A biographical study on d.h. lawrence`s son and lovers - USD Repository
A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY ON D.H LAWRENCE’S
SONS AND LOVERS
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
Elida Mantarina S
Student Number:
984214135 Student Registration Number: 980051120106120133
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY 2007
ii
“For I know the plans I have for
you,” declares the Lord, “plans to
prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29: 11)You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good
promises that Lord your God gave
you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.(Joshua 23: 14b) This undergraduate thesis is dedicated to My beloved father and mother My sweet brother and sisters
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my gratitude to the savior of my life, Jesus Christ, for always being here during my up and down times. Thank you for saving my soul from death so I can be a new creation in You. Thank you for helping me to accomplish this thesis. All the glory, honor, praises, they all come back to You alone.
I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M. Pd, M. A for all the thoughts, advices, guidance and helps so this thesis is up to the end. I would like to thank my co-advisor Dra. A. B. Sri Mulyani, M.A for lending the books that I have needed. Thank you for the suggestions and inputs.
My deepest gratitude goes to my parents, H. Saragih and D. Manurung. Thank you for believing and holding a huge faith in me to finish my thesis. I thank my brother, Ronal and my two little sisters, Aprida and Christina for their love, support and prayer. I thank God for giving me a wonderful family. What a blessing to have you all in my life.
I thank Silvia and Nope, who have helped me revising this thesis. Thank you for your love, prayer and encouragement. I am so blessed to know you.
I would like to thank my close friends and my family in GKKD Sadhar area, Arie Dewanti, Nerry, Arum, Sari, Ria, Nita, Gomez, Andreano, Olive, Boim and ‘C’. I thank them for all the friendship, prayers, care, encouragement, laughter and for sharing their life to me. Thank you for showing me a direction to be a better and faithful person in serving the Lord.
I thank Sondang for allowing me to use her computer until 4 o’clock in the morning. I’m so blessed with your kindness. Good luck for your thesis.
Fighting!! I thank all people that I cannot mention one by one who also giving their support and prayer. I hope this thesis will be useful for the readers. God bless you all.
Elida Mantarina S
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE .................................................................................................i APPROVAL PAGE .......................................................................................ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE ..................................................................................iii MOTTO PAGE ...............................................................................................iv DEDICATION PAGE ....................................................................................v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ...............................................................................viii ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................ix ABSTRAK .....................................................................................................x
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study ..........................................................1 B. Problem Formulation.................................................................3 C. Objectives of the Study .............................................................3 D. Definition of Terms ..................................................................3 CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review on Related Studies .......................................................4 B. Review on Related Theories......................................................5
1. The Author’s Relation to his works ..............................6
2. Character and Characterization ....................................7
C. Theoretical Framework ............................................................11
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study ...................................................................13 B. Approach of the Study...............................................................14 C. Method of the Study .................................................................15 CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS A. Characteristics of Paul Morel ...................................................17 B. The Similarities between D.H Lawrence’s life and Paul Morel’s life........................................................................29 C. Comparison on D.H Lawrence’s life and the significant Characters ................................................................................31
1. Walter Morel ................................................................31
2. Gertrude Coppard ..........................................................34
3. William Morel ..............................................................39
4. Paul Morel ....................................................................40
5. Arthur Morel .................................................................41
6. Miriam Leivers ..............................................................43
7. Clara Dawes...................................................................45
8. Baxter Dawes ................................................................48
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION.......................................................................51 BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………………..54 APPENDINCES: Appendix 1. Summary of the Novel ………………………………55 Appendix 2. D.H Lawrence’s Biography and Bibliography………57
ABSTRACT
Elida Mantarina S (2007). A Biographical Study on D.H Lawrence’s Sons and
Lovers. Yogyakarta: English Letter Department, Faculty of English Letter, Sanata
Dharma.This thesis analyzes the influence of D.H Lawrence’s background of life in his novel, Sons and Lovers. From this topic, the writer formulates three problems and they become the bases of the study. The questions are: (1) What is the character of Paul Morel like? (2) Which parts of Lawrence’s life are similar to Paul Morel’s life? , and (3) Which parts of Lawrence’s life are reflected in the presentation of characters in Sons and Lovers? The first objective is to find out the characteristics of Paul Morel as the main character. The second objective is to find out the similarities between D.H Lawrence’s life and Paul Morel’s life. The last objective is to find out the significant characters that influence D.H Lawrence’s life as presented in Sons and Lovers.
This thesis is using library research, so the primary data are taken from the novel Sons and Lovers, written by D.H Lawrence. The other supporting data are taken from the critical books, essays, and theoretical books and also from the Internet. The writer uses Biographical approach in comparing and analyzing the story in Sons and Lovers and D.H Lawrence’s background of life. The writer finds out that Paul Morel’s life has many similarities with D.H Lawrence’s life as the creator of Sons and Lovers.
After analyzing the novel, the writer concludes that Paul Morel’s characteristics have develop since childhood until he becomes an adult. Paul is a delicate and weak child but then he turns into a clever, mature and responsible man. In the end, he becomes a strong man after his mother passes away. The similarities that are shared by D.H Lawrence and Paul Morel prove that Sons and
Lovers and Paul Morel are the reflection of D.H Lawrence himself. Significant
characters in Lawrence’s novel are also the presentation of real people in Lawrence’s life. These people really exist and Lawrence is inspired to write about them in Sons and Lovers. From this analysis, the writer concludes that D.H Lawrence’s background of life influences most of his works particularly in his novel Sons and Lovers as his personal autobiography.
ABSTRAK
Elida Mantarina S (2007). A Biographical Study on D.H Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers. Yogyakarta, Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Skripsi ini menganalisa pengaruh latar belakang kehidupan D.H Lawrence dalam novelnya Sons and Lovers. Dari topik ini, penulis membuat tiga permasalahan dan permasalahan-permasalahan tersebut menjadi tujuan dari penulisan skripsi ini. Pertanyaan tersebut adalah (1) Karakteristik apa saja yang terdapat pada Paul Morel? (2) Bagian-bagian kehidupan manakah yang menunjukkan kesamaan antara D.H Lawrence dan Paul Morel? Dan (3) Bagian- bagian kehidupan D.H Lawrence yang manakah yang direflesikan melalui presentasi karakter-karakter penting pada novel Sons and Lovers? Tujuan pertama adalah untuk mengetahui karakteristik dari Paul Morel sebagai karakter utama. Tujuan yang kedua adalah untuk mengetahui persamaan antara kehidupan D.H Lawrence dan kehidupan Paul Morel. Tujuan yang terakhir adalah untuk mengetahui karakter-karakter penting yang mempengaruhi kehidupan D.H Lawrence seperti terdapat dalam Sons and Lovers.
Berhubung skripsi ini menggunakan metode studi pustaka, data utama diambil dari novel Sons and Lovers yang ditulis oleh D.H Lawrence. Data lain diambil dari buku-buku penunjang seperti, buku-buku kritikan, esai-esai, buku- buku teori dan juga dari internet. Di dalam membandingkan dan menganalisa cerita Sons and Lovers dan kehidupan D.H Lawrence, penulis menggunakan pendekatan biografi. Penulis menemukan bahwa kehidupan Paul Morel mempunyai banyak kesamaan dengan kehidupan D.H Lawrence sebagai pencipta novel Sons and Lovers.
Setelah menganalisis novel tersebut, penulis menyimpulkan bahwa karakter utama dalam Sons and Lovers di gambarkan sebagai karakter yang berkembang mulai dari kanak-kanak sampai beranjak dewasa. Paul merupakan anak yang rapuh dan lemah tetapi berubah menjadi seseorang yang pintar, dewasa dan bertanggung jawab. Di akhir cerita, Paul menjadi seseorang yang kuat setelah kematian ibunya. Kesamaan- kesamaan antara D.H Lawrence dan Paul Morel membuktikan bahwa novel Sons and Lovers dan Paul Morel adalah refleksi hidup dari D.H Lawrence. Karakter- karakter di dalam novel D.H Lawrence merupakan perwujudan dari orang- orang di dalam hidup D.H Lawrence. Orang- orang ini nyata dan D.H Lawrence terinspirasi untuk menuliskan kisah mereka di dalam novel Sons and Lovers. Dari analisis ini, penulis menyimpulkan bahwa latar belakang kehidupan D.H Lawrence mempengaruhi kebanyakan karya- karyanya tepatnya novel Sons and Lovers yang merupakan autobiografi pribadi dari D.H Lawrence.
CHAPTER I A. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY For some people reading is simply a hobby, to kill time or to get some
information from the book itself. Literature is the book of life. Therefore, it is also the reflection of the author’s life. In literature, an author writes about his or her own experiences about people, time, place, etc. Therefore, by reading literature such as literary works we can also get some benefit from it. Moody in his book
Literary Appreciation states:
The greatest pleasure and satisfaction to be found in literature occurs when (as it often does) it brings us back to the realities of human situations, problems, feelings and relationship (1968: 31). Literature transfers ideas; it reflects societies, eras and expresses human imagination. Literature also brings understanding of something, enrichment and the joy when reading it. Reading literature is not only giving us pleasure but also educating and teaching us. Through literature, we are capable in understanding the nature of man with his problems and learning the values hidden in it. Literary works give us the knowledge of human affairs; the truth about life and the understanding of man as a human being.
The writer is interested to write about D.H Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers. D.H Lawrence is one of the greatest novelists of English Literature. He is one of the productive writers and produces many works. He is intelligent and was born with certain skill as a natural writer. D.H Lawrence in his book Why the Novel Matters: Selected Criticism states: The novel is the book of life. In this sense, the Bible is a great confused novel. You may say, it is about God. But it is really about man alive. Adam, Eve, Sarai, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Samuel, David, Bath-sheba, Ruth, Esther, Solomon, Job, Isaiah, Jesus, mark, Judas, Paul, Peter: what is it but man alive, from start to finish? Man alive, not mere bits. Even the Lord is another man alive, in a burning bush, throwing the tablets of stone at Moses's head (from Why the Novel Matters: Selected Criticism, 1956).
Most of the characters in Lawrence’s novels are the reflection of Lawrence himself or people in his life, as Priestly says, “many of his stories are based on real accidents and characters that were friends and acquaintances” (Murti, 1982:31). Alastair Niven gives opinion about the position of D.H Lawrence among other English writers: “D.H Lawrence was one of the most versatile of all English writers, using almost every literary form in which the English language can express itself” (1960:1).
D.H Lawrence’s second novel, Sons and Lovers was published in 1913. It is regarded as the big step in Lawrence’s development. He wrote Sons and lovers in the first six months abroad and it could be said as his autobiography with the character of Paul Morel as the reflection or image of Lawrence himself. Abrams states “Sons and Lovers is a response to life. It is a result or product of Lawrence’s fresh look to life” (1978:2140-2144). Lawrence faced World War I, Industrialism, urban life and the existence of class distinction when he wrote his novels (Murti,
th and th
982:2). The setting took place in England in the latest 19 the beginning of 20 century. The rhythm of the society’s life moved from agrarian to industrial era.
The writer chooses Sons and Lovers because the writer finds some interesting parts in the novel, such as the relationship between the author and the main character, Paul Morel. The writer finds out that Paul Morel is the reflection of D.H Lawrence. In analyzing the problem into discussion, this thesis uses
Biographical approach. The writer chooses this approach to get a deep
understanding about the author’s background of life and his works.B. PROBLEM FORMULATION
From the background study above, the problems of this study are:
1. What is the character of Paul Morel like?
2. Which parts of Lawrence’s life are similar to Paul Morel’s life?
3. Which parts of Lawrence’s life are reflected in the presentation of characters in
Sons and Lovers ?
C. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY This study aims to answer the three formulated problems above. They are: 1. Finding the characteristics of Paul Morel as the main character.
2. Finding the similarities between D.H Lawrence’s life and Paul Morel’s life.
3. Finding the significant characters that influence D.H Lawrence’s life.
D. DEFINITION OF TERMS
1. Biographical According to Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary Tenth Edition,
Biographical is relating to a list briefly identifying persons (1993:115). Oxford Advanced Dictionary of Current English states Biographical as person’s life history written by another. It is a branch of literature dealing with the lives of persons (1974:82).
2. Character Rohrberger and Woods describe characters as flat and round. Flat character is one-sided while round character is many-sided. Flat character exhibits one predominant character trait (1971:81). Round character reveals many characters trait (1971:184).
M. H Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms states character as a person in dramatic or narrative work who is interpreted by the readers as being endowed with a moral and dispassion qualities, that are expressed in the action and the dialogues (1981: 21).
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. REVIEW ON RELATED STUDIES Concerning with the topic, the writer finds some criticisms on Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers . Cowley Malcolm and Hugi E in The Lesson of The Masters say
that the main issues in Sons and Lovers are class distinction and the dominance of powerful woman (1971:381-383). Both of them agree that this novel is the most autobiographical of Lawrence’s real family situation. This theme appears in most of his novels.
Abrams in The Norton Anthology of English Literature states that Sons
and Lovers is a response to life. It is a result or product of Lawrence’s fresh look
into his life. This novel is more conventional in style rather than Lawrence’s other works. The theme of Sons and Lovers is about a free will. It is also about an over dominating mother who gives up the prospect of achieving true emotional life with her husband and focuses her affection to her sons (1978: 2140-2144).
Abrams also uses maternal and paternal terms to show the influence of Lawrence’s parents in his life. It is to contrast the mother’s and the father’s influence in Lawrence’s life. Abrams admires Lawrence and calls him as a great prophet. Abrams sees Sons and Lovers as “a sense of truth”; it is Lawrence’s vision about life and love. Therefore, Abrams analyzes Lawrence’s works and life more than other critics ever do.
Sons and Lovers is one of Lawrence’s novels, which based on Lawrence’s
own experience. Nigel Messenger in How to Write an Essay on Lawrence states that Sons and Lovers is partly autobiographical and Lawrence tries to open up his own life and problems so the novel can set into a discussion (1989:133).
B. REVIEW ON RELATED THEORIES
1. THE AUTHOR’S RELATION TO HIS WORKS
The author is the important person in literary works because he or she becomes the creator of the literary works itself. An author and his or her works cannot be separated. According to Rene Wellek and Austin Warren, there is a close relationship between the work of art and the life of an author but the work of art is not mere copy of life. A work of art is only a place for an author to hide his feeling and weaknesses (1957: 75-78).
Rohrberger and Woods in Reading and Writing about Literature states there is an indirect relationship and similarity between the work and the author. An author’s work including character is “a kind of mask which is surely based on the author’s experience of life” (1971: 8). The novel reflects the author’s thought and by using his or her biography, the readers can share their consciousness and responses to the author’s thought. The readers should attempt to learn about the author’s life in order to understand his writings.
According to E. Van De Laar and Schoondewoerd, the author’s imagination sets on character and recreates them imaginatively. The actual life is the most important source that the novelist has and further on makes it up using his imagination to create characters as a living person. An author has uncommon powers of observation and experiences of life. An author does not have to experience everything he writes about, he can write an imagination in his mind despite describe it as real life in his works (1969: 165-176).
Sherwood Anderson in George Perking’ The Theory of American
Novel states that the result of the work of an author is influenced by the
experience of the author: Now, when it comes to talking about the experiences of writer, I think I should say something than perhaps most of you realize. The work of any writer, and for that matter of any artist in any of the seven art, should contain within it the story of his own style (Perking, 1970: 293).
2. THEORIES OF CHARACTER AND CHARACTERIZATION
2.1 CHARACTER
Abrams in his book entitled A Glossary of Literature Terms states those two meanings of character. Character is the name of a literary genre; it is a short and usually witty, sketch in prose of a distinctive type of person (1981: 23). Abrams also says character is:
…The person presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral, dispositional and emotional qualities that are expressed when they say the dialogue and do the action (1981:34).
Based on the theory above, the one who has main contribution in dramatic or narrative works hold the important point to express the author’s desire and share it to his or her readers. Without a character, a story is hardly to understand and to follow.
Character is one of the intrinsic elements in literary work. He or she is the person that represents human personality in the novel. The author describes he or she in the experiences on relationship and event or situation (Harvey, 1965: 31).
Roger B. Henkel in Reading The Novel states that character can be differentiating into two categories, major and minor characters (1977: 28). Major character is the center or the important character in the story. Major character deals with conflicts, changes, makes some progresses, and engages our responses more fully and steadily (Harvey, 1965: 56).
In accordance to Murphy’s book (1972: 167) entitled Understanding
Unseen, an Introduction to English Poetry and the English novel for Overseas
Students , characteristics of the character in the novel can be studied from:1. Personal description It is about a character’s appearance that is described by the author in the literary works. The description of the appearance can help readers or viewers to understand or imagine the character.
2. Character as seen by another The opinion from another characters to a character in a literary works can give an explanation about the characteristics of the character.
3. Speech Through the character’s speech that is made by the author, readers or viewers can get descriptions about the characteristics of the character.
4. Past lives Sometimes, what has happened with the character in his/her past can influence his/her present life and this past life can influence or develop characteristic of the character.
5. Conversation of others Through conversations of others about a character, which is spoken, can be seen by the readers or viewers.
6. Reaction The description of characteristics of a character can be seen through his/her action. The reaction of the character shows the character’s way of thinking, which makes a characteristic of the character.
7. Direct comment Usually, direct comments from the author are written in the beginning of the story.
The author describes his characters so it can make the readers or the viewers understand about the characters of the author.
Robert Stanton in his book An Introduction of a Literature states: Character is commonly used in two ways, it designates the individuals who appear in the story, and it refers in the mixture of interests, desires, emotion, and moral principles that makes of each different individuals. Most stories contain a central character, which is relevant to every event in the story; usually the event causes some changes either in his or in our attitude toward him. We could understand one character if we see the actions, their behavior, the way they speak, their attitude and from the dialogue (1965: 17-18).
From his actions, behavior, attitude, dialogue and the way he speaks, the characteristic of Paul Morel can be identified.
According to Little (1981: 93) in his book Approach to Literature, a character can be studied from:
1. His or her basic characteristics. It can be seen from the physical condition of the character, including his or her age, the social relationship – the personal relationship with other character, the mental qualities – the typical ways of thinking, feeling and acting.
2. His or her appearances from various points of view. This includes how the character sees him or herself, how various other characters see him or her, how he or she develops or fails to develop during the course of the story.
3. His or her places in the works. This means the treatment of the author (sketched or fully rounded, a portrayed descriptively or dramatically, treated sympathetically or unsympathetically), his or her place in the story (a leading character or minor one), his or her relationship to theme (does the character exemplify or embody something important that the author has to say?
2.2 CHARACTERIZATION
Robert Stanton in An Introduction to Fiction states that the easier way to look at the character is through the characterization. Many eyes can help us to see the character as a lifelike. The author’s explicit description and comment on the character become the important aspect to learn about the characterization.
Personal description, the dialogue and behavior help the readers or viewers to visualize and understand the character. Stanton also says in a good fiction, every speech or action is not only a step in the plot but also a manifestation of character.
The close relation between the character and the story can be seen from his idea that “throughout our knowledge of character, if we understand their actions, we will understand the characters” (1965: 17-18).
Perrine (1974: 48-68) states that the characterization should consider three principles:
1. The character should be consistent in their behavior
2. The character should be clearly motivated in all aspects, especially when many changes raise in their behavior
3. They should be lifelike or plausible. They must be either paragons or virtue non monsters or neither evil nor impossible combination of contradictory traits.
According to Abrams in A Glossary of Literature Terms (1981:21), characterization is seen in two ways:
1. From character gestures - the way he or she talks, acts, communicates with the audience or the readers.
2. From the author’s thoughts – the way he or she describes characters in his or her works.
C. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
As been mentioned previously, this thesis is aimed to analyze the relationship between D.H Lawrence’s life toward his novel Sons and Lovers. The writer found that the novel Sons and Lovers has close relationship with D.H Lawrence. The theories of character and characterization are used to analyze the characteristics of Paul Morel. This theory will help the writer to analyze Paul Morel in more detail, such as his behavior, attitudes, feeling and also a guideline to observe the characteristics of Paul Morel as the reflection of D.H Lawrence.
The theory about the author’s relation to his works is used in order to find similarities between D.H Lawrence’s life and Paul Morel as the main character in Sons and Lovers. A biographical approach and mimetic approach are also used to find out the author’s background of life and how his works influenced the character in his novel.
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. OBJECT OF THE STUDY In 1913, D.H Lawrence’s second novel Sons and Lovers is published for
the first time. Since Sons and Lovers became a masterpiece of the world, many publishers in England and the United States printed it. Sons and Lovers is successfully sold out and many editions have been made.
D.H Lawrence in Sons and Lovers wants to present his point of view about his family life through the presentation of the main characters in the novel.
Lawrence is focusing on the relationship between Paul Morel as the main character with other characters in the novel such as his relationship with his parents, friends and some women that influenced his life and shaping his character. The story tells about the unhappy, tense and uneasy life of Morel family. The family problem is more complicated. Gertrude, Paul’s mother does not agree with her son relationship with Miriam and Clara. She is jealous of her son’s lover and she is afraid both of the women will take Paul away from her. In the end Gertrude is diagnosed of cancer and Paul gave an overdose medicine to end her suffering and she died.
The novel that is used by the writer is published by The Penguin English Library, Penguin Books, in 1981. Sons and Lovers consists of 492 pages and divided into two parts and fifteen chapters.
B. APPROACH OF THE STUDY
Since the writer chooses the topic that related to the author’s life, a
Biographical approach is used. According to D.K Peterson, a biographical
approach sees a literary work as the reflection of an author’s life and times (or of the character’s life and times). It relates to the author’s life and thoughts of his works ( http://www.english.wayne.edu/`peterson/Fiction/approach.html ). A Biographical approach is also used as a criticism of the story in discovering and presenting the fact of an author’s life and in using a sensitive interpretation of them to show relevant connections between a writer and a story. A Biographical approach is used for comparing D.H Lawrence’s life and Paul Morel’s life as the main character in the novel.
Rohrberger and Woods in Reading and Writing about Literature states a biographical approach is used when we intend to judge literary works based on the importance of acknowledging the author’s personal life for a deep understanding about his writings. This approach believes the work of literature is a representation of author’s life and it supplies useful information that could facilitate them to a better understanding and appreciation of the works itself (1971: 6). Rohrberger and Woods also add that “in order to apply a Biographical approach in a paper, we should learn as much as possible about the life and development of the author in order to understand his/her work better” (1971: 8).
X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia in Literature: An Introduction to Fiction,
Poetry, and Drama states Biographical approach begins with the simple and
central insight that literature is written by actual people. The understanding of an author's life helps the readers to comprehend the work more thoroughly. However, a Biographical critic must be careful not to take the biographical facts of a writer's life too far in criticizing the works of that writer. The Biographical critic should focuses on explicating the literary work by using the insight provided by knowledge of the author's life. Biographical data helps to amplify the meaning of the text and not drown it out with irrelevant material (1995: 1790-1818).
A Biographical approach is used to have a deep understanding about D.H Lawrence’s life and Paul Morel’s life as the main character in Sons and
Lovers .
C. METHOD OF THE STUDY
Some steps are applied in analyzing Sons and Lovers. The first step was reading and re-reading the novel in order to get a deep understanding. The second was divided some groups of data. The first group was finding criticisms that related to the novel. The second group was finding theories on character and characterization. The third step was answering the questions formulated before. The writer decided to use biographical and mimetic approaches, which was considered suitable to be applied in this study. The first part of this analysis revealed the character of the main character, Paul Morel as the reflection of D.H Lawrence himself. The second part was analyzed the similarities between D.H Lawrence’s life and Paul Morel’s life. After reading and understanding the biography of D.H Lawrence, the writer found out that there was a close relationship between D.H Lawrence and the novel. Both of them shared some similarities in their lives. The third part was analyzed the significant characters that influenced D.H Lawrence’s life. Finally, the writer drew the conclusion of the analysis.
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS In this chapter, the writer is divided the discussion into three parts based
on the problems formulated earlier. The first part of the analysis, the description of Paul Morel’s characteristics will be analyzed. The second part of the analysis is finding the similarities between D.H Lawrence’s life and Paul Morel’s life, and the third is finding the reflection of D.H Lawrence’s life through the presentation of the significant characters in Sons and Lovers.
1. CHARACTERISTICS OF PAUL MOREL
Paul Morel is the protagonist in the novel. He is the third child of Walter and Gertrude Morel. Paul represents D.H Lawrence. He is barely alive when his father looks at him for the first time and says, “Bless him!” (1981: 69). Paul is born as a weak baby and he has peculiar heaviness eyes that seems to understand something pain and sorrowful. Gertrude feels guilty about her son’s condition.
And that moment she felt, some far place of her soul, that she and her husband were guilty. The baby was looking up at her. It had blue eyes like her own, but its look was heavy, steady, as if it had realized something that had stunned some point of its soul (1981: 74).
Paul is less expected to be born and not welcomed in the family. It is because of poverty and the life of the Morel family is unhappy, tense and uneasy.
They live in mining town in the countryside. His father, Walter Morel always drinks beer and gets drunk. This behavior irritates his wife, Gertrude. Actually,
Gertrude does not want to have a new baby. She is tired with her husband temper and she has to baby sit the children. She feels trapped in her own house while her husband always goes out and enjoys drinking beer all the time.
She couldn’t afford to have this third. She didn’t want it. The father was serving beer in the public house, swilling himself drunk. She despised him, and was tied to him. This coming child was too much for her. If it were not for William and Annie, she was sick of it, the struggle with poverty and meanness (1981: 40).
Gertrude realizes that she does not love her husband, Walter anymore. Therefore, it is not easy for her to have this new baby.
In her arms lay the delicate baby. Its deep blur eyes, always looking up at her unblinking, seemed to draw her innermost thoughts of her. She no longer loved her husband; she had not wanted this third child to come, and there it lay in her arms and pulled her heart (1981: 74).
Paul is a delicate boy and the frailest child in the family. He grows almost like his mother, slightly and rather small. “Paul was rather a delicate boy, subject to bronchitis” (1981: 105). He seems to be getting thinner and thinner. William Hopkins, as quoted in Phillip Callow, mentions the baby looks like “a skinned rabbit” when he met Mrs. Lawrence cuddling her new born child down the main street in Eastwood. People from Lawrence’s childhood is used to comment that he is the thinnest little boy they had ever seen.
Paul is born hating his father. The quarrels between his parents irritated the children, especially Paul. He hates his father drinking habit; he hates his cruel treatment to his mother. Moreover, his father sometimes abuses the family verbally and physically.
All the children, but particularly Paul, were peculiarly against the father, along with their mother. Morel continued to bully and to drink. He had periods, months at a time, when he made the whole life of the family a misery. Paul never forget coming home from the Brand of Hope one Monday evening and finding his mother with eyes swollen and discolored, his father standing on the hearthrug, feet astride, his head down, and William, just home from work, glaring at his father…Another word, and the men would have begun to fight. Paul hoped they would (1981: 97).
As a little boy, Paul has a fervent religion. He receives good religious education, which gives him a deep understanding about the Bible.
Congregationalism becomes the religion of his family, especially his mother. Every night Paul prays the same prayer, which is asking God to make his father die. He prays his mother will be safe. He asks God to make his father hurt or killed therefore, his father will never hurt his mother again. His father, Walter ultimately can never get along with his family because he rejects any single shred of religion, stability, compassion and love deep in his soul.
‘Make him stop drinking’, he prayed every night. ‘Lord, let my father die,’ he prayed very often. ‘Let him be killed at pit’, he prayed when, after tea, the father didn’t come home from work (1981: 99).
Paul is a traumatic person. He is almost twenty-three years old and he does not want to get married. He prefers staying home with his mother. Not once or twice, his mother supports him to get married but he refused it. He does not want to leave her alone. He wants to spend his time with her.
It seemed to Paul his mother looked lonely, in her new black silk blouse with its bit of white trimming. ‘At any rate, mother, I s’ll never marry’, he said. ‘Ay, they all say that, my lad. You’ve not mean the one yet. Only wait a year or two’.
‘But I shan’t marry, mother. I shall live with you, and we’ll have a servant’. ‘Ay, my lad, it’s easy to talk. We’ll see when the time comes’. ‘What time? I’m nearly twenty-three’. ‘Yes, you’re not one that would marry young. But in three’s time- ‘I shall be with you just the same’ (1981: 213).
Paul refused to get married because of the circumstance he faces in the family. He is not ready to leave his mother alone after all the cruel treatment his father does to her. He also fears that he will have unhappy marriage like his parents.
Being the son of the mother whose husband had blundered rather brutally through their feminine sanctities, they were themselves too different and shy. They could easier deny themselves than incur any reproach from a woman; for a woman was like their mother, and they were full of sense of their mother. They preferred themselves to suffer of celibacy, rather than risk the other person (1981: 243).
Paul refuses to get married because he never expects to have another woman like his mother in his life. His mother, Gertrude is more than enough for him. “He did not answer, but said in his heart “All right; if I’m a child of four, what do you want for me? I don’t want another mother” (1981:257). He is happy living with his mother. He feels tired of his mother’s domination. He does not want to have another woman who will act like his mother.
Paul is an introvert man. He is a shy and quiet. He disables to express his feeling to the person he loves. He feels awkward every time doing it. He feels like he is betraying his mother when he starts to like or fall in love with someone. His feeling for his mother is stronger than his feeling for another woman. It happens when Paul holds his feeling to Miriam Leivers. Paul knows that he loves Miriam and he wants to marry her but his feeling for his mother blocks his relationship with Miriam. Paul is clumsy; he is afraid to kiss Miriam or doing something else more than a kiss.
And rather red, nervous hands looked so pitiful, he was mad to comfort her and kiss her. Then he dared not or he could not. There was something prevented him. His kisses were wrong for her (1981:165).
Paul knows Miriam lover him more than he loves her. He does not want to hurt her; he does not want to hurt his mother either. Paul does want to betray his mother. He does not want to break her heart. He realizes he does not deserve for her. Miriam deserves to have another man who will love her in return. Paul feels unworthy. He is in dilemma and confused with his feeling.
Recklessness is almost a man’s revenge on his woman. He feels he is not valued, so he will risk destroying himself to deprive her altogether (1981:166). He is nervous and lacking of confidence every time he wants to show his feeling to Miriam. Miriam also thinks that she is not good for Paul and either is
Paul. It makes Paul afraid to touch or even to kiss her.
He only knew she loved him. He was afraid of her love to him. It was too good for him, and he was inadequate. His own life was at fault, not hers (1981:181). Paul cannot do anything. It is not easy for him to keep and hide his feeling for Miriam. Paul sometimes shows it to her. He tries to deny it but he knows he failed to do it. He wants to do the things a couple usually do but again the guilty feeling for his mother always comes.
The clear spaces in the sky were of clean, cold blue. Paul lay on his back in the old grass, looking up. He could not bear to look at Miriam. She seemed to want him, and he resisted. He resisted all the time. He wanted now to give her passion and tenderness, and he could not (1981:169). Paul is tired with the way he holds his feeling to Miriam. He is tired of his inability to show his affection to his girlfriend. Finally, he decides to end his relationship with Miriam. He says their relationship is only a friendship not more than that. Paul also convinces Miriam their relationship failed because his family especially his mother does not agree with this relationship. It is not her fault; it is his fault.
It’s not that- only they don’t like me to. They say I care more for you than for them. And you understand, don’t you? You know it’s only friendship (1981:171).
Paul realizes about his inability to express his feeling to a woman he loves. He feels insecure with himself. His past and failed relationship with Miriam still hurt him. He is not ready for a new relationship. He is afraid the woman he loves is not the “right” one for him. He is afraid his feeling for his mother blocks him again to have another chance to love a woman. He meets and falls in love with several women but he still does not find the right one. Paul compares his mother and some women in his life. He tells his mother that there is no woman like her. His mother shadows Paul. It makes him comparing all the women he ever meets or loves and failed to keep it.
‘Yes’, he said. ‘You know, mother, I think there must be something the matters with me, that I can’t love. When she’s there, as a rule, I do love her. Sometimes, when I see her just as the woman, I love her, mother; but then, when she talks and criticize, I often don’t listen to her’.
‘…I feel sometimes as if I wronged my women, mother’. …And I never shall meet the right women while you live; he said (1981: 305). Paul is a sensitive man. Besides his sensitiveness, he is blessed with handsome face. He has beautiful blued-eyes and fair hair. Paul becomes his mother favorite (after his brother, William died). Gertrude is proud of him although she ever rejected him before. Paul becomes her happiness; she focuses her love on him.
The thought of being the mother of men was warming to her heart. She looked at the child. It had blue eyes and a lot of fair hair and was bonny. Her love came up hot, in spite of everything. She had it in bed with her (1981:29).
When Paul grows up, his sensitiveness is developed. He is sensitive with other people have in mind, they way they speak, act or interact especially when it connects with his mother. He can sense her feeling and her thought. When his mother hurts, he hurts even more. Paul hurts when he saw his father, Walter beaten his mother. Her eye is swollen. His father is not only abusing his mother physically but also the children in the house. Paul and his brothers and sister are abused verbally. Paul feels weak because he cannot protect and becomes her shield. He hates his weaknesses and hates his father even more. His childhood is unhappy; he lives in poverty and his parents always fight.
He was so conscious of what other people felt, particularly his mother when she fretted he understood, and could have no peace. His soul seemed always attentive to her (1981: 52).
Paul has mood swings; he is easily happy, upset and angry. He becomes too sensitive and serious. It irritates him and some people. His sensitiveness becomes his weakness. He is fragile and his heart easily breaks. His illness also shapes him into a weak person. He spends most of his time with his mother and his sister, Annie. He is easily crying; when he hurts someone, he will take it seriously and he suffers because of it. His mother spoils Paul and it turns him into a spoil brat.