At once a comedy of manners and of sexual politics, a late-Romantic assault on industrialism and materialism (or an early example of anti-consumerist eco-criticism), and a mythopoeic quest-adventure symbolically enacting the death and rebirth of the modern soul,

stands as one of Lawrence’s most accomplished and compelling works of fiction. With its acerbic satirical critique of modern civilisation, its strong psychological dimension, its subtle modulations of narrative voice and point of view, and its radical open-endedness, the story also has fair claim to be considered a classic of literary modernism. Unlike some other classics of modernism, however, its language is not particularly obscure or difficult; and, while plot-events are in themselves of subsidiary importance to the…

2296 words

Citation: Poplawski, Paul. "St Mawr". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 October 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=11459, accessed 26 November 2024.]