Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence essays

Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence essays Throughout ones lifetime many relationships are established between people that result in either a negative or positive influence on a person, shaping how they form new relationships with others. Throughout D.H. Lawrences classic novel Sons and Lovers, the character of Paul Morel is developed through his relationships with three women, Gertrude, his mother, and his two loves Miriam and Clara. These women each play a distinct role in the construction of Paul, as his connection with his mother is Oedipal, while his relationships with Clara and Miriam are sexual and spiritual. Gertrude is the most powerful woman in Pauls life, and thus this tight-knit relationship serves as the root for Pauls future affairs. It is no coincidence that Gertrude shares the same name as Hamlets Queen Gertrude, for both women share the mothers possessive role of the Oedipal complex. Paul sees his mother as youthful and virginal, frequently comparing her to flowers. At times Paul and Gertrudes closeness is a lmost like that of a couple, for example while the mother and son dine in town together, Paul thinks of her as "gay as a sweetheart", and feels the "excitement of lovers". However, Gertrudes youthfulness was not eternal, and so when it begins to fade, Paul experiences both irritation and jealousy: Why cant a man have a young mother?... And why wasnt I the oldest son? Look-they say the young ones have the advantage-but look, they had the young mother. You should have had me for your eldest son. Daniel A. Weiss delves into Pauls peculiar reaction to his aging mother in his essay "The Mother in the Mind". Weiss suggests that, in this aspect of the Oedipal complex, that Pauls "real desire is to be even more than the oldest son, is not even that his mother remain young, but that they equal in age no matter what it is". Referring to Weiss mention of "the in...