Sons And Lovers Analysis

Priscilla Kapoor

Prof. Jennifer Monterio

English III-A

11 November 2015 “Mr. and Mrs. Morel as husband and wife in Sons and lovers by D.H. Lawrence” “There can be but one true life of Lawrence; and it is contained in his works”, said John Middleton Murray in his book, Son of Woman: The Story of D. H. Lawrence. The book, Sons and Lovers was published in 1913 and is D.H. Lawrence’s third novel. Murray quite evidently puts that it is an autobiographical novel; the plot is based on Lawrence’s own life. Paul Morel’s father is Walter Morel and mother is Gertrude Morel. The story revolves around Paul Morel with whom Lawrence identifies. We can see throughout that Lawrence tries to defend Paul’s actions and tries to put him in a positive light.

Morel, one realizes that there is very little room for Mr. Morel in his own family; he is made an outsider in his own house by his own family. Poor Mr. Morel is neglected and despised not only by Mrs. Morel but later by his children as well. Mrs. Morel strived to make him something he was not. She was not able to accept him for what he really is, a man driven by sentiments. She did not understand the difference between them, that very difference which attracted her at first. She did not give him the space to become himself. The reader is supposed to sympathize with Mr. Morel who is a metaphor for the modern man who is stuck in a mechanical way of life doing the same things everyday and thus he can be compared to Sisyphus as well. They are tortured by each other because of the different ideologies that they have. These lined quite vividly expresses the

Morel then became a very lazy, irresponsible drunk, a violent coward keeping bad company with friends like Jerry Purdy and neglected his duties and responsibilities as a father and as a husband perhaps because he is alienated from his own family. Morel uses brute force to keep his authority which is otherwise denied to him by his wife by shutting her out of the house outdoors in the middle of the night and also later throws a drawer at her which leaves her hurt and scarred yet he recovers himself from his anger and drunkenness when he realizes the severity of his action which has hurt his wife quite a lot. Later, he even takes the bundle of his belongings and stalks out of the house yet returns back home the same night. But there is something happy about him too… “So morel would go on the amusement of his boon companions”. It is clearly not a feminist text. It rather shows how two people can torture each other in a relationship. Both, Mr. and Mrs. Morel are the receiving end of each other’s torture. It’s as if there’s a race between the father and the mother. Morel, a man driven by sentiments and sensuality doesn’t give in to Gertrude’s philosophy of life which is of spirituality and intellectuality. Their relationship is an utter failure,