If one of DH Lawrence's conflicts in his own personal life was the need to have lots of physical intimacy as a counterweight to spending so much time in his mind, how is Constance experiencing this same conflict?

Lawrence understands sexuality as an inherent part of the self, where the 'self' is a complete being within the world. This book is about Constance Chatterley's sexual awakening, which, interestingly, does not really begin with her loss of virginity. Initially she comprehends sex as the use of another person for sexual pleasure. This is represented by the fact that she waits until her man has had an orgasm in order to herself achieve orgasm. This is sexuality as an economic exchange. Lawrence saw this as an influence of a capitalistic culture that was detached from its animalistic origins. To comprehend sexuality through such terms means that one is detached from the true source of its energy: the vitality within one's own body. This is why Constance does not initially find sex very pleasurable. For Lawrence, paying attention to the sensuality of the body is important, because, otherwise, one stifles the possibility of experiencing the true vitality of the world.