D.H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers

by Brian Finney

This critical study of Lawrence's third novel, partly based on his own circumstances and upbringing, is primarily written for the undergraduate student. So it applies different literary theories to the novel, revealing the plurality of meanings inherent in it, while avoiding the use of technical language that theorists are prone to employ. Its nine chapters clearly indicate the theoretical lenses through which the novel is looked at: Genesis; Genre; the Psychoanalytic Perspective; History, Class and Society; Lawrence and Women; Structure, Theme and Form; Narrative Voice and Focus; Character; and Symbolic Motifs. Seen from these various perspectives, Sons and Lovers reveals a proliferation of meaning that reflects the writer's deep ambivalence and offers the reader a multiplicity of interpretations.

Genres: Fiction, Classics

128 pages, Paperback

First published February 22, 1990

About the author

Brian Finney is a prize-winning writer and professor emeritus in English literature. Born in London, he obtained a BA (hons) in English and Philosophy at Reading University and a PhD on D. H. Lawrence’s shorter fiction at University of London, where he taught literature and arranged extra-mural courses in the arts from 1964 to 1987. After immigrating to Southern California he taught at UC Riverside, UCLA, the University of Southern California ad California State University Long Beach.

He has published eight books. His second book, Christopher Isherwood: A Critical Biography, was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for non-fiction that year. It was also voted one of the best three books of the year by Philip Toynbee in the Observer. He went on to publish, among others, The Inner I, a pioneering study of British literary autobiography, and a widely cited book about British fiction in the eighties and nineties, English Fiction Since 1984. In 2011 he published on Amazon Terrorized: How the War on Terror Affected American Culture and Society. He has also edited three editions of D. H. Lawrence’s work, and published a range of essays and reviews in various journals and newspapers.

In August 2019 he published his first novel, Money Matters, in which an inexperienced young woman is persuaded to search for a woman who has disappeared and comes up against the powerful forces of big money, politics and a drug cartel. By the end of her search she has become a different person. This book is a Finalist in the 2019 Best American Fiction Awards. His second novel, Dangerous Conjectures, set in the Bay Area in the opening months of 2020 when the pandemic was spreading,, was published in 2021. His third novel, Only the Rich, is forthcoming in 2023.

Brian Finney is married and lives in Venice, California.

Reviews

[Samar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Paul Paul Paul are you a psychotic narcissist or a raging-oedipal-cum-misogynistic-moron... I can't quite tell. And the Lamia-like/Vampiric women who surround you, manipulate you, gorge you inside out, twist and are twisted by you, are they real?
Needless to say Lawrence has created a piece of literature which is haunting in its subtle and sinister allusions of the dark, morbid recesses and workings of the human mind. Paul is the true embodiment of the modern hero. There are certain passages towards the end which are startling in their bitter truth:
"The days passed, the weeks. But everything seemed to have fused, gone into a conglomerated mass.
He could not tell one day from another, one week from another, hardly one place from another.
Nothing was distinct or distinguishable. Often he lost himself for an hour at a time, could not
remember what he had done."
He must be the first hero I have come to have empathy for but not sympathy. This fundamental divide in the states of our physical and spiritual existence is what lies at the heart of Sons and Lovers. No character seeks a union therein and those that do strive ultimately fail. Is it possible then that Paul as he walks towards the light at the end can ever fully attain it? He's damaged and broken without quite being able to realize why.

[Kanika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence is the story of the attachment of a mother with her son, and her pervasive influence on his life. Mrs. Morel is a married woman with four children, and a miner husband who often quarrels with his wife and spends the little money he makes on alcohol. The children grow up in an atmosphere of discord and sometimes abuse, hating their father for mistreating their mother and at the same time, developing a deep reverence for their mother, the only real parent they have.
Mrs. Morel loves all her children dearly and hopes to live some of her dreams through her children William, Annie, Paul and the youngest Arthur. Particularly attached to the eldest child William, Mrs. Morel influences his life and his choices, including the women in his life. Life seems to be getting better for the Morels with William supporting the family financially when tragedy strikes and William passes away. The entire family is shattered, Mrs. Morel most of all.
At this point, Paul takes the place of William in Mrs. Morel’s life and she begins to live vicariously through him. She takes him to a factory and gets him a job as a clerk. Paul is completely dependent on his mother, and loves her to the point of reverence. At sixteen, Paul meets Miriam, a shy, diffident girl who falls in love with him completely and hopelessly. Although Paul also begins to love Miriam at some level, he despises her at the same time. Firstly, Mrs. Morel does not approve of her and secondly, Paul is unable to give himself completely to her, because of which he feels guilty and despises her for making him feel so. Throughout the story, Paul fails to understand why he cannot give himself completely to any woman. He sees love as bondage and he is unable to be bonded to anyone. Miriam hates Paul when he is cruel to her, but she is unable to leave him.
Meanwhile, Paul breaks off with Miriam because he cannot marry her and meets Clara, an older married woman who is separated from her husband. Paul’s passion for Clara is far greater than what he felt for Miriam, but he is again unable to love her completely. It is as if until his mother is in his life, he cannot completely give himself to any other woman because he feels he belongs to his mother first. Clara is also hurt by Paul’s cruelty, and refuses to divorce her husband, and finally reunites with him as Paul walks out of her life too. In the end, Mrs. Morel is very sick and suffering from an incurable tumor. She is about to die but is suffering. Paul and his sister Annie euthanize their mother by an overdose of morphine because they are not able to see her suffer anymore. Paul is now all alone with his mother dead and both the women in his life gone. He is broken at losing his mother but he also feels a sense of freedom from the bondage of love. He is finally free.
If the theme of the novel could be summed up in one sentence, it would be ‘Love as bondage’. Unknowingly and unintentionally, Paul Morel views all his relationships with the women in his life as bondage. He feels that as long as his mother is alive, he cannot give himself completely to any other woman. Although he loves both Miriam and Clara at one point of time, he is often cruel to them. At the same time, his love is passionate, but often turns into guilt and scorn. He despises Miriam because his mother doesn’t approve of her. He is sometimes snappish with his mother when she expresses his displeasure over him spending time with Miriam. He hates Miriam because she makes him feel guilty for treating her badly. It is also possible that the way Paul feels about the women in his life, is a reflection of his subdued feelings towards his mother, whom he never openly challenges even if there is a disagreement. He loves his mother dearly, but on some level, he unknowingly despises her for exerting such a powerful influence on his life, making it impossible for him to develop a healthy and lasting relationship with any woman. But since he cannot express these feelings to his mother, he directs them at Miriam and Clara who often have to face his coolness and cruelty.
It also makes one question Paul’s motive behind putting his mother to sleep. Consciously, he was being kind to her by putting an end to her suffering. But it is possible that without knowing, Paul wanted to rid himself of his mother’s paralyzing influence on his life, which led him to put her to sleep. At last, Paul is alone, happy and sad at the same time.
The novel captures the essence of relationships of the primary characters very well. The reader is able to experience the conflicts and emotions of the characters. Although the novel is written very well, but I feel it is on the longish side with 484 pages (by Collins Classics). The story and the mood are mostly dark, but I was compelled to finish the book. Patience is a must to read this book, but finally it culminates well.

[lucian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sons and Lovers - DH Lawrence

Lots has gone over my head with this one, but I tried my best

This books got a bit of germinal, a bit of assomoir, and something else thats now slipped my mind

His descriptions are overly detailed at points, and I am not sure I care for that. This does mean that the more effort you put in, the more cosy a picture you get out of this, but I’ll admit that at times, I glossed over some of the detail (i’m just getting out of a rut, and I thought it’s best to read some and get the message rather than not read at all).

Paul is tremendously in touch with himself, and his relationships with people. With both clara and miriam, everything looked great on paper, but he had the courage to recognize that something doesn’t FEEL right within himself, and break off the relationships. While I see myself as having made similar decisions multiple before, I wonder why I missed this in my last relationship. I truely loved and cared for this person, despite the circumstances that kept pulling us apart, but the thought of breaking it off never crossed my mind. Why did it not. Sunk cost? False hope? I dont know. Other times when i didnt see a viable path (and while love was there), i had ended things. His ability to recognize that Miriam would smother him intimidated me. Until I realised that he probably didn’t come to this conclusion via logic/ reason. He felt it. Then it made more sense.

With Mr. and Mrs. Morel’s relationship, I couldn’t help but wonder what other miners’ relationships were like? Are they all doomed? I understand that his deceit towards the beginning sewed seeds of discontent, but it seems that there’s elements of his job that ?segue/ segway? him into becoming unavailable.

Funny what places like blackpool and skegness have regressed to.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rated ninth in NY Times Best 100 books of the 20th century, it ia a book written at the turn of the century and edited several times by DH Lawrence before it was published. The story is naked, probably based to a point on Lawrence's thoughts, actions, behavior, cultural surroundings. It was an interesting 650 page read along with the commentary included of various authors and acquaintances. I thought I had read this book years ago, but I couldn't bring the significance of the story back to mind - so read it again.

[Anastasia Tymoshenko · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book full of dubious controversies. The plot was not easy to foreshadow, the characters were not quintessential for that type of society.
Anyway, it is worth reading yet needs mental efforts.

[Mahrukh]

Nothing