Son and Lover (Illustrated Edition)

Author: (English) D.H. Lawrence
Publisher:
Publication Date: 1983-03-01
Features: Usually, Sons and Lovers is regarded as a novel with autobiographical elements because its content draws from Lawrence's early life. The book embodies three of Lawrence's main ideas: first, a lament and protest against the pollution of the natural environment caused by industrial development; second, a strong sense of inferiority regarding social status, with a determination to break free from the shackles of his own class; third, distress over the inability to properly handle the contradictions between marriage and sexuality. The fictional mining town of Bessington is located at the border of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Since the industrial development in the 19th century led to the large-scale exploitation of workers by capitalists, the mining population of this small village has increased, resulting in the construction of many residential areas. Although the houses are sturdy and have small gardens, the backyards are often messy and filled with garbage. The latter half of the novel revolves around the conflicts among the four main characters: Paul, his mother, Miriam, and Clara. Paul, a shy and unsociable teenager, accidentally meets the Lowes family and surprisingly gets along with them. He frequently visits them for chats, works in the fields with their boys, and teaches their daughter Miriam French. Miriam is naturally timid, influenced by her mother's religious upbringing, and is also obsessed with romantic novels, yearning for pure spiritual love. One of the most obvious features of the writing technique in this book is the author's concentrated and frequent depiction of natural scenery, particularly birds and flowers. This is because Lawrence considers the description of natural scenery an important method for narrating the relationship between humans and nature, so he pays great attention to it without hesitation. Upon careful reading, we can see that some passages in the book are quite successful, blending scenery and emotion, and playing a role in highlighting the psychological portrayal of characters. Such descriptions are abundant throughout the book, too numerous to list. Some are like tranquil pastoral poems, while others resemble simple landscape paintings, leaving a lasting impression. However, the book is not without flaws. Some character portrayals are inconsistent, and the psychological changes of Walter Morel, a miner, are not convincing. The structure of the novel is also unbalanced. This is because Lawrence did not follow the conventional methods of the great 19th-century predecessors but took a unique path, so the plot is unclear, and the scenes are unevenly distributed. The story is told in a straightforward manner without a climax, although there is some coherence, it is repetitive, and the language is not concise. Nevertheless, the flaws do not overshadow the merits. The book remains an important work in modern British literature both in thought and art. When it was published in 1913, no writer's work in the English-speaking world could match it.