RELATIONS OF DOMINANCE AND EQUALITY IN D. H. LAWRENCE
RELATIONS OF DOMINANCE AND EQUALITY IN D. H. LAWRENCE RELATIONS OF DOMINANCE AND EQUALITY IN D. H. LAWRENCE
90 He wants soul or body. There is never a balance of which he wants. He cannot reconcile things. It would also be possible that his next choice could include suicide or, a more daring alternative, Blutbrtiderschaft in the big city. When Mrs Morel dies Paul is hollow — no feelings, no love, no hate, nothing. He turns to Miriam again. But as soon as he takes from her some strength to go on living, he leaves her. He does not need her anymore. He then turns to his dead mother who "was gone abroad into the night" (p.510) and wants to follow her because "he was with her still. strength still dominates him. They were together" (ibid). Her He finally decides "he will not give in" (p.511). He wants to go on living, perhaps this time under his full responsibility,without his mother's control. However, this only happens in the last page of the book and, in the previous page, he still thinks of dying. Although Lawrence attempts to make his book have a positive ending, the strong evidence is that Paul has no speech apart from "'Mother!' he whispered — 'mother!'" (p.510). This implies a controlled narrative in which the author seems afraid to let his character take his own decision. Therefore, Lawrence indeed forces a rebirth for Paul in the 'gold phosphorescent city'. Some may claim that the ending is positive, but no one guarantees that the book provides the definitive answer to Paul's life of conflict. In view of the novel's open end, the doubt still persists: is Paul really free from his almighty mother? I doubt that. Also in view of the contradictory endings of the other novels, I shall return to them later on in the conclusion so as to make a more close analysis and find out why this happens so frequently in Lawrence.
My last point about Sons and Lovers refers to the controversial idea defended by several critics (like Eliseo Vivas, Mark Spilka, Kate Millet, etc.) that the view of the mother in the novel is far too sympathetic. As I have shown throughout this chapter, I do not agree with this view. Lawrence may have had the intention to show in Mrs Morel a strong woman who suffered too much in her marriage and who overcame her justified suffering. She is indeed presented by the author as victorious in the family struggle. This is part of Lawrence's first phase in which the powerful mind-conscious woman wins. Indeed Mrs Morel is presented like this. But the intention of the author in so doing is somehow denied by what his tale shows: the powerful mother in terms of the author's feelings is transformed into a rough woman with her emotions based exclusively on selfishness, coldness and possessiveness. The mother is- instead of having a justified behavior, culpable, no doubt. This split between the author's intention and his feelings is very frequent then. It seems a law in Lawrence's works. The more he consciously asserts one side of disagreement (body vs soul, mother vs father) the more the other, denied side, returns to make itself felt by an artistic balancing process.
- Page 49 and 50: CHAPTER II THE PATTERN OF CONFLICT
- Page 51 and 52: 41 and mind superiority. She is wha
- Page 53 and 54: 43 father was serving beer in a pub
- Page 55 and 56: 45 the control the whole family wit
- Page 57 and 58: eturning home drunken and certainly
- Page 59 and 60: to reconcile the children with the
- Page 61 and 62: more persuasive to her sons in the
- Page 63 and 64: succeed in life. This is an unconsc
- Page 65 and 66: to strengthen the relation. This me
- Page 67 and 68: eally wants. He goes from one decis
- Page 69 and 70: prefers to think of death instead o
- Page 71 and 72: 61 mutual acceptance between them.
- Page 73 and 74: 63 implies definitely the mother's
- Page 75 and 76: 65 William. He dies. Mrs Morel's li
- Page 77 and 78: 67 reserve. And on such occasions h
- Page 79 and 80: 69 to go out of it and he has on on
- Page 81 and 82: 71 failure. She is losing her son t
- Page 83 and 84: 73 more are related to his impotenc
- Page 85 and 86: 75 Clara. The idea is that through
- Page 87 and 88: 77 was the marital failure? Who was
- Page 89 and 90: he can have pleasure. Miriam is for
- Page 91 and 92: who she is and what she wants. The
- Page 93 and 94: This is like Paul's passion for Cla
- Page 95 and 96: operate on her, since her heart wou
- Page 97 and 98: 87 'Let's make a sacrifice of Arabe
- Page 99: characteristics as she had. in what
- Page 103 and 104: 93 relation unbearable up to the po
- Page 105 and 106: 95 teacher Siegmund. He is a marrie
- Page 107 and 108: 97 and strong, and fully fruited, h
- Page 109 and 110: 99 though Siegmund wants her, she r
- Page 111 and 112: 101 an analogy for Helena. Siegmund
- Page 113 and 114: 103 any of the relationships, nor c
- Page 115 and 116: 105 Helena's sharpness, and will-to
- Page 117 and 118: 107 like him: She glanced up at Sie
- Page 119 and 120: 109 Siegmund, usually a bad swimmer
- Page 121 and 122: Ill the moon:"Rocked thus on his st
- Page 123 and 124: 113 connotation in his mind) . In f
- Page 125 and 126: 115 is to warn Siegmund of the dang
- Page 127 and 128: 117 ... For centuries a certain typ
- Page 129 and 130: 119 she alone will not bear the gui
- Page 131 and 132: 121 The idea which is implicit here
- Page 133 and 134: 123 not see it. He bowed in obedien
- Page 135 and 136: 125 laurels of having given Siegmun
- Page 137 and 138: 128 as always, is not aware of Sieg
- Page 139 and 140: 130 on her hat, her eyes, gazing he
- Page 141 and 142: 132 to perforin the action. The nar
- Page 143 and 144: 134 extreme splits of soul/body. 'B
- Page 145 and 146: 136 prepares the path to the other.
- Page 147 and 148: 138 connection with the land. This
- Page 149 and 150: 140 Tom proposes marriage to Lydia:
90<br />
He wants soul or body.<br />
There is never a balance of which he<br />
wants. He cannot reconcile things. It would also be possible<br />
that his next choice could include suicide or, a more daring<br />
alternative,<br />
Blutbrtiderschaft in the big city.<br />
When Mrs Morel dies Paul is hollow — no feelings, no love,<br />
no hate, nothing. He turns to Miriam again. But as soon as he<br />
takes from her some strength to go on living, he leaves her.<br />
He<br />
does not need her anymore.<br />
He then turns to his dead mother who<br />
"was gone abroad into the night" (p.510) and wants to follow her<br />
because "he was with her still.<br />
strength still dominates him.<br />
They were together" (ibid). Her<br />
He finally decides "he will not<br />
give in" (p.511).<br />
He wants to go on living, perhaps this time<br />
under his full responsibility,without his mother's control.<br />
However, this only happens in the last page of the book and, in<br />
the previous page, he still thinks of dying.<br />
Although Lawrence<br />
attempts to make his book have a positive ending, the strong<br />
evidence is that Paul has no speech apart from "'Mother!' he<br />
whispered — 'mother!'" (p.510).<br />
This implies a controlled<br />
narrative in which the author seems afraid to let his character<br />
take his own decision.<br />
Therefore, Lawrence indeed forces a<br />
rebirth for Paul in the 'gold phosphorescent city'.<br />
Some may claim that the ending is positive, but no one<br />
guarantees that the book provides the definitive answer to Paul's<br />
life of conflict.<br />
In view of the novel's open end, the doubt<br />
still persists: is Paul really free from his almighty mother? I<br />
doubt that.<br />
Also in view of the contradictory endings of the<br />
other novels, I shall return to them later on in the conclusion<br />
so as to make a more close analysis and find out why this happens<br />
so frequently in Lawrence.
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