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Of course, Mrs. Morel takes neither of her two elder sons (the first of whom dies early, which further intensifies her grip on Paul) as a literal lover, but nonetheless her psychological snare is immense. She loathes Paul's Miriam from the start, understanding that the girl's deep love of her son will oust her: "She's not like an ordinary woman, who can leave me my share in him. She wants to absorb him." Meanwhile, Paul plays his part with equal fervor, incapable of committing himself in either direction: "Why did his mother sit at home and suffer?... And why did he hate Miriam, and feel so cruel towards her, at the thought of his mother. If Miriam caused his mother suffering, then he hated her--and he easily hated her." Soon thereafter he even confesses to his mother: "I really don't love her. I talk to her, but I want to come home to you."
The result of all this is that Paul throws Miriam over for a married suffragette, Clara Dawes, who fulfills the sexual component of his ascent to manhood but leaves him, as ever, without a complete relationship to challenge his love for his mother. As Paul voyages from the working-class mining world to the spheres of commerce and art (he has fair success as a painter), he accepts that his own achievements must be equally his mother's. "There was so much to come out of him. Life for her was rich with promise. She was to see herself fulfilled... All his work was hers."
The cycles of Paul's relationships with these three women are terrifying at times, and Lawrence does nothing to dim their intensity. Nor does he shirk in his vivid, sensuous descriptions of the landscape that offers up its blossoms and beasts and "shimmeriness" to Paul's sensitive spirit. Sons and Lovers lays fully bare the souls of men and earth. Few books tell such whole, complicated truths about the permutations of love as resolutely without resolution. It's nothing short of searing to be brushed by humanity in this manner. --Melanie Rehak
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Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: new. Seller Inventory # 9780451530004
Book Description Condition: New. Brand New. Seller Inventory # 9780451530004
Book Description Softcover. Condition: New. D. H. Lawrences great autobiographical novel paints a provocative portrait of an artist torn between affection for his mother and desire for two beautiful women. Set in the Nottinghamshire coalfields of Lawrences own boyhood, the story follows young Paul Morels growth into manhood in a British working-class family.Gertrude Morel, Pauls puritanical mother, concentrates all her love and attention on Paul, nurturing his talents as a painter. When she muses that he might marry someday and desert her, the attentive son swears he will never leave her. Then Paul falls in love-with not one woman but two-and must eventually choose between them. Seller Inventory # DADAX0451530004
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. D. H. Lawrence's great autobiographical novel paints a provocative portrait of an artist torn between affection for his mother and desire for two beautiful women.D. H. Lawrence's great autobiographical novel paints a provocative portrait of an artist torn between affection for his mother and desire for two beautiful women. Set in the Nottinghamshire coalfields of Lawrence's own boyhood, the story follows young Paul Morel's growth into manhood in a British working-class family.Gertrude Morel, Paul's puritanical mother, concentrates all her love and attention on Paul, nurturing his talents as a painter. When she muses that he might marry someday and desert her, the attentive son swears he will never leave her. Then Paul falls in love-with not one woman but two-and must eventually choose between them. In this famously autobiographical work, Lawrence paints a portrait of an artist torn between affection for his mother and his desire for two young beauties. Revised reissue. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780451530004
Book Description Condition: New. pp. xiv + 415. Seller Inventory # 26774962
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. reprint edition. 432 pages. 6.50x4.00x1.25 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # 0451530004