The Plumed Serpent

In this notorious late novel, Lawrence’s pagan imaginings burgeon. Kate Leslie, an Irish widow touring Mexico, becomes gradually involved with a charismatic leader, and she enters a sexual relationship with his dark henchman. As the two men conspire to revive the old Aztec religion and seize power, Kate is increasingly implicated in their ‘blood consciousness’, phallic propaganda and right-wing violence. The Plumed Serpent abounds in the ‘politically incorrect’: Lawrence retains his power to shock. As a publisher once said, ‘Anything to do with D. H. L. is rather dangerous.’