Lady Chatterley’s Lover is one of the most famous books of all time and, perhaps surprisingly, it’s inspired by a true story.
When D.H. Lawrence wrote about the fictional Lady Chatterley, he very much had a real person in mind…
If you’re wondering whether there’s a true story behind the book and current Netflix adaptation, we’ve got your answers here.
The new 2022 film is based on Lawrence’s controversial classic of the same name, but what true story inspired the novel?
Here’s everything you need to know about the true story behind Lady Chatterley’s Lover…
***Warning: spoilers from Lady Chatterley’s Lover on Netflix ahead***
Is Lady Chatterley’s Lover based on a true story?
The plot of the novel is largely fictional, but real events from history and D.H. Lawrence’s life DID inspire the controversial classic.
There was a ‘real’ Lady Chatterley, who inspired the novel and many of D.H. Lawrence’s female characters.
David Herbert Lawrence based elements of Connie Chatterley (played by Emma Corrin in Netflix’s adaptation) on his own wife, Frieda.
Frieda also inspired some of his other female characters, such as Ursula in Women in Love.
D.H. Lawrence also loosely based gamekeeper Oliver Mellors on himself.
The author used real inspiration from growing up near mines in the English midlands for his depiction of class in the novel.
He was determined to challenge the divisive class system in English society, as well as the censorship of sex.
We’d say he succeeded!
Who was the real Lady Chatterley?
The ‘real Lady Chatterley’ was D.H. Lawrence’s wife Frieda von Richthofen.
But D.H. Lawrence saw himself as more of an Oliver Mellors-type character (Jack O’Connell in the Netflix film), than a Clifford Chatterley!
German-born Baroness Emma Maria Frieda Johanna von Richthofen was married to D.H. Lawrence for much of his adult life.
But it was not an easy path for them…
Frieda was six years older than D.H. Lawrence and she was married when he met her.
At that time, Frieda had been married to Ernest Weekley since she was 20.
D.H. Lawrence was a clever former student of Ernest and the son of a miner (note the resemblances between himself and Oliver Mellors).
Frieda had three children with Ernest before beginning an affair with D.H. Lawrence.
Lawrence actually wrote to Frieda’s husband to tell him of the affair, which led to a messy divorce where tragically Frieda lost custody of her children.
The pair subsequently stayed together until D.H. Lawrence’s death in 1930, although biographies of the couple typically suggest they didn’t have the healthiest of relationships.
Was Lady Chatterley based on D.H. Lawrence’s wife?
So, it seems that Lady Chatterley was inspired by D.H. Lawrence’s own wife Frieda.
She wrote in her own memoir: “Lawrence asked me: ‘Shall I publish it, or will it only bring me abuse and hatred again?’
“I said: ‘You have written it, you believe in it, alright, then publish it.'”
Although the novel was immediately banned and not published in its entirety until 1960, it appears that Frieda was in support of the novel.
Frieda passed away in 1956, so sadly never got to see the novel published in her lifetime.
If only D.H. Lawrence and Frieda were alive to watch the Netflix adaptation now!
Read more: Lady Chatterley’s Lover on Netflix: Who’s in the cast and when is it released?
Lady Chatterley’s Lover true story: Were the miner strikes real?
The Netflix film, set just after World War I, shows protests from miners near the Chatterley estate.
But were these miner strikes and protests inspired by real history?
D.H. Lawrence set the novel in the quiet Nottinghamshire village of Tevershall, believed to be based on the real village of Teversal.
Lawrence himself was the son of a coal miner, who grew up in the small mining community of Eastwood in the East Midlands.
Miners protested and took strike action across the UK after World War One, and the real history no doubt inspired D.H. Lawrence himself.
According to the National Archives, 20,000 miners took part in a strike in Nottinghamshire in 1919.
A report writes: “The total number on strike in the county is stated to be about 20,000 including 15,000 in the Mansfield area.”
So the strikes and protests depicted in the film are very much based on real history!
Lady Chatterley’s Lover is available to watch on Netflix now.
Are you a fan of Netflix’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think.