Read 'Sons & Lovers' over 20 years ago while doing English Literature teaching practice somewhere in north-west England, and last weekend, I felt I had to catch up with D.H. Lawrence's classic novel through watching the DVD production (above) starring Sarah Lancashire as Gertrude Morel:
Felt that Sarah Lancashire played the part of Gertrude (a strong, obstinate, and inwardly powerful/passionate but repressed character) perfectly.
Watching this DVD allowed me to quickly recall the plot, main themes and imagery from 'Sons & Lovers'.
The early part of the novel focuses on Gertrude getting married below her status to a miner, Walter Morel, with the couple being a replica of Lawrence's own parents, of course. The early part of Gertrude and Walter's marriage is highly passionate, but the couple drift apart mainly through Walter's drinking, which leads to Gertrude pouring her affections towards her eldest son, William (below) and Paul later on (after William's death).
And here, we have the crux of D.H. Lawrence's 'Oedipus Complex' theme, with both sons being pitched against their father while gaining the overwhelming and stifling affections of their mother. Such is the case with Paul as he only seems fulfilled in his mother's presence and company:
Of course, as a budding and talented artist, Paul Morel is the D.H. Lawrence figure in the novel:
His walks with Miriam, played brilliantly by Lyndsey Marshal (below) in the DVD, only offer Paul intellectual/metaphysical-type conversations (Lawrence's notion of 'male mental consciousness') which don't fulfil Paul as he seeks physical passion (Lawrence's notion of 'female sexual consciousness):
Remember reading about this Lawrentian male-female polarity theme when encountering Lawrence's 'Study of Thomas Hardy' about 25 years ago while studying Literature at university.
To some degree, Paul Morel finds what he's looking for in his more passionate intimacy with the older Clara Dawes, played brilliantly by Esther Hall (below) in the DVD, who is separated from her roughneck husband, Baxter.
Sitting in the background, there is Gertrude's daughter, Annie Morel, who, compared with her brothers, is a far more stoic figure who rarely gets a look in from her mother:
So back to Lawrence's focus on the 'Oedipus Complex' theme: Gertrude Morel can be continually seen forcing her sons, especially Paul, into reciprocal love, which prevents them from loving other women fully in adulthood. In this respect, Gertrude may be viewed as defeating Miriam, whom she strongly disapproves of, in a metaphysical battle for Paul's soul, while Clara may be seen as a failed maternal substitute for his mother, although much closer to what he seeks and desires than Miriam. However, the fact is that for Paul Morel, no other woman can live up to his mother, and because neither Miriam nor Clara resemble his mother, his relationships with them are doomed to failure. In this sense, his morphine overdosing of his dying mother may be viewed as a release from the 'Oedipus Complex' for Paul.
Some final thoughts on this deeply Freudian-type novel, when I read 'Sons & Lovers' many years ago, I couldn't help but notice the male-female phallic imagery with tuberous tree trunks symbolically representing the male private part and the cherry tree that Paul and William are both drawn towards possibly representing the female sexual part.
Furthermore, in the background of the novel, there's an early 20th century 'changing landscape' theme, as an agricultural (more female/sentient) world is starting to give way to a (more male/rationally calculated) industrial world which creates more complicated and painful lives for the men and women living in this changing world.
And finally, from this incredibly moving and human novel, who do I most sympathise/empathise with? Well, perhaps surprisingly, it would have to be Miriam, as all she seems to be looking for is somebody more subtle and loving and less physically forceful than Paul Morel. Of course, I could be well off the mark here, but that's the beauty of literature, I guess, freedom of interpretation (alongside the author's intention) is a significant part of the creating meaning process.
And still at the end of the DVD production, like at the end of the novel many years ago, I'm left marvelling at D.H. Lawrence being a genius with his complex presentation of the male-female polarity and 'Oedipus Complex' themes.
With the male-female polarity theme, where Lawrence views male and female forces as having to balance in harmony (both between the sexes and inside the individual psyche) for a successful male-female relationship to be attained, I view 'Sons & Lovers', like 'The Rainbow', as a search for this polarity, while 'Women in Love' may be viewed as the finding of this harmony through Ursula Brangwen and Rupert Birkin's relationship.
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