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

When Morel comes home and is informed of his son Paul's birth, he doesn't even go up to see mother and child. He simple grumbles over the inconvenience of her confinement. Does Morel come across as selfish and heartless?

Today many men actually assist in their babies' deliveries. But in Lawrence's era, men were supposed to stay clear of such female concerns. Giving birth was woman's work. It's possible that like many men of the post-Victorian Age, Walter feels alien to the whole idea of birth and the raising of children.

Perhaps Walter feels Gertrude has shut him out of family life to such an extent that he has nothing to do with his own children. She runs the house; he brings home the money. It's also possible, considering how arduous mining is, that Walter is truly too tired to be sensitive to anyone else's needs. As you read Sons and Lovers, you'll see that the narrator seldom gives clear-cut reasons for his characters' often extreme actions. You'll have to come up with your own interpretations, since Lawrence depicts human beings and life itself as mysterious configurations that cannot be easily explained.

Soon after Paul's birth, Mr. Heaton, the young local parson, drops by to see Mrs. Morel. They enjoy discussing religious ideas. Mrs. Morel is particularly hungry for intellectual stimulation since few other people in the Bottoms have any education. On this particular visit, the preacher tells Gertrude about his upcoming sermon on the relevance of the Wedding at Cana.

NOTE: The Wedding at Cana was the event at which Christ performed his first miracle in order to show the Apostles that he was truly the Messiah. The wine at the wedding was spoiled, so Jesus took water and turned it into wine for the marriage feast.

Mr. Heaton uses the Wedding at Cana to show his parishioners that the sacred love of marriage turns water, an uninspired substance, into a heady wine, which he sees as a symbol of the Holy Ghost. Through the bond of matrimony, human beings experience their bond with divine love.

How do you defend the reference to this biblical passage in a house where there is little marital love and where drink leads to domestic brutality rather than bliss?

Mrs. Morel cynically believes the young preacher has such lofty notions about marriage because his own wife died early. The Heatons never had a chance to get to know and hate each other, as the Morels have.

Mr. Morel unexpectedly bursts in on this deep conversation. Like a bull in a china shop, he upsets both the talk and the beautifully laid tea setting. Walter is hostile toward Mr. Heaton, who, unlike himself, reaches Gertrude's heart and mind. He goads the young preacher, with his clean starched collar and refined hands, to touch his grubby mining clothes. Walter declaims on the nobility of plain, honest work and also tries to make the preacher feel sorry for his unhappy, thankless lot in life. Gertrude is embarrassed and angered by Morel's crudity and self-pity. Is Morel acting like a small child having a temper tantrum for the sake of adult attention? Do you think his actions are justified?

Once again, the frustrated Gertrude finds solace and strength in nature. She takes Annie and the baby out for a walk. The fiery sunset and the peaceful stillness of the countryside, full of flowers and trees, make her problems with her husband seem miles away.

NOTE: In Sons and Lovers nature often makes the characters' everyday, individual problems seem small and insignificant. How petty squabbles can seem when you're looking at an awesome sunset or a beautiful landscape! Nature also reflects the characters' emotions. For example, Gertrude's anger when she walks out of her home is reflected by the fiery sunset.

Gertrude muses whether her new son will be like the biblical Joseph and deliver his family from their economic and emotional famine. She holds the baby up to the sun, as if to give it the elemental heat and energy of life. A sad, guilty feeling creeps over her, as she remembers not wanting this child. Gertrude vows she'll make up for that by nurturing and loving him with all her might. She worries, too, that the baby might feel she didn't want him. Suddenly, Gertrude decides to name the baby Paul, after her father's favorite disciple.

NOTE: Paul was one of the twelve apostles and was most noted for his asceticism and his missionary spirit. You'll have to wait to see if Paul Morel turns out anything like his biblical namesake.

Morel continues his old pattern of drinking and lashing out at his family. One evening he hurls the silverware drawer at his wife and injures her. Blood from her cut drips down onto little Paul and soaks into his scalp. Why do you think D. H. Lawrence created that incident?

Morel is ashamed of himself for harming Gertrude. However, like many people, Morel then just drinks more to forget his inadequacies instead of trying to do something about them. Haven't you noticed that feeling bad about yourself can sometimes make you crueler rather than kinder?

When Morel throws the drawer at his wife, he deepens the gap not only between husband and wife, but also between father and family. How would you feel growing up with a father who might start lashing out at you without the slightest provocation? Most likely you'd stay clear of him and cling to the more stable parent in your family, just as the Morel children cling to their mother.

Morel feels so alienated from his family that he does childish, desperate things. One day he steals his wife's household funds to buy liquor. Gertrude desperately needs every penny for the family, so Walter's theft is like stealing bread from his children's mouths. Mrs. Morel accuses her husband, but, instead of owning up, he threatens to run away, like an overgrown Tom Sawyer. But he's tied to his family, regardless of how horribly he treats them. And they need him, too. Despite his faults, he is the family breadwinner.

^^^^^^^^^^SONS AND LOVERS: CHAPTER 3

Morel falls sick and has to stay home, nursed by Gertrude. Oddly enough, this brings some tranquility to the wretched household. Even though Morel acts like a big, sick baby and there's little money coming in with him out of work, Gertrude prefers her husband's dependence.

Mrs. Morel has resigned herself to the fact that her husband will never really reform. Without this expectation, she finds it easier to be kind to him. Gertrude has finally lost the last vestiges of emotional dependence on Walter. Now, all her hopes and dreams lie in her children, particularly the eldest son, William.

Knowing that it's really all over between them, Gertrude and Walter come to a kind of truce. They even regain some of the simple joys of their first married months, as she sews by the fire and he putters around the house. During their brief peace, the Morels conceive another baby. Again, Gertrude worries over the economic burden of an additional child. But, unlike her pregnancy with Paul, she doesn't feel any guilt for the baby's sake. She doesn't feel this child will suffer. Why do you think this is?

Many readers believe that Paul was the hardest child for Gertrude to bear because he came forth from an agony of love that was not yet dead but dying. The new child, Arthur, is born on clearer ground--there is no longer any love or passion between his parents. Gertrude, hungry for domestic peace, is even happy that Arthur loves his father, whereas the other children hate and fear Walter. It's ironic that Gertrude still wants Walter to have some place in the children's hearts, even though she's helped turn them against him.

Harmony never lasts long in the Morel household. Paul, a moody, sensitive child, has unexplainable crying fits and Mrs. Morel has to hide him from his quick-tempered father. Do you think Paul's fits are as unexplainable as his parents think?

There's a violent confrontation between Mr. and Mrs. Morel when a neighbor accuses William of ripping her son's clothes. Gertrude, always protective of her brood, immediately takes William's side. Just as quickly, Mr. Morel sides with the neighbor. Mrs. Morel boldly defends William against his infuriated father. Morel, always somewhat afraid of his wife, backs down. It's clear that she now rules hearth and home.

The children are growing up, and Mrs. Morel finds time to join the Women's Guild, where she can exercise her intellectual faculties.