ABSTRACT
WHATEVER may be the ultimate judgement on his work, D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930) is the most powerful personality within the period. He stands out among his contemporaries as one who lived intensely with a nature that was original, tempestuous, passionate. If elements in his life and work are to be described as a partial failure, they are only a failure because his achievement, if it is to be judged at all, must be judged by the standards of Shakespeare and Tolstoi. His work might have been more satisfactory had his talents been more varied, for his genius is undeniable. He is the first writer of proletarian origin in English literature who wins his way through to a life in which he can freely exercise his genius. When he gained his own identity he was unimpeded by convention and traditional conceptions. As a fiercely original mind he pursued his own path, and though sometimes this led into difficulty and obscurities, one is also conscious of some flame shining almost to the end with its first ardour unimpaired.
