Sons and Lovers (D.H.Lawrence)

 I had read Lady Chatterly’s Lover by D.H.Lawrence long back, probably in my teens. It was titillating because i knew it had a history of being published privately first in 1928. It was not until 1960 that it was openly published in UK, after the publisher Penguin Bools won the case against it for obscenity. I had, at that time, not read Sons and Lovers by the same author published in 1913, though not as notorious.

I made up for this gap in my reading by picking it up now. I realised that i had not lost anything by not reading it earlier. The books stays at the surface, strolls around the periphery, promises more exploration, only to let you down and bore you with details of the English countyside’s flora and fauna. It took me all my will power to not DNF it and complete it. Also FOMO lest there be some big reveal or aha moment at the end, which i would be bereft of, if i did not finish it.

The book is essentially about the life of Gertrude Morel, married at 24 to Walter Morel, a miner and a working class man. She, a woman of character and refinement, of fine tastes and sensibilities, gets married to a swarthy, alcoholic and violent man. Once the initial charm wears off, bitterness, disillusionment and loneliness takes its place and stays their entire married lives. They have four children, 3 sons and a daughter and Mrs Morel’s only purpose in life is to see that these children are brought up well and can escape the kind of life that their father has led and leads till the end. The story traces the birth of each of the sons, their boyhood and their youth. Tragedy strikes when William, her first born and the apple of her eye succumbs to illness in the prime of his youth. After this, her focus shifts to Paul, her third born and all her attention is on him. As for Paul (as it had been for William), his mother is the centre of his world and everything revolves around her, even into adulthood. His mother’s approval is the only thing that matters and all his choices, relationships and decisions are made basis what she will or will not like. Mrs Morel, on her part, never interferes directly or even indirectly, but subtly has her say in everything till the day she dies and in some ways, even after. 

While there is a promise of exploration of the Oedipus complex and there are hints about Paul comparing both women he is with in the book with his mother, it is not explored much. Neither the two characters, nor anyone else around, ever broaches the subject or hints at the dynamics that they see. No one seems to find it strange how dominant the character of Mrs Morel is and how her sons, especially Paul never truly grow up. The issues Paul has with the women he has relationships with are something I could not understand. He actively sabotages his relationships and then blames it on the women he is with. The mother emotionally manipulates her sons and actively dislike all the women in her sons’ lives.They can give their body to other women, but their souls are beholden to their mother and in this way, they are split. 

 This is a semi autobiographical work by the author and is hailed as a an important and influential book in Western culture. Possibly for a student of literature, it is seminal but for me, a lay reader, this just dragged and never got to a point.