John Thomas and Lady Jane

John Thomas and Lady Jane is a 1927 novel by D. H. Lawrence. The novel is the second, less widely known, version[1] of a story that was later told in the more famous, once-controversial, third version Lady Chatterley's Lover, published in 1928. John Thomas[2][3] and Lady Jane[4][5][6] are the pet names[7] for the genitalia of the protagonists.[8][9]

"The book, according to a statement from Ferran, is a more simple, direct telling of the tale, with a few key differences. Parkin, the gamekeeper, is here a simple man from the village who chose his profession over being a miner, so that he could preserve his solitude. In the 1928 novel, he’s named Mellors and, though working-class, is a former army officer." — Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times arts critic[10]

Publication

1961 Italian edition

This version originally published as an Italian translation Le Tre "Lady Chatterley". Milano: Mondadori, 1954.

  • D. H. Lawrence, The First Lady Chatterley (The first version of 'Lady Chatterley's Lover) with a foreword by Frieda Lawrence (Heinemann, 1972)[11]
  • D. H. Lawrence, John Thomas and Lady Jane (The second version of 'Lady Chatterley's Lover) (Heinemann, 1972).

The book was also published in a volume entitled The First and Second Lady Chatterley Novels with the first version of the story, The First Lady Chatterley.[12]

Reception

The New Republic said, "What is left makes the second version a better book, for while freer from polemics about the perils of industrialization, it is dramatic and sensitively realistic about the emotional and economic wasteland in which the lives of colliers and foundrymen and their families are lived."[13]

Adaptation

In 1981, some material from this book was used for Keith Miles's stage version at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, England, and later performed by the Buffalo Theatre Ensemble at the Theatre Building in Chicago.[14]

In 1993, some material from this book was used for the Ken Russell television mini-series Lady Chatterley.

In 2006, it was used as the basis of a French film adaptation called Lady Chatterley, directed by Pascale Ferran.[15] [9]

Bibliography

  • Lawrence, David Herbert (1972). Gant, Roland (ed.). John Thomas and Lady Jane. Viking Press. ISBN 978-0-670-40812-2. OCLC 1072423200.[16][17]
  • Lawrence, David Herbert (1973). John Thomas and Lady Jane : the second version of Lady Chatterley's lover. Harmondsworth: Penguin. ISBN 0140037322. OL 22127736M – via Open Library.
  • Lawrence, David Herbert (1972). The first Lady Chatterley : the first version of Lady Chatterley's lover. London : Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-434-40736-1. Retrieved 4 March 2022.

Parody

Comedian Spike Milligan parodied the story in his According to Spike Milligan series, under the title of D. H. Lawrence's John Thomas and Lady Jane – Part II of Lady Chatterley's Lover.

Further reading

References

  1. ^ Levy, Emanuel (7 June 2007). "Lady Chatterley's Lover: Lawrence's 3 Versions". EmanuelLevy.com. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  2. ^ "John Thomas". Collins English Dictionary. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  3. ^ Gans, Eric (Spring 2011). ""A Democracy of Touch": Masochism and Tenderness in D. H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover". Anthropoetics. XVI (2).
  4. ^ Lundberg, Claire (15 February 2012). "France's Amazing Postnatal Vagina-Tightening Classes". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  5. ^ Cale, Jessica (14 May 2016). "Riding St. George: Regency Sex Terms You Won't Find in Austen". authorjessicacale.com. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  6. ^ "Ancient British Language And Sex". TheLondonSalad.com. 19 December 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  7. ^ Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
  8. ^ Boyle, Molly (29 January 2020). "Review: The Bad Side of Books: Selected Essays by DH Lawrence". Santa Fe Reporter. Retrieved 4 March 2022. Reading in the Arroyo: An Occasional Column About Books
  9. ^ a b Hoberman, J. (12 June 2007). "Summer of Love". The Village Voice. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  10. ^ Macdonald, Moira (20 July 2007). "Ménage à trois: two lovers, one garden in "Lady Chatterley"". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  11. ^ Lawrence, David Herbert (1972). The first Lady Chatterley : the first version of Lady Chatterley's lover. London : Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-434-40736-1. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  12. ^ Lawrence, D. H. (1999). "Introduction". In Mehl, Dieter; Jansohn, Christa (eds.). The first and second Lady Chatterley novels (PDF). Cambridge [U.K.]: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-47116-9.
  13. ^ "The Forgotten Alternate Ending to 'Lady Chatterley's Lover'". The New Republic. 16 September 1972. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  14. ^ Williams, Albert (21 November 1991). "John Thomas and Lady Jane". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  15. ^ Multiple sources:
  16. ^ "John Thomas and Lady Jane; The Second Version of Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence on Bauer Rare Books". Bauer Rare Books. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  17. ^ "John Thomas and Lady Jane The Second Version of Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. LAWRENCE". Between the Covers. Retrieved 4 March 2022.