Lady Chatterley's Lover Allusions & Cultural References

When authors refer to other great works, people, and events, it’s usually not accidental. Put on your super-sleuth hat and figure out why.

Literary and Philosophical References

  • Socrates (4.52, 53)
  • "where are the snows of yesteryear," Ballade des dames du temps jadis, François Villon, translated by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (5.36)
  • Henry James (6.106)
  • "Pale beyond porch and portal," Algernon Swinburne, "The Garden of Proserpine" (8.4)
  • "sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes," Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale (8.82)
  • "The world has grown pale with thy breath," Algernon Swinburne, "The Garden of Proserpine" (8.6)
  • "Thou still unravished bride of quietness," John Keats, "Ode on a Grecian Urn" (8.115)
  • "alone and palely loitering," John Keats, "La Belle Dame sans Merci"(10.12)
  • Racine 10.350
  • Shakespeare, Julius Caesar (11.153)
  • "the sons of god with the daughters of men," Bible, Genesis (12.152)
  • Plato (13.7)
  • "O Captain, my Captain," Walt Whitman (13.87)
  • Proust (13.255)

Historical and Political References

  • Nero (13.62)
  • Herbert Kitchener (military general) (1.29)
  • Lloyd George (Prime Minister of England) (1.33)
  • Horatio Bottomley (politician and writer) (1.35)