Of Spiders and Flies (Notes on the Lawrence-Eliot Relationship)

D. H. Lawrence and T. S. Eliot 
by David Levine

The relationship between D. H. Lawrence and T. S. Eliot was never going to be anything other than strained at best. And often it was hostile, even spiteful (one is tempted to say catty). There are several explanations why. F. R. Leavis, for example, accused Eliot of snobbishness in his appraisal of Lawrence and there is undoubtedly an element of class antagonism present in the Lawrence-Eliot relationship.

But Eliot doesn't just dislike or dismiss Lawrence for being an oik; they were artistically and philosophically irreconcilable, as well as belonging to different social worlds. And they were also poles apart religiously, which, arguably, was the really crucial issue for both.

Eliot, who famously converted to Anglicanism in 1927 and identified with the more orthodox wing of the Church, was as contemptuous of the young Lawrence's nonconformist background as he was disdainful of the mature Lawrence's neo-paganism. In After Strange Gods (1934), Eliot argues that whilst Lawrence's vision of life is spiritual, it's nonetheless corrupt and represents the intrusion of the diabolic into modern literature. 

Eliot also seems to have disliked Lawrence's idea of what constituted wholesome fucking:

"When his characters make love - or perform Mr. Lawrence’s equivalent for love-making - and they do nothing else - they not only lose all the amenities, refinements and graces which many centuries have built up in order to make love-making tolerable; they seem to reascend the metamorphoses of evolution, passing backward beyond ape and fish to some hideous coition of protoplasm."

This might not be entirely fair, but it is rather amusing.

Far less amusing, however, was Eliot's response to E. M. Forster's generous and straight out description of Lawrence following his death in 1930 as "the greatest imaginative novelist of our generation". Eliot - to his great discredit - felt it appropriate and worthwhile to pick this touching tribute apart, demanding that Forster explain and justify his terms:

"I am the last person to wish to disparage the genius of Lawrence, or to disapprove when a writer of the eminence of Mr Forster speaks 'straight out'. But the virtue of speaking straight out is somewhat diminished if what one speaks is not sense. And unless we know exactly what Mr Forster means by greatest, imaginative, and novelist, I submit that this judgement is meaningless."

This - written in a published letter - is just nasty and petty, is it not? Insulting to Forster, insulting to Lawrence and insulting to the friendship between them. Forster was stung to reply:

"Mr T. S. Eliot entangles me in his web. He asks exactly what I mean by 'greatest', 'imaginative', and 'novelist', and I cannot say. Worse still, I cannot even say what 'exactly' means - only that there are occasions when I would rather feel like a fly than a spider, and the death of D. H. Lawrence is one of these."

       
See:

T. S. Eliot, 'The Contemporary Novel', in The Times Literary Supplement (12 August 2015). Click here to read.

The Forster-Eliot letters were published in The Nation and Athenaeum in March/April 1930 and can be found in The Letters of T. S. Eliot, Vol. 5: 1930-1931, ed. Valerie Eliot and John Haffenden, (Faber and Faber, 2014): click here. 

Eve Teasing

blanknoise.org

So-called Eve teasing is a phenomenon by no means limited to South East Asia, but the men of this region have gained a particularly shameful and ugly reputation for sexually harassing and assaulting young women who have simply asserted their right to venture into a public space, catch a bus, or go to school. 

It might begin with a series of crude remarks, vulgar gestures, and inappropriate touching, but such behaviour fosters an intimidating environment in which far more serious acts of sexual violence can blossom. Indeed, I'm sympathetic to feminists who not only see a direct link between Eve teasing and rape, but classify the former as a minor form of the latter.

Whatever else it is, Eve teasing is certainly not just a type of harmless flirtation - although, arguably, it might be characterized as a form of courtship disorder, endemic in societies in which female independence directly challenges sexist norms, patriarchal traditions, and misogynistic values.

And this, it is important to note, by no means just refers us to Muslim societies. In fact, in a recent poll conducted amongst gender specialists around the world, the country that  was nominated as the worst place to be a woman amongst the G20 nations was not Saudi Arabia, as one might have thought, but India.
  
Further, following several high profile cases involving tourists, several countries, including China, Japan, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, Russia and the United States, have issued advisory notices to their citizens alerting them to the rape epidemic across this country so loved (and so romanticized) by so many. The UK government posts this on its website:

"Women should use caution when travelling in India. Reported cases of sexual assault against women and young girls are increasing: recent sexual attacks against female visitors in tourist areas and cities show that foreign women are also at risk. British women have been the victims of sexual assault in Goa, Delhi, Bangalore and Rajasthan and women travellers often receive unwanted attention in the form of verbal and physical harassment by individuals or groups of men."

It further warns: 

"If you are a woman travelling in India you should respect local dress codes and customs and avoid isolated areas, including beaches, when alone at any time of day. Avoid travelling alone on public transport, or in taxis or rickshaws, especially at night."

This not only causes me to wonder why any woman would choose to go there at this time, but also think it might be worthwhile re-examining the case of Miss Adela Quested and the young Indian doctor, Aziz. Was her charge that he sexually assaulted her in the Marabar Caves really just the hysterical fantasy of a silly, self-absorbed girl, as the majority of (mostly male) critics have insisted ...?


Notes: 

Those interested in knowing more about the growing resistance amongst the women of India to Eve teasing and other forms of sexual violence might care to visit the Blank Noise website: click on the address beneath the image above.

Those interested in reading the full advice given by Her Majesty's Government on issues of safety and security to persons who plan on visiting India, click here. 

Those interested in knowing more about the controversial case of Adela and Aziz should see E. M. Forster's 1924 novel, A Passage to India.