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Unit 22: D.H. Lawrence — Sons and Lovers : Detailed Study of Text

Later, Miriam asks Paul to accompany the two women on a walk. They meet Miss Limb and Notes
her horse, and Clara especially is very fond of the horse. After they leave, Paul and Miriam
mention that they both feel there is something strange about Miss Limb, and Clara suggests
that she wants a man.
Clara walks a little ahead, and Miriam asks Paul if he still finds her disagreeable. He replies
that something is the matter with her, and she agrees. They arrive at a field of wildflowers,
and enjoy it together. Paul and Miriam pick flowers, and Clara says she doesn’t like to pick
them because she doesn’t want the corpses around her. Paul argues that it is sufficient reason
that he likes and wants the flowers and that there are plenty of them, and Miriam says that
the spirit in which the flowers are picked is what matters. When Clara bends forward to smell
the flowers, Paul scatters cowslips over her hair and neck.
Paul takes his mother to Lincoln to see the cathedral, and he becomes worried about her when
she cannot climb the hill because of her heart. He laments the fact that his mother is old and
ill and that he was not the eldest son, and his mother tells him that she is only a bit old and
not really ill.
At this time Annie is engaged to Leonard, who has a talk with Mrs. Morel because he wants
to get married right away. She cautions him that neither he nor Annie has much money, and
he tells her that he realizes that, but he still wants to marry Annie right away. She trusts him,
as she tells Paul, and so the wedding takes place immediately.
Mrs. Morel decides to buy Arthur out of the army, at which he is overjoyed. He comes home
and takes up with Beatrice Wyld.

Notes Paul writes Miriam a letter attempting to explain what has happened in their love,
and we are told that this is the end of the first phase of Paul’s romantic endeavors.

Analysis

The main significant event in this chapter is that Paul returns to his mother’s love, re-asserting
her place as his closest loved one. He decides to abandon his affair with Miriam because his
mother is more important, and he also strongly insists that he will not marry and leave his
mother.
It is also significant because it contains the first real meeting between Paul and Clara. Although
their friendship does not really begin until later, this is their first important point of contact.
Clara, who is portrayed as a feminist and a man-hater, makes a surprising remark that Miss
Limb wants a man. This suggests that she might not be as feminist as she thinks she is,
something that Paul also observes.

Chapter 10: Clara

Summary
Paul sends a painting to an exhibition at Nottingham Castle, and one morning Mrs. Morel gets
very excited upon reading a letter. It turns out that he has won first prize and that the painting
has been sold for twenty guineas to Major Moreton. Paul and his mother rejoice at his success,
and he tells her that she can use the money to buy Arthur out of the army. Paul is invited to

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