D. H. Lawrence and the Truth of Literature

We first clarify that what Lawrence means by truth is moral truth, and that the novel is for him the best vehicle to communicate with the “subtle interrelatedness” without which morality is merely moralism. We then examine his view that “art speech is the only truth” and his distinction between the artist and the man. We make this distinction with the help of F. R. Leavis’s understanding of the artist as great psychologist whose suppression of ego allows the power of reality-soaked language to guide the creative flow. This, according to both, is where art reclaims truth.