Lady Chatterley's Lawsuit

Publishing House Penguin Books was found unanimously not guilty of obscenity for printing an unexpurgated Lady Chatterley's Lover on November 2nd, 1960.

The novel’s author, D.H. Lawrence, had died 30 years earlier, but the court’s landmark ruling had a significant impact on the publishing world, paving the way for greater freedom of the written word.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explore how the chief prosector Mervyn Griffith-Jones massively misread the social moment; look into how the case inadvertently helped usher in the coming era of sexual liberation; and discuss why the establishment would have been ok with the book if only the gamekeeper had died…  

Further Reading:

• ‘The trial of Lady Chatterley’s Lover: how the 'obscene' book caused a moral storm’ (History Extra, 2020): https://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/the-trial-of-lady-chatterleys-lover-obscenity-trial/ 

• ‘Lady Chatterley's legal case: how the book changed the meaning of obscene’ (The Guardian, 2019): https://www.theguardian.com/law/2019/aug/01/lady-chatterleys-legal-case-how-the-book-changed-the-meaning-of-obscene 

• ‘From the archives: The Chatterley trial’ (Spectator, 2010): https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/from-the-archives-the-chatterley-trial 

• ‘Forbidden Love - Lady Chatterley's Lover’ (BBC, 2015): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjGOKzpvMz4 

#60s #Books #Arts #Strange #UK

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

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