Product Description

With an introduction and notes by Dr Howard J Booth, University of Kent at Canterbury, this semi-autobiographical novel explores the emotional conflicts through the protagonist, Paul Morel, and the suffocating relationships with a demanding mother and two very different lovers. It is a pre-Freudian exploration of love and possessiveness.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #103013 in Books
• Published on: 1992-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Book Information
D. H. Lawrence’s chronicle of the early life of Paul Morel is a superb example of autobiography transformed into art.

Insulted and neglected by her husband, a brutal hard-drinking miner, Gertrude Morel pours her abundant affection on to her children. Paul, her second son, is an aspiring artist who pities his sensitive mother and hates his father. But Paul’s relationship with his mother is strained to breaking point when he meets Miriam. Torn between the jealous love of two women Paul must break free from the emotional maelstrom around him.

Reader: Paul Copley

About the Author
David Trotter is Quain Professor of English Language and Literature at University College, London.

Customer Reviews

A novel presenting strong bond between a mother and her sons
The setting of the novel is in the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire area of England. The novel is the story of the Morel family. Gertrude and Walter Morel married and went to Bestwood, a mining village in Nottinghamshire. She was a well educated and refined person; he was a warm, vigorous, uneducated man. They had four children- Annie, the daughter, and three sons- William, Paul, and Arthur. As Gertrude Morel's sons grew up, she no longer felt love for her husband, and instead turned all her love and passion towards her sons. The sons grew up hating their father and completely dependent upon their mother, who became the strongest factor in their lives; as a result, when they became men, they were unable to find a satisfactory relationship with any woman. William, the eldest, chose a flignty girl who gave him physical satisfaction, but nothing more, for his soul was his mother's. The struggle of this impasse killed him. Paul the second eldest, chose Miriam, who fought his mother for his soul; torn between the two women he ultimately returned to his mother. Later, he turned for a physical relationship to Clara, an older married woman, but again he found that the ties with his mother were too strong for a succesful relationship. Paul told his mother that as long as she lived he could not live a full life or love any woman. She became ill, and Paul dedicated his life completely to her. When his mother died, he was left alone with a wish only for death.

I think that freud does not have an influence
It is just the unconsciousness of paul that push him to behave like that with his mother ,because they have a very close relation ship .he is at the place of his father ,since his father does not exist mentaly .It is not an act of freudian analysis

Can we all say: "Okay, Paul, get over your mother"?
D.H. Lawerence kinda scares you with this book. It's beginning chapters, while it introduces you to characters, are boring. Let's face it: Classic British Literature is boring, and Lawerence only adds to it worse. His character, Paul Morel, obviously loves his mother a BIT TOO much. I'm not saying you have to consider this bad, I'm just saying that it made the book pointless. A man, living his life with constant remorse because no other woman can satisfy due to his mother?? How sad and how pathetic. The guy lost his virginity to a girl, then LEAVES her. The book is no where near what I call entertaining or exciting or even worth reading. However, it does have one quality: If you need to go to sleep, pick up this book.