ABSTRACT
The excerpt are taken from one of the short stories in Lawrence's second collection, England, My England, published in 1922 although written during 1919. It deals with elemental conflicts between men and women, but among ordinary working people. "Fanny and Annie" is no exception from the rule, as it presents the potential marriage between Fanny, a lady's maid and Harry, a foundry worker, all taking place in a very realistic working class community. Its setting is the industrial Midlands where Lawrence was born on 11 September 1885, grew up, and located much of his writing about the lives of ordinary people. In the three years from 1911 to 1913 he published three novels, The White Peacock, the Trespasser and Sons and Lovers, the last of these largely autobiographical. Although Lawrence was increasingly recognised by contemporary literary circles, publication of The Rainbow in 1915 which seized as obscene reinforced a notoriety which persisted until long after his death.
