D.H Lawrence, one of the most eminent writers of 20th century portrayed three women characters in ‘Sons and lovers’ whose tragedies lie in the fact that they only function as stones in Paul’s life. In the novel we see Mrs. Morel is pitifully diagnosed with Oedipus complex, which enables her to be a powerful hermaphrodite and gains access to power. Miriam we see is imprisoned by Victorian morality, but her world is not purely spiritual. Paul just cannot see the physical aspect of her, so he refuses to enter her world. Clara is the woman who makes Paul a real man, but Paul only sees the physical aspect of her.
These three women constitute a firm support from soul, spirit, and flesh, and help Paul to pursue his so-called perfect humanity, to become a real man. Daniel in his The Consciousness of D. H. Lawrence: “An Intellectual Biography” (1986), wrote “In fact, the three women, mother, Miriam, and Clara all made Paul feel that he was prisoned”. Towards the end, we see that when Paul ends the three relationships desperately, he moves on to pursue to his own future, and that is when we can see a patriarchal, self-centered, and sadistic male Chauvinist. What the three women have in common, however, is the dominance they have over Paul. And this ascendency, leads to his destruction is later life as well. The three women in this assignment will further be discussed in depth in order to understand the dominant role each played in Paul’s life. This assignment towards the end will further elaborate on the autobiographical air the novel had due to which Lawrence embedded on this narrative.
Mrs. Morel, Paul’s mother is believed to be his soul support. She is considered the most important person in Paul’s life. We see that Mrs. Morel had no position at home, her name Gertrude Coppard appeared only twice in this book. Most of the time, she appeared to be her husband’s attached property “Mrs. Morel”. Even if she was hit by her husband, she had to do much for her husband....