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This 1996 book revises the accepted notion of Lawrence as a humourless writer to reveal a genuine comic talent.
List of contents
Acknowledgements; Introduction Paul Eggert; 1. Drama and mimicry in Lawrence John Worthen; 2. Mischief or merriment, amazement and amusement - and malice: Women in Love Howard Mills; 3. Comedy and hysteria in Aaron's Rod John Turner; 4. D. H. Lawrence and his 'gentle reader': the furious comedy of Mr. Noon Lydia Blanchard; 5. 'Homunculus stirs': masculinity and the mock-heroic in Birds, Beasts and Flowers Holly Laird; 6. Comedy and provisionality: Lawrence's address to his audience and material in his Australian novels Paul Eggert; 7. Lawrence's satiric style: language and voice in St. Mawr Paul Poplawski; 8. Humour in the letters of D. H. Lawrence Mark Kinkead-Weekes; 9. Lawrence to Larkin: a changed perspective John Bayley; Notes on contributors; Index.
Summary
This 1996 collection of essays by distinguished scholars explores the range, scope and sheer verve of Lawrence's comic writing. Through comedy, Lawrence created an alternative cultural and social space, a means of imaginatively distancing himself from the surrounding orthodoxy. This book reveals the hidden Lawrence, the writer who deployed and enjoyed a genuine comic talent.
