The 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' Trailer Spotlights The Novel's Steamy Affair

D.H. Lawerence's classic novel Lady Chatterley's Lover was banned immediately when it was published in the 1920s. And largely stayed on the global banned books list for the better part of the century that followed—for reasons that may or may not seem quaint now that books like Fifty Shades of Grey regularly top the New York Times bestseller lists. But the book was the subject of a landmark obscenity trial in the U.K. in the 1960s against the publisher. (Penguin Books won the case, and the novel sold over 3 million copies.)

But Lawrence's story was considered downright shocking for its period: Both protagonists were married (to other people!) when divorce was still only generally granted for evidence of a marital crime. The book features explicit descriptions of sex and sexual anatomy, repeatedly uses several then-unprintable four-letter words, and even refers to anal sex, which was illegal at the time.

To modern-day audiences, such "controversial" elements likely seem pretty mundane. Still, the trailer for the upcoming Netflix adaptation of the film certainly does its best to lean into the steamy, forbidden love vibes of the novel's titular relationship, showing stars Emma Corrin and Jack O'Connell in various stages of undress throughout.