Analysis Of The Novel Sons And Lovers By D.H Lawrence

D.H Lawrence used a specific structure in his novel Sons and Lovers. Lawrence divided this piece of literature into two section Part One and Part Two. Lawrence decided to divide the novel this way since. Part One was Paul Morel’s adolescence, his early life whereas Part Two is his manhood. Although the book is chronological and the separation is given why divide the book. Part One sets the perfect scene where Paul just begin to be latched together with his mother where in part Two his mother is clinged onto him. The chapter names in part One are significant “The Birth of Paul, and Another Battle”, “The Young Life of Paul”, and “Paul Launches Into Life” these are all about Paul’s life whereas in Part Two the first chapter was “Lad-and-Girl Love” a complete shift in One by Lawrence in Part Two . “Strife in Love”, “Defeat of Miriam”, and “Clara” the chapter titles in Part Two are about love and women Paul is associated with. Another significant distinction from Part One and Part Two is Part One was Walter and Mrs.Morel’s conflict which correspond with Paul’s relationship with Miriam and Clara in Part Two. The end of Part One signals a break in time when William Morel, dies, Mrs.Morel lost in herself due to her favorite son’s death reshift her attention to Paul. Paul, becomes her obsession when he becomes severely ill. As the story continues into Part Two Paul now has his mother’s hands always around him and their connection has gone deeper than a mother son relationship. The highest point of the rising action is the climax.

Within D.H. Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers the climax of the novel takes place at the Morel house, Paul discusses with Annie, Paul’s sister, that he is going to give his mother, Mrs. Morel an overdose of morphine to end her life. This is the highest point of the plot since the main conflict in Paul’s life is his mother’s interference with it. As throughout the novel she clung onto his life creating internal and external conflicts in him. Due to Mrs.Morel’s jealousy of Miriam and Clara in Paul’s life she is the root of the weed in Paul’s problem. Due to his frustration with his mother because of her actions conflicting him, Paul decides to pull the weed out the ground by ending his own mother’s life giving her an overdose. Even though it seems this was the resolution of the story since it was a solution it is not. This is the turning point in the novel, where the plot drops when Paul is able to find himself when he resolves his inner conflicts. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (considered one of the greatest literary figures of the modern era- and pronounced Ger-ta) posed some important questions about judging literature. He thought it important to ask: What exactly is the work trying to do? Does it succeed? Was it worth doing?

In Sons and Lovers, D.H. Lawrence’s is trying to bring societal flaws to the reader’s attention. He brings up the importance of gender roles in society where women are able to exceed men and should be equals to them. He does this by giving women the more dominant, superior role, with men a weaker inferior role. Lawrence also brings attention to the industrialization that was taking place at the time with the Great War nearing soon. He emphasizes that the industrialization is making humans less human since we are losing our natural instincts and functions. As a resolution he mentions nature in his literature how to use nature to comfort one’s self and mind. Lastly he shows alcoholism and its devastation effects on a family. Lawrence is trying to highlight the flaws within the British society and bring it to the his audience’s attention.

Lawrence does succeed in exposing the problem within society. As the novel has some autobiographical aspects to it he was able to weave his own personal life it the novel. As his family was poor, his father was a drunken coal miner, and his mother had a latching relationship with him. Since Lawrence witnessed these flaws himself he was able to present them into the novel and succeed. At the end when Paul is able to distance himself from all these flaws and finally achieve freedom, Lawrence was able to emphasize the impact of each flaw on Paul.

Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers novel was well worth doing. The novel pinpointed each flaw either in a person, family, home, work, or relationship. The novel was able to pose solutions to these major problems in British society. For Lawrence to incorporate aspects of his own personal life was a game changer for the book since it borders the book from fiction to actually be real. It was well worth D.H. Lawrence’s time to write such a novel and to bring the attention of theses societal flaws to the audience. For Lawrence, eighteenth-century rationalism and nineteenth-century industrialism caused modern man to surrender his natural instincts and functions.

As industrialism took its path on the modern man, a surrender in natural instinct and function in man. D.H. Lawrence himself faced industrialization and uses his literature to escape his reality. The industrialization a dark, and dull movement where the modern man begins to lose their natural instinct and function. Since modernization has transformed society into a dull world, the beauty in nature is a source of power, especially for Mrs.Morel. In Part One we witness the conflict between Walter and Mrs.Morel she goes to outside and draws “power” from nature. She is in the path of the moonlight light which cools her heat from the constant conflict in her marriage with a man who works in the deepest pits of industrialization. She also comes into contact with white lillies, as she touches the petal she releases the flowers fragrance and smells them. This is Mrs.Morel’s attempt to purify and comfort herself with nature from the heat of industrialism. Paul sees Mr. Jordan’s factory and witnesses the entrapment of the industized system. Paul witnesses the beauty of nature is closed off from the inside. Nature is freedom and happiness to Paul Morel, it is his escape from reality. Paul takes refuge in the natural beauty of the Leiver’s farm. As he falls in love with Miriam he visits her and the farm multiple times. Paul is exposed to the natural world with Miriam whereas he was entrapped with his mother at the Bottoms. Paul’s relationship with Miriam is through nature, the intimate moment they connect are by the riverside bank, the white rose bushes, and around trees. However, the darkness and dullness of the industrialized society makes people like Mr. Morel become incapable of love. Humans started from the naruel aspects of the world as we become more industrialized we think we are improving ourselves in reality we are become less and less humans, moving backward than forward. Mr. Morel is a coal miner deep within the roots of industrialism. Due to the fact he loses human characteristic he loses his family as they alienante him from them. Walter eventually loses his humor and becomes incapable of love. Mrs.Morel dispose of love recenters her attentions to children an alienates her husband from the Morel family. Due to this Mr. Morel suffers by being alone from his family, and drinking his life away in a dark, dull bar where he “belongs”.

Within Sons and Lovers the main characters consist within the Morel family itself with Paul Morel, Mrs.Morel, and Walter Morel. As D.H. Lawrence portrays them quickly in the novel his tone and the usage of each character hints his sympathy toward each character. As this novel is in an autobiographical perspective in a way, D.H. Lawrence is Paul Morel. He portrays himself as the victim of his entire family’s dysfunction, due to this Paul Morel cannot be categorized as good or bad. Where’s Walter Morel, Paul’s father, was given some sympathy by Lawrence. Even Though Walter Morl is shown as a drunk he is also shown as a working labor who still earns money for his family to survive. Although it is looked down to drink your money away he still possessed fatherly capabilities that was shoved away by Mrs.Morel. Walter is actually in the good category because he did not give up on his family and leave, he stayed he gave his eldest son a hair which turned out to be the biggest mistake of his life, as the reader you fee for him and have a laugh toward him. Walter is exactly like Rex Walls from the Glass Castle in way. Walter time and time again is shown to be the trying, hardworking father but is veered away by his wife. On the contrary Mrs. Morel is shown as the evil witch who needs to go. Mrs.Morel is constantly trying to improve the status of her family either driving William to be as successful in London as possible, keeping Walter at a distance, most importantly making sure her kids follow her husband’s footsteps. Mrs. Morel falls under the bad column in characters in the novel, farther in the novel Paul’s view of his mother becomes harsh. The mere fact that she is keeping the father of their children as far away is sickening but understanding. As seen Paul often dreamed of his father’s death but why was this. Mrs. Morel’s views and relationship with Paul is what eventually sways him from side to side.

Throughout Part Two of the novel Mrs.Morel was inside of Paul’s head controlling his action specifically with women and his father. As Paul realized this he overdoses the source of his misery, sadly Paul is the victim of all of the family’s dysfunction. Authors develop characters in a variety of ways. Lawrence’s vigorous character studies involve a clash of complicated emotions.

D.H. Lawrence develops the character of Miriam indirectly. Lawrence’s uses of Miriam’s speech, actions, and appearances reveal her personality. Lawrence usually portrays women in his literature as the strong and dominant gender whereas the men are the weak and inferior gender, as he swaps the tradition roles. In Miriam Leivers character she is developing her strength in society. Miriam wants to further her knowledge in education, she seeks to Paul to teach her Algebra. It was uncommon for woman at the time to seek an education, this supports her building dominance in herself. When Paul is introduced into her life she declines as character since she makes him feel like he is the superior to her. She becomes a helpless romantic, giving all the love she never received from her family to Paul. As Paul talks of matters insignificant it becomes the most significant thing in her life. Due to a lack of attention at the Leivers home her personality becomes vulnerable and changes. Miriam is supposed to be seen by her family as mini mom, who cleans the house, but she wants to be better than that in her life and seeks an education. Miriam also reveals herself in her long thought as she was a deep thinker. Her mother was her companion even growing up, her mother had ingrained into her head that sex was unbearable. Due to this she does not have any other source of validity but her mother and beliefs premarital sex is wrong. Miriam realizes Paul desires sex from her and she eventually offers her virginity to him when he touches the swing. Miriam offers her virginity for Paul just to regain his attention showing she is willing to change her beliefs to satisfy him. Mrs. Morel grew very jealous of Miriam in Paul’s life as she realizes how much time Paul spent at the farm with her. Miriam was able to give Paul his freedoms when he was with her whereas he was on a leash with Mrs.Morel. Mrs. Morel was not the only member in the family who dislike Miriam as Annie Morel shared the disliking. Annie’s argument against her disliking of Miriam was that Paul was spending lots of time with her and not enough with their mother. Due to this Paul eventually feels guilt since his sibling either passed or got married and return to her leaving Miriam.

D.H. Lawrence’s presentation of Paul makes me sympathetic toward him. Paul is shown as the weakest link in the chain who as been melted down for scrap metal. Paul is the weakest sibling in the Morel family. Within the siblings William is strongly attached with his mother but the bond was broken when he dies. Annie is seen very strong since she is a woman in a D.H. Lawrence novel she has to have a feminist dominant character. Arthur leaves the house young by join the army. Annie and Arthur both flee from the Morel household since they are aware of Gertrude’s attachment. Paul who is already affiliated with his mother cannot escape because of his illness and is trapped with Gertrude. Paul Morels motive is to satisfy his mother any way possible, if he is with another woman his guilt toward his mother conquers him and he breaks relationship with the women in his life. Paul Morel is a victim not a hero since he was the product of the Morel family dysfunction. He was the witness to the conflicts between his parents, he was the one who was stuck with his mother, and he was the one was not in control of his life. Paul Morel’s life is a tragedy due to his inability to direct his life. After resolving his conflict with his mother by ending her life, Paul cannot possibly move on from his family’s dysfunction. His calamity is that he can never be a normal grown adult even after resolving his conflicts.

There are many conflicts in this novel so many hard to keep track which ones are the most significant throughout. Paul’s relationship with his father was a conflict in the beginning where Walter Morel’s alcoholism takes toll on Paul childhood life. Paul is a witness to his mother mistreatment by his father, Walter’s constant fighting with Mrs. Morel, and his alcohol. Paul as a child was so frustrated with his father, at times he had wished for his father’s death. Psychologically for a child to pray for his own father to die reveals the dysfunction within the family. Throughout the novel Paul view of his father shift because of his mother’s manipulation of his view. The inner terror within the Morel children is Gertrude and Walter’s conflict. Gertrude and Walter’s main conflict comes down to their wealth. Since Walter is a miner he make little money, the disappointing aspect is that he is and alcoholic as well so he drinks up most of the profits he makes for the family’s survival. Due to this the family struggles to life. At times Walter become abusive toward Mrs.Morel when he is drunk which further separates the two. She builds this great hatred toward Walter killing their any chance of a relationship. In the first place their marriage was more of a love story where a higher class lady fell in love with the bad boy type. As now she lives impoverished all she desires in her life is for her children to have the high class life and to become nothing like their father. She does an excellent job in alienating him from the Morel children. She becomes attached to her children specifically Paul, beyond a mother son relationship. As she attaches herself to him it affects him in his adulthood as he matures into a man. Due to her romantic affiliation with Paul she begins become jealous of Miriam and disapproves of her. To resolve the conflict Paul ends all love for Miriam to satisfy Mrs.Morel. Gertrude’s constant voice in Paul creates conflicts with other women in Paul’s life, he is never able to have a real relationship with a woman. As a result Paul ends his mother’s life instead to resolve these conflict. Within Paul conflicts it creates lots of frustration and emotion making him decide to never get married until he finds the one.

Throughout the novel there is conflict with about every character and Paul Morel. Lawrence solves these conflicts by each character cutting relations with each character. With Mrs.Morel and Walter’s conflict, Walter was alienated by Mrs.Morel, she cut all ties with Mr.Morel. Paul’s conflict with his mother is finally resolved when he ends her life distancing her away from him forever. Paul’s main conflict was his inability to establish a relationship with women, Miriam and Paul’s conflict arises and he leaves his love for her and decided not to get married at the end keeping her away as well. Paul reshifts his conflict with Clara into getting Clara and her husband back together separating himself from her too. D.H. Lawrence resolves conflicts by distancing character from one another. This has significant importance to the plot since every time a conflict is resolved Paul Morel is one step closer to becoming free. This drives the plot in the novel as each relationship is cut off like strings his final goal of freeing himself is accomplished.

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