THE INVISIBLE COLLEGE: D.H. Lawrence’s The Rainbow

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit grandhotelabyss.substack.com

Welcome back to The Invisible College, my series of literature courses for paid subscribers. The introduction to and schedule for the 2026 season is here. The 2024 and 2025 archives are here. This episode, of which the first 10 minutes are free, is about D. H. Lawrence’s banned book of 1915, The Rainbow, the family saga of the Brangwens from the introduction of industrialism to rural England in the mid-19th century to the cultural modernity of the early 20th century. We discuss Lawrence’s many productive contradictions and conflicts, his style’s mix of the Biblical and the modern-abstract, his creation of characters that are not stable egos but zones of affect, his critique of Christianity and elevation of antinomian and gnostic ideas, his portrayal of sexuality and nature, his anti-natalism and rejection of family, his attack on political abstractions like the state and democracy, his anarchic individualism and attraction to power, and more. Please like, share, comment, and subscribe! The slideshow corresponding to the episode can be downloaded behind the paywall: