SOURCE: Balbert, Peter. “Pan and the Appleyness of Landscape: Dread of the Procreative Body in ‘The Princess’.” Studies in the Novel 34, no. 3 (fall 2002): 282-302.

In the following essay, Balbert maintains that “The Princess” is an impressive achievement “for the seamless way that it connects Lawrence's developing stylistic notions on writing and painting with his doctrinal beliefs about Pan mythology during the last six years of his life.”

“So much depends on one's attitude.”

—D. H. Lawrence, “Pan in America”

I

Characteristic praise for “The Princess” fails to acknowledge the integrative context of its excellence within the Lawrencian canon. This lengthy tale remains impressive for the seamless way that it connects Lawrence's developing stylistic notions on writing and painting with his doctrinal beliefs about Pan mythology during the last six years of his life. Yet for most critics, the versatile achievement of “The Princess” is related variously to the...