Sons and Lovers

Sons and Lovers
by D.H. Lawrence
read: 2012
Modern Library #9, Guardian 1000 Novels

I read this not too long after The Age of Innocence, and for a while I thought it was on par with Wharton's masterpiece.  At no point was it fair to compare the novels, and Sons and Lovers is a terrific work even if it didn't resonate with me quite to the degree of The Age of Innocence.  It is probably the best novel I've read this year.


Like The Age of Innocence, Sons and Lovers is a work first and foremost of empathy.  Characters in the book ruin other character's lives.  Protagonist Paul Morel treats his lovers very badly, feeling bored or squashed by their presence until he finally abandons them.  But he is that way because his mother played such a central role in his life and he feels in loving a woman he is being disloyal to his love for his mother.  Paul's mother is overbearing, but that stems from being distraught at the death of her first son, William, and feeling unfulfilled in her marriage.  This tragic chain is no one's fault, but the emotional harm reverberates through it.  Each actor has his or her flaws and strengths, and Lawrence shows both sides.

The central conflict is subtly but importantly different from The Age of Innocence.  One could say that The Age of Innocence is a sociological work while Sons and Lovers is psychological.  Newland Archer struggles against the constraints of a rigid New York aristocracy; the conflict is between his desires and the limitations imposed by the society around him.  Paul Morel's struggle is to define his desires in the first place.  He falls in love twice, but is never sure exactly what he wants out of his relationships.  He carries daunting baggage from his close relationship with his mother.  His unhappiness stems from this internal, psychological tension rather than any external force.