Lady Chatterley's Lover Literary Analysis

Within society, both past and present, we can discern a myriad of façades which present a deceptive outer appearance. William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, Willy Russell’s Educating Rita and D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover are works of literature which diversely consider a vast array of characters and situations which demonstrate such façades within society. These façades may be actively used by a character or be surrounding an abstract concept or institution, such as wealth or education. The authors use different methods to explore these façades as well as demonstrating their effects on characters as the works progress. Whilst façades may often be considered a negative concept, across the three texts we can see that it is …show more content…
Façades are also portrayed as a way of defending yourself from prejudice. In Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Lawrence writes that ‘the world is more or less a fixed thing, and externally, we have to adapt to it’ which suggests that people are forced to put on a façade to suit the mould of society, since it is not easy to be ‘at ease in the narrow ‘great world’’; an oxymoron employed my Lawrence to suggest the deception of a freer world after World War One, when in reality there were still many restrictions and divisions regarding class, ethnic origin and gender. In The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare creates ambiguity as to whether Antonio may be in love with Bassanio; something which would not have been allowed at the time, thus Antonio would have needed to put on a façade. He claims ‘I have much ado to know myself’ suggesting that he is not at ease with his identity; as a religious man in the 16th century, he may have felt a conflict between his feelings and his religion, since homosexual feelings would not have been accepted in the religious context of the time. He also says that he is ‘a tainted wether of the flock, meetest for death’ which conjures religious …show more content…
Within The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare suggests that it is straightforward to fool people by putting on a façade, such as when Portia and Nerissa fool the court into thinking they are men; a scene in which the absurdity is emphasised through dramatic irony. Shakespeare also portrays this through Antonio and his near downfall at Shylock’s hands. Antonio exclaims ‘o what a goodly outside falsehood hath!’ which suggests that the villain of the play, Shylock, tries to put on a façade such as when he says he wants to be friends with Antonio. Similarly, when Shylock quotes the Bible, Antonio says that ‘an evil soul, producing holy witness is like a villain with a smiling cheek’ which is a simile emphasising the hatred of Christians towards Jews, since they view their religion as a façade for their evil ambitions. However, Shylock manages to fool him, since Antonio remarks about Shylock, after they have agreed the bond, that ‘the Hebrew will turn Christian. He grows kind’ which has a dual interpretation. It could simply have the meaning of being a pleasant person, or it could mean that Shylock is becoming truer to his nature. Antonio is deceived by Shylock, whilst Bassanio remains dubious claiming ‘I like not fair terms and a villain’s mind’ which foreshadows events later in the play. Shakespeare’s