The Daughter-in-law

By D H Lawrence

A marriage under pressure becomes inseparable from a community in conflict. In the kitchen of a collier's home, Minnie struggles to preserve the independence she once knew as a nursery governess, while her husband's reliance on his mother unsettles the balance of domestic authority. Money, responsibility and sexual loyalty sharpen their disputes, exposing how class and economic vulnerability can enter the most private parts of married life. Beyond the household, a miners' strike brings wage reductions, disputed accident compensation and the threat of unrest into the drama. The industrial struggle is not treated as a distant backdrop: it bears directly upon questions of masculinity, power and dependence within the family. Domestic tension and labour conflict continually press against one another, creating a work of social realism in which exploitation is felt not only at work, but also through secrecy, obligation and the struggle to retain personal agency. Across four acts, the play draws much of its force from the contrast between the regional dialect of a Nottinghamshire mining community and Minnie's more standard English. Differences of speech register distinctions of class, experience and position without separating the social drama from the intimate one. Concentrated largely within a single domestic space, this working-class play examines maternal authority, women's independence and marital power through confrontations shaped by both affection and material necessity. This book was out of print for decades and is now republished by Alpha Editions. It has been restored for today's and future generations. This edition is not just a reprint - it's a collector's item and a cultural treasure.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9377784891
• ISBN13: 9789377784898
• Release Date: December 2026
• Publisher: Alpha Edition
• Length: 74 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"