The allegory of the Garden of Eden appears prominently in Lady Chatterley’s Lover, as the novel explores ideas of sexual development, the gap between social conventions and natural urges, and the consequences of desire in adult relationships.
In the Book of Genesis, the story of the first humans is told in the following way: Adam and Eve, the first humans, were created by God and allowed to live in a paradise called the Garden of Eden. The only condition of their living there was that they must refrain from eating the Fruit of Knowledge, which grew in the Garden. Eve—and then, subsequently, Adam—succumbed to temptation and disobeyed God by eating it. As a consequence of their actions, they were exiled from the garden forever. Lawrence makes several references in the novel that compare Mellors and Connie to Adam and Eve.
Like this biblical couple, Connie and Mellors begin a relationship in the beautiful grounds of a private estate. There, they are able to love each other and remain together until the knowledge of their affair gets out to those around them. Just as Adam and Eve lose their innocence after eating this forbidden fruit in the biblical narrative, Connie and Mellors suddenly find themselves in a world that condemns their love due to societal norms. Their affair, which transgresses class boundaries and marital commitments, is this novel’s “forbidden fruit.” This is still the case even though Clifford actively encourages Connie to sleep with other people. In the end, her relationship with Mellors comes at the cost of both his and Connie's worldly comforts.
Connie and Mellors’s love also grants them self-knowledge in the same way the biblical fruit grants it to Adam and Eve. Connie's relationship with Mellors awakens her to her true nature and her real needs. It allows her to understand and embrace her own sexuality in a society that suppresses this knowledge in women. This new "knowledge" is both liberating and complicated, as it also prevents her from returning to the doldrums of her previous commitments.
The Garden of Eden is often described as a place where—before the catastrophic fruit-eating—humans and animals lived in harmony with nature. Mellors’s hut and the surrounding woods are full of flowers, animals, and peaceful natural beauty. Similarly, the woodsy surroundings of Mellors's cottage provide a secluded, Eden-like space where Connie and Mellors can express themselves freely and enjoy satisfying their urges away from the prying eyes of society. The liberation the woods around the cottage grant them is the opposite of the stifling, conventional environments of Wragby and the world beyond it. However, just as with Adam and Eve, Connie and Mellors face consequences for their growing knowledge, and they lose access to this freedom.
The Edenic allegory in the novel also highlights Lawrence's advocacy for a return to a more “natural” state of being, where the body and the mind are conjoined. As some of the most genuine and authentic moments of the novel are sexually charged interactions in natural settings, Lawrence suggests that sexual and intellectual love are equally valuable and that both are required for true happiness.
