Sons and lovers di David Herbert Lawrence

Gertrude's realization

Gertrude Coppard married to walter morel, a miner. Soon she realizes she has commited a error: Morel becomes more and more rude, and he is always drunk. Nothing remains for her but to console herself with her children (William, Annie, Paul, Arthur), William learns to read and write, finds a good job, moves to London and, when he returns home to his family for Christmas, he finds all them in a commotion. Paul goes to work for Mrs Jordan, the owner of a textile company and here he makes friends with workers. William falls in love with Lily, even if he is realizing how superficial she is, he can’t find the courage to leave her. He has just come back to London when he falls ill with pneumonia and dies cared only by his mum. His father also goes to London to bring the coffin. This fact bring a period of peace to the couple, she gets dazed and comes out only when paul falls ill with pneumonia. Arthur and Annie gets married and only Paul is left home.

Paul's relationships

Everyone considers Paul and Miriam to be engaged, but their relationship is very contorted: Paul considers her a type of "nun”. He begins to become fascinated by her friend Clara Dawes, seven years older, separated from her husband, militant feminist and fierce enemy of men. He decides that he and Miriam could not possibly ever marry because it would mean abandon his mother. Passion explodes,with hostility by his mother, between Paul and Clara. But her husband Baxter, becoming jealous, provokes and assaults Paul. His mother, afflicted by atrocious pain, is discovered to have a tumour. The condition of Baxter provokes compassion in Paul, who goes to see him in hospital, and in Clara, who decides to go back to him. Mrs. Morel dies and Paul remains alone. He tries to get back to Miriam, who would have been disposed to marry him, but the memory of his mother inflicts a sort of fidelity on him and he decides to stay alone.

Mrs. Morel's influence

The first protagonist of the novel. She becomes unhappy with her husband Walter and devotes herself to her children . She is very jealous of William and Paul reletionships. In this way she doesn’t permit them to have a owner life.
He is the first son, he is the Mrs Morel favourite until he falls ill and dies, he is affected by his mother. He is a vain man, who likes to be admired for his intellectual prowess, and also a bit of an egoist: he spends his considerable salary on luxuries and presents for his girlfriend.He falls in love with Gyp Western, a young woman too modern for his mother.

Paul's struggles

He becomes his mother favorite, after William death. He is his mother's confidant: he tells her everything that happens in the office and she tells him a all the private thoughts she has been having during the day. Paul has difficulty to find a girlfriend because of his mother: she likes no girl, who Paul invites home; and he leaves his girlfriend not to disappoint his mother.
He is Gertrude Morel’s husband, he is a miner, In festivities day he is always drunk and spends his was wages drinking. When he comes back home in the evening, he is rude with his wife and with his children. But in some occasion he is in a commotion like when William has came back home or when Paul has fallen ill.

Annie's role

She is Paul’s older sister. She gets married with Leonard, and she is very helpful with her mum and dad: when Mrs Morel falls ill, she gives hospitality to her and after her death, Walter Morel goes to stay in Annie and Leonard’s house.
He is the little children of Mrs and Mr Morel, he is a little spoilt and is redeemed when he enrols in a moment of glory.

Miriam Leivers: The daughter of the family at Willey Farm. She befriends Paul and becomes his first love. Paul doesn’t get married with her because of his mum: Mrs Morel doesn’t like Miriam. She is very sentimental person, and for this her characteristic Paul considers her a type of a nun. She is interested in his drawings and she like a lot them.

Clara's influence

Clara Dawes: She is separate from her husband (Baxter). She is the second love of Paul, and is a Miriam’s friend. She is seven years older than Paul, and works in the same place of Paul.
I like this book because the author tell the story of Morel’s family in particularly about the difficulty for the son to have a girlfriend and to get married because of his mum’s jealousy. This is a topic very actual. But sometimes the story is predictable and boring and only a few times it happen something very exciting.