The influence of D.H. Lawrence’s work can be traced through Lawrence Durrell’s literary production; they both shared a fascination with travel and with the Mediterranean area, they both felt self-exiled, and they both wrote in a poetical prose.
Markert points out that in Durrell and in D.H. Lawrence there is a similar use of geography: a place has its own spirit, a ‘genius loci’ that defines its character and symbolises personality traits. More than a simple form of escapism, for both writers travelling grants the traveller a level of self-discovery akin to the archetype of the journey as a way of getting rid of the conventions, exploring the unknown and gathering knowledge.
Durrell suggests that the journey is a search for Eden or for a 'golden age before history', while for D.H. Lawrence it is an eternal quest for an earthly Paradise that is supposed to be found in Southern Italy or in the Mediterranean area.
