Lawrence's "Self-Substantial Art"

243 as this, regarding THE GOOD SOLDIER: it "suggests. . .that there is a necessary connection between private morality and morality in general." This seems to be the culmination of her vision: she has shown us how Ford earlier failed to make this connection, was confusedly torn between the ideals of responsibility and the need for self-expression. Now she asserts the effective connection between public and private morality, but she does not prove it. At this point she might refer to her earlier observation that "Even his historical romances were, in their remote and simplified way, didactic allegories." Perhaps only our "modern" blindness to the fact that beauty and allegory are compatible has prevented recognition of the fact that this coldly beautiful novel is, among many other admirable things, a highly topical allegory. 11 jjs_ a war novel, in a sense that its disappointed purchasers in 1915 could not appreciate--an anatomy of Western civilization, or at least of thoee aspects of western sensibility that Ford believed made Inevitable the First World War. University of Washington David D. Harvey 4. Lawrence's "Self-Substantial Art" Ronald P. Draper. D. H. LAWRENCE. New York: Twayne, 1964. $3.50. For so comparatively short a study (177 pp) of D. H. Lawrence's diverse creative output, Professor Draper's book is largely successful. While the study overturns few accepted judgments of individual works, and provides no stsrtllngly new approach to Lawrence's art, it is nonetheless a significant contribution to the publisher's English Authors series. Professor Draper's aim is both to further the appreciation of Lawrence's works as "self-substantial art" and to show their "relativity" (their roots in Lawrence's life and experience). As he says in the Preface, and shows convincingly in a later chapter, earlier criticism of Lawrence tended to concentrate on his life and ignore the intrinsic significance of his novels; later criticism, however, reversed the emphasis perhaps too completely. Professor Draper's desire to emphasize both approaches to Lawrence's works is laudable, but he is only partly successful in achieving this aim. The study avoids a "split personality" largely because of the interrelationships between these two approaches which Professor Draper makes clear. Nevertheless, some readers will feel that the book contains far too little biographical evidence to balance the amount of critical analysis he presents. The chapters dealing with the novels are, to me, the major achievement of the study. They will be read eagerly by students and specialists because of Professor Draper's considerable critical insight. His discussion of SONS AND LOVERS, for example, by stressing "the weighting of the evidence in favor of the mother," helps show the lines of interference set up in Lawrence's art when personal experience paralled too closely the situations in the novels. His chapter on THE RAINBOW is a lucid and convincing exegesis of a most puzzling novel. He sets forth clearly the circumstances of its composition and revisions and he succeeds in revealing the links between the three generations of the Brangwen family. I find, on the other hand, Professor Draper's treatment of LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER somewhat disappointing. He makes much of Lawrence's use of four-letter words, which Lawrence sought "to rescue. . .from their odious associations and to restore. . .to decent usage." True as that may be, it is a bit extreme to dismiss the novelist's use of these highly connotative words as a "misconceived crusade on behalf of the four-letter words." Indeed, many readers admire Lawrence's artistic "naturalization" of these words. 244 Professor Draper does, however, find quite a bit to praise in this novel. His argument that the frequent intercourse between Connie and Mellors is of structural and thematic significance is a welcome antidote for the adjective "monotonous," so often applied to these encounters. The chapters titled "The Tales" (30 pp) and "The Poems" (12 pp) are quite disappointing. This space might better have been utilized to add further depth and length to the discussions of the novels. Lawrence wrote some brilliant poems and many equally brilliant tales; to see them raced through in 42 pages is a frustrating experience. Professor Draper makes interesting observations on...