Lady Chatterley’s Lover

On Sunday, Clifford wants to go for a walk, though being in his wheelchair in the middle of springtime always frustrates him. As they walk, Connie wonders aloud if the miners are going to go on strike again. Clifford thinks even the suggestion is ridiculous and points out that the miners will starve if the mines close. He chides Connie for approaching the situation “like a woman.”

While the church bells ring, Connie presses Clifford on why he does not do anything to mitigate the wealth disparities that have led to conflict. Clifford feels that “somebody’s got to be boss.” When Connie snaps that she doesn’t think Clifford uses his power very well, Clifford retorts that Connie similarly does not take her duties as the lady of Wragby very seriously. Connie protests that she does not want to be a lady, but Clifford insists that it is her “fate.”

Connie feels that Clifford has taken “natural life and manhood” away from the miners, but Clifford insists that the miners were never men to begin with. Instead, he argues that “they are animals you don’t understand,” shocking Connie with his cruelty—even though she feels that there is something “devastatingly true” in it. Clifford boasts that his mind and his will remain strong, so he can continue to hold power—after all, he says, “I don’t rule with my legs.”

While Connie continues to insist on a “common humanity,” Clifford asserts his belief that there is an “absolute” divide between people who rule and people who serve. At last, Connie refuses to argue any longer, so they continue in silence. Connie notices that Clifford’s wheelchair is squashing flowers as it wheels across the forest. Privately, she wishes that the natural life around her could exist within men like Clifford, who seem so “stale” inside.

When Connie and Clifford pass by the cottage, Connie is surprised to hear someone whistle behind her. Mellors appears, unseen by Clifford, to ask if Clifford plans to come to the cottage. Connie assures him that he does not. Clifford honks the horn on his wheelchair, summoning Connie—but before she leaves, Mellors touches her breast, just out of Clifford’s eyesight.

Once Connie and Clifford come to a well at the top of the hill, Connie draws some cold water for them to drink. As they sip, they admire the clouds and a nearby mole digging in the ground, which Clifford jokes about killing. Then they turn around, back down the hill towards Wragby. But this time, Clifford’s wheelchair starts and stops, then grinds to a halt.  

Connie wants to push, but Clifford refuses: “what’s the good of the damned thing,” he exclaims, “if it has to be pushed!” Connie suggests that Clifford should call for Mellors to help fix the wheelchair; Clifford again refuses, instead fiddling hopelessly with the motor. A bird sings a birdsong until Clifford silences it with the horn on his chair. Mellors appears, and Clifford snappily explains the situation.

Mellors lies on his back under the wheelchair, trying to fix the motor, and Connie notes how pathetic all men seem to look in this position. Mellors, too, struggles to identify the problem, so Clifford tries restarting the motor. This doesn’t work either, prompting Clifford to get increasingly frustrated as he tries different levers on the chair. Constance thinks back to Clifford’s speeches only a few moments before, and scoffs at the idea that there is anything special at all about the ruling classes.

Finally, Clifford’s brake gives out, and he laments that “it’s obvious I’m at everybody’s mercy!” Then Clifford collects himself and, with a tone of cold superiority, he asks Mellors to push him, in the wheelchair, back to Wragby. Mellors does so, though Connie sees what an extreme physical toll this labor is taking on him. Mellors’s face goes pale, and Connie, feeling worried for her lover’s health, angrily joins in the pushing.

As Connie and Mellors work, Connie looks over at Mellors’s hand on the wheelchair. Though this hand has touched her many times, Connie has never seen it in the light. Now, she is overcome with a desire to clutch Mellors’s hand, just as he feels all his attraction to her come rushing back. With Clifford faced forward, Mellors takes this opportunity to hold hands with Connie. Connie secretly kisses Mellors’s hand. 

For the first time, Connie feels real hate for Clifford, and this feeling frees and emboldens her. Connie no longer cares who notices her closeness with Mellors, and she feels that this moment of shared labor has brought them closer than ever before. Though Clifford tries to be polite, neither Connie nor Mellors will really engage with him.

At lunch, Connie lashes out at Clifford for treating Mellors so poorly. Clifford expresses no guilt, believing that because he pays Mellors he has a right to “rule” him. Connie is disgusted by this thinking, and each spouse accuses the other of being improper with their language. Connie storms off, frustrated that Clifford thinks he can simply buy people.

That night, Clifford tries to engage Connie in a conversation about Proust, but Connie feels only that Proust is “self-important” and “dead.” Though she does not want to fight with Clifford, preferring instead to disentangle herself from him, she cannot shake her rage. After dinner, while Clifford and Mrs. Bolton gamble, Connie slips out of Wragby and heads, secretly, towards Mellors’s cottage.