David Herbert
Lawrence
As a twentieth century
novelist, essayist, and poet, David Herbert Lawrence
brought the subjects of
sex, psychology, and religion to the forefront of
literature. One of the most
widely read novels of the twentieth century, Sons
and Lovers, which Lawrence
wrote in 1913, produces a sense of Bildungsroman1,
where the novelist
re-creates his own personal experiences through the
protagonist in (Niven
115). Lawrence uses Paul Morel, the protagonist in Sons
and Lovers, for this
form of fiction. With his mother of critical importance,
Lawrence uses
Freud’s Oedipus complex, creating many analyses for critics.
Alfred Booth
Kuttner states the Oedipus complex as: "the struggle of a man to
emancipate
himself from his maternal allegiance and to transfer his affections
to a
woman who stands outside the family circle" (277). Paul’s
compromising
situations with Miram Leivers and Clara Dawes, as well as the
death of his
mother, display the Oedipus complex throughout Sons and Lovers.
At an adolescent
age, Paul’s oedipal love towards his mother is compromised
by a young lady
named Miram Leivers. This profound situation puts Paul to the
emotional test of
Oedipal versus physical love. As Kuttner goes on to
state: "Paul’s
admiration for his mother know no bounds; her presence is
always absorbing.
Often at the sight of her, ‘his heart contracts with
love’" (278).
Paul’s maternal relationship defines the Oedipus complex.
Miram pulls Paul
away from his mother, while Paul’s mother, Gertrude, sees
Miram as a threat to
her son. Paul, even though Miram is around, still will
not commit totally to her
because of the strong ties between mother and son.
Paul says to his mother,
"I’ll never marry while I’ve got you – I
won’t..." (Lawrence 240).
Lawrence wrote frequently of Paul’s love
belonging to his mother and only his
mother (212). Though Miram Leivers could
not truly find Paul’s heart, another
woman named Clara Dawes provides more
stress on Paul’s maternal relationship.
Although Paul loved Clara, he
still kept his attraction toward his mother.
"Everything he does is for
her, the flowers he picks as well as the prizes he
wins at school. His mother
is his intimate and his confidant" (Kuttner 278).
Clara tried desperately
to win Paul over, but her social sophistication was too
much for him. Paul
tells his mother: "I don’t want to belong to the
well-to-do middle class. I
like my common people the best. I belong to the
common people" (Lawrence
250). Clara shows frustration with Paul because of
his maternal devotion.
Again Lawrence displays the Oedipus complex through Paul
to his mother, "And
I shall never meet the right woman as long as you live"
(341). Paul’s Oedipal
love would be tested once more by him dealing with the
death of his mother.
Paul, though, was tough enough in handling this dilemma.
R.P. Draper
recognizes the loss of Paul’s mother as: Their special, private,
intimate
grief over the impossible dream, and the magnificence of the woman, and
the
devotional quality of Paul’s love, render the deathbed scenes poignant
and
innocent (292). The verification of Kuttner’s statement is seen as
Lawrence
has Paul react to her death in this manner: "my love – my love – oh,
my
love! My love – oh, my love!" (384). Lawrence also writes of
Paul’s
continuing love for his mother: "Looking at her, he felt he could
never, never
let her go. No!" (385). Kuttner Implies: "But death has not
freed Paul from
his mother. It has completed his allegiance to her. For death
has merely removed
the last earthly obstacle to their ideal union" (280). The
love that Paul
feels towards his mother would never die. He loves her just as
much when she
died as he did when she was still alive. Paul continues life
having a maternal
devotion that no other woman would ever be able to fill.
Throughout the novel,
Paul is seen as one who lives for his mother. Mark
Spilka explains: "For if
Paul has failed in his three loves, he has drawn
from them the necessary
strength to live" (293). Sons and Lovers was written
with Lawrence almost
defining the Oedipus complex through Paul. With this in
mind, Kuttner gives this
insight about the novel: Sons and Lovers possesses
this double quality to a high
degree. It ranks high, very high as a piece of
literature and at the same time
embodies a theory which it illustrates and
exemplifies with a completeness that
is nothing less than astonishing (277).
Psychologists of today still accept the
Oedipus complex as a viable
explanation for the love and fascination that male
children display towards
their mothers. Lawrence successfully created an
educational novel as well as
an easily readable and interesting novel. Literary
critics tend to speculate
that Sons and Lovers was written by Lawrence as
somewhat of an autobiography
centering Paul’s life around his own. Whether or
not this is true will never
be determined, though it will continue to remain a
favorite topic for
critical analysis for years to come.
Bibliography
Draper, R.P.
"D.H. Lawrence on Mother Love." Essays in Criticism 8
(1958): 285-289. Rpt.
In TCLC. Ed. Dennis Poupard. Vol. 16. Detroit: Gale, 1985.
293-294.
:Kuttner, Aldred Booth. "Sons and Lovers’: A Freudian
Appreciation." The
Psychoanalytic Review. 3 (1916): 295-317. Rpt. In TCLC, Ed.
Dennis
Poupard. Vol. 16. Detroit: Gale, 1985. 277-282. :Lawrence, D.H. Sons
and
Lovers. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1996. :Niven, Alastair.
"D.H.
Lawrence." British Writers. Vol. 7. 1984. 87-126. :Spilka, Mark.
The Love
Ethic of D.H. Lawrence. (1955): 244. Rpt. In TCLC. Ed. Dennis
Poupard. Vol. 16.
Detroit: Gale,
1985.