanny Hill, Catcher in the Rye, photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, and the movie Last Tango in Paris.
The rapid development of this public demand for obscenity or "sex" in literature, film or photographs has gone on continuously. (Are we unshockable?) A reader had read the book when she was 13 and after picking it up from her mother's little library. Well that was also common and that is how most people of that age read such books. The emotions were quite high and she felt that she had lost her virginity after reading this book. We presume she means that she lost her innocence. This was the first book for adults that she read, and that would have been quite common those days, when there was no Internet and access to it for the young generation. (Lady Chatterley's Lover)

The position has only worsened with the arrival of Internet, and today almost every child in America has the options of tuning in and seeing whatever the child wants to see. This has led to more sites on the Internet with hardcore pictures than with information, and the number would probably be in many thousands. Some of these sites are visited regularly by the people who want to visit them. Some of them cost money, but the amount required is insignificant considering the allowances of the children. The movement to this openness about sex probably started in the 1960s when the books like Lady Chatterley's Lover won their battles against bans due to obscenity in England and Canada. The later periods have only led to more such sites for the children, and with the advent f technology, the quality of service there has only been to lead to more difficulties for developing children. (Are we unshockable?)

This is not a surprise, and the trouble is not confined to any class, but is available for any child who now is able to get on to the Internet. The situation has come to a point where we do not know how a restriction can be put on it. This is certainly a very famous novel by Lawrence and some call it the most famous. It is also an old novel having been written in 1928. It caused a lot of shock at the time that it was written and that was because of the clear and explicit treatment that it had given its subject -- a love (?) between a sexually unfilled married woman belonging to the upper class of that time and a game keeper who works for them in their estate. (Lady Chatterley's Lover) Certainly the sexual act that takes place between them satisfies the gamekeeper, but whether it satisfies the lady is open to doubt. This is clear from the author's own description "And when he came into her, with an intensification of relief and consummation that was pure peace to him, she was still waiting. She felt herself a little left out. And she knew it was partly her own fault. She willed herself into this separateness. Now perhaps she was condemned to it." (Lady Chatterley's Lover by David Herbert Lawrence (1885-1930): Chapter 10)

Does this description show that the lady was satisfied? It shows that the lady was in the same state as ladies were supposed to be from time immemorial till the other day. England has always been known to be a conservative society and at that time she was still the ruler of the world. The world has changed since and the subject of sex has become much more open and widely discussed and we are reading about it as also we are seeing it in the movies, including Lady Chatterley's Lover. The quality of the novel is not existent in the subject that it deals with, but the quality of language that it uses. The story takes us directly into a world which is well-known to us, and which is appreciated by some. Lawrence considers the lady like all other women of her time, as a sexual tool for the purpose of bringing about the satisfaction of men. She is not an independent person who has her elements of her own likes and dislikes. All sexual relationship thus ends in the novel as a benefit for the gamekeeper and not for the lady. (Lady Chatterley's Lover) This is also clearly not any indication of any class struggle as the "oppressed" class only seems to be attaining the benefits of the relationship.

The education of all Americans certainly reflects an education from movies. Those elements in their lives teach.....

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