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

Lawrence’s writing was also revolutionary in that it stressed and importance of feelings. The Notes
plot was important for the light that it threw on the inner events in a character. Lawrence’s
novel style is often highly poetic. In a sense, Lawrence was a kind of mystic; he worshipped
‘life itself’ and attempted to convey his feelings and pass on his beliefs in his novels. To some
extent he succeeded; in the west, the twentieth century has been an era of greater openness,
particularly in the area of feelings.

23.1 Character Lists

Paul Morel

Paul is the protagonist of the novel, and we follow his life from infancy to his early twenties.
He is sensitive, temperamental, artistic (a painter), and unceasingly devoted to his mother.
They are inseparable; he confides everything in her, works and paints to please her, and
nurses her as she dies. Paul has ultimately unsuccessful romances with Miriam Leiver and
Clara Dawes, always alternating between great love and hatred for each of them. His relationship
fails with Miriam because she is too sacrificial and virginal to claim him as hers, whereas it
fails with Clara because, it seems, she has never given up on her estranged husband. However,
the major reason behind Paul’s break-ups is the long shadow of his mother; no woman can
ever equal her in his eyes, and he can never free himself from her possession.

Gertrude Morel

Mrs. Morel is unhappily married to Walter Morel, and she redirects her attention to her
children, her only passion in life. She is first obsessed with William, but his death leaves her
empty and redirects her energies toward Paul. She bitterly disapproves of all the women these
two sons encounter, masking her jealousy with other excuses. A natural intellectual, she also
feels society has limited her opportunities as a woman, another reason she lives through Paul.

Miriam Leiver

Miriam is a virginal, religious girl who lives on a farm near the Morels, and she is Paul’s first
love. However, their relationship takes ages to move beyond the Platonic and into the romantic.
She loves Paul deeply, but he never wants to marry her and “belong” to her, in his words.
Rather, he sees her more as a sacrificial, spiritual soul mate and less as a sensual, romantic
lover. Mrs. Morel, who feels threatened by Miriam’s intellectuality, always reinforces his disdain
for Miriam.

Clara Dawes

Clara is an older women estranged from her husband, Baxter Dawes. Unlike the intellectual
Miriam, Clara seems to represent the body. Her sensuality attracts Paul, as does her elusiveness
and mysteriousness. However, she loses this elusiveness as their affair continues, and Paul
feels she has always “belonged” to her husband.

Walter Morel

Morel, the coal-mining head of the family, was once a humorous, lively man, but over time
he has become a cruel, selfish alcoholic. His family, especially Mrs. Morel, despises him, and
Paul frequently entertains fantasies of his father’s dying.

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