Podcast
99% Invisible
The hosts introduced the novel, noting its explicit sexual content, historic bans, and the 1930 Senate debate over its obscenity.
Are you familiar with the novel Lady Chatterley's Lover? ... D.H. Lawrence wrote it in 1928 and the plot revolves around an affair between an upperclass woman, Lady Chatterley, and a workingclass man,...
— Episode: Constitution Breakdown #2: Rep Sharice D...
Episode: Constitution Breakdown #2: Rep Sharice Davids
The hosts introduced the novel, noting its explicit sexual content, historic bans, and the 1930 Senate debate over its obscenity.
Are you familiar with the novel Lady Chatterley's Lover? ... D.H. Lawrence wrote it in 1928 and the plot revolves around an affair between an upperclass woman, Lady Chatterley, and a workingclass man, Oliver Mellor, her gamekeeper.
It was controversial for its explicitness; it was banned in several countries and U.S. readers could not legally buy it until 1960, when it finally became a bestseller.
In 1930 the Senate debated how obscene the book was, with one senator calling it "disgusting, dirty, and vile" and demanding that all such obscene books be kept out.
Senator Bronson Cutting from New Mexico supported an amendment to eliminate censorship, arguing that censors trampled on freedom of thought, while his opponent claimed he would rather have a child use opium than read such books.
Senator Reed Smoot of Utah denounced the novel as "beastly" and his opposition was captured in headlines like "Smoot smites smut".