Major Themes

Oedipus complex
Perhaps Sigmund Freud's most celebrated theory of sexuality, the Oedipus complex
takes its name from the title character of the Greek play Oedipus Rex. In the story,
Oedipus is prophesied to murder his father and have sex with his mother (and he
does, though unwittingly). Freud argued that these repressed desires are present in
most young boys. (The female version is called the Electra complex.)
D.H. Lawrence was aware of Freud's theory and Sons and Lovers famously uses the
Oedipus complex as its base for exploring Paul's relationship with his mother. Paul is
hopelessly devoted to his mother, and that love often borders on romantic desire.
Lawrence writes many scenes between the two that go beyond the bounds of
conventional mother-son love. Completing the Oedipal equation, Paul murderously
hates his father and often fantasizes about his death.
Paul assuages his guilty, incestuous feelings by transferring them elsewhere, and the
greatest receivers are Miriam and Clara (note that transference is another Freudian
term). However, Paul cannot love either woman nearly as much as he does his
mother, though he does not always realize that this is an impediment to his romantic
life. The older, independent Clara, especially, is a failed maternal substitute for Paul.
In this setup, Baxter Dawes can be seen as an imposing father figure; his savage
beating of Paul, then, can be viewed as Paul's unconsciously desired punishment for
his guilt. Paul's eagerness to befriend Dawes once he is ill (which makes him
something like the murdered father) further reveals his guilt over the situation.
But Lawrence adds a twist to the Oedipus complex: Mrs. Morel is saddled with it as
well. She desires both William and Paul in near-romantic ways, and she despises all
their girlfriends. She, too, engages in transference, projecting her dissatisfaction with
her marriage onto her smothering love for her sons. At the end of the novel, Paul
takes a major step in releasing himself from his Oedipus complex. He intentionally
overdoses his dying mother with morphia, an act that reduces her suffering but also
subverts his Oedipal fate, since he does not kill his father, but his mother.
Bondage
Lawrence discusses bondage, or servitude, in two major ways: social and romantic.
Socially, Mrs. Morel feels bound by her status as a woman and by industrialism. She
complains of feeling "'buried alive,'" a logical lament for someone married to a mine,
and even the children feel they are in a "tight place of anxiety." Though she joins a
women's group, she must remain a housewife for life, and thus is jealous of Miriam,
who is able to utilize her intellect in more opportunities. Ironically, Paul feels free in
his job at the factory, enjoying the work and the company of the working-class
women, though one gets the sense that he would still rather be painting.
Romantic bondage is given far more emphasis in the novel. Paul (and William, to a
somewhat lesser extent) feels bound to his mother, and cannot imagine ever
abandoning her or even marrying anyone else. He is preoccupied with the notion of
lovers "belonging" to each other, and his true desire, revealed at the end, is for a
woman to claim him forcefully as her own. He feels the sacrificial Miriam fails in this
regard and that Clara always belonged to Baxter Dawes. It is clear that no woman
could ever match the intensity and steadfastness of his mother's claim.
Complementing the theme of bondage is the novel's treatment of jealousy. Mrs. Morel
is constantly jealous of her sons' lovers, and she masks this jealousy very thinly.
Morel, too, is jealous over his wife's closer relationships with his sons and over their
successes. Paul frequently rouses jealousy in Miriam with his flirtations with Agatha
Leiver and Beatrice, and Dawes is violently jealous of Paul's romance with Clara.
Contradictions and oppositions
Lawrence demonstrates how contradictions emerge so easily in human nature,
especially with love and hate. Paul vacillates between hatred and love for all the
women in his life, including his mother at times. Often he loves and hates at the same
time, especially with Miriam. Mrs. Morel, too, has some reserve of love for her
husband even when she hates him, although this love dissipates over time.
Lawrence also uses the opposition of the body and mind to expose the contradictory
nature of desire; frequently, characters pair up with someone who is quite unlike
them. Mrs. Morel initially likes the hearty, vigorous Morel because he is so far
removed from her dainty, refined, intellectual nature. Paul's attraction to Miriam, his
spiritual soul mate, is less intense than his desire for the sensual, physical Clara.
The decay of the body also influences the spiritual relationships. When Mrs. Morel
dies, Morel grows more sensitive, though he still refuses to look at her body. Dawes's
illness, too, removes his threat to Paul, who befriends his ailing rival.
Nature and flowers
Sons and Lovers has a great deal of description of the natural environment. Often,
the weather and environment reflect the characters' emotions through the literary
technique of pathetic fallacy. The description is frequently eroticized, both to indicate
sexual energy and to slip pass the censors in Lawrence's repressive time.
Lawrence's characters also experience moments of transcendence while alone in
nature, much as the Romantics did. More frequently, characters bond deeply while in
nature. Lawrence uses flowers throughout the novel to symbolize these deep
connections. However, flowers are sometimes agents of division, as when Paul is
repulsed by Miriam's fawning behavior towards the daffodil.
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# Freudian Oedipus Complex in Sons and Lovers ##

By: Ajay_1977 | Jan 06, 2012 07:27 PM

Oedipus Complex : The idea of the Oedipus Complex is derived from the legend of
King Oedipus of Thebes in ancient Greece. Oedipus unknowingly killed his father and
married his mother. He begot two sons and two daughters from her. Freud, a German
psychologist, used the term Oedipus Complex to signify the manifestation of the
sexual desire of the child for the parent of the opposite sex i.e. sexual desire of the
son for mother and conflict with father. Webster’s Dictionary explain the Oedipus
Complex as :

’ ’ the unconscious tendency of a child to be attached to the parent of the opposite

sex and hostile towards the other parent: its persistence in adult life results in
neurotic disorders .
Thus the sons in his every infancy is sexually attached to the mother. At the same
time there is corresponding hatred of the father. The son when he is excessively
attached too the mother develops the Oedipus Complex and suffers from mother-
fixation.

’’Sons and Lovers’’ is the first Freudian novel in the English literature. The Oedipus
Complex is the centralized theme of the novel, It covers a large space and is a
dominant factor in the novel.Paul is too much emotionally attached to his mother,
Mrs. Morel and suffers from mother-fixation and mother image often pops up to stand
between him and the objects of his love (Miriam and Clara ). The Oedipus Complex
has been widely diffused over the canvas of the novel.

Lawrence and Oedipus Complex- It is a fact that Lawrence is suffered from the
Oedipus Complex in his life. He was a victim of deep rooted mother fixation . His
mother Lydia Lawrence had a very strong hold on him. He also love his mother
passionately like a lover. The mother was dissatisfied in her marriage and took great
care of the son. The Son being sickly and weak depended on her and she gave him
warmth of life, inspiration and love. Owing to it he was never able to establish a
happy emotional relationship with other women. He was a torture soul throughout his
life and his suffering, his observation reflected in ’’ Sons and Lovers’’

Oedipus Complex in ’’Sons and Lovers " -

William and his Mother - In the novel the unhappy married life of Lawrence’ s parents
is reflected in the ill-matched and unhappy marriage between Walter Morel, a miner
and Gertrude Morel, an educated and cultured lady. After the birth of the first son
William, Mrs. Morel begins to alienate and hate her husband. As William grows up he
also begins to hate his father at the instance of his mother. Mrs. Morel is frustrated in
her marriage and seeks emotional fulfillment in the son William. William is handsome
and a number of girls come to see him. The mother is possessive and does not want
her son to make friendship with girls. She become jealous of them. She cannot
tolerate William’ s girlfriend Gyp and criticizes her. William is torn between his
attachment for his mother and love for his beloved.

Paul and his Mother - After Williams’ s death his place is taken by the second son,
Paul wjo has already taken his father’s place in the mother’s heart. The relationship
between Paul and his mother runs throughout the novel. All other relationships are
brought into contact with it and are subordinate to it. It is the central expression of
the theme of the novel. Everything is ultimately referred to this mother-son
relationship.

Paul and his Father : The Oedipus Complex leads to the envy of the father. Mrs. Morel
mercilessly casts off her husband. The mother encourages her son to hate his father.
Paul looks upon his father as his rival in his monopoly over his mother’s love. As a
result, there develops a feeling of hatred and hostility between father and the son.

Paul, Miriam and Clara : Paul’s unhealthy and abnormal relationship with his mother
results in his failure to establish normal sexual and emotional relationship with other
women. He fails in his relationship with Miriam and Clara mainly because of his love
for his mother. The mother-fixation in him is so strong that he cannot give himself
freely and fully to Miriam. The Oedipus Complex in him has weakened him
emotionally. He is glued to his mother spiritually and emotionally, if not sexually. Paul
always seeks mother image in his woman. Clara is simply rejected because he fails to
find in her the mother-image. Miriam is only spiritual substitute of the mother. So
being dissatisfied with both Miriam and Clara, he clings on to his mother.

Mrs. Morel,’’ You haven’t met the right woman.’’

Paul replies,’’ And I shall never meet the right woman while you live.’ ’

Paul stands in the web of the Freudian psychoanalysis as a fly and the mother, Mrs.
Morel plays a spider, always praying upon him. Her affection is just a mask. There are
sinister forces underneath and these are the domain of the Oedipus Complex. Even in
the death of the mother there is no release for Paul. He will be haunted by her soul
for ever. In the end Paul severs his connection both with Miriam and Clara and
becomes indifferent to life and death alike. Thus the Oedipus Complex in the guise of
mother-fixation is responsible for the other tragedy of Paul.