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Lonely-Host t1_j1rhsyo wrote

I think this section is supposed to invite a reading of anal sex while still working without it. The winks and nudges come further down the page though:

"One had to be strong to bear him. But it took some getting at, the core of the physical jungle, the last and deepest recess of organic shame..."

And right after that, a historical allusions to Greek Vases.

"The same on the Greek vases, everywhere! The refinements of passion, the extravagances of sensuality! And necessary, forever necessary, to burn out false shames and smelt out the heaviest ore of the body into purity. With the fire of sheer sensuality."

There's a lot of other stuff going on in the sex scene regarding the feminine role in sensuality ("giving in") and the sex as a vehicle for transcending both the self and social mores. Adding sodomy only hammers home these points, as it was illegal at the time even between heterosexual couples, and it has historically been viewed as the ultimate submission/receiving act. But the scene also works if you just think they had super animalistic sex.

Apparently, people defending the book in the obscenity trial worried that the prosecution would read the passage as a scene of sodomy, which was still illegal then some 30 years after initial publication:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/nov/21/sodomys-low-profile-in-lady-chatterley-trial

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Sabbaticala t1_j1rnode wrote

It's the literary equal of film's train going into the tunnel. The unspecified acts are there to allow the reader to insert their own desires unto the characters. The essence of good porn. The scene where he weaves flowers into her pubic hair tears down the idea that women's bodies are dirty and shameful

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Agreeable-Roof7429 OP t1_j1rk7ul wrote

Wow, this is amazing context, thank you!! I hadn't paid attention to the Greek allusions really, and (revealing my own ignorance here) didn't realize anal was illegal for heterosexual couples as well. That helps explain the accusations his estranged wife starts making about Mellors being one of the "low, beastly men with women" too. Now I know there was definitely so much more that went over my head.

[Edited an autocorrect spelling error]

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Sabbaticala t1_j1rr31c wrote

If you do a 'compare and contrast' with "the Story of 'O,' the idea that a woman should be repulsed by her own sexuality until and unless she is monogamous and subservient was a strong theme in contemporary erotica.

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