Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
By:
Delil Hasan Sütcü
Page 1 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
Contents
Abstract ............................................................................................................................................... 3
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 4
Theory ................................................................................................................................................. 5
Oedipus complex.............................................................................................................................. 5
Development Psychology and Psychoanalysis ................................................................................ 9
Id, ego and super-ego ................................................................................................................. 11
Development psychology ........................................................................................................... 13
Analysis of female characters .......................................................................................................... 15
Miriam Leivers ........................................................................................................................... 16
Mrs. Morel ................................................................................................................................. 18
Clara Dawes ............................................................................................................................... 20
Analysis of Sons and Lovers............................................................................................................. 21
Conclusion......................................................................................................................................... 25
Bibliography ..................................................................................................................................... 26
Page 2 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
Abstract
The novel Sons and Lovers is considered as David Herbert Lawrence’s Magnus Opus. Though first
considered as obscenity, the novel has then been given due credit. Throughout his life, Paul has
been shown unusually much love from his mother, Mrs. Morel. Combined with his hatred for his
father, Paul has given critics reason for believing that the novel follows Sigmund Freud’s
psychological theory of the Oedipus complex. Furthermore, the life of D.H. Lawrence has in many
ways coincided with Paul’s life; he also had a strong affection to his mother while hating his father.
This paper will determine whether or not the Oedipus complex is a part of the novel Sons and
Lovers. In order to do so, the paper will analyse the feminine characters as it seems that they hold
more value to Paul than the male counterpart. The novel will then be analyses in an oedipal and
psychoanalytic perspective.
Keywords: Oedipus complex, Sons and Lovers, D.H. Lawrence, psychoanalysis, development
psychology.
Page 3 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
Introduction
“(...)the novel that brought English literature into the psychoanalytic age.”(Granofsky, p. 242) Just
one of the few examples of what the novel Sons and Lovers, by D. H. Lawrence, has been described
as by critics and psychologist. The novel circles around both Paul Morel and his mother, Mrs.
Morel. Because the mother had married below her class she had lost the love for her husband and
thus raised her children with incontrovertibly love, especially William and Paul. The extreme love
causes the children to be unable to love other people than their mother. This means that the boys
have difficulties with other women. The children hate their father because of the ill-treatment of
their mother and because of this the mother and children almost becomes lovers. Paul falls in a
relationship with Miriam, which Mrs. Morel does not approve of. Hereafter Paul leaves Miriam and
comes in contact with Clara Dawes. But both girls cannot hold onto Paul as his love is stronger for
his mother. After this Mrs. Morel dies and Paul is alone.
As we can see in the summary the unconditionally love for her children causes them to be
incapable of loving others. Not only this, but the children grows to be lovers of the mother. While
being lovers they, at the same time, hate their father, thus creating a well-known Freudian concept:
the Oedipus complex. According to Frank Kermode, the novel was in fact an autobiography. “The
composition of his autobiographical novel therefore coincided with a period of multiple crises in
his life. It was begun before the death of his mother, which is its climax; it was rewritten at the
behest of an early lover, Miriam, and then again under the eye of Frieda after their
elopement.”(Kermode, p. 21) As we can see, many of Lawrence’s episodes in life correspond with
Paul’s life, meaning that Lawrence himself was under the influence of an Oedipus complex.
According to Ronald Granofsky, Lawrence wrote a series of letters describing his relationship with
his parents: “[The] hatred of his father “has been a kind of bond between me and my mother. We
loved each other, almost with a husband and wife love.”(Granofsky, p. 242) Though aware of the
Freudian concept, Lawrence denied any such connection: “(...) Lawrence himself unwittingly
encouraged a psychoanalytic reading by statements, stretching back to when the novel was first
conceived, that alternately seem to justify and to reject such an interpretation, an ambivalence that
Page 4 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
is, inevitably, additional grist to the psychoanalytic mill where denial is often a form of admission.”
(Granofsky, p. 242) Furthermore, Lawrence also said “My poor book: it was, as art, a fairly
complete truth: so they carve a half lie out of it, and say ‘Voilà’. Swine!” (Granofsky, p. 242-3)
As we can see, there are proof that the novel Sons and Lovers are a case of the Oedipus complex
but we also see that Lawrence persistently tried to disapprove the complex, but are the Oedipus
complex really a part of Sons and Lovers? That is what this paper will examine. To achieve this, the
paper will analyse the female characters, Mrs. Morel, Miriam Leivers and Clara Dawes, of the
novel, as it seems that they play a vaster role than their male counterpart in the life of Paul.
Furthermore, the novel will be analysed with an oedipal and psychoanalytic perspective. To sum up,
a precise and comprehensive conclusion will determine whether or not the novel follows the
Freudian concept.
Theory
The following will summarise the theory behind the Oedipus complex and development psychology
and psychoanalysis. The section on development psychology and psychoanalysis will be based
upon Freud’s work. These theories will be incorporated later in the analysis of the novel Sons and
Lovers.
Oedipus complex
“A mother that lives in an unsatisfactory relationship, both emotionally and sexual, with her
husband, will easily be inclined to have a closer bond with her child.” (Mousten, p. 105 (Author’s
own translation))
The Oedipus complex was first coined by the Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Named after the
Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, the theory was a breakthrough in itself. King Laius of
Thebes was told by an oracle that he would be killed by his own son, which leaved the king with no
other choice than to dispose of his son. Oedipus is casted into the forest in hope that he will starve
to death. Later that day Oedipus is discovered by a shepherd, who brings him to the childless king
Page 5 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
of Corinth, where Oedipus is raised as his own son. When Oedipus grew up he was told that he was
an orphan. Not believing this allegation he sought out the Oracle in Delphi asking her whether or
not it was true. She told him he would sleep with his own mother and kill his father. Oedipus
quickly leaves Corinth, leaving behind the king and queen thinking that they are his biological
parents. On his way he meets Laius, his biological father, which he kills, thus accomplishing the
first half of the prophecy. Arriving at Thebes he faces the Sphinx and solves its riddle. Oedipus
becomes king of Thebes and marries the widow queen, his biological mother, thus accomplishing
the second half of the prophecy.
According to Encyclopaedia Britannica: “[The] Oedipus complex, in psychoanalytic theory, [is] a
desire for sexual involvement with the parent of the opposite sex and a concomitant sense of rivalry
with the parent of the same sex; a crucial stage in the normal developmental process.”
(Encyclopaedia Britannica) From this short passage we notice that the complex is not something
one would combine with children and normal development. But, according to Freud, the boy will
develop a lust for his mother and simultaneously hatred towards his father. These feelings are
developed in the third stage, the phallic stage, of the five psychosexual development stages, or the
pregenital stages. (Jonassen, p. 48-52) These stages will be explained in-depth later.
According to Leif Mousten, there are six requirements that must be fulfilled for the complex to
take place. The six requirements are:
1. An intimate relationship between mother and child prior to the complex.
2. The child has already discovered the anatomically differences between boys and girls –
some have a penis and some have a vagina.
3. The sexuality of the child is now, more than ever, focused on the pleasurable sensation in
the genitals.
4. The intellectual development of the child is now at an advanced stage, giving the child an
opportunity to understand what is going on between two adults.
5. The emotional development of the child is now at an advanced stage, making the child more
aware to sympathy and empathy – meaning, a depiction between whom they like and who
they do not.
6. The emotional and intellectual development is now at an advanced stage, that the child no
longer acquires the outside world by the use of imitation (outer appearance) but instead with
Page 6 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
identification (an inner imitation of roles and behavioural patterns by others). (Mousten, p.
95-97 (Author’s own translation))
These steps must have been accomplished in order to proceed in the Oedipus complex. The boy
would have gained the most love and comfort from the mother, while the relationship between boy
and father has been less essential to the child’s psychological development. Hereafter the boy will
discover the anatomical differences between the genders; that women have a vagina and men have a
penis, including him. And since the mother does not possess one the boy will automatically think
that she is the wrong one to love and cherish. Therefore he will now break free from the mother,
while slowly move closer to the father. In other words, he creates an identification with his father.
(Mousten, p. 98) Furthermore, Leif Mousten claims that the anatomical differences can have a
massive effect on the child. The children observe their parents and other adults and realises that
they belong to a specific group of people:
“As soon as the child discovers the anatomically gender differences the child will
naturally ask itself and others: ‘What does that mean, then?’ and ‘Is there a difference
between men and women?’. The child asks the adults and receives answers. And it will
begin to study the adults to see whether or not it matters. Once again, it has to be
understood with child’s point of view. Yes, boys and girls alike quickly discover that it
actually matters whether or not you have a penis or a vagina. The child quickly
realises that nearly all that drives around in cars are men and thus has a penis.
Nearly all that looks after children are women and thus has a vagina. This means that
all around the world there are differences.” (Mousten, p. 98 (Author’s own
translation))
The third requirement in a child’s life is the newly found pleasurable sensation in the genitalia. He
discovers that playing with it will result in erection, which is a nice feeling. At first, the child will
aim his newly found pleasure to the person he loves most; his mother. This is where the mother is
faced with a difficult choice. On one hand, if she chooses to reject the child, the child will certainly
develop a sense of guilt and shame towards sexuality. On the other hand, the mother will fear the
repercussions when the child tells other people that his mother enjoys his penis. So in any case the
child will develop a sense of guilt towards sexuality. (Mousten, p. 99)
Page 7 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
The next three requirements is the emotional and intellectual development in the boy’s life. The
child will tell his parents that he understands their conversations because of his further intellectual
development. Also he will notice that there is an emotional relationship between the parents.
As the child grows older, and enters the anal stage, he will become more independent and move
away from being a passive object to the surrounding world. The development went from a one-way
communication to a two ways communication:
“The intellectual and emotional development now provides the child with an
opportunity to understand relationships between two persons which the child is not a
part of – e.g. the relationship between the father and the mother. Previously, the child
could not comprehend relationships between two people, which the child is part of –
for example ‘Mom says that I must not touch the plant. But I will do it anyways’. (...)
If we put this into an oedipal context, the child now understands more and more of the
parent’s interrelationship.” (Mousten, p. 100 (Author’s own translation))
The child now understands relationships between two persons and is able to tell if the parents are
happy or angry. He notices that there sometimes are hate and sometimes joy between the parents
and he is constantly occupied with sympathy and apathy. Always is he trying to determine whether
or not he likes someone or not. These feelings also affect the parents; usually the father will be the
“bad guy” while the mother is the lucky one, mainly because the prior strong relationship between
boy and mother. Another reason for this is the newly discovered love relationship between mother
and father, causing the boy to realise that he now has an enemy in his relationship with his mother.
Now the boy will say to his mother that they will marry when he grows older or when the father is
dead mother and boy will be married. The father’s death wish leads the child to imagine some kind
of fear of revenge from the father. This fear is called castration anxiety, coined by Freud. There are
two sides of the matter with castration anxiety. The first is the boy’s imagination that tells him that
the reason for someone that does not have a penis is because they have lost it. Maybe someone has
cut it off or it is broken. The second is that the boy feels that if the father really wanted he could
push the boy away from his mother, thus keeping her for herself.
Page 8 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
“He is thus threatened on two levels, partly threatened to be interrupted in his attempt
to develop a masculine identity, and partly threatened by separation anxiety, meaning
the fear of losing contact with the mother. (...) So castration anxiety is not only the
fear of the threat of losing the relationship to the mother but also the risk of losing
one’s identity. (...) After the death wishes and the castration anxiety the Oedipus
complex is so well underway that the boy often feels insecure and restless, making him
seek the security of the mother even more. (...) The primary identification of the father
is now pushed away. Sexuality in the relationship to the mother is cancelled out due to
feelings of guilt. The relationship to the father becomes conflicted and the boy tries to
establish a bond to the mother.” (Mousten, p. 100-2 (Author’s own translation))
Development Psychology and Psychoanalysis
According to Freud, there are three points of view that describe the processes and events in the
human psyche: the topographic, the economic and the dynamic view.
The topographic view illustrates that the human psyche can be categorised in three different
groups: the conscious, the preconscious and the unconscious.
“(...)distinguish two kinds of unconscious – one which is easily, under frequently
occurring circumstances, transformed into something conscious, and another with
which this transformation is difficult and takes place only subject to a considerable
expenditure of effort or possibly never at all. In order to escape the ambiguity as to
whether we mean the one or the other unconscious, whether we are using the word in
the descriptive or in the dynamic sense, we make use of a permissible and simple way
out. We call the unconscious which is only latent, and thus easily becomes conscious,
the 'preconscious', and retain the term 'unconscious' for the other. We now have three
terms, ‘conscious’, ‘preconscious’ and ‘unconscious’, with which we can along in our
description of mental phenomena. Once again: the preconscious is also unconscious
in the purely descriptive sense, but we do not give it that name, except in talking
Page 9 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
loosely or when we have to make a defence of the existence in mental life of
unconscious processes in general.” (Freud, p. 4679)
Freud discovered that the human mind cannot be made up with only what we are conscious about
but also what we are unaware of or unconscious about. The human’s psychic life is made up by an
unconscious part that we cannot access because we are not conscious about its existence. An
example could be a strong childhood experience which we have “forgotten”, as we have repressed it
out of the conscious part of our mind. We therefore have a conscious part, a preconscious part (a
part that is latent but can be accessed) and an unconscious part (which we have difficulties in
accessing). (Jonassen, p. 35)
The economic view is based on the principle that there is a constant amount of energy that cannot
be destroyed but can be transformed. If it is lost from one place it will appear in another. Freud
believed that this energy was also to be found in humans. In a conflict, a person would “spend”
energy and if the conflict was afterwards repressed, the energy would be stored in the person’s
unconscious part of the mind. Freud called this storing of energy cathexis. (Jonassen, p. 35-6)
The dynamic view is the principle that the flow of energy in a person is used on one specific
incident, leaving the rest of the body with no energy.
“If a person at a time is affected by some conflict – and possibly concerned with
understanding and processing these – the person in his behaviour afterwards can
experience a tiredness which can be both physical and mental. The energy is focused
on the process of the conflict and thus leaves less energy to the function of the person.
In a more natural sense it can be noted that our organism is creating energy when it is
converting food and oxygen, an energy that is used to satisfy needs from other parts of
the personality than the physical survival, e.g. thinking, speaking, making love.”
A change of state therefore happens, as something in us is released from one
system to be used in another.” (Jonassen, p.36 (Author’s own translation))
From this we can deduct that the psychoanalytic theory builds on the concept that humans are
controlled by the unconscious parts of the mind. The unconscious part has been developed by
Page 10 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
experiences and emotions from the childhood, which we now have repressed because they, at that
time, led to negative and fearful experiences.
Another important aspect of Freudian psychoanalysis is that all mental processes (dreams,
fantasies, behaviour) are not spontaneous. In fact they are determined by previous experiences,
usually from the childhood. This aspect is called the psychic determinism. This aspect is connected
with the causality principle, meaning that an incident experienced when child(cause) will follow
you into adulthood(effect). But because they are unconscious they are hard to understand.
(Jonassen, p. 36-7)
Id, ego and super-ego
The personality is described, in Freudian theory, as the id, ego and super-ego. At a normal person
the three structures will be in balance and in unity. The purpose of it is to control the link between
drives and needs on one side, and the persons function as a member of society on the other side.
The basic and only congenital part of the personality is the id. It is the unconscious part of the
personality that consists of needs, drives and impulses. The id is controlled by the pleasure
principle. This principle dictates that people will avoid pain and seek pleasure in order to fulfil basic
needs. If a need arises, e.g. hunger, the human will encounter pain and will immediately try to fulfil
the need, in this case by eating. Another aspect of the id is the primary process. The purpose of the
primary process is to create an image of an object which the mind crave in order to fulfil a need.
The reason for creating an image is to reduce the frustration or pain of that which has not been
fulfilled yet. The primary process is occurring before the development of speech, and that is why it
is called primary. We see that the only function of the id is to meet the pleasure principle. This
means that the id is the “irrational” and “unreasonable” part of the personality precisely because it is
unconscious. (Jonassen, p. 38-9)
The purpose of the ego is to represent the person’s reasoned and volitional side; meaning that it
helps in the fulfilment of the basic needs but on a more realistic level. The pleasure principle is
substituted with the reality principle, because the surrounding world must be taken into account
when the drives are satisfied.
Page 11 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
The reality process is further functioning with the help of the secondary process. This process
helps the personality in expressing the need in words and thoughts.
“The secondary process, however, has abandoned this intention and has taken
another in its place – the establishment of a “thought identity”. All thinking is no more
than a circuitous path from the memory of a satisfaction (a memory which has been
adopted as a purposive idea) to an identical cathexis of the same memory which it is
hoped to attain once more through an intermediate state of motor experiences.”
(Freud, p. 1029)
The super-ego observes, manages and threats the ego as the parents once did; a sort of “inner
conscious”. The super-ego has another important function, the ego ideal. This means that a person is
raised with a set of ideals which the person strives to accomplish.
“The super-ego is, however, not simply a residue of the earliest object-choices of the
id; it also represents an energetic reaction-formation against those choices. Its
relation to the ego is not exhausted by the precept: ‘You ought to be like this (like your
father).’ It also comprises the prohibition: ‘You may not be like this (like your father)
– that is, you may not do all that he does; some things are his prerogative.’ This
double aspect of the ego ideal derives from the fact that the ego ideal had the task of
repressing the Oedipus complex; indeed, it is to that revolutionary event that it owes
its existence.” (Freud, p. 3968)
Another aspect of psychoanalysis is the concept of fixation. In a certain stage of development the
child will fixate on a way of satisfaction which is characteristic by the stage, e.g. fixation of sucking
from the oral stage. Furthermore, a boy can also be fixated on his connection with his mother
making it difficult to establish a future love relationship with someone else.
Anxiety of a new situation is the primary cause of fixation; an anxiety of making progress in
one’s development. This anxiety stems from distrust in an individual’s attempt to begin something
new. (Jonassen, p. 47)
Page 12 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
If the ego can properly channel the energy from an originally anxiety provoking need to a more
socially accepted course (i.e. ways of satisfaction that is not anxiety provoking), it is called
sublimation. The characterising of sublimation is the socially not acceptable drives, such as sexual
drives, that is channelized and used in other endeavours, such as creative and artistic endeavours.
This results in the individual higher usage of energy in a direction which the society finds
acceptable. (Jonassen, p. 47-8)
Development psychology
The Freudian theory of development psychology is divided in stages, whereof the first three are
focusing on the psychosexual development. In the first three stages of development we see a
particularly sense of pleasure in each of them; also called the libido by Freud. These sources of
pleasure are attached to a certain area of the body, which Freud called the erogenous zones.
Though, according to Freud, the whole body is considered erogenous, there are three zones that are
particularly receptive at a young age: the mouth (the oral stage), the anus (the anal stage) and the
penis (the phallic stage).
Freud characterised the first stages as primary narcissistic, named after the myth of Narcissus.
He was in love with his own reflection that he forgot to satisfy his needs and thus died. According
to Jonassen:
“The child’s libido (sexual energy) is bound to its own body, to the erogenous zones.
This means that the child’s “love” is, at this stage, directed towards itself and not
towards an object (=a person) in the surrounding world. This only happens later in
the development where the narcissistic love of the self will be substituted by an actual
object love.” (Jonassen, p. 50 (Author’s own translation))
The oral stage (approximately 0-1½ years)
Page 13 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
The first stage of the psychosexual development is called the oral stage, as the mouth is the most
important erogenous zone for the child. The sense of pleasure is satisfied when the child is breastfed
and is sucking on other things. According to Freud, it is obvious that the child would suck, even
though the child had enough to eat, meaning that it finds sucking as a sense of pleasure. Since
neither the ego nor super-ego is fully developed the id controls the child. (Jonassen, p. 50)
The anal stage (approximately 1½-3 years)
Later on in a child’s life the erogenous zone goes from the mouth to the rectum, hence the anal
stage. As the child’s faeces solidify it will feel a sense of pleasure as the child is master of
“delivering” or “withholding” the faeces and urine. This also causes the child to be proud of its own
and others achievements on the potty.
Children that are raised with a strict toilet training will most likely have attributes of
perfectionism, cleaning obsession, thrift and great sense of order when they grow older. Conversely,
the child can develop attributes of sloppiness and disorganisation.
Furthermore, Freud regarded the capitalistic society a result of the abovementioned attributes, as
he thought that the attributes are viewed as virtues. “This refers to attributes that are dominating in
a generation, and formed due to the specific social and societal conditions, the generation is subject
to.” (Jonassen, p. 51 (Author’s own translation))
The phallic stage (approximately 3-5 years)
The third stage is called the phallic stage, as the genitals are considered the main erogenous zone.
The child can with the help of masturbation give rise to a sense of pleasure. Generally, the child is
curious about the function and appearance of the genitals and children’s coming to existence in this
stage of development.
As described in a previous section the child fall victim to the Oedipus complex when it enters the
phallic stage. The boy’s first object of love is the mother, as she has taken care of everything in the
Page 14 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
boys first years of living. She is now a subject to not only his love but also his erotic thoughts. The
child wants her for himself, making the father an opponent, which the boy obviously will hate and
try to get rid of. Even though the child wishes to kill his father he eventually fills up with anxiety,
as he is afraid of losing his father (which he at the end loves) and fear of the consequences of these
thoughts; he fears that he might lose his penis, which Freud called castration anxiety. The child has
discovered that some people are missing their penis, which makes him think that they have lost it.
The boy will no longer view his mother in a sexual manner but instead turn towards his father and
imitate his values and standards. This is called identification and is a prerequisite for creating the
super-ego which replaces the Oedipus complex. (Jonassen, p. 51-2)
The latency stage (approximately 6-8 years to puberty)
This stage was not given much attention from Freud, as he considered that the psychosexual
development of a child enters an idle period. The reason for this is that the libido is not linked with
any zones or body functions any longer. It must be noted that the libido is not completely gone but
is “hidden”, hence the name latency. The libido will remain “hidden” until the years of puberty
where the libido will again come “to life”. (Jonassen, p. 53)
The genital stage (from puberty and onwards)
The final stage of psychosexual development begins at the puberty. The person’s sexual drives are
awaken once again, and seek to direct these urges towards the opposite sex, with the intention of
satisfying his sense of pleasure towards the genitals. (Heffner)
Analysis of female characters
The following section will deal with the most prominent female characters in Sons and Lovers. It
will determine why they are important to the plot and to Paul in particular.
Page 15 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
Miriam Leivers
Miriam is a religious girl who lives on Willey farm near the Morel family. None of the characters in
the first part of Sons and Lovers is seriously introduced to the reader, but Miriam is introduced
when Paul and his mother visits Willey farm:
“Mother and son went into the small railed garden, where was a scent of red gillivers.
By the open door were some floury loaves, put out to cool. A hen was just coming to
peck them. Then, in the doorway suddenly appeared a girl in a dirty apron. She was
about fourteen years old, had a rosy dark face, a bunch of short black curls, very fine
and free, and dark eyes; shy, questioning, a little resentful of the strangers, she
disappeared.” (Lawrence, p. 109-10)
The scene where Miriam is anxiously feeding the hen, we notice that the scene shows more than
Miriam’s fright, but also:
“(…) her extreme sensitivity, along with her shy desire for new experience: she wants
to try, she wants to learn; if rightly encouraged she will and can learn, and then she
can respond with laughter and trembling excitement. The first view of Miriam, seen
through the eyes of the objective narrator, is astir with life: for all her shyness and
shrinking she is nevertheless capable of strong response.” (Martz, p. 53)
We see that Miriam in fact wants to learn about the world and she is capable of it. As written
before, none of the characters are heavily introduced in the first part, but in the second part,
Lawrence uses the first couple of pages to introduce Miriam, making the reader more intimate with
Miriam.
In part two we are told, according to Martz, that Miriam:
“(…) is also a girl who is ‘mad to have learning whereon to pride herself’; and for all
these causes she neglects and ignores her physical being: ‘Her beauty – that of a shy,
wild, quiveringly sensitive thing – seemed nothing to her. Even her soul, so strong for
Page 16 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
rhapsody, was not enough. She must have something to reinforce her pride, because
she felt different from other people.’ At the same time, her misty emotions lead her
towards a desire to dominate Paul: ‘Then he was so ill, and she felt he would be weak.
Then she would be stronger than him. Then she could love him. If she could be
mistress of him in his weakness, take care of him, if he could depend on her, if she
could, as it were, have him in her arms, how she would love him!” (Martz, p. 54)
We are told that Miriam has difficulties in loving Paul completely. She feels as if Paul is stronger
than her, thus pushing her away from him. This leads on to the end of the novel where Miriam for a
last time tries to encourage Paul to marry her:
“She could easily sacrifice herself. But dare she assert herself? She was aware of his
dark-clothed, slender body, that seemed one stroke of life, sprawled in the chair close
to her. But no; she dared not put her arms round it, take it up, and say, ‘It is mine, this
body. Leave it to me.’ And she wanted to. It called to all her woman’s instinct. But she
crouched, and dared not. She was afraid he would not let her. She was afraid it was
too much. It lay there, his body, abandoned. She knew she ought to take it up and
claim it, and claim every right to it. But—could she do it? Her impotence before him,
before the strong demand of some unknown thing in him, was her extremity.”
(Lawrence, p. 363)
Paul dismisses her, in fear of not being able to be himself and caught in a relationship like his
mother.
“‘You know,’ she said, ‘I think we ought to be married.’
He opened his eyes for the first time since many months, and attended to her with
respect.
‘Why?’ he said.
‘See,’ she said, ‘how you waste yourself! You might be ill, you might die, and I never
know—be no more then than if I had never known you.’
‘And if we married?’ he asked.
Page 17 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
‘At any rate, I could prevent you wasting yourself and being a prey to other women—
like—like Clara.’
‘A prey?’ he repeated, smiling.
She bowed her head in silence. He lay feeling his despair come up again.
‘I’m not sure,’ he said slowly, ‘that marriage would be much good.’
‘I only think of you,’ she replied.
‘I know you do. But—you love me so much, you want to put me in your pocket. And I
should die there smothered.’” (Lawrence, p. 362-3)
The last sentence sums up Paul’s real desire towards Miriam. He is afraid of her ever-present
craving of him. Furthermore, Mrs. Morel hate towards Miriam plays a role in Paul’s thoughts of
Miriam.
Mrs. Morel
Mrs. Morel is the protagonist in the first half of the novel. She originates from a higher class than
her husband who is a drunken coalminer. Mrs. Morel is unsatisfied with her husband because he
does not live up to her expectation. She slowly loses her love for him and instead channelizes her
love to her sons, thus making them take the place of her husband.
Mrs. Morel clearly hates Miriam and wants Paul for herself: “I can’t bear it. I could put up with
another woman—but not her. She’d leave me no room, not a bit of room.” (Lawrence, p. 186)
Apparently it does not bother Mrs. Morel that his son is having an almost husband-wife relationship
with her; the sexual innuendos and the constant touching of each other further proves this point:
“He stroke his mother’s hair, and his mouth was on her throat. (…) His mother kissed him a long,
fervent kiss. (…) he gently stroked her face.” (Lawrence, p. 186) Paul agrees in this relationship
when he speaks about the mother’s hate for Miriam: “No, mother – I really don’t love her. I talk to
her, but I want to come home to you.” (Lawrence, p. 186) Mrs. Morel even dismisses her husband
as if he has never existed: “And I’ve never – you know, Paul – I’ve never had a husband – not really
–“(Lawrence, p. 186) Paul even goes as far as to convince her mother to not sleep in the same bed
Page 18 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
as his father after they have had a fight but maybe instead sleep in his bed, but Mrs. Morel
dismisses:
“’Sleep with Annie, mother, not with him.’
‘No. I’ll sleep in my own bed.’
‘Don’t sleep with him, mother.’
‘I’ll sleep in my own bed.’
She rose, and he turned out the gas, then followed her closely upstairs, carrying her
candle. On the landing he kissed her close.
‘Good-night, mother.’
‘Good-night!’ she saig.
He pressed his face upon the pillow in a fury of misery. And yet, somewhere in his
soul, he was at peace because he still loved his mother best. It was the bitter peace of
resignation.” (Lawrence, 188)
According to Thomas L. Jeffers, all Mrs. Morel desire for her children is to escape the lower
classes:
“What Mrs. Morel wants is not so much erotic satisfaction, though the occasional
rekindling of the flame she initially shared with her husband shows that she would not
be ungrateful for it, as the socioeconomic satisfaction of earning the money that could
boost their children into the middle class. Like Shakespeare’s Gertrude [from
Hamlet], she finally cares most about her offspring. For her, the parental team’s goal
is acquisition and merger-acquiring the wherewithal that guarantees the
respectability of a smart house, the chance at a grammar-school education (the
ancient universities were still largely out of question for all but sons of the very wellto-do), and the clothes and manners that could introduce them into circles where they
might meet the daughters of families still higher on the social ladder, with whom they
might merge through marriage.” (Jeffers, p. 299-300)
Page 19 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
Clara Dawes
Paul fulfils his emotional needs with Miriam while he fulfils his sexual needs with Clara. According
to Kate Millett:
“(...) Clara, who it really two people, the rebellious feminist and political activist
whom Paul accuses of penis envy and even man-hating, and who tempts him the more
for being a harder conquest, and, at a later stage, the sensuous rose, who by the end
of the novel is changed once again – now beyond recognition – into a ‘loose woman’
whom Paul nonchalantly disposes of when he has exhausted her sexual utility.”
(Millet, p. 83)
Paul further proves this point when he only wishes to be engaged in a relationship with Clara after
working hours:
“’But what do you always want to be kissing and embracing for?’ he said. ‘Surely
there’s a time for everything?’
She looked up at him, and the hate came into her eyes.
‘Do I always want to be kissing you?’ she said.
‘Always, even if I come to ask you about the work. I don’t want anything to do with
love when I’m at work. Work’s work –‘
‘And what is love?’ she asked. ‘Has it to have special hours?’
‘Yes; out-of-work hours.’
‘And you’ll regulate it according to Mr Jordan’s closing time?’
‘Yes; and according to the freedom from business of any sort.’
‘It is only to exist in spare time?’
‘That’s all, and not always then – not the kissing sort of love.’
‘And that’s all you think of it?’
‘It’s quite enough.’
‘I’m glad you think so.’ (Lawrence, p. 309)
Page 20 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
Furthermore, Millet claims that Paul’s emotionless relationship with Clara is a reaction to his
mother’s abnormal affection to him. Millet describes that: “(...) the Freudian explanations of his
coldness as being due to his mother’s baneful influence.” (Millet, 86) which tells the reader that
Paul perceives the relationship with Clara as a passing opportunity.
Analysis of Sons and Lovers
The novel Sons and Lovers is divided in two parts. The first part focuses on Mrs. Morel and her
unhappy marriage with Walter Morel, a drunken collier. Mrs. Morel is much pained throughout her
marriage and finds her only comfort in her children, especially the oldest William. When William
grows older and moves to London, Mrs. Morel is upset. Soon hereafter William dies and Mrs.
Morel is devastated. She does not find any joy in life until her other son Paul is close to dying.
From this point on Paul become her only reason to live and the novel changes focus to Paul Morel’s
life. Paul falls in love with Miriam Leivers, despite Mrs. Morel’s disapproval of her, and since Paul
loves his mother before anyone else he will not marry Miriam. Hereafter Paul encounters Clara
Dawes with which he falls in love with and breaks up with Miriam. Since Clara will not divorce her
husband she and Paul cannot get married. After this, Mrs. Morel falls gravely ill forcing Paul to
devote all his time with her. Unfortunately, Mrs. Morel dies and Paul is devastated and considers
suicide but chooses not to.
The novel Sons and Lovers has heavy connotations of an actual Oedipus complex between Paul and
his parents. We are told that Paul sleeps in the same bed as his mother and at the same time hates
his father, and in the end grows up to be like him:
“For it is surely the case that Sons and Lovers without appearing to be at all aware of
it, is a profoundly Oedipal novel: the young Paul Morel who sleeps in the same bed as
his mother, treats her with the tenderness of a lover and feels strong animosity
towards his father, grows to be the man Morel, unable to sustain a fulfilling
relationship with a woman, and in the end achieving possible release from this
Page 21 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
condition by killing his mother in an ambiguous act of love, revenge and selfliberation.” (Eagleton, p. 43)
Though Paul has not actually killed his father and slept with his mother he has, according to Ronald
Granofsky, already been through the Oedipus complex in a symbolic sense:
“Although, according to Freudian paradigm, the oedipal phase is part of normal
(male) childhood development, in a sense there is really little reason for oedipal
hostility between father and son in Sons and Lovers. As James Cowan writes: ‘since
the mother no longer loves her husband, the infant son [Paul], early in the oral
incorporative stage, has already effectively won the oedipal rivalry with his father.’
(...) In fact, the battle for the affection of the mother was won even before Paul’s birth
by his older brother, William, whose mantle of lover-son Paul inherits after William’s
untimely death.” (Granofsky, p. 243)
We see that the oedipal battle has already been won before Paul’s birth which gives him an
advantage in fighting for his mother from his father. As Granofsky further explains, the sons of
Mrs. Morel are craving the feminine values instead of the masculine ones, precisely because of their
strong affection to her: an affection they have grown up with because of the hate of their father and
because of the “forced nicknames” of their father, lord and master. The recuperation of the
masculine is usually won through the idealisation of the father but since the boys only had a strong
connection with their mother the recuperation is not possible.
“It is here that the recuperation of the masculine plays a crucial role, for healthy
separation from the mother is normally accomplished through idealization of the
father. (...) the Morel sons’ view of the father as an enemy in this patriarchal mining
community (where husbands are routinely and not always ironically called ‘lord and
master’ by the wives) involves them in a rejection of masculine values in favour of
feminine one.” (Granofsky, p. 244)
Page 22 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
Furthermore, Granofsky claims that Paul’s relationship with Baxter is a move towards the
masculine values. His initial fallout with Baxter and then becoming friends suggests that Paul is
rejecting the femininity brought onto him by his mother:
“While Paul may go along with both Clara and his mother in repudiating
Baxter/Walter, his reconciliation with Baxter and rejection of Clara finally suggests
that he realizes he must align himself with aspect of his father’s world. Clara’s
feminism and resentment of men pique Paul as well because they are similar to his
mother’s attitude, and insofar as her uncouth husband, Baxter, resembles Walter,
Paul is, of course, re-enacting his own family’s dynamic, oedipal and otherwise, in his
involvement with this pair.” (Granofsky, p. 254)
Moreover, Mrs. Morel has a secret weapon in being unappreciative in every move of Morel; his
drinking and dirt from the mine. Mrs. Morel’s children share this weapon with their mother, making
the children distance themselves from the masculinity of their father. “In Sons and Lovers, as in
Lawrence’s life, the father is seemingly unavailable to the sons for masculine identification. One
important tool used by Gertrude Morel to effect the estrangement between Walter and the children
and her moral outrage at his dirt and drinking, an attitude they, and Paul not least,, come to
share.” (Granofsky, p. 245)
Despite Paul’s hate to his father, he actually wishes to hurt his mother as a rebellious act. The scene
where Paul burns his sister Annie’s doll can be regarded as many as an act of violence towards his
mother. This indicates an unconscious wish for his mother to die but also to help build up his sense
of self:
“(...) the doll is a stand-in for Mrs. Morel, and Paul’s actions allow him to play out
his feelings of rage toward his mother in a safe way. (...), in the service of the child’s
need to see the object of his attack actually surviving because the survival will serve
to build up the child’s own emerging sense of self through the discovery of what
Lawrence came to call otherness, that is to say, the realization that the object is not
fully subject to the self, even to the self’s explosive rage, and is therefore separate
from that self. But, of course, the doll does not survive, and this failure is an emblem
Page 23 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
of Paul’s greatest fear regarding his mother: her vulnerability to “the child’s ruthless
self-assertion”, an assertion that thereby becomes taboo.” (Granofsky, p. 252)
When Morel is recovering in the hospital after a work related accident Paul mentions to his mother:
“’I’m the man in the house now,’ he used to say to his mother with joy. They learned how perfectly
peaceful the home could be. And they almost regretted – though none of them would have owned to
such callousness – but their father was soon coming back.” (Lawrence, p. 78) This suggests that
Mrs. Morel would not mind if Paul took over the patriarchal role in the house.
In the scene where Mrs. Morel lies in her deathbed and Paul’s euthanasia, it can be noted, according
to Granofsky, that the use of milk is very symbolic as it is the bond between mother and child.
While Mrs. Morel used it to give Paul life he chooses to take hers away:
“(...) when Paul feeds his mother the morphia that ends her suffering and her life, his
inversion of the power-dynamic of their relationship is underscored by his use of milk,
the basis and symbol of the mother-child bond, for the fatal potion. (...) He feeds her
as she had fed him, but he kills her while she gave him life. Furthermore, it is an
overdose of medicine that Paul puts in the milk as if to suggest symbolically the toxic
nature of his mother’s maternal role when offered in too large a dose, as it indeed
was. What has not often been noted is that shortly after Mrs. Morel’s death, Paul’s
father becomes the nourisher offering milk to his son, and Paul accepts the offering:
“’Sithee – I made thee a drop o’ hot milk. Get it down thee, it’s cold enough for owt.’
Paul drank it”” (Granofsky, p. 255)
Despite killing his mother, Paul quickly discovers another source of nourishment, his father. As
Morel offers him milk, despites Paul’s recent use of milk as toxic for his mother, Paul accepts it and
thus almost instantly erasing Mrs. Morel’s role as mother.
As mentioned earlier, Mrs. Morel and Miriam share many similarities in their personalities. These
similarities keep Paul from marrying Miriam. Though Miriam almost acts as a substitute for Mrs.
Morel, Paul cannot fully love Miriam because of his abnormal affection for his mother.
Furthermore, the emotionless relationship with Clara is also a side effect to Mrs. Morel’s strong
Page 24 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
affection to her child. According to Freudian theory, the Oedipus complex of Paul is mainly
achieved because of Mrs. Morel. Paul has never acknowledged his masculine values, only accepting
the feminine, and thus having problem in channelizing his love to other women besides his mother.
This has led to an underdeveloped super-ego that has difficulties in realising what is right and
wrong and what is ethically and morally correct.
Conclusion
The novel Sons and Lovers is many ways inspired by Freud’s Oedipus complex, even though
Lawrence persistently dismissed the allegations. But many critics consider it an autobiographical
novel: Frank Kermode describes Lawrence’s writing of the novel as a period of multiple crises in
his own life: “It was begun before the death of his mother, which is its climax; it was rewritten at
the behest of an early lover, Miriam, and then again under the eye of Frieda after their elopement.”
(Kermode, p. 21) We can now see that Lawrence’s life compared to Paul’s is not very different. As
written earlier, Lawrence and his mother were exceptionally close, as is Paul and his mother. This
has led many readers to agree that Paul suffers under an Oedipus complex.
As described in the theory part, we notice that there are requirements for “successfully
achieving” an Oedipus complex. But we also see that Paul, in his case, has already “won the oedipal
rivalry over his father” (Granofsky, p. 243) which this author agrees with. As Paul was only raised
by his mother, because his father was always working and then getting drunk, Paul never
experienced the castration anxiety and the identification with his father. As Paul realised that his
mother and father was in an unsatisfactory marriage he never saw his father as a threat and felt more
secure and safe with his mother: thus the abnormal affection between mother and son. Furthermore,
we notice that Paul is fixated with his mother and because of this cannot be in a normal relationship
with Miriam and Clara. He also makes excuses for never marrying Miriam and he also has
difficulties in staying in an emotionless relationship with Clara. Paul’s anxiety for discovering
something new is the primary reason for not being able to love anybody else than his mother, i.e.
the difficulties in maintaining his relationship with Clara and Miriam.
Page 25 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
Furthermore, Paul’s artistic endeavour is what Freud coined sublimation. Paul cannot fulfil his
unconscious sexual desire for his mother as it is socially unacceptable he instead ventures into the
artistic world where he paints. One may say that Paul channelize his energy towards his paintings in
order to escape the socially unacceptable norm of wanting to sleep with his mother.
In future studies of this subject one could interpret the life of Lawrence in order to ascertain
whether or not his own life is implicated in the novel, and if so, which elements could contain traces
of the oedipal. Furthermore, one could find different critic’s point of view of the Oedipus complex,
since much of Freud’s work has been rejected as exaggerated and over the top. A feministic
approach of the subject, Mrs. Morel’s, Miriam’s and Clara’s point of view, could also be expounded
further, to determine the Oedipus complex and the challenging quest for love in Paul.
Page 26 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
Bibliography
1. Eagleton, Terry. "Psychoanalysis and Society in Sons and Lovers." Ed. Rick Rylance. Sons
and Lovers. London: MACMILLAN PRESS LTD, 1996. 40-48. Print.
2. Fink, Hans and Hans Hauge. Identiteter i forandring. Århus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag,
1991. Print.
3. Freud, Sigmund. Freud - Complete Works. Print.
4. Granofsky, Ronald. "" His Father's Dirty Digging": Recuperating the Masculine in DH
Lawrence's Sons and Lovers." MFS Modern Fiction Studies, 55. 2 (2009): 242--264. Print.
5. Heffner,
C.
L..
N.p..
Web.
2
Jan
2014.
<http://allpsych.com/psychology101/sexual_development.html>.
6. Jeffers, Thomas L. ""We children were the in-betweens": Character (de)formation in Sons
and Lovers."Texas Studies in Literature and Language. 42 .3 (2000): n. page. Web. 5 Jan.
2014.
<http://search.proquest.com.zorac.aub.aau.dk/docview/208057164/142CA4E3C1F272C2E7
4/1?accountid=8144>.
7. Jonassen, Ann Joy, and Suzanna Ringsted. "Sigmund Freuds psykoanalytiske teori." Editor
Esben Jerlang Udviklingspsykologiske teorier. 2nd ed. Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1993. 3261. Print.
8. Kermode, Frank. "The Writing of Sons and Lovers." Ed. Rick Rylance. Sons and Lovers.
London: MACMILLAN PRESS LTD, 1996. 21-27. Print.
9. Lawrence, D. H. Sons and lovers. London: Wordsworth Classics, 1993. Print.
Page 27 of 28
Delil Hasan Sütcü
BA-English
dsatca11@student.aau.dk
10. Martz, Louis L.. "A Portrait of Miriam: A Study in the Design of Sons and Lovers." Ed.
Rick Rylance. Sons and Lovers. London: MACMILLAN PRESS LTD, 1996. 49-73. Print.
11. Millet, Kate. "Sexual Politics in Sons and Lovers." Ed. Rick Rylance. Sons and Lovers.
London: MACMILLAN PRESS LTD, 1996. 74-88. Print.
12. Mousten, Leif. Identitet og udvikling. Hellerup: Leif Mousten, 1986. Print.
13. Oedipus complex. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Academic
Edition.
Encyclopaedia
Britannica
Inc.,
2013.
Web.
28
Dec.
2013.
<http://www.britannica.com.zorac.aub.aau.dk/EBchecked/topic/425451/Oedipus-complex>
Page 28 of 28