Lawrence would rather be a penniless tramp than a Duke of Portland…
Money is a continual concern for Lawrence, particularly when his former publisher, Thomas Seltzer, faces bankruptcy. Any royalties must be ‘squeezed’ out in ‘small doles’. This has implications for Mollie Skinner who Lawrence collaborated with on The Boy in the Bush. But he strikes an optimistic tone: "If I had to choose, myself, between being a Duke of Portland, or having a million sterling and forced to live up to it, I’d rather, far, far rather be a penniless tramp." "Death’s not sad," he surmises, "when one has lived."
There aren’t many letters in August because Lawrence is busy making plans for a winter move. On the cards are Italy, Sicily and Egypt. As is England, so Frieda can see her children. "I dread the tightness and stuffiness of England," he complains to Catherine Carswell, "feel I shan’t be able to breathe" - but this is partly the thought of "being shut up in houses and towns, after being so free here."
These video essays are based on the letters of D.H. Lawrence one hundred years ago and are published monthly as part of the D.H. Lawrence Memory Theatre project.
To see previous Locating Lawrence videos from 1922, click here, from 1923, click here, from 1924, click here, from 1925, click here.
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