D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover: The Changing Perspectives on Obscenity and Censorship in England and the USA

Abstract

First published in 1928, D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover was banned for thirty years because of its use of until-then taboo sexual terms. This study aims to analyze the novel’s obscenity and censorship in England and the United States of America. The obscenity trials both in England and the USA resulted in “Not Guilty” verdict, and the novel gained its freedom to publish. While censorship of Lady Chatterley’s Lover prohibited the novel from legal appearance in the U.S.A. and the U.K. for more than thirty years, it helps to promote its literary reputation, constructs the social meaning of the novel, and provides an example of the changing perspectives on obscenity in literary works. Key words: obscenity, censorship