Anais Nin wrote her first book in 1932: D.H. Lawrence, An Unprofessional Study.
She writes about Lady Chatterly's Lover in the last chapter of the book and notes Lawrence's concept of marriage: "marriage is no marriage that is not basically and permanently phallic, and that is not linked up with the sun and the earth, the moon and the fixed stars and the planets, in the rhythms of months, in the rhythms quarters, of years, of decades and of centuries. Marriage is no marriage that is not a correspondence of blood. For the blood is the substance of the soul, and of the deepest consciousness."
She writes further that Lawrence told us: "the affinity of mind and personality is an excellent basis of friendship between the sexes, but a disastrous basis for marriage." There's got to be chemistry not found in a brother/sister or mother/son relationship. You can't sleep in separate beds; you've got to maintain the intimacy and closeness that lovers have. You've got to turn each other on and express yourselves physically.
Monday, November 17, 2014
Saturday, November 15, 2014
D.H. Lawrence, part 5
Anais Nin wrote her first book in 1932: D.H. Lawrence, An Unprofessional Study.
In the chapter called "Fantasia of the Unconscious" D.H. Lawrence considers psychology. Anais writes, "he expressed the instinct that there was a moment for clarity, the utmost clarity, but also a refuge from clarity in his favorite 'darkness,' the yet unrevealed, the still living mystery." Lawrence believed that science could lead to mass production of the unconscious - that it would produce formulas people could memorize and live by and that all behaviors could be categorized. He says, "while the soul really lives, its deepest dread is perhaps the dread of automatism." His belief is in the spontaneous soul.
In the chapter entitled "Kangaroo" Anais writes of Lawrence's feelings of isolation: " Why is there so little contact between myself and the people whom I know? Why has the contact no vital meaning?" We all crave a connection, but it's not something that can be planned or forced; it tends to happen spontaneously, organically, naturally. Anais writes further that although Lawrence feels a sense of freedom, he also feels an emptiness, a lack of meaning. There is a struggle within him and a revolution; through instinct and vision he can surrender to it and experience it. She explains that intuition is not something rational and cannot be explained to other people and maybe not even to oneself. One becomes inarticulate when trying to explain instinct. In the end, these inner revolutions create our souls. They generate ideas. They make us realize who and what we care about.
In the chapter called "Fantasia of the Unconscious" D.H. Lawrence considers psychology. Anais writes, "he expressed the instinct that there was a moment for clarity, the utmost clarity, but also a refuge from clarity in his favorite 'darkness,' the yet unrevealed, the still living mystery." Lawrence believed that science could lead to mass production of the unconscious - that it would produce formulas people could memorize and live by and that all behaviors could be categorized. He says, "while the soul really lives, its deepest dread is perhaps the dread of automatism." His belief is in the spontaneous soul.
In the chapter entitled "Kangaroo" Anais writes of Lawrence's feelings of isolation: " Why is there so little contact between myself and the people whom I know? Why has the contact no vital meaning?" We all crave a connection, but it's not something that can be planned or forced; it tends to happen spontaneously, organically, naturally. Anais writes further that although Lawrence feels a sense of freedom, he also feels an emptiness, a lack of meaning. There is a struggle within him and a revolution; through instinct and vision he can surrender to it and experience it. She explains that intuition is not something rational and cannot be explained to other people and maybe not even to oneself. One becomes inarticulate when trying to explain instinct. In the end, these inner revolutions create our souls. They generate ideas. They make us realize who and what we care about.
Sunday, November 9, 2014
D.H. Lawrence, part 4
Anais Nin wrote her first book in 1932: D.H. Lawrence, An Unprofessional Study.
In the chapter called "Women in Love," Anais says that Lawrence's characters cannot be understood without the "artist-key" because they are creators and poets, just as he is. They are not "normal" people.
Birkin is a projection of Lawrence. Anais writes, "The visible is less important than the invisible, the unknown, the inarticulate."
Birkin asks Ursula: "What are you? What am I? What is love? What is the center of our life?" He tells her what he wants: "What I want is a strange conjunction with you - not a meeting and mingling, but an equilibrium, a pure balance of two single beings - as the stars balance each other."
Another character in the book is Hermione, who believes she stands for spiritual truth. However, she is empty and has no center. She is uncreative in art and in living.
Gerald is a handsome man who has had many mistresses but has never loved. Birkin asks him what the center of his life is, and he responds by saying there is no center. "It is artificially held together by the social mechanism," he says. Birkin suggests the love of one woman could be the center of one's life. Without love, Gerald is limited, empty, hollow, miserable on the inside while appearing full of riches on the outside. He represents the man's world - the outside, mindless sensuality.
Both Birkin and Gerald ultimately desire to be fulfilled in woman. Birkin and Ursula marry, and though he is happy and loves her deeply, he is not fully satisfied. He must continue to evolve, renew, become.
In the chapter called "Women in Love," Anais says that Lawrence's characters cannot be understood without the "artist-key" because they are creators and poets, just as he is. They are not "normal" people.
Birkin is a projection of Lawrence. Anais writes, "The visible is less important than the invisible, the unknown, the inarticulate."
Birkin asks Ursula: "What are you? What am I? What is love? What is the center of our life?" He tells her what he wants: "What I want is a strange conjunction with you - not a meeting and mingling, but an equilibrium, a pure balance of two single beings - as the stars balance each other."
Another character in the book is Hermione, who believes she stands for spiritual truth. However, she is empty and has no center. She is uncreative in art and in living.
Gerald is a handsome man who has had many mistresses but has never loved. Birkin asks him what the center of his life is, and he responds by saying there is no center. "It is artificially held together by the social mechanism," he says. Birkin suggests the love of one woman could be the center of one's life. Without love, Gerald is limited, empty, hollow, miserable on the inside while appearing full of riches on the outside. He represents the man's world - the outside, mindless sensuality.
Both Birkin and Gerald ultimately desire to be fulfilled in woman. Birkin and Ursula marry, and though he is happy and loves her deeply, he is not fully satisfied. He must continue to evolve, renew, become.
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
D.H. Lawrence, part 3
Anais Nin wrote her first book in 1932: D.H. Lawrence, An Unprofessional Study.
There is a chapter in it I love called "In Controversy." Many people think of Lawrence as a man who wrote only about explicit, sexual material. I remember in high school, studying the classics, and both Lady Chatterly's Lover and Sons and Lovers were on the list - the teacher warned us of their nature. I'm not sure if anyone chose these classics on which to do their book report. As for me, I chose Dicken's Great Expectations....
Is it "pornography?" Is Lawrence "enslaved by sex?" These days, on network TV, it is allowed to show scenes of a very violent nature and yet, women's breasts and buttocks of men and women are not allowed to be shown. What does this say about our culture? It the human body something that should be hidden? Is the expression of love something that should not be public? Is sensuality a bad thing?
The chapter closes with a reference to Lawrence's Fantasia of the Unconscious and the concept of the open road. Leave fate to the open road. That's the only way the soul comes into its own. By taking the open road. Not by fasting or by meditating or by exploring the heavens or by ecstasy. Take to the open road, and you will find your soul.
There is a chapter in it I love called "In Controversy." Many people think of Lawrence as a man who wrote only about explicit, sexual material. I remember in high school, studying the classics, and both Lady Chatterly's Lover and Sons and Lovers were on the list - the teacher warned us of their nature. I'm not sure if anyone chose these classics on which to do their book report. As for me, I chose Dicken's Great Expectations....
Is it "pornography?" Is Lawrence "enslaved by sex?" These days, on network TV, it is allowed to show scenes of a very violent nature and yet, women's breasts and buttocks of men and women are not allowed to be shown. What does this say about our culture? It the human body something that should be hidden? Is the expression of love something that should not be public? Is sensuality a bad thing?
The chapter closes with a reference to Lawrence's Fantasia of the Unconscious and the concept of the open road. Leave fate to the open road. That's the only way the soul comes into its own. By taking the open road. Not by fasting or by meditating or by exploring the heavens or by ecstasy. Take to the open road, and you will find your soul.
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