"Cliff Notes - Sons and Lovers" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cliff Notes)

One of the last things William says to his mother on a visit home is that Gyp will forget him within two months of his death. How do you interpret that statement? Take into consideration the fact that it comes from a young man on the verge of marriage. It's possible William already knows that his inability to transfer his love from his mother to a mate will kill him. It's also clear to him that Gyp isn't the right woman. Why does he pick such an incompatible mate?

A few days later, back in London, William falls severely ill. Mrs. Morel rushes to her son and finds him alone and neglected, dying of pneumonia.

William's body is brought back home. The Morels solemnly guide the long, heavy casket out of the dark night and into the candlelit parlor.

NOTE: Light and dark and life and death are opposites that Lawrence saw as essential to one another. In other words, we can't know light without dark, or life without death. The darkness of death must enter the world of the living, depicted here as the Morels' lighted parlor, for the characters to know the full circle of existence.

Paul can't believe his big brother could be dead, especially amid all the buzzing activity of the mining town. Life goes on regardless of individual death. Paul tries desperately to communicate with his mother, but Mrs. Morel's thoughts seem to be at the grave of her eldest son.

Finally, when Paul becomes seriously ill with pneumonia, Mrs. Morel is aroused from her despair. She realizes she should have been caring for the living rather than communing with the dead. Through devoted nursing, she saves Paul's life, and he, at least emotionally, saves hers. Think about this scene when Mrs. Morel gets sick later on in the novel. Some readers that physical illness in Sons and Lovers is a manifestation of the characters' psychological sickness. They also suggest that the characters make themselves sick to get attention from those they love. Perhaps this need triggers Paul's illness after William's death.

The chapter ends with the fulfillment of a prophecy by William. Remember when he told his mother that Gyp would soon forget him? The Morel family receives a final note from the girl, describing a ball she has enjoyed--but with not one mention of William.

^^^^^^^^^^SONS AND LOVERS: CHAPTER 7

Part Two of Sons and Lovers focuses on the protagonist Paul. There is an enormous change in the Morel household after William's death. Paul's story can really be told only after the favorite son dies. He is now his mother's new champion. Only when he becomes the central figure in her life does Paul assume the role of hero in the novel.

Part Two also signifies the beginning of Paul's relationships with women other than his mother. Miriam Leivers will soon be Mrs. Morel's rival for possession of Paul's soul.

At this stage of the game, Miriam remains aloof from Paul. Like many teenagers, she lives in a fantasy world. She sees herself as a princess turned into a ragged "swine-girl." Miriam waits for a prince to discover her true noble identity and rescue her from household drudgery. You'll see how Paul comes to represent this prince as the novel progresses.

Like Paul and his mother, Miriam and Mrs. Leivers are suffocatingly close. Miriam is strongly influenced by her mother's religious mysticism, which infuses the most ordinary objects with a divine beauty. The religiousness of Miriam and Mrs. Leivers is very different from the self-improving pragmaticism of Mrs. Morel's Protestantism. The Leivers women are always trying to transcend reality through nature, art, and prayer rather than to experience the reality of the normal day-to-day existence. This quality appeals to Paul's sense of the wonder of life.

Miriam admires and even envies Paul's meager education, for girls of her day lacked educational opportunities. Miriam is certain that the only way to escape her lower-class drudgery is through learning. Paul will play an important part in her education.

At first, Paul is drawn to Mrs. Leivers rather than to Miriam. Mrs. Leivers believes in his art work so fervently that Paul himself begins to consider it something of a mission. Mrs. Morel is more concerned with Paul's ability to succeed in the world. She'd be just as proud of him if he became a respected businessman. While Mrs. Leivers and Miriam stimulate Paul's creativity with almost a religious fervor, Mrs. Morel instills in him the steadfast perseverance necessary to realizing his talent.

One day Miriam takes Paul out to the family swing. He hops on and swings so high he feels as free as a soaring bird. Flushed with excitement, Paul offers to push Miriam on the swing. But timid Miriam is frightened--he's making her go too high, too fast. She can't control her own flight and fears placing herself so completely in Paul's hands.

Many readers see this passage as a symbol of the sex act and a foreshadowing of Paul and Miriam's sexual problems. Here on the swing, Miriam can't give herself up to Paul's rhythms. Miriam's physical inhibitions become even more pronounced when she and Paul become lovers later in the novel.

NOTE: Lawrence vigorously condemned Victorian morality, particularly the double standard for men and women. The author also felt that Victorianism turned many women into disembodied spirits, ashamed of their bodies and terrified of sexual pleasure. Lawrence characterizes Miriam as an extreme example of a sexually inhibited woman, crippled by the social and religious taboos of her time.

Paul again leaps on the swing. Miriam watches him, fascinated. He reminds her of a "flame that had lit a warmth in her."

NOTE: Men are often compared to flames in Sons and Lovers, Walter Morel reminded Gertrude of the very same thing when they first met. In Lawrence's world, male passion is the flame that sparks a woman into full, glowing life. Remember the flame image when you read later of Paul and Clara's "baptism of fire in passion."

Paul finds himself increasingly inspired by Miriam. At this point, he's not conscious that some of this inspiration is based on sexual, as well as spiritual, attraction. As you read this chapter, notice how the narrator subtly and gradually depicts Paul and Miriam's growing realization of their feeling for one another.

As much as Paul admires Miriam, he also dislikes a great many things about her. He is repelled by her hunger for intensity and religious significance in everything. Unlike Miriam, he knows that the simple, normal pleasures are the stuff of life. He both hates and loves her devotion to the uncommon.

Mrs. Morel grows increasingly nervous and jealous about Miriam's hold on Paul. Why do you think she feels so threatened by this meek girl? Mrs. Morel says Miriam will "suck a man's soul out till he has none of his own left." Is she sincere in her concern that Paul retain his individuality? Perhaps, even more than Miriam, Mrs. Morel wants to possess her son's soul. Mrs. Morel could feel threatened by Miriam because they're very much alike, especially in their devotion to Paul. She's afraid Miriam will come between them. After William's death, can Mrs. Morel afford to lose another child to a silly girl?

When Miriam visits the Morels, Gertrude and Annie snub her. They won't even let her help clear the dishes, which would have been a sign of acceptance. Compare Miriam's rejection with the warm reception Gertrude gives Clara Dawes later in the novel.

While everyone else sees that Paul and Miriam are falling in love, they themselves refuse to believe there is anything stronger than a platonic bond. Miriam is so physically prudish that no one can even mention a farm animal's pregnancy without revolting her. How odd for a farm girl! Lawrence wants you to see how perverse it is to deny your natural instincts. Like Miriam, you risk becoming neurotically repressed and ashamed of the most natural and wonderful things in life.

Paul is so sensitive to Miriam's sexual shyness that he denies his own growing passion. Do you think it is good for him to do so? He does creatively channel his sensuality into art and ideas. But, unlike Miriam, his sexual frustration makes him irritable and confused. He resents being cut off from the physical aspect of his being.