‘DH Lawrence: Tainted Love’ is a pairing of two novels ‘The Rainbow’ and ‘Women in Love’ linked by Ursula Brangwen. Sexual awakening, transgression and repression are explored as his characters try to find happiness and fulfilment in uncertain times. Set in a mining town in Nottinghamshire, ‘Tainted Love’ is a celebration of Lawrence at his most daring, pushing the boundaries of sexuality in the dawning of the Twentieth Century.

Seen through the eyes of Ursula, ‘The Rainbow’ spans three generations of the Brangwen family from 1840s to 1905 exploring the complexity of desire, sexuality and liberty. As Ursula reflects on her family history, she defiantly questions the choices open to women, rejecting the path taken by her mother Anna who found fulfilment in childrearing and finding inspiration in the advice of her grandmother Lydia, a Polish refugee, who tells her to seek someone who will love her for what she is, not for what he wants.

In ‘Women in Love’ Ursula Brangwen’s younger sister Gudrun comes into equal focus as the two sisters embark on love affairs. Gudrun is an artist who pursues a destructive relationship with Gerald Crich, a rich industrialist who is haunted by family tragedy. Lawrence contrasts this pair with the love that develops between Ursula and Rupert Birkin, an alienated intellectual who articulates many fashionable nihilistic opinions. The emotional relationships are given further depth and tension by an intense psychological and physical attraction between Gerald and Rupert.