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

Analysis Notes
Paul continues to exhibit physical similarities to his mother. At one point in this chapter he
clicks his tongue, and the narrator comments that Mrs. Morel shares the same habit.
Paul’s relationship with his mother also continues to be central. Miriam knows Paul well
enough to understand that whether he has told his mother about Clara is an indication of the
seriousness of his feelings for her. This illustrates the way that his mother is still the most
important woman to him, and the degree to which other events in his life can be understood
by the way that they relate to her. It is also very important that Clara gets along well with his
mother, as Clara understands, dreading the meeting because she realized Paul’s intense love
for Mrs. Morel.
Again, there is no direct mention of sex in this chapter, but it is alluded to in Clara and Paul’s
discussion of whether they are criminals, and in Paul’s mention of Eve after they have been
walking by the riverbank.

Chapter 13: Baxter Dawes

Summary
Paul is in a bar with some friends when Baxter Dawes enters, Clara’s husband from whom she
has been separated for years. Paul offers him a drink, since he is the superior at Jordan’s, but
Dawes refuses. Dawes begins to talk about Paul being at the theatre with a ‘tart,’ and Paul is
about to leave when Dawes says something that causes Paul to throw a glass of beer in his
face. Dawes rushes at Paul but is held back, and he is thrown out of the bar. Paul’s friends
at the bar tell him that he should learn to box, so that he can take care of Dawes. When he
leaves, one of the men walks with him.
He tells Clara what has happened, and she does not seem surprised, saying that Baxter is a
low sort of person. She wants Paul to carry a gun or a knife for protection and is angry when
he refuses.

One day at the factory, Paul runs into Dawes. Dawes threatens him while he carries on with
his work. Finally Dawes grabs Paul’s arm, and Thomas Jordan comes out of his office to see
what is happening. He tells Dawes to leave and, when he does not, grabs his arm. Dawes jerks
his elbow and sends Jordan flying backward through a spring-door and down half a flight of
steps. Jordan is not hurt, but he dismisses Dawes.
Paul discusses love with his mother and says that perhaps something is the matter with him
and that he can’t love. She says that he has not met the right woman, and he replies that he
will never meet the right woman while she is alive. Clara asks him about the future, and he
tells her he will go abroad and then come back to be with his mother. He tells her not to ask
about the future but just to be with him now, and they surrender to their passion. She does
not want a divorce from Baxter and therefore cannot belong to him completely. They both
realize that they will go separate ways.
One evening they pass Dawes as they are walking, and Paul does not realize who it is until
after they have passed him, and Clara says it was Baxter. Another night some time later, Paul
is walking alone and encounters Dawes waiting for him. They fight and Paul is hurt. He
struggles to get himself home and goes to sleep, and his mother is there to take care of him
when he awakes. While he is ill, Clara and then Miriam come to visit him, and he tells his
mother that he doesn’t care about them.
After he is better, he goes on a holiday with his friend Newton and arranges to meet his
mother at Annie’s house in Sheffield. When he arrives there, Annie opens the door and he

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