sons and lovers by d.h lawrence; summary and analysis - part 1

Chapter 1

The novel opens with a brief historical survey of the coalfield and the building of the miners’ houses called 'the Bottoms'.

There, lives Walter Morel and Gertrude with their two children. Mr. Morel is a miner, and Mrs. Morel is carrying with their third child. Their son William is seven and very much excited to go to the fair. He runs off, and his mother joins him later with his younger sister, Annie. William always would like to stay close with his mother. He buys Gertrude a pair of flowered eggcups.

Follows a retrospective narration from Mrs Morel's girlhood as the daughter of an engineer and her meeting with her future husband and the first few months of their married life. Gertrude first met Walter Morel on the occasion of Christmas party. she was enormously fascinated by his wavy black hair, full beard, and hearty laugh. Gertrude was vulnerable, mild and graceful along with religious and intellectual bend of mind. Like her father she was Puritan in nature with an interest in religion and philosophy. On the contrary Walter was quite antithetical: non-intellectual, unrestrained and sensuous. He is very much fond of dancing.

Eventually, they get married, but she soon realized that he was incapable of understanding the heart of her. Seven months after their marriage, she was shocked to discover that her husband had not even paid their furniture bills with his pay and that the house they lived in was actually owned by Walter's mother. Disillusionment follows as Mrs Morel discovers the lies he has told her about his financial position. The first child, William, is born, and conflict between the mother and father reaches a climax in Mr Morel's cutting off of the boy's curls. Mr Morel, who had become a teetotaller on marrying, reverts to his old drinking habits. The quarrel between him and the pregnant Mrs Morel, which ends with her being locked out of the house for several hours. Consequently, Gertrude lost her paradise after marrying Walter Morel. The beginning of a deep seated bond between mother and son is discernible here, just like a movement from son to a lover. This special kind of intensive bond was described by the psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud, as an Oedipus complex, a term that was based on Sophoclean character Oedipus, who by mistake kills his father and then marries his mother. The love between Mrs. Morel and William is one of two oedipal relationships that shape this story. Yet another connection is the famous Shakespearean drama Hamlet features the same character Gertrude, she too notorious for her Oedipus affiliation.

Chapter 2

Mrs Morel's third child, Paul, is born. The Congregational minister, Mr Heaton was the only solace for her from all the distresses. Later, he becomes Paul's godfather. Mrs. Morel and William turn to hate Walter for his bad temperament.

Mr. Morel returns home drunk one night and flings a drawer at Mrs Morel, which catches her on the forehead and draws blood; she almost falls but maintains her balance to protect the baby in her arms. Mr Morel retreats more and more from family life, taking refuge in the public house. In a culminating episode he threatens to leave home, wrapping his things up in a large bundle. This is how he asserts his masculinity most vigorously. This particular chapter also features some deadlock passion between son and their mother.

Chapter 3

Morel falls ill for several weeks. Mrs.Morel nurses him back to health. But as he recovers his wife becomes less close to him. A fourth child, Arthur, is born. Mrs Morel's feelings become increasingly focused on William. Paul is 17 months old when the little Arthur is born. William is the "top of the class" and "the smartest lad in the school," but when he is 11 he gets into a fight with another boy and rips his collar off. The boy's mother complains to Mrs. Morel, but William justifies that the collar was already torn. When Mr. Morel hears about the incident he tries to hit his son, but Mrs. Morel intently interferes.

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William gets into  a new job in an office in Nottingham when he was 19, earning 30 shillings a week. His parents are both proud of him. At this time Annie is studying to be a teacher, Paul is learning French and German from Mr. Heaton, and Arthur is in school.

William's departure for London creates mixed feelings in Mrs.Morel. She is at once grateful to see him succeed and move up in the world. But she is also suffering the separation of her beloved son.

Chapter 4

Paul now becomes the centre of attention. He maintains a compact bond to his mother as "his soul seemed always attentive to her". Paul recollects his father's ongoing bullying and drinking. When Morel once hit his wife on the face, his brother William wanted to fight it out with his father, but his mother forbade it. Paul's early recollections are primarily filled with hatred of his father. His father drinks after work, arriving home drunk and creates many troubles frequently.

 Paul is marked by his mild and delicate nature, he suffers from bronchitis. Thus, she was afraid of his future. But, still he admires the brave way she deals with it. When he is ill he calls for her, and he loves to sleep with his mother and feel her warmth as he lay against her. On Fridays it is his duty to collect his father's earnings at the office and then bring them to him at the bar. The men at the office mock at his delicate voice and quiet manner, and Paul is overwhelmed, declaring to his mother that he doesn't want to go and fetch the money any more. William returns home for Christmas, Mrs. Morel is busy baking cakes, tarts, and pies, anxiously awaiting his arrival. He arrives with relatively lavish gifts for everyone and lots of fancy sweets.

Chapter 5

Mr. Morel gets injured seriously down the ground. His leg is badly smashed, but after a week in critical condition he starts to heal. Paul needs to find a job, but his main interests are reading and painting. In contrast to Paul's mild and sensitive nature, William has meanwhile become a stylish gentleman in London. He meets an elegant young lady at a dance and is quite attracted to her. Her name is Louisa Lily Western, but William calls her Gypsy instead of Lily. He sends his mother a picture of her. But, she expresses her dislike. Paul begins working at Jordan's Surgical Appliance Factory. He is to fetch letters for copying and report to Mr. Pappleworth. His oedipal feelings for his mother goes on to manifest themselves in his dream of sharing a cottage with her. While Paul dreams of his mother, William has broken the maternal bonds and fallen in love with Lily.

Chapter 6

The youngest son, Arthur wins a scholarship to the Grammar School. He keeps some striking similitude with his father. Meanwhile, he brings his fiancée home for Christmas she behaves in a fashion of queenly superiority to his family and treats Annie and Paul as her servants. The story of Paul and his mother continues with their first visit to Willey Farm; and new characters- Mrs Leivers, Edgar, Maurice, and, above all, Miriam- are introduced. William falls ill. His mother goes to London to nurse him, but he dies of pneumonia. A telegram is sent summoning Mr Morel. The young man's body is brought home, and the coffin is placed in the Morels' front room. Mrs Morel is entirely preoccupied with the death of William, and not until Paul also becomes seriously ill does she wake to the realisation that she is in danger of losing her second son as well. But she now gives him her undivided attention, and over a seven-week period she devotedly nurses him back to health.

Education helps to liberate Arthur and Annie from the tyranny of living with their father. In contrast, when Lily visits, Mrs. Morel offers her a book, and it is obvious that Lily does not know how to read. Lily's lack of education makes William start to hate her.

Class distinctions become apparent when William brings Lily to visit. Lily sees the Morels as "the working class" and treats them with disdain and the younger children as her servants.

Flowers are recurrent symbols throughout the novel. When Paul meets Miriam, he comments on the white and pink flowers in her garden. Like the flowers, Miriam is white, pure and innocent. The colourful flowers represent their love in contrast to the white flowers that indicate innocence. Paul gathers daisies and fixes them in Lily's hair during one of her visits.