This novel is Lawrence’s semi-autobiographical masterpiece in which he explores emotional conflicts through the protagonist, Paul Morel, and his suffocating relationships with a demanding mother and two very different lovers.

Lawrence’s novels are perhaps the most powerful exploration in the genre in English of family, class, sexuality and relationships in youth and early adulthood.

D. H. Lawrence’s much-loved third novel, Sons and Lovers (1913)’ is an intense study of family, class and early sexual relationships. It draws heavily on his own experiences, which he was trying hard to understand. The best way to begin, and to get a sense of the issues involved in this process of self-discovery, is by looking at the novel’s textual history. Lawrence began working on the first of four drafts of what was to become his third novel, Sons and Lovers, in the period of his mother’s final illness, before her death in December 1910. He had previously tried to write about his mother’s early life but this writing was discarded in favour of work on her mature years. At this stage the spur for the novel was his sense of his mother’s wasted life. Lawrence’s view at this time of his parents’ marriage can be gained from a letter he wrote three days before his mother died...

INTRODUCTION

The Early Married LOre of the Morels

The Birth of Paul, and Another Battle

The Casting Off of Morel - the Taking On of William

The Young Life of Paul

Paul Launches into Life

Death in the Family

Lad-and-Girl Love

Strife in Love

Defeat of Miriam

Clara

The Test on Miriam

Passion

Baxter Dawes

The Release

Derelict

NOTES