Morrell, the parents of Paul, the hero of Sons and Lovers. They met at a dance. It was love at first sight, and they lived a sweet and happy life after marriage. However, due to their different backgrounds, different personalities and different spiritual pursuits, after a short passion, there was an endless exchange of words, and the husband even began to fight and shut his pregnant wife out. In the novel, there is only physical union between lovers, but there is no spiritual communication and soul singing. Father is a muddled coal miner, insatiable and vulgar, and often ignores family affairs and children's future. My mother was born in the middle class, educated, and worried about marrying an ordinary miner until she completely despaired of her husband. So, she transferred her time, energy and all spiritual hopes to her eldest son William and her second son Paul, who were born in this world because of physical union. She tried to stop her son from following in his father's footsteps and digging coal in the well; She tried every means to urge them to jump out of the circle of the lower class, get ahead, and realize the spiritual pursuit that she failed to achieve in her husband. Her words and deeds, every move, not only widened the distance between her and her husband, and eventually made it an insurmountable gap, but also affected her children, making them form a solid United front with their mother to deal with their father, who is sleek and strong in body, but whose spirit is declining and exhausted. The United Front of Mother and Child has brought pain and disaster to the helpless father, and it has not brought benefits to anyone else in Morrel's family. The endless conflicts between parents, especially the irreconcilable collision between mind and body, are repeated in mother and child. In contrast, the disharmony between husband and wife did not bring much mental torture to Mrs. Morrell, because she lost confidence in her husband and had no hope. The complex with her son, especially her second son, Paul, and the soul struggle that tore her heart apart brought the poor mother an unhealed wound until she was unhappy and helpless and passed away. Disappointed, dissatisfied and resentful of her husband, Mrs. Morrell turned her feelings, love and spirit to her son. In other words, Mrs. Morrell "refracted" the mental hardships she experienced and the problems she was bent on solving to her son, so a collision between spirit and body began between mother and son. After the death of the eldest son, who didn't make his mother proud, the second son, Paul, gradually became her mother's only spiritual harbor and a channel for her to vent her nameless fire and inner pain. She loves her son, and hates iron for turning into steel. She encourages and urges Paul to become famous, become a member of the upper class and win glory for his mother. She also tried her best to control her son mentally so that he wouldn't move on, especially other women, to meet the shortcomings of her marriage. This strong possessiveness suffocated his son and forced him to try to escape at the first time. During his short escape, he was often dragged down by his mother's invisible mental shackles and was in pain. The mother's sexual perversion makes her son sad, depressed and at a loss. With his mother, Paul can't love other women. When his mother almost screamed at the top of her lungs and lamented that "I never had a husband" and "a real husband", Paul couldn't help petting her hair and kissing her throat and neck. This "Oedipus complex" has become a kind of "fixed love" to a great extent, which makes him lose the harmony between emotion and reason, and the balance between "ID" and "superego". Therefore, Paul's emotion can't be developed and sublimated, and his sexual psychological character can't be perfected and matured, which leads to his life's pain and tragedy. The process of communication with his girlfriend miriam is also the process of young Paul's mental pain. Because of similar interests and frequent contacts, the two developed feelings and became a pair of lovers who should be said to be very well matched. Sadly, Miriam also pursues spiritual satisfaction excessively, not only lacking passion, but also trying to possess Paul spiritually and devour Paul from the soul like Paul's mother. This makes her and Paul's mother become tit-for-tat "rivals in love", doomed to be defeated by an old lady who is more possessive and can easily get the upper hand by blood relationship. The "Oedipus Complex" in childhood made Paul an emotional and spiritual "idiot". Although he loves Miriam, he can't love her with confidence like normal flesh and blood. This not only got him into trouble, but also caused great mental pain to miriam. Paul will be bored when he doesn't see Miriam, but once he is with her, he will argue, because Miriam always looks "different" or very "spiritual", which makes Paul feel as uncomfortable as being with his mother. Of course, as long as Paul is with another woman, his soul will be controlled by his mother's invisible mental shackles, and he will feel in a dilemma and unable to be free. In the days when he and Miriam lived with relatives as husband and wife, Paul got Miriam's body, but spiritually, Paul still belonged to his mother. Miriam just made a "sacrifice" with strong religious elements for his beloved. Therefore, in those days, they did not enjoy the pleasure that young men and women should have enjoyed. In fact, sexual intercourse between the bodies only accelerated the process of their love tragedy. Another woman named Clara around Paul is also a deformed person whose mind and body are separated. She lived in the lower class, separated from her husband, and became close friends with Paul for a while. Paul gets physical satisfaction from this slut. However, this "carnival-like" integration is a lifeless and fleeting combination. Unable to find comfort from miriam, Paul needs to seek self-balance psychologically and prove his manhood sexually. Because of her dissatisfaction with her husband, Clara also needs to show her charm and seek self-balance physically. After the collision of spirit and flesh again and again, the main characters in the novel are scarred one by one, and their bodies and spirits have suffered great destruction. Paul's father is always a "marginal person" in front of his family and relatives. Paul's mother has never had a "real husband" mentally, and she can only seek emotional comfort from her son, which is often frustrated by other women. Later, she suffered psychological and physical failure, got an incurable disease and died early. Although miriam struggled hard and endured humiliation, he didn't win Paul's heart. When Paul got rid of his mother's spiritual fetters and could get back together with her and get married forever, he finally decided to refuse her proposal and continue to struggle mentally. Clara, who only indulged in physical desires, quickly ended her relationship with Paul and returned to her vulgar, violent and inactive husband. It can be said that in these collisions between spirit and flesh, we see frustrated and pathetic losers, and we can't find the final winner. In fact, in a society where the nature on which people live is destroyed, human nature is distorted and the harmonious relationship between people is constantly threatened, the struggle between spirit and body is cruel. In the end, no one can be a winner, and no one can be a complete human being.
David Herbert Lawrence, son and lover [UK]
Sons and Lovers is mainly based on Lawrence's personal life experience. Later critics thought: this is an autobiographical work.
The first generation in the book are Walter Moeller and Gertrude. Walter is energetic, optimistic and likable; But later, his temper became bad, he was drunk and hit people, and he became a walking corpse. The life of his wife Gertrude has also changed. She hopes that her husband will become an educated person under the education of the bourgeoisie. But the reality is that "three months she was completely happy and satisfied, and six months she was very happy", but this happiness gradually disappeared.
The disappointment with her husband depressed Gertrude, and she pinned her hopes on her son. At first, she loved William, but unfortunately William died young, so she had a strong feeling for Paul. Paul worshipped his mother when he was young, and his love life was greatly influenced by his mother when he grew up.
Miriam, Paul's girlfriend, worships spiritual life and hates sensuality. Even when she decided to marry Paul, she prayed to God, "Let me love him gloriously, because he is also your son."
When mother Gertrude and Paul talked about Miriam, Paul said, "You are old, mother, but we are still young." This sentence deeply touched Gertrude, and she replied in despair: "Yes, I know very well-I am old. So I have to step aside-I have nothing to do with you anymore. As long as I wait on you, the rest is miriam's. " Finally Gertrude leaned her head on Paul's shoulder and said with tears, "I can tolerate anyone but her." Lawrence's mother said the same thing to him.
In fact, miriam's personality is incompatible with Paul's, and it is equally unfair to blame Gertrude for their breakup.
Paul's other girlfriend is Clara. She is a person who pays attention to sensory life and smells like a travel-stained figure. She gave Paul the joy of male-female relationship. Clara revealed an important aspect of the relationship between men and women to Paul and helped him break the shackles imposed on him by his mother. But Clara lacks a spiritual side. She is not Paul's ideal companion. Her indulgence suppressed Paul.
Gertrude knew Clara and Paul were doomed to break up. She said to Paul, "Yes, I like her. But you will get tired of her, and you know you will. "
After breaking up with Clara, Paul realized it and said to his mother, "As long as you are alive, I can't find the right person."
After Gertrude died, Paul decided to leave his hometown for the city. What will happen in the future? Lawrence didn't tell us.
"He turned around and walked towards the golden phosphorescence city. He clenched his fist and shut his mouth. He doesn't want to follow his mother in that direction. He walked quickly to the bright city with an inaudible hum.
Paul didn't find the answer. What he will do in the city, how to live and what kind of life path he will take are still unknown. This vague ending reflects Lawrence's equally confused state of mind: in his works, except for a hopeful sky image outlined at the end of Rainbow, the sexual relationship he explored and then extended to the relationship between people were all confused.