Lovesey currently teaches at Okanagan University College in Kelowna, British Columbia. In the following essay, he offers an in-depth analysis of the imagery in Lawrence's "Odour of Chrysanthemums."

Early criticism of Lawrence's work focused on what was considered to be his sex-obsession. His novels, stories, poems, and paintings were all subjected to various degrees of censorship. While his novels have attracted the lion's share of critical interest, Lawrence was one of the twentieth century's most accomplished poets and short story writers. Most critical material on "Odour of Chrysanthemums" concerns either its relationship to other writings by Lawrence, such as Sons and Lovers, or the revisions of the story, made between 1909 and 1914. Mired in "this dirty hole, rats and all," of a rough mining village, Elizabeth Bates has perhaps begun to regard her husband as just another of the area's rodents. Even the doctor refers to the method...