Q. Discuss on the usage of symbols and images in Sons and Lovers.

Ans: - D. H. Lawrence makes an extensive use of symbols in his Sons and Lovers.
Symbolism means investing a remark or a situation or an incident or an object or even a
person with a double significance or a two-fold meaning. One meaning lies on the very
surface and is easily understood by the reader. The other or symbolic meaning is hidden
in the writing and becomes known to the reader only after a good deal of thought. D. H.
Lawrence probes deep into the consciousness of his characters with a clever use of
symbols. A proper understanding of these symbols leads to a better understanding of the
novel and arises appreciation from the reader. Symbolism is an essential feature of
Lawrence’s art, because a symbol “is the expression of a thing not to be characterized in
any other better way.” Thus, in order to clearly describe the hidden and the concealed,
Lawrence makes use of symbols which in their turn also increase the expressiveness of
his language.

FLOWERS

Flowers symbolize femininity and female sexuality in Sons and Lovers. Women are
referred to as flowers or compared with flowers throughout the novel. When William
describes his many female admirers to Paul, he describes them as different flowers that
live “like cut blooms in his heart.” Although this may seem flattering to the women, it
reflects the idea that William does not view these women as people, but instead views
them as decorations, which offset his own appearance and stature. This attitude is
confirmed during his relationship with Louisa Lily Denys Western, whom William views
more as an accessory than a partner. Elsewhere in the novel, flowers signify female
sexuality and incidents with flowers come to represent the different women in the novel
and their attitudes towards sex. When Miriam shows Paul a rosebush she has found, and
later a patch of daffodils, she treats the flowers reverently and with devotion, the same
way she approaches her physical relationship with Paul. Clara, in contrast, views flowers
as “dead things” during the time when she is celibate after she has left Baxter Dawes.
Later, when her sexuality is reawakened with Paul, he gives her a flower to wear on her
coat and this symbolizes the rejuvenation of her physical life. When the flower is
“smashed to pieces,” when they lie together on the ground, this suggests that Paul has
broken through Clara’s external, decorative façade and formed a real connection with
her through sex. The shattered flower also has connotations of spoiled virginity and this
suggests that, although Paul thinks he is kind to Miriam and Clara, he is really shallow
and careless with them, just as William was with the women that he collected like
flowers without taking their feelings into account.

THE MOON

The moon is associated with motherhood in the novel and represents the oppressive
bond that exists between Mrs. Morel and Paul. When Mrs. Morel is pregnant with Paul,
she has a fight with her husband and is thrown out of the house. She goes into her
garden and is surprised to find herself bathed in light from a full moon overhead. The
presence of the moon soothes her and calms the child, Paul, who is “boiling within her,”
and this represents the love that Mrs. Morel will develop for Paul and her hopes for the
future that she will invest in him. Later in the novel, this bond between Mrs. Morel and
Paul becomes problematic because it infringes on Paul’s ability to form a romantic
relationship; he is so close to his mother that they are almost like lovers and she
possesses him in a way his lovers cannot. This is reflected again using the symbol of the
moon in the scene in which Paul sees the large, orange moon above the beach when he
is with Miriam and finds himself unable to understand or express the physical desire that
she arouses in him. The moon is traditionally associated with femininity and this
connects the moon to the idea of motherhood. The moon, however, does not create light
but takes light in and reflects it back. This represents the circular and destructive nature
of the love between Paul and Mrs. Morel. Paul’s bond with his mother does not help him
create new life, through reproduction with a partner, but instead flows backwards into
his mother, who dies at the end of the novel and with whom Paul can create no future.

DARKNESS

Darkness represents hidden or unconscious desire in the novel. When Miriam and Paul have sex for
the first time, Paul leads Miriam into a dark place among some fir trees and says that he “wishes the
darkness were thicker.” This suggests that, although Paul wants to love Miriam, his true intentions
and feelings towards her are unclear to him and he is ashamed of his attraction to her or is ashamed
of the way he treats her (as he fails to commit to her on several occasions). Similarly, when Paul
brings Clara home to meet his family, he walks her to the train in the dark and is suddenly overcome
with rage when she tells him she wants to go home. This suggests that he privately wants to
dominate Clara but is not comfortable with this side of himself and will not force her to stay with
him. Baxter Dawes hides in the dark when he waits to attack Paul and the fight brings an element of
relief to Paul and ends the tension between the two men. The fight, which takes place in the dark,
suggests that the men secretly wanted to fight, even though they do not acknowledge this, because
fighting allows them to express their emotions and feel release. Finally, at the end of the novel, Paul
wishes to die himself after Mrs. Morel’s death. Although he is aware of his destructive tendencies,
he is not explicitly aware that he wants to kill himself and, instead, walks into the dark, unsure what
he plans to do. He ultimately rejects darkness to follow the light back to the town, which suggests
that he rejects death and chooses to live instead.

THE COAL PITS

The entire life of the mining community depicted in the novel depends upon the coal-pits
which stand on the horizon. The coat-pits are not indispensable for a better
understanding of the novel but they are symbolic of a particular attitude towards life.
Walter Morel with his irrational life principle has a close association with them. The
descent and ascent of the coal pits is a symbol of the sexual rhythm or a rhythm of sleep
and awakening. The naturalness of the coal pits stand in contrast against the artificial
way of life of the sophisticated people.

THE ASH TREE

The ash-tree has been effectively used by Lawrence to describe the sinister and dark
aspects of life. It is symbolic of the dark, mysterious forces of nature which are the
foreboders of tragedy in human-life. It is symbolic of the disharmony that exists between
the husband and wife in the Morel family. The persistent bickering of the parents
becomes a terror for the children, who lying awake upstairs are unable to coherently
apprehend as to what would happen ultimately. The tree becomes a symbol of the inner
terror of children who strike and moan inwardly. It also prophesies the future doom
which is to beset the Morel family.

Q. Give a character sketch of Mrs. Gertrude Morel.

Ans: - Gertrude Morel is the central character of the novel Sons and Lovers. She wife of
Walter Morel and the mother of Paul and William Morel. But D. H. Lawrence draws her
character after his own mother, Lydia, so there is a strong autobiographical connection
that is seen throughout the novel. Although Lawrence mostly portrays her as a positive
figure but one can easily guess her shortcomings when the story of love progresses
further. She is dissatisfied from her husband; tries to find love in her sons and pretty
much destroys them. But her character is made of both good and bad qualities. 

Her Physical Appearance and her Hollowed Middle-Class

Values
Gertrude Morel exhibits a decent physical appearance. She is short-statured. Her hair is
as bright as copper and gold. Her eyes are clear and defiant blue. 

Mrs. Morel comes from a noble middle-class family known as Coppards. Her father is an
engineer. After Gertrude marries a coal miner, she does not consider it a noble value to
mix up with a 'poor' person who can barely get enough income to pay a house rent. She
feels pride in her own middle-class values. She lives in a house that is situated in the end
of a street, while not hesitating to pay a higher rent. Her snobbish attitude is not limited
to herself but she tries to transfer her thinking to her children by isolating them from
mining. She feels contented on giving them a job with white collar. 

Her Romantic Nature

Gertrude is moved by John Field when she is in her nineties but he rejects her in favour
of a wealthy landlady. But this leaves an everlasting scar in her mind. When she is 23,
she sees Walter Morel in a Christmas party. He is in his 27 and she likes his way of
speaking and his unintellectual simplicity. In next Christmas, they are married. 

Her Disillusionment of the Marriage

We are introduced to Gertrude when she is 31. She has been leading a disillusioned
martial life because has not claimed the romantic bliss that she initially thought of. In
fact, they could only enjoy the first three months of a happy married life. 

Her romantic bliss is transformed into disillusioned agony when she discovers that the
house does not belong to Walter and the bills if the furniture have not been paid. She is
also dismayed by his excessive drinking. But she is annoyed most when she is unable to
exchange her philosophical, religious as well as political views with him because he is a
simple person. Although he listens to her conversation but he cannot answer her
because he cannot understand. 

Her role in Making Husband-substitutes of her Sons

As soon as her children grow up, she gradually casts off her husband to a side and shifts
all her attentions to her sons. In their childhood, their relationship is healthy. She feels as
proud as a queen when William beings a prize for the first time. She even get them jobs
in co-operate office for William and goes with Paul in Nottinghamshire for his interview
at Jordon's. 

It is when her sons reach adulthood when their relationship grows unhealthy. For
instance, she says to Paul that she did not have any husband. Thus, making her sons a
substitute for her husband. But it ruined their emotional lives. William died in Hospital
jumping back and forth between Jim and his mother. And Paul could not get away from
the influence of his mother even after her death. He was neither able to get the hand of
Clara, nor Miriam. 

Some Positive Traits

Despite the huge havoc that she brought upon her husband and her sons' emotional life,
she had influenced their domestic lives in a positive manner. Firstly, she brought decent
job opportunities to her sons. Secondly, she managed to stabilize the financial condition
of their house. But in the end, it all ended on her tragic death that came silently. She kept
her cancer a secret but her death was an intense suffering caused by cancer. Paul was
so disheartened by her final scene that he gave her morphia to hasten her death. Indeed,
her life ended on her tragic death. 

Conclusion
The character of Gertrude Morel is something that highlights how emotional distances
can lead to an utter destruction. She had some obvious shortcomings but at heart, she
was a devoted mother who suffered throughout her entire life.