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Fiction

Notes Chapter 6: Death in the Family

In this chapter, Arthur leaves home to attend school in Nottingham, where he lives with his
sister, Annie. Paul visits the Leivers’s farm where he meets Miriam Leivers. The “Death” in
the chapter title refers to William’s death. He dies after a short illness, and his mother is
devastated. Paul falls ill with pneumonia, but his mother nurses him back to health, and the
two develop an intense emotional bond.

Chapter 7: Lad-and-Girl Love
Paul develops a close relationship with Miriam, who aspires to transcend her working-class
roots through education. She takes care of Paul when he is sick and falls in love with him.
Paul, however, remains ambivalent about the relationship and struggles to define what he
feels toward her. Mrs. Morel does not like Miriam, because she believes that Miriam is taking
Paul away from her.

Chapter 8: Strife in Love

The key events in this chapter include Arthur’s enlistment in the army and events illustrating
Paul’s struggle to define his feelings for Miriam while at the same time remaining emotionally
faithful to his mother. Paul also sees Clara Dawes, whom he tells Miriam he likes.

Chapter 9: Defeat of Miriam
This chapter details Paul’s recognition that he loves his mother more than Miriam and would
never marry and leave her. Compounding his love for his mother is his awareness that she is
old now and not well. He breaks off his relationship with Miriam, who remains angry with
him for being so influenced by his mother. However, Paul continues to visit the Leivers’s
farm, where he later meets Clara again, but he tells Edgar, Miriam’s brother, that he does not
like Clara because she is so abrasive. He is both attracted to and repelled by Clara’s dislike
of men.
Annie marries Leonard, even though neither of them have much money, and Mrs. Morel buys
Arthur out of the army. Arthur returns home and promptly marries Beatrice Wyld.

Chapter 10: Clara

One of Paul’s paintings is sold for twenty guineas to Major Moreton. Paul discusses his
success with his mother, who expresses her desire that he settle down with a woman and
make a better life for himself. Paul visits Clara and meets her mother. He revises his opinion
of Clara and secures a job for her. The two grow closer, and Clara discusses her failed marriage
with him.

Chapter 11: The Test on Miriam

Paul returns to Miriam, convinced that the “problem” between them stems from the lack of
sexuality in their relationship. He tells her that he loves her, and the two sleep together.
However, the relationship deteriorates when Miriam tells him that she feels they are too
young to marry. Once again, Paul breaks off the relationship, and the two become bitter
toward each other.

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