Sons and Lovers

A detailed Summary of Sons and Lovers

Throughout one's lifetime many relationships are established between people that result in either a negative or positive influence on a person, shaping how they form new relationships with others. Throughout D.H. Lawrence's classic novel Son's and Lovers, the character of Paul Morel is developed through his relationships with three women, Gertrude, his mother, and his two loves Miriam and Clara. These women each play a distinct role in the construction of Paul, as his connection with his mother is Oedipal, while his relationships with Clara and Miriam are sexual and spiritual.

Gertrude is the most powerful woman in Paul's life, and thus this tight-knit relationship serves as the root for Paul's future affairs. It is no coincidence that Gertrude shares the same name as Hamlet's Queen Gertrude, for both women share the mother's possessive role of the Oedipal complex. Paul sees his mother as youthful and virginal, frequently comparing her to flowers. At times Paul and Gertrude's closeness is almost like that of a couple, for example while the mother and son dine in town together, Paul thinks of her as "gay as a sweetheart", and feels the "excitement of lovers". However, Gertrude's youthfulness was not eternal, and so when i

Why can't a man have a young mother?... And why wasn't I the oldest son?

Although Miriam feels she has the ability to control Paul's soul, her innocence creates fear of any type of intimacy, for she "could scarcely stand the shock of physical love, even a passionate kiss." Miriam's intensely spiritual nature smothers Paul but deprives him of sex. Weiss suggests, "In Paul's mind Miriam has become too firmly established as a mother surrogate". In order to separate her from Gertrude, they engage in intercourse, but the union is a failure as Miriam sacrifices herself to Paul and does not connect emotionally. Thus, Miriam and Paul's relationship is inevitably diminished. Spilka writes, "And so she defeats herself in the struggle for Paul's heart, by thwarting his deep male instinct to be loved, as a man, rather than as a mind or soul or personality...and she loses to Paul's mother by default". However it can be argued that Gertrude is, indeed, the cause of the breakup, for the idea of replacement worries Paul as much as it does his mother. "He was h!

If Miriam should win Paul's soul, there would be nothing left for Mrs. Morel; as

Spilka writes, "...each of Paul's three loves in actually significant in itself, since each contributes something vital to his development, yet finally proves destructive and inadequate". As the root to all of Paul's relationships, Gertrude negatively influences the growth of her son, however she alone does not bring the downfall to Paul's relationships, as each woman had her own defaults, Miriam being overly spiritual and Clara being overly sexual. Thus, Lawrence conveys that one cannot be fully satisfied while lacking either the emotional, sexual, or protective side of a relationship.

In search of a physical relationship, Paul instead falls into a spiritual one with Miriam Lievers. Often represented by flowers, Miriam resembles Gertrude in purity, intelle

Some common words found in the essay are:
Mark Spilka, Dawes Spilka, Dawes Miriam, Referring Weiss', Miriam Paul's, Paul Gertrude's, Miriam Lievers, Paul Clara's, Miriam Clara, Clara Miriam, paul's soul, injured third party, gertrude's death, oedipal complex, baxter dawes, spiritual nature, weiss suggests, love passionate, root paul's, miriam clara, injured third,

Approximate Word count = 1287
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels