Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Sons and lovers (Lawrence)'

D.H. Lawrence’s novel Sons and Lovers, written in 1913 is an autobiographical novel that captures the Morel’s disharmonious family situation. Critics have many times looked at Mr. Morel and his behavior to offer an explanation for the disharmony. However, by applying a historical and socioeconomic, gender and psychoanalytical perspective to an analysis of Mrs. Morel this analysis will focus on her many actions and behavior in an attempt to offer another explanation for the disharmony in the narrative. The analysis will mainly focus on her relationship with her sons, especially Paul. The conclusion of the analysis shows that Mrs. Morel through her over attached relationship with Paul led to three main consequences: his mental downfall, his incapability to have normal relationships, and the collapse of his individuality.

碩士<br>淡江大學<br>西洋語文研究所<br>84<br>This thesis aims to rectify the general understanding that the mother (Mrs. Morel) is the culprit responsible for the sons' dependence upon her, and to argue that she is not to blame for the two sons' tragic fates. In terms of the first son William' s death, besides the physical cause, the character's mental problem is a matter between between Mrs. Morel and Lily. The leading character Paul's (the second son) final turn toward life is not a hopeful ending, but a temporary triumph of reason; and his ingrained dependence upon his mother is due primarily to his own congenital melancholy, not to Mrs. Morel's lavish affection. However, the argument that the mother is not to blame for the two sons' fates is in part a result of the editor's reduction. In the Cambridge edition that includes all the deleted passages, only William's tragedy proves to involve the mother factor; on Paul's part, Mrs. Morel is still not the main cause of his crippled spirit. Through a close-reading and elaborate analysis of a few less noticed passages, some significant findings necessary for serving as a corrective to the dominant opinion, are put forth. The first chapter is composed of three parts: Part I centers on the physical cause; Part II utilizes Lawrence's thematic summary and raises three questions to draw the conclusion that William is not spiritually dependent upon Mrs. Morel; Part III is an explication of the first son's independent character. In Chapter Two, Paul's inherent character and the effect of Mrs. Morel's affection, promised to Paul but not delivered, are the most important points for discussion. In the Conclusion, a comparison and contrast between the two brothers in terms of character and fate is made. Although the novel normally referred is a revised production by the editor, this thesis attempts to demonstrate that it still presents a unique portrait of the two sons.

碩士<br>國立中興大學<br>外國語文學系<br>92<br>It is generally consented that D. H. Lawrence is one of the most prominent writers in the early twentieth century, and, among all his earlier novels, Sons and Lovers is undoubtedly the most discussed one. Most critics believe that Sons and Lovers is the semi- autobiographical novel that is written by Lawrence on the basis of his real life, and, therefore, psychoanalytic or Marxist theories are often applied to the exegesis of this novel so as to examine the Oedipal complex or class conflict revealed in it. My elaboration on this novel, yet, would adopt the New Historicist ideas to inspect the intersection of the text and history, the historicism of Lawrence himself, and the implied historical truth in the superficially biographical form, in the hope of having a broader sociohistoical point of view. Though Lawrence wrote and achieved his fame both in the twentieth century, the time setting of Sons and Lovers was situated in his most familiar child and youth age, that is, at the turn of Victorian and early modern period. At this transitional point, Lawrence, through his brilliant skill, creates a vivid picture on the family life of the Morels, and further implicitly expresses his thoughts about the shift of contemporary history and power. Seeing how Mrs. Morel gains control over the whole household and establishes her position as the queen, we are meanwhile observing how the burgeoning middle-classes affect people of all classes with the aid of the Ideological State Apparatuses, defeating other competing forces, and then seize the domination over the state. Mrs. Morel instills her ideas and values into her sons through the most basic institute, the family-school couple, and grasps them firmly in her hands; similarly, the state makes use of exactly the same mechanism to hail individuals into subjects who would act submissively without doubt and dissidence. However, as Raymond Williams has argued, in addition to the dominant, there must exist at the same time the residual and the emergent cultures that could be trying to oppose and even threaten the dominance of the ruling class. After Mrs. Morel successfully excludes Mr. Morel from the family life, the so-called threats to her are the girls who attempt to cut the connection between her and her sons. Eventually, the mother and the sons under her influence join hand by hand exorcising these heretical aliens, and preserve the divine territorial integrity of the family as well as the state. Since everyone must meet his or her doom, does the irremediable illness and death of Mrs. Morel mean that she is gradually withdrawing from her son, Paul’s mind and gives back his due freedom? Or, does her death simply signify the physical departure and, one the other hand, leave her son the acute grief and a stronger emotional bond? This is also the most contentious question that is being vehemently debated among scholars of different disciplines in the New Historicism: Is there a genuine opposition? The concluding chapter of Sons and Lovers demonstrates that though seemingly able to accept the death of his mother and ready to set about a new life of his own, Paul, as a closer reading shows, is still struggling under the overwhelming authority and gigantic shadow of his mother, for his new life is actually the extension of Mrs. Morel’s will. The possibility of genuine and effective subversion, under the domination of the omnipresent and omnipotent Mother and State, is completely eradicated.

碩士<br>中國文化大學<br>英國語文學研究所<br>92<br>This thesis applies Simone de Beauvoir's concept of feminism to D. H. Lawrence's three novels─Sons and Lovers, Women in Love and Lady Chatterley's Lover. De Beauvoir's feminist theory can be understood in her work─The Second Sex, which mainly explores the history and situation of women. The works of Lawrence have focused on the sexual relationship and roles between men and women. This work discusses the position of women in those relations with men according to Simone de Beauvoir’s feminist theory. The first chapter explains the change in woman's traditional position and introduces Lawrence's novels as seen by de Beauvoir's feminist position. The second chapter explores the ambivalent relationships between Mrs. Morel, Miriam and Clara as found in one of those novels─Sons and Lovers. Paul's excessive attachment to his mother results in his incapacity to establish good relations with Miriam and Clara. The relationship between him and Miriam lies in a spiritual level, while Clara's relationship with him rests on the physical one. Hence, these two women cannot achieve a balance of body and mind with Paul. The third chapter analyzes love and exploration of life through the relationship between man and woman in Women in Love. Ursula's relationship with Birkin conveys the philosophy of Lawrence─equilibrium. Gudrun's alienation from others prevents the establishment of close intimacy with Gerald who attempts to fill up his dead and void soul by contact with her. The relationship between them is doomed to be a failure. Hermione is a third type of woman who always expresses her superiority over people but has a void mind. The fourth chapter represents the mental freedom and the physical harmony between Connie and Mellors in Lady Chatterley’s Lover. The conclusion of this thesis compares the relationship between men and women and conveys Lawrence's philosophy of equilibrium for readers and judges it by Simone de Beauvoir’s theory.

碩士<br>國立中正大學<br>外國語文學系<br>85<br>In D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers, the characters are involved in continuous triangle relationships, but the development of their relationships is always blocked. At the end, Paul's final decision to turn from their mother's dead influence to his father's living energy. He would lead a more balanced life with the elements both from his mother and his father.

碩士<br>東吳大學<br>英文學系<br>100<br>The “Eternal Feminine figure,” an archetypal image in Carl Jung’s theory of collective unconscious, leads our lives to an endless pursuit. In Sons and Lovers and the Tale of Genji, the “Eternal Feminine figure” finds its embodiment in each mother leading to the mother complex of sons, and the sons’ search for the mother’s shadow in their lovers. However, their lovers are mother substitutes unable to fulfill the sons’ infantile fantasy. In other words, their love is doomed to futility. For both heroes, each love failure stands for a kind of communication with their inner selves toward self-realization. This thesis aims to examine how both heroes become aware of their own dark sides through love failures and release themselves from the mother complex. The first part of the thesis applies Jung’s Mother and Child archetypes to explore how the mothers in these two novels become the son’s large-than-life archetypal figure fostering them into Peter Pan, who never forgo their mothers’ protections and try to fulfill their infantile wishes by their lovers / mother substitutes. The second part focuses on how both heroes go through self-reflections by their love difficulties and makes comparisons and contrasts of their journeys of self-discovery by applying Jung’s Hero archetype. To put it more precisely, Paul cannot love any women due to his unconscious guilt for his mother’s sacrifices; at the same time, he realizes his mother’s possessive love in the entangled love affairs. To reject his lovers is to fight against his mother’s possessiveness. His release is achieved with his identification with his father. On the other hand, the loss of mother deepens Genji’s obsessions. His philandering breaks his lovers’ heart, but comforts the loss of mother in his own heart. From the accusations of spirit possessions, Genji realizes his lack of devotion and tries to improve himself by introspections. At the end of journey, Paul walks into the light to start a new journey searching for the life of his own, whereas Genji is released toward the end of his life by his sense of futility and renunciation, which illustrates the Japanese aesthetics of “the pathos of things” (mono no aware). The discussion of both authors’ writing styles and their cultural backgrounds highlights the conflicts of their times by their fictional worlds.

碩士<br>國立成功大學<br>外國語文學系<br>89<br>A Study of Domestic Disharmony and Discord in D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers Abstract With an overtone of autobiography, Sons and Lovers primarily explores D. H. Lawrence's early life and upbringing. This autobiographical novel is closely related to Lawrence's family, his parents and his dilemma in an imbalanced household. During his lifetime, Lawrence was profoundly influenced by the domestic discord in his own family. In most of his works, we can easily trace his domestic burden and his life experience to his family and his social background. To better understand Sons and Lovers, I have briefly introduced Lawrence's family background in my thesis. This thesis aims to discuss how the domestic discord and disharmony influence the family's destiny and how the family suffers under the disastrous imbalance. The first chapter of this thesis treats the origins of the domestic conflict in the Morel family. The conflicts, resulting from different social and economic backgrounds between Walter and Gertrude, devastate the domestic balance and reverse the roles of man and woman. These differences make them antagonistic toward each other and irreparably pave the way for the family to a disastrous end. Because of her disappointment and disillusionment in life, Gertrude finds consolation in her sons and unconsciously teaches them to look down on their father. As a result, in the second chapter, I aim to demonstrate the mother's devouring force towards her husband and sons. With an effort to fulfil her middle-class dream, the mother actively urges her sons to get on, to lead a life without want, but meanwhile she also isolates her husband. Her efforts only sever her sons from their own roots and force her husband to be a brute. She gradually plays the dual role of a destructive wife and devouring mother when she prepares a "proper" way for her family. In the end, the father and sons become victims in their own house. The third chapter examines the process of how the father and sons are victimized in this mother-centered family. When pursuing her dreams, the mother turns all of her hopes and expectations on her sons, while excluding her husband from the family, and treating him more like a lodger in "their" house. William bears the responsibility of glorifying his mother, but eventually dies of a skin disease. As a dependent son, Paul can never love a woman other than his mother when he reaches manhood. The mother always paves a "right" way for her sons, but she victimizes them unconsciously. Since home plays a crucial role to people, what the family aspires to determines their attitudes in life. At the end of this thesis, I focus on the importance of the family and the influence of the domestic disharmony and discord. Also, I reexamine the price of "getting on" for the Morel family and arrive at a conclusion that it is not worth pursuing at such a high cost.

碩士<br>淡江大學<br>西洋語文研究所<br>88<br>Abstract This thesis aims to examine the mother-son relationship in D. H. Lawrence’s most autobiographical novel, Sons and Lovers with Jacques Lacan’s attention to the pre-Oedipal phase, his use of the “mirror stage” theory, and the revised Lacanian Oedipal theory based on the Freudian Oedipal theory. It is inevitable for critics on the novel to employ Freudian Oedipal theory in consequence of the text’s abnormal mother-son relationship constructed by Lawrence’s actual life. Lawrence himself had never read anything about Freud while he was writing Sons and Lovers; nevertheless, he did get some notions of Freudian theory via his German wife, Frieda, who got the basic knowledge on psychoanalysis. Based on Freudian theory, the notions of infantile sexuality, castration complex, and the child’s abnormal fixation to the mother and hatred toward the father seems to be the key ideas penetrating the novel. Sharing with the same belief, Lacan, however, strengthens his theory with the knowledge of cultural anthropology and linguistics for the sake of avoiding the insufficiency of Freudian theory. In Sons and Lovers, Lacan’s theory of “mirror stage” tends to give an interpretation for Paul’s identification with the image reflected in his mother’s expectation of him. Looking into the mother’s eye (another form of mirror), Paul recognizes and identifies with his mother’s idea of him as a future middle-class man distinguished from Paul’s rude father, and particularly, as a substitute lover. Then, the subject as a child enters the Oedipal phase, according to Lacan’s theory, to get into the mother-son-phallus triad relationship. In this period, the paternal metaphor starts its functioning owing to the imaginary object, the phallus, which the mother desires beyond the child. The intrusion of the father into the mother-son relationship characterizes the second Oedipal phase. Walter Morel causes Paul’s anxiety because of the threat of castration brought by the father. At the third phase, with the diminishment of the mother’s dominancy, Paul outgrows his Oedipus complex and turns to recognize the values of the father by walking into the town, suggesting his crossing the threshold into the manhood, or in Lacanian terms, the socialization.

Authors Thomas Hardy and D.H. Lawrence were both influenced by the old traditions of the 19 th century and the new ideals of the early 20 th century. By comparing Hardy’s final novel, Jude the Obscure , originally published in 1895, to Lawrence’s early novel Sons and Lovers , released in 1913, one recognizes thematic similarities signifying the influence of Hardy on Lawrence’s work. This novel-to-novel approach allows for a tightly focused comparison between the two authors that reflects similarities found in their other bodies of work (including novels, poems, plays, and criticism), while the relative chronological closeness of the two novels---a mere eighteen years apart---emphasizes the authors’ function of providing a literary link between Victorian and Modernist ways of thought. By also examining the influence of psychoanalysis, and specifically Sigmund Freud, on Lawrence’s novel, one better understands the way in which this budding field of psychology enhanced the descriptive quality of writing and helped to distinguish Lawrence from Hardy. Hardy touched upon topics of sexuality and internal conflict that Lawrence later expanded upon in his own novels. Though both authors emphasized similar themes and character traits, Hardy proved unable to address them as thoroughly and lucidly as Lawrence because he lacked the critical psychological vocabulary to which Lawrence, as a Modernist, had access. At the same time, both writers addressed subject matters at odds with his society’s moral standards and gained notoriety due to the content of their novels. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)<br>Thesis (M.A.)--Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dept. of English.<br>"December 2005."

Thesis (M.A.)--Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dept. of English.<br>"December 2005." Title from PDF title page (viewed on April 20, 2007). Thesis adviser: Peter Zoller. UMI Number: AAT 1436549 Includes bibliographic references (leaves 30-32).

碩士<br>淡江大學<br>西洋語文研究所<br>83<br>D. H. Lawrence, one of the most famous writers in thetieth century, is well known for his oedipal conflict expressed in his literary works. In my thesis, I have attemptedpresent Lawrence's oedipal frustration by comparing with theoedipal pattern in some of Grimms' fairy tales. In order to connect the oedipal significance in fairy tales with Lawrence's personal oedipal confusion, I have discussed the possibility of the fairy tales in recording a child's oedipal desire mainly based on the theory of Freud. Then, I depict the particular way of soothing a child's oedipal intensity in fairy tales by examining Bettelheim's theory. According to Bettelheim and Tolkien, killing a wild monster or a wicked female figure to gain a happy life with a fair lady means to release a child's oedipal disturbance. However, in contrast to a child-reader Lawrence does not succeed in relaxing his oedipal tension fromich he suffers painfully. In order to demostrate the factorsawrence's oedipal failure, I have analyzed Lawrence's disappointed male characters, Harry in The Merry-Go-Round andul in Sons and Lovers whom I compare with the happy heroes in Grimms' fairy tales. In the first chapter, I affirm Lawrence's oedipal fixation to his mother. In the second chapter, I indicate the relationship between Lawrence and fairy tales and the symbolic oedipal pattern in fairy tales. In the third chapter, I show Harry's oedipa frustration actually resulted from Mrs Hemstock's jealous rejection, Harry's dependent character and the non-existence of a father type. In the fourth chapter, I analyze Grimms' "Briar Rose" on an oedipal level to illustrate and stress Paul's oedipal pain. The fifth chapter is my conclusion.