The Rainbow
Encyclopedia
The Rainbow is a 1915 novel by British author D. H. Lawrence
. It follows three generations of the Brangwen family living in Nottinghamshire
, particularly focusing on the sexual dynamics of, and relations between, the characters.
Lawrence's frank treatment of sexual desire and the power it plays within relationships as a natural and even spiritual force of life, though perhaps tame by modern standards, caused The Rainbow to be prosecuted in an obscenity
trial in late 1915, as a result of which all copies were seized and burnt. After this ban it was unavailable in Britain for 11 years, although editions were available in the USA.
The Rainbow was followed by a sequel in 1920, Women in Love
. Although Lawrence conceived of the two novels as one, considering the titles The Sisters and The Wedding Ring for the work, they were published as two separate novels at the urging of his publisher. However, after the negative public reception of The Rainbow, Lawrence's publisher opted out of publishing the sequel. This is the cause of the five-year gap between the two novels.
In 1989, the novel was adapted into the UK film The Rainbow
, directed by Ken Russell
who also directed the 1969 adaptation Women in Love
. In 1988, the BBC produced a television adaptation directed by Stuart Burge
with Imogen Stubbs
in the role of Ursula Brangwen.
In 1998, the Modern Library
ranked The Rainbow 48th on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.
D. H. Lawrence
David Herbert Richards Lawrence was an English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter who published as D. H. Lawrence. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation...
. It follows three generations of the Brangwen family living in Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
, particularly focusing on the sexual dynamics of, and relations between, the characters.
Lawrence's frank treatment of sexual desire and the power it plays within relationships as a natural and even spiritual force of life, though perhaps tame by modern standards, caused The Rainbow to be prosecuted in an obscenity
Obscenity
An obscenity is any statement or act which strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time, is a profanity, or is otherwise taboo, indecent, abhorrent, or disgusting, or is especially inauspicious...
trial in late 1915, as a result of which all copies were seized and burnt. After this ban it was unavailable in Britain for 11 years, although editions were available in the USA.
The Rainbow was followed by a sequel in 1920, Women in Love
Women in Love
Women in Love is a novel by British author D. H. Lawrence published in 1920. It is a sequel to his earlier novel The Rainbow , and follows the continuing loves and lives of the Brangwen sisters, Gudrun and Ursula. Gudrun Brangwen, an artist, pursues a destructive relationship with Gerald Crich, an...
. Although Lawrence conceived of the two novels as one, considering the titles The Sisters and The Wedding Ring for the work, they were published as two separate novels at the urging of his publisher. However, after the negative public reception of The Rainbow, Lawrence's publisher opted out of publishing the sequel. This is the cause of the five-year gap between the two novels.
In 1989, the novel was adapted into the UK film The Rainbow
The Rainbow (film)
The Rainbow is a 1989 drama film directed by Ken Russell. The story, adapted from the D. H. Lawrence novel, is a prequel to Lawrence's Women in Love, which was also made into a film by Russell in 1969....
, directed by Ken Russell
Ken Russell
Henry Kenneth Alfred "Ken" Russell was an English film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. He attracted criticism as being obsessed with sexuality and the church...
who also directed the 1969 adaptation Women in Love
Women in Love (film)
Women in Love is a 1969 British film directed by Ken Russell. It stars Alan Bates , Oliver Reed, Glenda Jackson and Jennie Linden. The film was adapted by Larry Kramer from the novel of the same name by D. H. Lawrence....
. In 1988, the BBC produced a television adaptation directed by Stuart Burge
Stuart Burge
Stuart Burge was an English film director, actor and producer.Educated at Felsted School, he originally trained as a civil engineer, but later began acting in theater in the 1940s, and became a director by 1948...
with Imogen Stubbs
Imogen Stubbs
Imogen Stubbs, Lady Nunn is an English actress and playwright.-Early life:Imogen Stubbs was born in Northumberland, lived briefly in Portsmouth, where her father was a naval officer, and then moved with her parents to London, where they lived on an elderly river barge on the Thames...
in the role of Ursula Brangwen.
In 1998, the Modern Library
Modern Library
The Modern Library is a publishing company. Founded in 1917 by Albert Boni and Horace Liveright as an imprint of their publishing company Boni & Liveright, it was purchased in 1925 by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer...
ranked The Rainbow 48th on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.
Editions
- The Rainbow (London: Methuen & Co., 1915): first edition.
- The Rainbow (New York: B. W. HuebschB. W. HuebschB. W. Huebsch was an American publisher settled in New York in the early 20th century. He was the first publisher in the United States of James Joyce and D. H. Lawrence. He also published, in 1919, the first edition of Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio . In 1925 he merged his firm with Viking...
, 1915): first American edition. - The Rainbow (1915), edited by Mark Kinkead-Weekes, Cambridge University PressCambridge University PressCambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
, 1989, ISBN 0-521-00944-8
Letters
- The Letters of D. H. Lawrence, ed. James Boulton and others, 7 vols. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979–93).
Biography
- Delany, Paul, D. H. Lawrence's Nightmare: The Writer and his Circle in the Years of the Great War (Hassocks, Sussex: Harvester Press,1979)
- Kincaid-Weekes, Mark, D H Lawrence: Triumph to Exile, 1912 - 1922 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996 )
Criticism
- Beynon, Richard, The Rainbow and Women in Love ( CambridgeCambridgeThe city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
: Icon Books) 1997 - Clarke, Colin (ed.), D. H. Lawrence: The Rainbow and Women in Love: A Casebook (London: MacmillanMacmillan PublishersMacmillan Publishers Ltd, also known as The Macmillan Group, is a privately held international publishing company owned by Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. It has offices in 41 countries worldwide and operates in more than thirty others.-History:...
, 1969), - Holderness, Graham, D. H. Lawrence: History, Ideology and Fiction (Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1982).
- Ingram, Allan, The Language of D. H. Lawrence (London: Macmillan, 1990).
- Kinkead-Weekes, Mark, The Marble and the Statue: The Exploratory Imagination of D. H. Lawrence, in Maynard Mack and lan Gregor (eds.), Imagined Worlds: Essays in Honour of John Butt (London: Methuen, 1968), 371-418.
- Kinkead-Weekes, Mark, The Marriage of Opposites in The Rainbow, in Mara Kalnins (ed.), D. H. Lawrence: Centenary Essays (BristolBristolBristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
: Bristol Classical Press, 1986), 21-39. - Kinkead-Weekes, Mark, 'The Sense of History in The Rainbow', in Peter Preston and Peter Hoare (eds.), D. H. Lawrence in the Modern World (Cambridge: Cambridge University PressCambridge University PressCambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
, 1989), 121-38. - Leavis, F. R.F. R. LeavisFrank Raymond "F. R." Leavis CH was an influential British literary critic of the early-to-mid-twentieth century. He taught for nearly his entire career at Downing College, Cambridge.-Early life:...
, D H Lawrence: Novelist (London: Chatto and WindusChatto and WindusChatto & Windus has been, since 1987, an imprint of Random House, publishers. It was originally an important publisher of books in London, founded in the Victorian era....
, 1955) - Leavis, F. R.F. R. LeavisFrank Raymond "F. R." Leavis CH was an influential British literary critic of the early-to-mid-twentieth century. He taught for nearly his entire career at Downing College, Cambridge.-Early life:...
, Thought, Words and Creativity: Art and Thought in Lawrence (London: Chatto and Windus, 1976) - Meyers, Jeffrey (ed.), D. H. Lawrence and Tradition (London: Athlone Press, 1985).
- Meyers, Jeffrey (ed.), The Legacy of D. H. Lawrence: New Essays (London: Macmillan, 1987).
- Mudrick, MarvinMarvin MudrickMarvin Mudrick taught at UC Santa Barbara from 1949 until his death in October 1986. He created the university's College of Creative Studies in 1967 and was its provost until forced out by Chancellor Robert Huttenback in 1984. He wrote 100 essays on books for The Hudson Review and published five...
, The Originality of The Rainbow in Harry T Moore (ed.) A D. H. Lawrence Miscellany (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University PressSouthern Illinois University PressSouthern Illinois University Press, founded in 1956, is a university press located in Carbondale, Illinois.The press publishes approximately 50 titles annually, among its more than 1,200 titles currently in print....
, 1959). - Pinkney, Tony, D. H. Lawrence (Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1990).
- Ross, Charles L., The Revisions of the Second Generation in The Rainbow, Review of English Studies, 27 (1976), 277-95.
- Ross, Charles L The Composition of (The Rainbow' and Women in Love: A History (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1979).
- Sanders, Scott, D. H. Lawrence: The World of the Major Novels (London: Vision Press, 1973).
- Simpson, Hilary, D. H. Lawrence and Feminism (London: Groom Helm, 1982).
- Smith, Anne (ed.), Lawrence and Women (London: Vision Press, 1978).
External links
- Internet Archive on-line edition: http://www.archive.org/details/rainbowlawrence00lawrrich