Page 270 - DENG404_FICTION

Fiction Gowher Ahmad Naik, Lovely Professional University

Notes
Unit 23: D.H. Lawrence — Sons and Lovers:
Themes and Characterization

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
23.1 Character Lists
23.2 Major Themes
23.3 D.H. Lawrence—Sons and Lovers: Style and Plot
23.3.1 Plot

23.3.2 Plot Summary
23.4 Style
23.5 Summary
23.6 Keywords
23.7 Review Questions

23.8 Further Readings

Objectives

After studying this unit, you will be able to:
• Know about the characters of Sons and Lovers

• Know about the major themes
• Explain style and plot construction.

Introduction

Sons and Lovers is a ‘bildungsroman’ (A novel whose principal subject is the moral, psychological,
and intellectual development of a usually youthful main character.) Some novels which fall in
this category are autobiographical like Dickens’ ‘David Copperfield’ or Joyce’s ‘Portrait of the
Artist ...’ Likewise Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers, roughly deals with the childhood, adolscence
and early adulthood of the author. It is a frank portrayal of the relationship between a domineering
mother and the son, a relationship that influences every aspect of the protagonist’s life. From
his relationship with his father to his romantic affairs with two very different women.
D.H. Lawrence was a rebel. He felt that society made people lifeless and unreal, and that the
class system was pernicious. Lawrence believed in the ‘life force’, in Nature, its beauty and its
power. He also believed passionately in man’s natural instincts; he believed that sexual feeling
between a man and woman was natural and should be celebrated. He was the first novelist
in western culture to attempt to explore sexuality seriously and frankly. Because of this,
several of his novels were refused publication and declared obscene. Lady Chatterley’s Lover,
completed in 1928, was only published in its complete form in 1960.

264 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY