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David Herbert Lawrence (called Bert) was born on September 11, 1885 to a miner and his wife in the small village of Eastwood near Nottingham, England. Arthur and Lydia Lawrence, his parents, had a troublesome marriage from the start: his father, a miner, was content to stay on the mining grounds while his mother yearned to leave. They already had three children by the time David Herbert was born: George Arthur, William Ernest (called Ernest), and Emily (their fifth and last child would be Ada, who was born twenty-months after Lawrence).
Lawrence was very close to his mother, so much that even he admitted that his relationship with his mother interfered with his own relationships with women. Lawrence confessed at one point that he looked at his mother with a sexual way. His relationship with his father, however, was very much like Paul Morel's - both young men sided with their mothers and clung to them. They did not hate their fathers, but detested how their fathers treated their mothers. After Ernest went to London and George married, Lawrence once said that he was the man in the house. He had always been more comfortable with women; as a young boy, he was sickly and weak and preferred to stay at home with his mother and sisters rather than play with the boys.
Lawrence was a very intelligent and clever child, excelling in reading and writing. He attended the Nottingham High School on scholarship. Later, he even taught Jessie Chambers, whose family he was friendly with, to speak French.
Lawrence became friendly with the Chambers family when he and his mother began visiting their farm. He bonded with Jessie's older brothers and father before he got to know her. Jessie was reserved and shy with him, because she felt inferior to Lawrence. The Lawrence family was impressed by Lawrence's knowledge of literature and philosophy. Lawrence cared for Jessie very deeply, but he did not feel any attraction for her. Jessie Chambers is the "Miriam" of Sons and Lovers. His relationship with Jessie fluctuated between love and hate; he intensely disliked the power she held over him. His sister, Ada, introduced Lawrence to Louie Burrows: all three of them were trained to be teachers at the same school.
He ended his engagement with Jessie and began another one with Louie Burrows in the last days of his mother's life. His mother died on December 10, 1910; Lawrence was ill and grief-stricken for months. Prior to his mother's death, Lawrence started writing Sons and Lovers, which he called Paul Morel first. Sons and Lovers is Lawrence's most autobiographical novel - Lawrence drew upon his own memories and experiences to write the story of Paul Morel.
He met Frieda von Richthofen Weekley, who was six years his senior. Frieda was already married, but she ran off with Lawrence to the Continent, leaving her three children and husband behind. They married on July 13, 1914. They resided in England from 1914 to 1919 because of World War I, in various towns and cities. They were expelled from Cornwall in 1917 because the police believed then to be spies for the enemy. After the war, they left for Italy in November 1919, staying at the Villa Fontana Vecchia until 1922.
Lawrence published a number of novels, essays, and poems including The White Peacock (1911), The Prussian Officer (1914), Sons and Lovers (1913), The Lost Girl (1920), Women in Love (1921), Aaron's Rod (1922), Birds, Beasts and Flowers (1923), Studies in Classic American Literature (1923), The Plumed Serpent (1926), and Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928). The Rainbow was published in November 1915 but was suppressed. He won the James Tait Black Memorial prize for The Lost Girl.
After their stay in Italy, the Lawrences travelled to San Francisco, California; Taos, New Mexico; and Mexico. Lawrence was told in 1925 that he had tuberculosis and did not have much time to live. He died in a sanatorium on March 2, 1930.
Lawrence was a gifted poet, painter and novelist, although some of his works may be considered pornographic. Editors cut out highly sexually-charged scenes in Sons and Lovers. In 1929, some of his paintings in the Warren Gallery in London were seized because they were too obscene. Whether or not Lawrence's fascinations and fixations were too sexual for the general audience, his appeal to the human mind and soul remains unchanged.
Becker, George J. D.H. Lawrence. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co. 1980.
Callow, Philip. Son and Lover: The Young D.H. Lawrence. New York: Stein and Day. 1975.
Kermode, Frank. D.H. Lawrence. New York: The Viking Press. 1973.
Lawrence, D.H. Sons and Lovers. New York: Random House, Inc. 1962.
Maddox, Brenda. D.H. Lawrence: The Story of a Marriage. New York: Simon & Schuster. 1994.
Preston, Peter. A D.H. Lawrence Chronology. New York: St. Martin's Press. 1994.
The life of the Morel family is unhappy, tense, and uneasy. The Morels live in a mining town in the countryside. Walter Morel is a miner, and he and his wife, Gertrude, have two children, William and Annie, and are expecting their third child. When their third child, Paul, is born, Mrs. Morel does not really want the new baby. Her life is full with handling her husband's temper and caring for the children. She hates that she has to stay home with the children while her husband gets to go out and enjoy himself (i.e. drink). After the birth of their fourth child, Arthur, the Morel family is complete.
Mrs. Morel transfers her affections from her husband to her first son, William, who is intelligent and active. He is the apple of his mother's eye, winning awards, doing well in school and finding jobs easily. When William goes to London for a job, Mrs. Morel is devastated. William comes home, bringing with him his fiancee, a young lady who treats the Morels like servants. Having spent too much time at work and with his fiancee, William catches pneumonia and dies. After William's death, Mrs. Morel turns her love and attention to Paul.
Paul, always sensitive and emotional, gets a job at Thomas Jordan's, a surgical applicances factory and strikes a friendship with Miriam Leivers. Mrs. Morel does not like Miriam because in her view Miriam takes all of Paul's energy, desire, and feelings with nothing left of him for her. Miriam introduces Paul to Clara Dawes, whose mother is friendly with Mrs. Leivers and who is separated from her husband, Baxter Dawes.
After Paul and Miriam have sex, he decides that they are not good for each other, and breaks off their relationship, to Miriam's anger and bitterness. Paul heads into an intensely sexual relationship with Clara. Miriam is jealous that the Morels have accepted Clara as Paul's lover when they have not liked her at all. Paul and Clara share a passionate, sexual relationship. As much as Paul thinks that he is happy, his mother believes otherwise; she knows in her heart that Clara will tire her son out.
Baxter Dawes and Paul have a fight; the fight leaves Paul in great pain and a great dislike for Clara's husband. Although both men severely hate each other, they feel connected to each other.
Mrs. Morel falls gravely ill because of a tumor. The doctor who tends to her tells Paul that Dawes is in the hospital for his fever. Paul calls on Dawes in the hospital and the two men somewhat reconcile. When Paul tells Clara that Dawes is ill, Clara unexpectedly declares that her husband had treated her with more respect and had loved her more than Paul ever did. Clara returns to Dawes.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Morel grows weaker. Knowing that she is prolonging her death to live for Paul, Paul and Annie fear that she will live longer than she can emotionally survive. Paul and Annie cannot stand to see their beloved mother live in such pain that they give her an extra dosage of morphine. Mrs. Morel dies.
Paul goes to see Miriam. They ponder getting married, but Paul confesses that he has no desire nor any intention of marrying her. Miriam decides to wait as long as it takes for him to come to her. Paul returns home, thinking about the bond he shares with his mother. Their love is still alive in him, even though she has died.
Walter Morel: Father of Paul Morel, husband of Gertrude Morel. Works as a miner. His temper is susceptible to quick anger and emotion. When he was courting Gertrude, he was a handsome man and a fine dancer. His wife hates him because he gets to enjoy himself drinking while she stays home caring for the children. Gertrude's hatred for her husband begins with his excessive drunken fits and his temper. Morel does not have a close relationship to any of his children.
Gertrude Morel: Paul's mother. Intensely hates her role as Walter Morel's wife and wishes that she were not the wife of a miner. Hates that her husband drinks excessively and cannot control himself. She focuses all of her love and attention from her husband to her two older sons. First she devotes herself to William and is very jealous of William's relationship with his fiancee. She resents that William allows Lily to treat Annie like a servant. After William's death, she clings to Paul. She severely dislikes Miriam and believes that Clara is not good for Paul either. In the last few painful months of her life, she struggles to live for Paul. Paul and Annie give her morphia to stop her pain and die.
William Morel: The first Morel child. Mrs. Morel transfers her affections for her husband to William. She is horrified when her husband cuts off William's blond curls. William is a gifted, intelligent and handsome child and teenager, easily finding jobs and earning a salary. Becomes involved with Bestwood and London society and engaged to Louisa Lily Danys Western. Hates the way Lily treats his family, especially Annie. William dies before he can marry Lily, but he never truly loved her anyway.
Annie Morel: The only daughter of the Morel family. Paul is very close and loving to Annie. Annie does not like Miriam; she can see how much their mother suffers when Paul is with Miriam and hates Miriam for that. Paul and Mrs. Morel are miserable when she marries and leaves home. Later, Annie and Paul conspire to give their mother morphia to help speed up her death.
Paul Morel: Protagonist of novel. Quiet, shy, reserved by nature but intensely passionate and emotional. Knows French and enjoys painting. Enjoys staying home with his mother during the evenings rather than playing outside. When at work, Paul is absorbed by the activities and the people, especially the factory girls. Has an off-and-on relationship with Miriam Leivers for seven years. Hates and loves her at the same time. Miriam expects him to love her as passionately and deeply as she loves him, but Paul does not feel any sexual attraction to her. Ends relationship with Miriam and begins one with Clara Dawes, a married woman separated from her husband. He and Clara have a very sexual relationship. They end their involvement together when Clara decides that she wants to return to her husband.
Miriam Leivers: The first girl Paul ever loved and had sex with. She is a beautiful, deeply intense and devoted girl whose feelings for Paul are as passionate as her love for God and church. She loves him more than he loves her. Paul gets frustrated and furious with the way she absorbs everything in her soul and cannot fathom why she has to treat everything with so much depth and intensity.
Clara Dawes: The older, defiant woman with whom Paul has a sexual and passionate relationship. She is a married woman, but she is separated from her husband. At first, Paul felt that Clara left Dawes because she hated him, but he soon realizes that she does care for Dawes a great deal. Clara can satisfy him sexually in what Miriam could not. Yet Paul tires of Clara because he can see that she does not belong to him. Not only does Paul know that she still wants her husband, he notices that Clara does not want to be with him when he is troubled or worried. Clara returns to her husband after Paul tells her that Dawes has been ill for some time.
Baxter Dawes: Clara's husband. He also works at Thomas Jordan's. He and Paul have a tense, hateful relationship, yet they are bound to each other for some reason. After they fight each other a couple of time, they manage to form a companionship. Dawes and Paul are sympathetic to each other's suffering and worries.
Arthur Morel: The last of the Morel children. He is wildly impulsive, antagonistic, emotional and temperamental. He recklessly joins the army at the advice of his friend but begs his mother to buy him out as soon as she can. The strict military regime does not discipline him enough. He has sex with his girl, Beatrice, before they marry. At first, Arthur distances himself from his wife and baby, but he soon realizes his role and responsibilities as a father.
Mrs. Leivers: Miriam's mother whose personality and temperament is like Miriam's. Both feel deeply about nature and religion, and are devotedly pious to church and religion. Takes a liking to Paul.
Edgar Leivers: Miriam's elder brother whose companionship Paul enjoys.
Thomas Jordan: The elderly manufacturer whose company, Thomas Jordan & Sons, Surgical Appliances, Paul works at.
Mr. Pappleworth: Paul's boss at Thomas Jordan's.
Fanny and Polly: The factory girls at Thomas Jordan's. Paul enjoys talking to them.
Louisa Lily Danys Western: The high-society, stupid fiancee of William's. Lily is very shallow and insipid; William has to buy her all of her necessities. The Morels treat her kindly, but she treats Annie like a servant. William does not love her, but he feels that he is stuck with her. He declares that if he died suddenly she would not pine for him. After William dies, his declaration rings true; the Morels never hear from Lily again.
Agatha Leivers: Miriam's elder sister who chastises Miriam for being so free and open with her feelings for Paul.
Beatrice: Arthur's wife and mother of his child. Beatrice matches Arthur's impulsive and reckless nature. They have sex before they marry. Their child is born six months after their wedding.
The ash-tree: The ash-tree is located outside the Morels' second home. The children come to associate the ash-tree with the dark, forbidding footsteps of their father coming home in a drunken fit. The children hate the tree; Morel loves it. Paul is frightened by the shrieking noises the tree makes at night.
Mrs. Morel's umbrella: William gives his mother an umbrella for Christmas the first year he is in London. Mrs. Morel cherishes the umbrella deeply. Later, Paul and his friends go for a walk when one of his friends breaks the umbrella.
Bird's nest: Mrs. Leivers insists that Paul see this nest made by a jenny wren. Mrs. Leivers is intensely fascinated by this nest, but Miriam loves it all the more when Paul admits that the nest is striking.
Miriam's swing: Miriam finally faces her fear of Paul's rejection and asks him if he wants to see the swing on her family's farm. When Paul rides it happily, Miriam sees how his face is flushed and his eyes are sparkling. She offers to let him ride again- it is the first time she gets to spoil a man.
Miriam's rose-bush: Miriam shows Paul the beautiful rose-bush she finds in the woods. She becomes so absorbed in the beauty and the fragrance of the roses that Paul cannot stand to see her so emotional and passionate.
Clara's wedding ring: Clara absentmindedly takes her ring off and spins it. Paul watches her spin the ring with fascination.
Quote 1: Paul continually prays for his mother's safety: "'Make him stop drinking'. He prayed every night. " 'Lord, let my father die', he prayed very often. 'Let him not be killed at pit'", he prayed when, after tea, the father did not come home from work." Part 1, Chapter 4, pg. 60
Quote 2: "He was an outsider. He had denied the God in him." Part 1, Chapter 4, pg. 63
Quote 3: "All day long, as she cleaned the house, she thought of him. He was in London: he would do well. Almost, he was like her knight who wore her favour in the battle." Part 1, Chapter 4, pg. 79
Quote 4: "Not even the Mediterranean, which pulled at all his young man's desire to travel, and at his poor man's wonder at the glamorous south, could take him away when he might come home." Part 1, Chapter 4, pg. 82
Quote 5: "But still, in her heart of hearts, where the love should have burned, there was a blank. Now, when all her woman's pity was roused to its full extent, when she would have slaved herself to death to nurse him and to save hum, when she would have taken the pain herself, if she could, somewhere far away inside her, she felt indifferent to him and to his suffering. It hurt her most of all, this failure to love him, even when he roused her strong emotions." Part 1, Chapter 5, pg. 86
Quote 6: He feels as if he is a "prisoner of industrialism." Part 1, Chapter 5, pg. 89
Quote 7: "Already his heart went down. He was being taken into bondage. His freedom in the beloved home valley was going now." Part 1, Chapter 5, pg. 89
Quote 8: "He liked to watch his fellow-clerks at work. The man was the work and the work was the man, one thing, for the time being. It was different with the girls. The real woman never seemed to be there at the task, but as if left out, waiting." Part 1, Chapter 5, pg. 112
Quote 9: "The trains roared by like projectiles level on the darkness, fuming and burning, making the valley clang with their passage. They were gone, and the lights of the towns and villages glittered in silence." Part 1, Chapter 5, pg. 112
Quote 10: Mrs. Morel "clung now to Paul." Part 1, Chapter 6, pg. 114
Quote 11: As Paul says, "But I like the feel of men on things, while they're alive. There's a feel of men about trucks, because they've been handled with men's hands, all of them." Part 1, Chapter 6, pg. 123
Quote 12: All Mrs. Morel can say is, "'My son.'" Part 1, Chapter 6, pg. 139
Quote 13: When the critical moment arrives, Mrs. Morel cries to Paul, "'My son.'" Part 1, Chapter 6, pg. 141
Quote 14: "Then he was so ill, and she felt he would be weak. Then she would be stronger than he. Then she could love him. If she could be mistress of him in his weakness, take care of him, if he could depend on her, if she could, as it were, have him in her arms, how she would love him!" Part 2, Chapter 7, pg. 143
Quote 15: "She stimulated him into appreciating things thus, and then they lived for her. She seemed to need things kindling in her imagination or in her soul before she felt she had them. And she was cut off from ordinary life by her religious intensity which made the world for her either a nunnery garden or a paradise, where sin and knowledge were not, or else an ugly, cruel thing." Part 2, Chapter 7, pg. 149
Quote 16: Paul asks her in frustration and anger, "' What do you tremble your soul before it?...You don't learn algebra with your blessed soul. Can't you look at it with your clear simple wits?'" Part 2, Chapter 7, pg. 156
Quote 17: "They were going to have a communion together - something that thrilled her, something holy." Part 2, Chapter 7, pg. 159
Quote 18: Miriam almost worships the flowers, but Paul feels strangely "imprisoned" by the roses and its "white, virgin scent." Part 2, Chapter 7, pg. 160
Quote 19: Mrs. Morel tells herself that through Paul, "she was to see herself fulfilled." Part 2, Chapter 8, pg. 183
Quote 20: With his mother, Paul is happy and proud that his mother takes charge of his life; with Miriam, he is filled with "something more wonderful, less human, and tinged to intensity by a pain, as if there were something he could not get to." Part 2, Chapter 8, pg. 192
Quote 21: Mrs. Morel believes that Miriam is not an "ordinary woman, who can leave me my share in him. She wants to absorb him till there is nothing left of him, even for himself. He will never be a man on his own two feet - she will suck him up." Part 2, Chapter 8, pg. 193
Quote 22: Disgusted with her behavior, Paul asks, "'You're always begging things to love you as if you were a beggar for love. Even the flowers, you have to fawn on them - You don't want to love - your eternal and abnormal craving is to be loved. You aren't positive, you're negative. You absorb, absorb, as if you must fill yourself up with love, because you've got a shortage somewhere.'" Part 2, Chapter 9, pg. 218
Quote 23: "Something in the eternal repose of the uplifted cathedral, blue and noble against the sky, was reflected in [his mother], something of the fatality. What was, was. With all his young will he could not alter it. He saw her face, the skin still fresh and pink and downy, but crow's-feet near her eyes, her eyelids steady, sinking a little, her mouth always closed with disillusion; and there was on her the same eternal look, as if she knew fate at last." Part 2, Chapter 9, pg. 240
Quote 24: He writes, "I can give you a spirit love, I have given you this long, long time; but not embodied passion. See, you are a nun. I have given you what I would give a holy nun...In all our relations no body enters. I do not talk to you through the senses - rather through the spirit. That is why we cannot love in the common sense." Part 2, Chapter 9, pg. 251
Quote 25: "At this rate he would not live. He had that poignant carelessness about himself, his own suffering, his own life, which is a form of suicide. It almost broke her heart. With all the passion of her strong nature she hated Miriam for having in this subtle way undermined his joy." Part 2, Chapter 10, pg. 258
Quote 26: Miriam tells herself, "She would submit, religiously, to the sacrifice. He should have her. And at the thought her whole boy clenched itself involuntarily, hard, as if against something; but Life forced her through this gate of suffering, too, and she would submit. At any rate, it would give him what he wanted, which was her deepest wish." Part 2, Chapter 11, pg. 284
Quote 27: "She knew she felt in a sort of bondage to him, which she hated because she could not control it. She hated her love for him from the moment it grew too strong for her. And, deep down, she had hated him because she loved him and he dominated her. She had resisted his denomination. She had fought to keep herself free of him in the last issue. And she was free of him, even more than he of her." Part 2, Chapter 11, pg. 296
Quote 28: Paul says, "'[Passion is] what one must have, I think - the real, real flame of feeling through another person - once, only once, if it lasts three months. See, my mother looks as if she'd had everything that was necessary for her living and developing. There's not a tiny bit of feeling of sterility about her.'" Part 2, Chapter 12, pg. 317
Quote 29: She tells herself, "'If he must go, let him go and have his fill - something big and intense, he called it. At any rate, when he had got it, he would not want it - that he said himself; he would want the other thing that she could give him. He would want to be owned, so that he could work. It seemed to her a bitter thing that he must go, but she could let him go into an inn for a glass of whisky, so she could let him go to Clara, so long as it was something that would satisfy a need in him, and leave him free for herself to possess.'" Part 2, Chapter 12, pg. 318
Quote 30: He feels that "sometimes he hated her, and pulled at her bondage. His life wanted to free itself of her. It was like a circle where life turned back on itself, and got no farther. She bore him, loved him, kept him, and his love turned back into her, so that he could not be free to go forward with his own life, really love another woman." Part 2, Chapter 13, pg. 345
Quote 31: "She knew how stark and alone he was, and she felt it was great that he came to her; and she took him simply because his need was bigger either than her or him, and her soul was still within her. She did this for him in his need, even if he left her, for she loved him." Part 2, Chapter 13, pg. 353
Quote 32: As Paul watches Clara swim in the sea, he thinks to himself, "'She's lost like a grain of sand in the beach - just a concentrated speck blown along, a tiny white foam-bubble, almost nothing among the morning. Why does she absorb me?'" Part 2, Chapter 13, pg. 358
Quote 33: Not only does he feel "imprisoned" when he is with her, Clara also feels that he yearns to break free from her. Part 2, Chapter 13, pg. 359
Quote 34: "It was almost as if he were a criminal. He wanted her - he had her - and it made her feel as if death itself had her in its grip. She lay in horror. There was no man there loving her." Part 2, Chapter 14, pg. 387
Quote 35: Paul tells Clara, "'She's got such a will, it seems as if she would never go - never!'" Part 2, Chapter 14, pg. 388
Quote 36: "Sometimes they looked in each other's eyes. Then they almost seemed to make an agreement. It was almost as if he were agreeing to die also. But she did not consent to die; she would not. Her body was wasted to a fragment of ash. Her eyes were dark and full of torture." Part 2, Chapter 14, pg. 392
Quote 37: "And now he looked paltry and insignificant. There was nothing stable about him. Her husband had more manly dignity. At any rate he did not waft about with any wind. There was something evanescent about Morel, she thought, something shifting and false. He would never make sure ground for any woman to stand on. She despised him rather for his shrinking together, getting smaller. Her husband at least was manly, and when he was beaten gave in. But this other would never own to being beaten. He would shift round and round, prowl, get smaller." Part 2, Chapter 14, pg. 407
Quote 38: "She was the only thing that held him up, himself, amid all this. And she was gone, intermingled herself. He wanted her to touch him, have him alongside with her. But no, he would not give in...He would not take that direction, to the darkness, to follow her." Part 2, Chapter 15, pg. 420
Industrialism 1: The mining company has set up villages in the valley for the miners and their families. The well-to-do families and the poor families each live in the valley designated for them: Bestwood for the well-to-do, and slums of "Hell Row" for the poor.
Industrialism 2: Mrs. Morel despises the dreary and monotonous life she leads as a poor miner's wife. She wishes that she could leave this little provincial town for something bigger and better. Mrs. Morel cannot wait for her children to grow up so that she can escape the slums of this town when they are older.
Industrialism 3: Mrs. Morel, confident that William will achieve a better profession than mining, is adamant that he will not become a miner like his father. She knows that William is capable of more than her husband ever was, and wants William to pursue all that he can achieve.
Industrialism 4: Now that Paul is of age to work, the valley he has loved and cherished so much as a child has become a place of work. He can no longer view the valley in the same way he once did: the valley loses its appeal of freedom, independence, and innocence.
Industrialism 5: Paul finds a job at a company that makes surgical appliances. He is becoming part of the great industrial movement of England. Paul can now finally earn money for his family, for his mother especially. He feels proud that he can work and earn a salary like an adult.
Industrialism 6: Paul enjoys himself at work. He finds companionship in the factory girls and his boss. However, he begins to witness a significant gender difference in men's and women's work. He sees that the men represent the work ethic and the women do not.
Industrialism 7: The trains that transport Paul to work every day, along with many other people living in the countryside, symbolize the industrialized and non-established parts of England. The factory where Paul works is just one of the many places in industrialized Nottingham that represents culture and sophistication.
Industrialism 8: Paul likes the feeling of men working, especially of men sitting on trucks. He feels that the physical work of men is thrilling and impressive, and makes him feel more invigorated and alive to see men at work.
Industrialism 9: Arthur, the youngest Morel child, gets a job at Minton Pit, doing electrical work. He, as with Paul, enters the work force, doing a profession that requires skill and technical knowledge. That Arthur joins the industrial work force suggests the intensity of work in the industrial field.
Mother-Son Relationship 1: Her children, but more specifically William, are the only bright spot in Mrs. Morel's frustrated, disgusted life. She despises the life she has with her husband and lavishes all of her love and attention to her son.
Mother-Son Relationship 2: A worried Mrs. Morel notices that William does not seem to be himself and tries to give him advice. She is concerned that he may turn out to be like his father, drinking and socializing too much. Mrs. Morel does not like the attention William receives from all the girls who call on him.
Mother-Son Relationship 3: Although Mrs. Morel is confident that William will so well in London, she is greatly saddened by his leaving. William's living in London depresses Mrs. Morel to such a degree that he is all she thinks about when he is not with her, but she consoles herself thinking that he is in London for her alone.
Mother-Son Relationship 4: When William leaves home for London again, Mrs. Morel is depressed and sad again. She misses her son so much that it hurts to see him leave. Both she and William know that the love they have for one another is strong to last their separation.
Mother-Son Relationship 5: When Mr. Morel becomes sick, Mrs. Morel does not feel as badly as she should; she wants to feel bad that he is in pain, but her love and affection for her husband is replaced by her love for William.
Mother-Son Relationship 6: Paul imagines that he and his mother will live together when he is old enough to earn money by himself and when his father has died. Paul loves his mother so much that he wants to be with her and spend all of his time with her. To live with his mother by himself is his greatest desire.
Mother-Son Relationship 7: Mrs. Morel is greatly saddened by William's engagement to Gipsy. She feels threatened and scared that William's future wife will take her place as the woman he loves most in his heart; she turns to Paul, her second son, for comfort and support.
Mother-Son Relationship 8: Mrs. Morel cannot take William's death well. She shuts out the rest of her family from her life because she is in too much pain and hurt. Not only has she lost William, she has lost a part of herself. She has loved William so much, so passionately, that she has lost part of her soul when he dies.
Mother-Son Relationship 9: Paul's nearly fatal illness makes Mrs. Morel realize how much he means to her and how much she loves him. After Paul recovers, she focuses all of her attention and love on Paul. He is all she has now, now that William has died.
Mother-Son Relationship 10: Although Paul does not realize the seriousness of his relationship with Miriam, his mother certainly does, and she is jealous. As with William and his fiancee, Mrs. Morel feels threatened by the presence of a girl whom her son is very serious about. Paul, however, does notice that his mother is hurt that he spends much of his time with Miriam.
Mother-Son Relationship 11: Mrs. Morel instinctively knows that Paul will become famous and known. More importantly, she feels that her destiny and her dreams will be carried out through Paul. She knows that Paul is capable of accomplishing all of her goals and her dreams.
Mother-Son Relationship 12: When Mrs. Morel states that Paul does not seem to spend time with anybody but Miriam, Paul sees that she is hurt that he is spending time with a woman other than her. He feels bad that the time he spends with Miriam is making his mother suffer, and he hates Miriam for making his mother suffer so much. He attempts to convince his mother that she is the one woman who he loves the most and wants to come home to, but his mother is too hurt to believe him.
Mother-Son Relationship 13: When Paul talks with Miriam about their relationship, he realizes that it is his mother whom he loves the most. He knows that he is the most important person in her life. He tells Miriam that he will never love her as much as she loves him because he will always love his mother the most.
Mother-Son Relationship 14: During Paul and Mrs. Morel's trip to the cathedral, Paul notices for the first time the temporality of their lives and wishes that he could have had more time with his mother. He berates the fact that he was the second-born son, wishing that he were her first-born, so that he would have had more time with her.
Mother-Son Relationship 15: Mrs. Morel hates Miriam even more than she already does because of the way Paul is affected by her. She hates that Miriam is changing his will, his passion, his temperament. She can see that Paul will die of the excessive, passionate temperament he fosters when he is with Miriam.
Mother-Son Relationship 16: Mrs. Morel is terribly tired of her involvement in Paul and Miriam's relationship and decides to stop intervening. She knows that Paul is an adult now and that there is nothing she can do to stop Paul from seeing Miriam. She feels that she can never forgive her son for sacrificing himself to love Miriam.
Mother-Son Relationship 17: Paul tries persuading his mother that Clara is a better match for him than Miriam ever was, but his mother is deaf to his words. He tells his mother that her jealousy of his relationship with Clara is the only thing that stops her from liking Clara. Paul is too wrapped up in his involvement with Clara and with his mother's dislike of Clara to notice that his mother does not look well at all.
Mother-Son Relationship 18: Paul has begun to realize how much his mother affects his life. Her deep love for him has made her a part of himself that when he wants to break free from his mother, he is unable to get away from her. His mother is ingrained into his very soul.
Mother-Son Relationship 19: Paul declares that he will never marry as long as he has his mother to love. He does not envision himself marrying, despite his mother's assurances that he will want to marry when he finds the right woman.
Mother-Son Relationship 20: Clara sees that Paul is distancing himself from her because of his mother. She knows in her heart that he will never sacrifice his mother for her. Paul tells her that it seems that his mother will never die because she is stubborn and relentless in heart, mind and soul.
Mother-Son Relationship 21: Paul suffers to see his mother in so much pain. He cannot take watching his mother turn into a limp, lifeless creature from a person of vitality and spirit. When he looks into his mother's eyes, he can see that she agrees that she wants to die to end all the pain she is in, yet her stubborn spirit and body will not allow her.
Mother-Son Relationship 22: When Paul kisses his dead mother, he feels emotions he has never experienced from her: cold and harsh, unreceptive and loveless. He does not want to let his mother go from his life.
Mother-Son Relationship 23: As much as Paul wants his mother to be with him, he decides that he cannot follow his mother. Even her spirit will guide him if he allows it to but he decides to break away from her. He knows he must separate himself from her to become a man of his own instinct and will.
Religion 1: Paul prays for his mother's safety. In doing so, he prays that his father might be hurt or even killed so that he might never hurt his mother again. Yet guilt washes over him, and then he prays for his father as well. Morel ultimately can never quite get along with his family because he denies any single shred of religion, stability, compassion and love in his soul.
Religion 2: Miriam, who possesses intense piety and religion, believes that her brothers and father are too vulgar, for they have no regard for church or God, whom she loves passionately. She only admires and respects those who attend church and therefore believe in the teachings of God.
Religion 3: Miriam feels so deeply about nature that she is in her own little world of reality. To her, the natural world is a wonderful paradise like the Garden of Eden, and knowledge of the harsh, hateful things in life wrecks the beauty of nature.
Religion 4: Paul is frustrated and angered at the way Miriam devotes herself so deeply and intensely to people, nature or ideas. He asks her in frustration why she feels she has to devote herself so much to whatever he says or does.
Religion 5: The rose-bush Miriam shows to Paul eerily signifies their relationship. That Miriam is intensely loving and warm toward the beautiful, white roses and that Paul feels strangely "imprisoned" by them symbolize their feelings for each other and toward sex with the other. Miriam would devote herself to Paul, who would feel smothered by her intensity.
Religion 6: Miriam prays to God that if He wills her to love Paul, she will undoubtedly follow his words and love Paul as much as she can. She will love Paul if God means for them to love each other. However, she feels ashamed that her feelings for Paul are so open and ardent when her sister chastises her.
Religion 7: Paul declares to Miriam that she is a nun in every sense of their relationship. He has given her everything he possibly could in their relationship except passion. Paul feels that he can never love her in a physical, sexual way because they love each other in a spiritual way, not a passionate way.
Religion 8: Miriam fiercely tells herself that she will devote herself to Paul if their wills wish them to have sex. She tells herself firmly that she will give him the passion he wants and needs, against her wishes. She will sacrifice her virginity for him.
Religion 9: When Miriam and Paul have sex, Paul notices that she looks strangely calm. After they have sex, Miriam decides that she is not ready to give herself sexually to him if he needs her.
A mining company, Cranston, Waite and Co., has claimed a place in the coal and iron field in Derbyshire and set up homes in the Squares and the Bottoms, where the mining families live. The Squares are located on the hills of Bestwood, while the Bottoms have been placed over "Hell Row".
Topic Tracking: Industrialism 1
Mr. and Mrs. Morel have been living in the Bottoms for three weeks. Mr. Morel is a miner employed there. Mrs. Morel dislikes living in the Bottoms; she is from Bestwood and she feels superior to the other women married to miners - the Morel home is located on the end of a street and in the best block. The Morels have two children, seven-year-old William and five-year-old Annie, and are expecting another child soon.
William, anxious to attend a local fair, and Annie, whining about fair as well, are trying Mrs. Morel's patience. She is tired and exhausted from caring for the children; she is not looking forward to the third child. Mrs. Morel lets an impatient, excited William go to the fair and brings Annie later. William is surprised to find his mother and sister at the fair when he sees them. Mrs. Morel, tired easily from all the noise and the crowd, wants to leave early with Annie, but when William refuses to leave, gives her permission for William to stay longer.
As she expects, William is overly exhausted and miserable when he arrives home couple of hours after. He tells his mother that he had seen Mr. Morel in the bar. Mrs. Morel is glad that she is alone with the children. She is miserable and tired of living as Walter Morel's wife and mother of their children. She despises her husband for always drinking, never dreaming of living a better life. She cannot wait for William and Annie, especially William, to grow up. She yearns of the day when they do not have to struggle with poverty. She hates the life of wretchedness and dreariness that her husband and the unborn baby will undoubtedly bring her.
Topic Tracking: Industrialism 2
Topic Tracking: Mother-Son Relationship 1
Mrs. Morel goes into the front garden and looks toward the path that leads to the mines. She desperately wishes that she does not live the life of a poor miner's wife and asks herself what she, a girl from Bestwood, has to do with the slums of Hell Row. Gertrude Morel comes from an established family, the Coppards; she had inherited her mother's beautiful looks and her father's proud, fiery temper. When she was twenty-three, she had met twenty-seven-year old Walter Morel at a Christmas party and was attracted to his warm, animated laugh and personality. Walter was fascinated by the ladylike presence Gertrude exuded, which was unknown to him. She was surprised to hear that he had been a miner since he was ten years old and looked at him with new admiration. That he risked his life daily for so many years and to have such a cheerful disposition touched her soul. The two fell in love and married; for the next six months, Gertrude Morel was very happy with her marriage and life as a miner's wife despite her in-laws' constant sneering. One day she was humiliated to learn that her husband has not paid any bills for the house or the furniture and that he owes over half the money. Walter's dependence on his mother annoyed and shamed Gertrude. Her attitude toward her husband changed even more when she found out about his drinking.
Mrs. Morel loved her new baby son as passionately as she hated her husband. She focused all of her attention to her son rather than her husband. One day she found that
Her husband had cut off William's beautiful blonde curls. Mrs. Morel, enraged and furious, was horrified that Walter could have done hurt their child that way. She was frustrated with the little amount of money he gave her from his salary and even more infuriated with the way he carelessly spent most of his salary on his drinking.
That night, Walter returns home drunk. They have an argument, their first furious one. Mrs. Morel bitterly declares that she would have left him a long time ago if it were not for the children. He shuts her out of the house in response and falls asleep. Mrs. Morel is forced to wander around her garden and knock repeatedly on the window to wake him up. She fears that she might have to stay outside in the cold, and the cold would affect their unborn baby. After she succeeds in waking him up, she goes to bed, looking defiant and proud.
Mrs. Morel gives birth to their third child, whom she calls Paul. She believes that the baby has the ability to interpret her feelings, such as the time when her husband hits her. One night, Walter comes home in a drunken fit. Both he and his wife ate moody and tired that night, and they argue. Their tempers flare up and Morel throws a wooden drawer at his wife, scarring her face. Morel realizes the severity of his actions and tries to be nice to his wife, but Mrs. Morel pushes him away. Morel is fascinated by the sight of the blood trickling down from his wife's cut into Paul's golden hair. Although Mrs. Morel tries to cover up where she gets her scar, the children seem to figure out that their father had given it to her and they empathize with her. Morel feels alienated and cast out from the family. The children feel awkward with him, as much as he feel awkward with them. However, things gets so tense in the Morel household that Morel finally does not care about his treatment in the family. Every day he would rush off to work, return home, and get ready to go out with his friends and drink.
Morel becomes ill. His illness weakens his temper. Even though Mrs. Morel has more to care for, now that her husband is ill, she is more tolerant toward him. With the arrival of Paul, Mrs. Morel cares more for her children than her husband. Even Morel realizes that his wife has cast him off for their children. As the Morels' marriage becomes tenser, Morel feels unsettled and empty.
Mrs. Morel gives birth to a new baby boy, who is named Arthur. Morel takes to the new baby immediately; likewise, Arthur is the only baby to love Morel immediately. William grows bigger and stronger, while Paul becomes his mother's shadow, always following her and crying. When Morel almost hits William as punishment, Mrs. Morel demands that he will not touch William. Morel, fearful of his wife's wrath, restrains himself from hitting William.
Mrs. Morel joins the Women's Guild. The children are proud of their mother and respect her for wanting to improve Co-op benefits. When Mrs. Morel gets William a job in the Co-op office, Morel suggests that William join him in the mining pit. Mrs. Morel is adamant that William will not become a miner.
Topic Tracking: Industrialism 3
William then becomes a shorthand clerk, a book-keeper, and later a schoolteacher. He becomes more outgoing and active as he grows older, but he begins to associate with Bestwood society, to his mother's chagrin. Occasionally, young women would call on William. He gives all his earnings to his mother. William's relationships with his young ladies and his dancing greatly disgraced Mrs. Morel. She fears that William may turn out to be like his father. At nineteen, William takes a job in Nottingham. William's advancement in employment gives his mother reason to hope that he might help his younger brothers. Mrs. Morel sees that William is troubled; she encourages him to continue dancing if he feels like it.
Topic Tracking: Mother-Son Relationship 2
William is excited when he is offered a high-paying job in London. He gladly accepts the job not noticing that his mother looks so sad and hurt. Mrs. Morel is devastated that William is leaving. William cuts up his love letters and lets Paul keeps the decorated borders of paper. William leaves for London.
Paul is very close to Annie. He would always join Annie in playing games. If he is not with Annie, he is by himself. William has always been too old to play with them.
The Morels move to a new home on the bottom of a hill with a valley down below. A huge ash tree sits in front of the house. Whenever a large wind would brush by the tree, the tree would make a shrieking noise, which Paul, Annie, and Arthur hate, but Morel loves. To Paul, the loud shrieking of the tree sounds sinister and evil. He is terrified by the noise and he begins to associate the shrieking of the tree with the footsteps of his father coming home drunk. Not only was Paul frightened of his father's drunken wrath, all the Morel children were. Their nights would have been perfectly content if not for those moments of anxiety and worry, hoping desperately that their father would not hit their mother.
Paul continually prays for his mother's safety: "'Make him stop drinking'. He prayed every night. 'Lord, let my father die', he prayed very often. 'Let him not be killed at pit', he prayed when, after tea, the father did not come home from work." Part 1, Chapter 4, pg. 60
The children also suffer with their mother. They never tell their father anything about their lives in fear of getting him in a rage. They would only tell their father if their mother insists. They know that he would not appreciate hearing about their days at school or any achievements. "He was an outsider. He had denied the God in him." Part 1, Chapter 4, pg. 63
Mrs. Morel is the kind of woman who would wait as long as possible for her children to grow up. When William goes to Nottingham, Paul occupies the chief concern of Mrs. Morel's heart. She knows how to comfort him when he is upset, such as the time when he has to fetch Morel's salary from the district contractor. Paul, a small and shy boy, is scared to talk or move in the throng of men waiting for their salaries and is ridiculed when the contractors give him the money. When Paul furiously explains to his mother that the contractors are brutes and hateful men, Mrs. Morel assures him that the men themselves are witless.
Friday nights are Mrs. Morel's baking and market nights. Paul chooses to stay home every Friday night and helps his mother bake while Annie and Arthur enjoy themselves elsewhere. On summer evenings, Paul plays with his brother and sister and other neighborhood children. Mrs. Morel revels in hearing her children sing and play outside as much as they enjoy playing outside. They all adore the wide, open spaces of their home.
During the fall and winter months, the Morels are very poor. William does not send as much money as he used to. Now that he is in London, expenses are higher than Nottingham and he needs money for himself. Mrs. Morel misses her son's support very much.
"All day long, as she cleaned the house, she thought of him. He was in London: he would do well. Almost, he was like her knight who wore her favour in the battle." Part 1, Chapter 4, pg. 79
Topic Tracking: Mother-Son Relationship 3
William returns home for the Christmas holidays. The whole family prepares for his homecoming a fine, glorious celebration: a sumptuous feast and a decorated house are ready for him. Paul, Annie and Arthur pick William up at the train station; Paul is so proud and excited for William that he wants to let the people in the station know that William, their very own William, is returning from London. Both Mr. and Mrs. Morel cry when they see William, all grown-up. He bestows them with lavish presents: Mrs. Morel keeps the umbrella with gold on its handle William gives her until the day she dies. When William leaves, the family is miserable, especially Mrs. Morel.
"Not even the Mediterranean, which pulled at all his young man's desire to travel, and at his poor man's wonder at the glamorous south, could take him away when he might come home." Part 1, Chapter 4, pg. 82
Topic Tracking: Mother-Son Relationship 4
About a year after William first left home for London, Morel breaks his leg in the pit. Mrs. Morel visits him in the hospital and tells the children that their father is in serious pain, a thought that dismays them. Mrs. Morel recounts how sad her husband was when she had to leave to return home to the children.
"But still, in her heart of hearts, where the love should have burned, there was a blank. Now, when all her woman's pity was roused to its full extent, when she would have slaved herself to death to nurse him and to save hum, when she would have taken the pain herself, if she could, somewhere far away inside her, she felt indifferent to him and to his suffering. It hurt her most of all, this failure to love him, even when he roused her strong emotions." Part 1, Chapter 5, pg. 86
Topic Tracking: Mother-Son Relationship 5
While William is in London and Morel is in the Nottingham hospital, Paul tells himself that he is the only man of the house. William is courting a fashionable young lady named Louisa Lily Denys Western and sends his mother a picture of her. Mrs. Morel thinks that Louisa, whom William calls "Gipsy", dresses inappropriately and does not seem to like Louisa very much. She believes that William is spending far too much time on Louisa and his social life than he should. Paul, now fourteen, is looking for a job. He feels that the only thing he can do is to be a painter. Paul admits to himself that his only desire in life is to find a job and earn money for his family, and when his father would die, live in a cottage with his mother and paint to his heart's content.
Topic Tracking: Mother-Son Relationship 6
Paul goes to the Co-op office to look for a job in the papers. Feeling self-conscious about looking for a job, Paul stares out of the window. He feels as if he is a "prisoner of industrialism." Part 1, Chapter 5, pg. 89 The valley he loves so much now holds the idea of work. "Already his heart went down. He was being taken into bondage. His freedom in the beloved home valley was going now." Part 1, Chapter 5, pg. 89
Topic Tracking: Industrialism 4
Paul is offered a job at Thomas Jordan and Son, a company that manufactures surgical appliances, in Nottingham. Thomas Jordan is the company manager and manufacturer.
He is humiliated and embarrassed at the interview. Mr. Jordan mercilessly makes fun of Paul's horrid handwriting, but places him in the position as a junior spiral clerk under Mr. Pappleworth at eight shillings a week. Paul's rage and anger quickly die as he and his mother walk along the bright and cheerful market.
Topic Tracking: Industrialism 5
Paul enjoys his first day of work. When he leaves to catch the early train to Nottingham, he feels homesick for his mother and the home he loves. He gets along well with his boss, Mr. Pappleworth, and he especially enjoys spending time with the factory girls. There are Fanny, whose sensitive nature Paul comes to understand, and Polly, the middle-aged woman, whose stern and business-like manner contrasts with Fanny's personality. Paul comes to enjoy work so much that he looks forward to the next day. The factory, to Paul, feels like home.
"He liked to watch his fellow-clerks at work. The man was the work and the work was the man, one thing, for the time being. It was different with the girls. The real woman never seemed to be there at the task, but as if left out, waiting." Part 1, Chapter 5, pg. 112
Topic Tracking: Industrialism 6
At the end of every day, Paul would recount the day's activities to his mother. His stories mean the life to her.
"The trains roared by like projectiles level on the darkness, fuming and burning, making the valley clang with their passage. They were gone, and the lights of the towns and villages glittered in silence." Part 1, Chapter 5, pg. 112
Topic Tracking: Industrialism 7
Arthur Morel is turning out like his father. The father who he had loved and admired so much as a child he now abhors. Morel is now an old man, suffering in bodily pain and in temper. As Morel grows more irritable and mean, Arthur grows more furious with him. Both are suffering with age: Morel becomes harsher and more contemptuous in his elderly age, Arthur becomes more enraged with adolescent anger at his father.
Things change drastically in the Morel household now. Mrs. Morel allows an enraged Arthur to live in Nottingham with her sister when he wins a school scholarship. Annie will be receiving her teaching degree soon. Most importantly, William is engaged to his Gipsy. Mrs. Morel "clung now to Paul." Part 1, Chapter 6, pg. 114
Topic Tracking: Mother-Son Relationship 7
William brings his fiancee, whom the Morels call Lily, home for the holidays to meet his family. Lily treats the Morels as if they are her servants, the thought that infuriates and frustrates William. Mrs. Morel does not trust her son and his fiancee when they are alone.
Mrs. Morel, anxious about Paul's deteriorating health due to his long hours and confinement, proposes that the two of them call on the Leivers family on Willey Farm nearby on his holiday. Paul immediately agrees. On their way to the Leiverses', they comment on the landscape. Mrs. Morel remarks at how beautiful the surrounding countryside is, while Paul expresses his wonder and amazement at the sight of the pit, with the mining trucks going about.
As Paul says, "But I like the feel of men on things, while they're alive. There's a feel of men about trucks, because they've been handled with men's hands, all of them." Part 1, Chapter 6, pg. 123
Topic Tracking: Industrialism 8
The Willey Farm is lush: the farm includes a pond, an orchard and a garden. While Mrs. Morel and Mrs. Leivers talk inside the house, Paul stays in the garden, observing the plants and flowers. Miriam Leivers, the fourteen-year-old daughter, comes out to fetch coal. Miriam blushes when Paul asks her a question she does not know the answer to, and Paul notices her warm complexion. Miriam has a rather superior tone in her voice that Paul does not catch.
Miriam's brothers, eighteen-year-old Edgar, twelve-year-old Geoffrey and thirteen-year-old Maurice, speak to Miriam in a condescending tone. They make fun of her for not being like them - running around, playing and hitting in jest - and mock her for reciting poetry. When she shrinks back from feeding the chickens, her brothers are disgusted with her fear and Miriam is full of shame and misery. The Leivers boys do not pay much attention to Paul, so he wanders around the farm by himself until he sees Miriam with the chickens again. He convinces her that feeding the chickens is not frightening, and teaches her how to feed them. Unlike her brothers, Paul is gentle with the scared Miriam. She is sure that Paul only thinks of her as a commonplace farm girl.
Paul and his mother are filled with happiness on their return home. Mrs. Morel declares that she would have been a better farm-wife than Mrs. Leivers.
William and Lily spend the summer holidays with the Morels. He and his mother are infuriated with the way Lily treats Annie like a servant. Mrs. Morel is also angered that William's manner toward his fiancee is so harsh, but William cannot help being so mean to her. He feels that he is stuck in a loveless relationship and cannot escape. When William insists that Lily would forget about him in three months' time if he dies, Mrs. Morel feels a sense of foreboding - she hears the bitterness in William's voice and worries.
William comes home for a weekend in October. An excited Mrs. Morel is thrilled to have her son alone to herself, but she is anxious and worried about his health. William looks thinner and more tired than usual, and he discovers a rash on his chin and throat. When he leaves for London, he seems to be on the road to recovery. However, Mrs. Morel receives a telegram that William is very ill. She departs for London immediately and sees at once that the William lying sick in bed is not the active and bright William she knows. William has developed pneumonia and a rash and does not recognize his mother when she talks to him. William finally dies after much suffering.
Paul goes to the pit to tell his father that William has died. Throughout all the tireless activity going on at the pit, the words Paul must say to his father do not fully penetrate in his mind. Absorbed in the amount of activity and people and trucks, Paul does not see that his father looks terribly grieved and weary.
When William's coffin is brought into the house, Mrs. Morel struggles with the reality of William's death. All Mrs. Morel can say is, "'My son.'" Part 1, Chapter 6, pg. 139 After William's death, she could not take much interest in life. Mrs. Morel shuts herself out from her family and her life.
Topic Tracking: Mother-Son Relationship 8
Paul continues to work and tell his mother of his day's activities, but she wants to hear none of it. She is not interested in anything he has to say about work; she just wants to think about how short William's life was. His mother's restrained manner, in addition to decreased work hours, wear out and depress Paul so much that he suffers greatly. When he is laid off at Christmas, Mrs. Morel notices the deteriorating change in him. Paul's condition turns out to be pneumonia. Like she had done with William, Mrs. Morel nurses Paul throughout his long illness. When the critical moment arrives, Mrs. Morel cries to Paul, "'My son.'" Part 1, Chapter 6, pg. 141 Paul recognizes his mother's voice and face, and regains consciousness. From then on, Mrs. Morel's life revolves around Paul.
Topic Tracking: Mother-Son Relationship 9
Paul enjoys visiting Willey Farm. He is friendly with the two youngest Leivers boys; Edgar, the eldest, and Miriam do not approach him at first. Miriam fears that Paul will treat her like her brothers do. Miriam is deeply emotional and sensitive and intensely devoted to religion, with her own romantic ideals. She wants Paul to view her not as a mere farm girl but as a girl with feelings and emotions capable of his intelligence. Miriam is like her mother; both the Leivers women live and breathe religion. Miriam loves passionately and deeply religion, Christ, and God. She feels that her brothers are irreverent, vulgar brutes and she does not consider her father religious enough for her.
She generally loathes the opposite sex, but she sees something different in Paul. Paul is far different from the boys and men she knows; he is gentle, astute, and thoughtful, and she admires his intelligence and cleverness. Miriam's soul is so deep and intense, she needs to feel that she can care and love someone who needs her strength so that she can love him with as much intensity and passion as she possesses.
"Then he was so ill, and she felt he would be weak. Then she would be stronger than he. Then she could love him. If she could be mistress of him in his weakness, take care of him, if he could depend on her, if she could, as it were, have him in her arms, how she would love him!" Part 2, Chapter 7, pg. 143
Now Miriam, a beautiful sixteen-year-old, is painfully aware that she is the daughter of a farmer and his wife. She is embarrassed that Paul can see that she is a only a mere farmer's daughter. Meanwhile, Paul is conscious of the fact that Miriam seems to live in a dream world, separated from reality.
Mrs. Leivers and Miriam are unlike the men in their family. They search for something deeper, more intimate in everything - relationships, nature, religion. The men are too coarse, dumb and shallow. Paul falls under Mrs. Leiver and Miriam's deep and intensified passions. When Mrs. Leivers insists on showing Paul a bird's nest, he remarks at how warm the nest is. Miriam is drawn to the nest after Paul's remark and flowers after Paul's admiration for them.
"She stimulated him into appreciating things thus, and then they lived for her. She seemed to need things kindling in her imagination or in her soul before she felt she had them. And she was cut off from ordinary life by her religious intensity which made the world for her either a nunnery garden or a paradise, where sin and knowledge were not, or else an ugly, cruel thing." Part 2, Chapter 7, pg. 149
Miriam and Paul's relationship progresses slowly. Miriam finally summons up enough courage and faces her fear of Paul's rejections to ask him if he wants to see the swing on their farm. She always hesitates to show him or offer him anything; she fears that Paul will react as her mocking, laughing brothers do. When Paul jumps at the chance to see the swing, Miriam takes him to the swing in a cowshed. She begs him to ride the swing first - it is the first time in her life that she gets the chance to spoil Paul - or any man, for that matter. When Miriam suggests that he take another ride, Paul convinces her to try riding the swing. As she swings, she feels his hands on her, ready to catch her swing and push her upwards. Uncomfortable with the pressure of Paul's hands on her, Miriam insists that she needs his help; Paul can hear the fear in her voice and lets her swing by herself. Whenever he is ready to catch her in her swing, she would feel her heart melt.
Miriam takes such meaning in his sketches and paintings. Paul asks her why her emotions run from one extreme to the next at any given time. At times, Paul cannot describe his feelings for her. He hates the way she enfolds her young brother in her arms and shower him with kisses. He hates the way her emotions are so intense and so vehement. He is often puzzled with her as well - she is quite bitter and dissatisfied with her fate of being a young girl. Miriam is a contradiction in her view toward men and women: she almost wishes that she were a man, but she hates men at the same time. When Miriam declares that she wants to learn and be educated, Paul offers to teach her algebra.
When Paul teaches Miriam algebra, he is frustrated by the way she never answers him and gets aggravated quickly. Miriam cannot grasp the concepts of algebra easily, even though she studies the material intensely. Paul asks her in frustration and anger, "'What do you tremble your soul before it?...You don't learn algebra with your blessed soul. Can't you look at it with your clear simple wits?'" Part 2, Chapter 7, pg. 156 He tries to be gentle, but her emotions make him furious that he throws a pencil in her face. That she is never angry or critical with him makes him feel ashamed of himself.
After his futile attempt in teaching Miriam algebra, Paul often goes about with Edgar, talking or doing carpentry. The time spent at his home studying painting is with his mother. Paul and his mother both know that Mrs. Morel herself inspires Paul with the strength and the warmth to do his best at painting, but it is Miriam who brings out the intensity and the depth of his work.
Miriam shows Paul a beautiful rose-bush she had found in the woods. She feels that if she does not show him the rose-bush, she would not completely feel the rose-bush in her soul. She needs Paul to be with her when he sees the rose-bush. "They were going to have a communion together - something that thrilled her, something holy." Part 2, Chapter 7, pg. 159 The roses are pure white and gleaming. Miriam almost worships the flowers, but Paul feels strangely "imprisoned" by the roses and its "white, virgin scent." Part 2, Chapter 7, pg. 160
Mrs. Morel feels that Miriam draws Paul into her soul and heart, and resents her for taking her son away from her. When she tells Paul that it is disgusting behavior that young girls and lads are courting, he replies that his relationship with Miriam is no more different than Annie's relationship with a young man is. Mrs. Morel significantly remarks that Annie is not like them. Paul does not realize that his mother's comment refers to he and Miriam, but he sees that she is hurt and tells Miriam that he should not be late returning home.
Topic Tracking: Mother-Son Relationship 10
Mrs. Morel is ecstatic and delighted to find a little patch of bright blue scyllas under the currant-bushes in their garden. When Paul tells his mother that he had set some flower bulbs down there but was going to tell her when he thought they might have flowered, Mrs. Morel is too happy to have found them to be mad at him.
One day, Paul, Annie, and Arthur go for a walk with their friends. Miriam does not get along with anyone else, for she feels that she is different from the others; her one companion is Nature. When she catches up with Paul to talk to him alone, she finds that his mind is concentrated on fixing something - the umbrella he carried with him. They both know that it had been his friend Geoffrey who had damaged the spring in the umbrella. When Miriam asks why he is so concerned about the old umbrella, Paul explains quietly that William had given the umbrella to their mother and that his mother must not know what happened to it.
When Miriam expresses her happiness in having Paul call, Agatha, her elder sister, rebukes her for admitting her feelings so openly. Miriam is quite startled by the fact that Paul might see her true feelings for him and doubts the intensity of her emotions. First, she questions if she really loves Paul, and upon recognizing that she does want him, feels ashamed of her ardent emotions. She prays to God that if it is His will that she love him, she will love him as much as she possibly can. She knows that it is not wrong to love him, but still her love for Paul shames her.
She distances herself from Paul after that, ceasing her habit of calling on him on Thursdays, as much as she regrets her decision. Paul is disappointed as well; his mother is perfectly happy with Miriam's decision.
Paul tries to keep his relationship with Miriam platonic; he would not have it that they were in love. He firmly denies any possibility of a chance of being a lover to Miriam. They agree that what other people say does not matter to them.
The Morels go on a holiday when Paul is twenty and has saved enough money. They rent a furnished cottage in Mablethorpe. Annie's and Paul's friends come along on the holiday as well. Everyone is delighted with the charming cottage and its surroundings. Paul loves spending time with his mother, walking through the fields and garden and to the village and the sea. Miriam does not get to see much of Paul, except when the others go to the "Coons" in the evenings or when he sketches. Both Miriam and Paul think of the Coons as stupid.
One evening, Paul and Miriam go to the shore to look at the ocean. Paul is mesmerized by the sounds of the waves crashing against the shore and the sight of the moon against the night sky. Miriam expects him to be moved as deeply as religiously as she is, but Paul's emotions are very much still within him. He cannot express his feelings to her.
Paul is ashamed that he has the idea that he might want Miriam for a lover. He is ashamed with himself for thinking of Miriam in a sexual way. He feels that she might resist physical love, and also that he is too scared himself of making the first move. He tells himself that he hates her for making him despise himself, and Mrs. Morel hates her for changing Paul into a moody and melancholy boy. Miriam feels the antagonism Mrs. Morel and Annie have for her, but she does not care much.
Arthur gets a job at the electrical plant at Minton Pit.
Topic Tracking: Industrialism 9
He is a wild, impulsive boy, heedless to thought and temper. One night, he does not return home from work and Mrs. Morel is terribly worried about him. The next day, they find out that Arthur has enlisted with his friend but has no desire to continue. Arthur futilely writes to see if Mrs. Morel can get him out of the army and bring him home. Mrs. Morel is furious that Arthur would consider being a soldier; Paul cannot understand why his mother is so upset, when Arthur is known for being a fool. After visiting Arthur at the camp, Mrs. Morel returns home, dreadfully worried. She knows that army life is too disciplined for him and worries about him. Paul remarks that being a soldier may turn Arthur into a more disciplined and sensible man. Mrs. Morel assures herself that Arthur will do well in the army.
When two of Paul's paintings win first prize in a students' exhibition, Mrs. Morel is elated. She knows that all of her sons are great, but Paul she feels is destined to become famous. Mrs. Morel tells herself that through Paul, "she was to see herself fulfilled." Part 2, Chapter 8, pg. 183
Topic Tracking: Mother-Son Relationship 11
One day, Paul meets in the street Miriam with a striking-looking older woman who has blonde hair. The woman possesses an air of defiance, from her mouth to her eyes. Paul is struck by how the other woman makes Miriam look so small and insignificant. Miriam introduces the woman, Mrs. Clara Dawes, to Paul, who remembers that she is the daughter of an old friend of Mrs. Leivers and whose husband is the smith for Jordan's factory. Clara Dawes remembers him as the boy who walked around with one of the Spiral girls at Jordan's. Paul notices that Clara looks very scornful of him - or perhaps all men - and in sharp contrast to Miriam, is evidently poor, from her shabby dress. After he leaves the two women, Paul remembers that Clara Dawes is separated from her husband, Baxter Dawes, and is involved with Women's Rights issues. To Paul, Clara and Baxter are similar in certain respects - they both have the same clear white skin and a defiance in attitude - but his eyes are evil and hateful. Paul never liked Baxter from the beginning; Baxter would always look at him with a criticizing eye. Baxter seems as if he would knock anyone who crossed or disapproved of him. Clara and Baxter Dawes have no children; she lives with her mother and he with his sister and his prostitute.
Miriam and Paul talk about Clara. Paul declares that he would have thought Clara to be more of a fighter against Baxter; her features are made for passion and fierceness. Miriam shrinks when she hears Paul's admiration for Clara. Noticing that she shrinks when they are talking about Clara, he is irritated with Miriam and asks her why she does not like Clara. Paul comments that perhaps Miriam does not like Clara because Clara has a grudge against men, but does not realize that her grudge is one of his reasons for liking her. He laments that when he is with Miriam, he feels he has to be spiritual, and he does not want to be.
When Paul invites Edgar and Miriam to tea, Mrs. Morel is cordial only to Edgar and cold to Miriam. Paul is angry that his mother acts so coldly to Miriam. When he sees Miriam coming to church, he is filled with a different kind of happiness. With his mother, Paul is happy and proud that his mother takes charge of his life. With Miriam, he is filled with "something more wonderful, less human, and tinged to intensity by a pain, as if there were something he could not get to." Part 2, Chapter 8, pg. 192
When spring arrives, Paul becomes so wild and moody that he does not trust himself around Miriam. He is cruel to her on purpose. Mrs. Morel believes that Miriam is not an "ordinary woman, who can leave me my share in him. She wants to absorb him till there is nothing left of him, even for himself. He will never be a man on his own two feet - she will suck him up." Part 2, Chapter 8, pg. 193
Paul has so many conflicting feelings about the relationships between his mother, Miriam, and himself. He asks himself a number of questions: why his mother sits at home alone, brooding; why he hates Miriam at times; why and how Miriam makes his mother suffer; why Miriam makes him feel so unlike himself when he is with her; why he cannot act like himself. The tensions in his feelings and thought plague him so much that he cannot work nor act like himself. He knows that Miriam wants him and he rebukes her feelings. In his mind, Miriam wants his soul and not himself.
The Morels' lives have changed. Although Paul still works at Jordan's as a Spiral overseer, he is also studying design. Annie is engaged to be married.
One day, when Miriam calls on Paul, another young woman, a friend of the Morels named Beatrice, comes to visit. In the conversation and melee that ensue, Paul forgets about the bread he is supposed to watch. The bread is burned; Paul hides the burned bread from his mother and continues giving Miriam her French lesson. Miriam writes her feelings for Paul in the diary he makes her write for exercise, and she almost cannot control expressing her feelings. Paul, on the other hand, checks his feelings and is cruel to her.
However, when Paul returns from walking Miriam home, he finds his mother and Annie sitting gloomily and the bread sitting on the table. When Mrs. Morel declares that Paul never has time for anybody but Miriam, he tries to make her understand that Miriam shares his interests, but it is her whom he wants to come home to. Paul hates Miriam for making his mother suffer. He swears that he does not love Miriam.
Topic Tracking: Mother-Son Relationship 12
When Morel comes home from work, he and Paul almost get into a fist-fight but are interrupted by Mrs. Morel's fainting.
Miriam is aware that she and Paul will never have a relationship from the look on his face and his treatment toward her. He mocks her and his words are cruel and sarcastic. No matter how much he hurts her with scalding words or looks, Miriam is never cruel to him in return. They go out walking one day and Miriam, upon finding beautiful flowers, is totally absorbed by their beauty.
Disgusted with her behavior, Paul asks, "'You're always begging things to love you as if you were a beggar for love. Even the flowers, you have to fawn on them - You don't want to love - your eternal and abnormal craving is to be loved. You aren't positive, you're negative. You absorb, absorb, as if you must fill yourself up with love, because you've got a shortage somewhere.'" Part 2, Chapter 9, pg. 218
Although Paul speaks to her, neither Paul nor Miriam do not truly realize what he says; she only understands his hatred and cruelty and he is so inflamed that he speaks impulsively without giving any thought to what they mean. Later, they talk about their relationship. A weary Paul suggests that they break off their relationship, because all he can offer her is friendship. Miriam instinctively flushes, realizing that perhaps she loves him more than he loves her, but when Paul tells her that he does not love her, she cannot believe what he says. She knows that Paul loves her and belongs to her.
Paul realizes that his mother is the woman in his life who matters the most and that he is the most important person in hers. He wants to prove his mother's wish - that he will make something of himself - come true.
Topic Tracking: Mother-Son Relationship 13
Paul wonders to Miriam if they love each other enough to marry. They agree that they do not love each other enough. Miriam is offended that Mrs. Morel, her father, and others talk about them as if they are engaged. They agree not to see each other and call on each other as often as they used to.
Paul loves Willey Farm so much that he cannot give it up, with all of its gardens, its rooms, its valleys and fields, and the Leivers family themselves, for Miriam. He spends most of his time with Edgar, and rarely with Miriam. Miriam misses Paul, so she decides to prove to him that what he needs is her love. She asks him to call on the farm when Clara Dawes will be there.
Paul's eagerness to see Clara is evident; Miriam is hurt by Paul's obvious pleasure in seeing Clara. Paul observes and admires Clara's striking body and features. He tries to converse with Clara, but she remains aloof throughout the entire conversation. Paul is uncomfortable when Mrs. Leivers asks Clara if she finds life better without her husband. When he, Miriam, and Clara take a walk, all he can think about is Clara.
Mrs. Morel and Paul take a trip to Lincoln. When they see the cathedral, they are mesmerized by it.
"Something in the eternal repose of the uplifted cathedral, blue and noble against the sky, was reflected in [his mother], something of the fatality. What was, was. With all his young will he could not alter it. He saw her face, the skin still fresh and pink and downy, but crow's-feet near her eyes, her eyelids steady, sinking a little, her mouth always closed with disillusion; and there was on her the same eternal look, as if she knew fate at last." Part 2, Chapter 9, pg. 240
Inside the cathedral, Paul is struck with fury. He declares futilely that he wished he were the first-born son and that his mother were younger and livelier.
Topic Tracking: Mother-Son Relationship 14
Later, he tells his mother about Clara - Mrs. Morel wishes that he knew other women who are nice and simple, but she is not opposed to Clara.
Annie marries Leonard, her beau. Arthur returns home for the wedding, dressed in his uniform. Annie and Mrs. Morel cry at the thought of Annie's leaving home and her life with her family. Paul does not understand Annie's reasons for marrying. Both he and Mrs. Morel are miserable without Annie. Paul swears to his mother that he will never marry, because he does not want a wife to take his mother away from him.
Mrs. Morel buys Arthur out of the army. The strict military regime of the army had not disciplined Arthur; he is still the same rebellious, carefree man. He strikes up a sexual relationship with Beatrice. Meanwhile, Paul feels that the emotions and feelings of the people around him are changing. He becomes restless - Annie is married, Arthur spends his time with Beatrice, and Miriam's company does not satisfy him.
Paul's relationship with Clara tortures Miriam. Paul and Clara have a teasing, tense relationship that Miriam is jealous of. Miriam regrets that Paul should think about throwing away his religion. Wavering between grieving for Miriam or hating her, Paul finally decides to write her a letter expressing his feelings.
He writes, "I can give you a spirit love, I have given you this long, long time; but not embodied passion. See, you are a nun. I have given you what I would give a holy nun...In all our relations no body enters. I do not talk to you through the senses - rather through the spirit. That is why we cannot love in the common sense." Part 2, Chapter 9, pg. 251
Paul's letter to Miriam is the end of his first love-relationship.
Paul wins first prize in another painting exhibition and a man buys it for twenty guineas. Both of his parents are overjoyed and ecstatic, Mrs. Morel bursting into tears and Morel gruffly wiping his tears away. They are saddened at the thought that William would have accomplished so much at Paul's age if he were alive.
At Mrs. Morel's suggestion, Paul wears William's old evening suit when he is invited to dinner parties. Mrs. Morel dresses more stylishly as well. Only Morel wears the same kind of clothing as he always had. Mrs. Morel wants Paul to be in a higher social class than the common people they are of and to marry a lady. She worries about him incessantly, because he still is involved with Miriam and he seems to care about Clara, who was a married woman. She worries about him because Paul does not seem as if he has reason or effort to live. Paul does not care if he is happy in life, a thought that frightens his mother.
"At this rate he would not live. He had that poignant carelessness about himself, his own suffering, his own life, which is a form of suicide. It almost broke her heart. With all the passion of her strong nature she hated Miriam for having in this subtle way undermined his joy." Part 2, Chapter 10, pg. 258
Topic Tracking: Mother-Son Relationship 15
Arthur and Beatrice marry, and their child is born six months after their wedding. At first, Arthur cannot cope with the baby, but he soon realizes the importance of his responsibilities and devotes himself to his little family.
One day, Paul calls on Clara to give her a message from a friend of theirs. Clara is embarrassed and humiliated to have Paul call on her at home, where she and her mother sew lace for a living. He watches Clara sew, mesmerized by the movements of her body and features. Clara's mother, Mrs. Radford, tells Paul that her daughter is too proud and ashamed to admit that she wants to return to Jordan's. Mrs. Radford's blunt comments about Clara shame her, but Clara's suffering resonates passion in Paul. He can see that Clara is miserable and humiliated, and he wants to help her. He gets her a job at Jordan's when one of the girls leaves to have her baby.
Clara is different from the other Spiral girls at Jordan's. Those who remember her still believe her to be condescending and cold. Paul dislikes Clara and is attracted to her at the same time; her scorn for his work infuriates him. Clara considers herself to be superior from the other factory girls - she is more educated, can speak and read French (having taught herself) and belongs to the women's movement. However, she does not reveal that side of herself to Paul; she discloses true self from him. Paul is drawn to Clara's mystery, intrigue and excitement.
On his twenty-third birthday, Paul receives a surprise gift of paint-tubes from the Spiral girls - all except Clara. He learns that the girls have not included Clara because they did not want her involved. He and Clara take a walk up to Nottingham Castle later that day. Paul is surprised that Clara is so silent and brooding, making her seem as if she is small and insignificant. When Clara confesses that she feels as if the other girls have been hiding a secret from her, Paul feels guilty, having been the cause of Clara's suffering. A nervous and disturbed Paul informs her that his birthday gift had been the secret the girls were hiding from her, and that they are jealous of her because of their closeness. Clara sends Paul a gift through the day's mail - a book of poetry. He is genuinely moved by her gesture. After the arrival of Clara's gift, the other girls notice that Paul looks unusually happy when he sees Clara.
Paul and Clara talk more freely and intimately now. She confesses that she had been married to Baxter for five years and admits that she was not thinking sensibly when she married him. When she tells him indirectly that she never loved Baxter in the kind of romantic, sexual way, Paul does not understand her words. Clara tells him that she left him because he was unfaithful to her.
After their conversation, Clara withdraws from Paul once again and broods over her relationship. Talking about her marriage to Paul makes her suffer. Absentmindedly, Clara takes off her wedding ring and plays with it, spinning it around.
Paul loves Miriam deeply and thinks about marrying her, but it is Clara he wants sexually. He still sees and writes Miriam, without the worrying and the moodiness he had exhibited before. Mrs. Morel believes that he is getting away from Miriam. Miriam, on the other hand, assures herself that the goodness in Paul will triumph and that he will return to her. She has faith in the belief that he will see that his feelings for Clara are shallow and temporary.
Clara and Miriam's own relationship has grown worse because of Paul. Clara is jealous when Paul tells her that he is going to Willey Farm to visit Miriam. When Paul admits that he wishes that his relationship with Miriam were normal instead of her wanting his soul, Clara suggests that perhaps he does not really know what Miriam wants from their relationship. Paul has never considered the idea that Miriam might love him for him until Clara speaks of it.
Paul wonders why he does not love Miriam in a physical, sexual way. He knows that if he did love her that way, he would marry her. He admits that he cannot reconcile the idea of physical contact with Miriam. Their virginity seems to be the only thing that stops them from a chance of a real relationship. Paul decides to give his relationship with Miriam another try. He has come to realize that his being a son of a woman whose husband damages her emotionally and mentally has made him more of a woman's constitution. When Paul hears Miriam sing one day, he is struck with the notion that he should have been more gentle and tender with her. He chastises himself angrily for being so cruel to her.
Mrs. Morel is surprised and hurt that Paul has chosen to see Miriam again. Now that Paul is a young man, there is nothing she can do to stop him from seeing Miriam. Mrs. Morel has become weary of her intervention in Paul and Miriam's relationship and gives up trying to stop the match. She feels that she cannot forgive him for doing this to himself, suffering for a woman.
Topic Tracking: Mother-Son Relationship 16
Paul admits to Miriam that he would like to marry her, but his family depends on him and he does not make enough of an income to support them. He then confesses that their relationship would be perfect if he loved her physically. Miriam feels that she would wait for him to love her and touches him gently. Paul then kisses her, desisting the urge to drive away from her. His passion overcomes him and he kisses her deeply. Miriam tells him that she wants Paul to make love to her, but she pulls away at the last minute.
Miriam tells herself, "She would submit, religiously, to the sacrifice. He should have her. And at the thought her whole boy clenched itself involuntarily, hard, as if against something; but Life forced her through this gate of suffering, too, and she would submit. At any rate, it would give him what he wanted, which was her deepest wish." Part 2, Chapter 11, pg. 284
During a nighttime walk to the cherry orchard, Paul and Miriam feel that something in their relationship changes. Paul realizes that Miriam has not given all of her soul to their relationship, for he can feel that she is separated from him. Meanwhile, Miriam fears that she may lose him, for his response to nature and the night sky is one of absorption.
Miriam is sent to care for her grandmother in her grandmother's cottage. When she has the house alone for the day, Paul calls on her and spends the whole day with her. They act as man and wife in the little cottage, even making love for the first time. When Paul sees that Miriam acts reserved and calm, he asks her if she wants him. Miriam and Paul both know that she is sacrificing her virginity for him. After they make love and Paul returns home, he feels an emptiness in his soul. Miriam confesses that she is not ready to satisfy him sexually.
After a week of love, Paul decides that a relationship with Miriam would be futile. He spends time with Clara again, not realizing that the warmth in his relationship with Clara is lacking in his relationship with Miriam. As time goes on, he decides that the more time he spends with Clara, the more he hates Miriam.
Paul finally decides to break off his relationship with Miriam. He tells his mother that he does not love her, so he does not wish to marry her. Although Mrs. Morel is more than happy that her son is finally leaving Miriam, she cannot help but worry about Paul's feelings and emotions.
When Paul tells Miriam that they should break up, she is surprised and devastated. She asks him if the months they have spent together as lovers have meant anything to him. Paul repeatedly tells her that he does not wish to continue their relationship because he does not want to marry. When he speaks that they should live independently from each other, Miriam is too bitter and angry to see the truth in his words.
"She knew she felt in a sort of bondage to him, which she hated because she could not control it. She hated her love for him from the moment it grew too strong for her. And, deep down, she had hated him because she loved him and he dominated her. She had resisted his denomination. She had fought to keep herself free of him in the last issue. And she was free of him, even more than he of her." Part 2, Chapter 11, pg. 296
Mrs. Morel admits her fear to Paul that Miriam may not give up hopes of winning him still. Meanwhile, Miriam waits for Paul, alone in the world.
Paul makes a modest living from his paintings. He believes that if he really tries, he could become a famous painter. He worries about the health of his mother and wishes that she did not look so old and weary.
After he breaks off his relationship with Miriam, he goes straight to Clara. After Paul tells Clara that he has broken up with Miriam, Clara devotes herself to their relationship. Paul then kisses Clara. On the weekend, he cannot think of anything but Clara and yearns to go to work so that he can see her. On Monday, the two of them take a walk after work. While Paul is tempted to touch her and kiss her, Clara is reserved and moody. She finally asks him why he had broken up with Miriam. Paul responds that he did not want to be with Miriam and that he does not wish to marry, but he assures her that he does not care about the difference in their ages. He wants to be with her, even though she is five years older than he is. Paul knows that Clara loves him in a physical, sexual way that she could never love Baxter Dawes. They settle on a patch between two trees and they have sex. Paul is glowing with love for Clara. That night, everything in his life seems happy and good, now that he is with Clara.
When Paul returns home, Mrs. Morel notices that her son looks exceedingly happy and ecstatic. Her health is not as well as it can be, but she does not mention it to him. She coldly mentions that people will talk about his relationship with Clara, a married woman. Paul tells her that she is jealous, and he hesitates when he asks her if she would like to meet Clara. He tries to convince his mother that Clara is better for him than Miriam ever was.
Topic Tracking: Mother-Son Relationship 17
Miriam learns about Paul's relationship with Clara from Paul himself. She defends Baxter Dawes, while Paul is on Clara's side. He knows that Miriam resents that he and Clara are together. The two of them talk about the Daweses' marriage in relation to the Morels'. Paul pensively shares his view about Clara and Baxter's troubled marriage, why it failed and compares it to his parents' marriage. He is sure that Clara left Dawes because he did not understand her.
Paul says, "'[Passion is] what one must have, I think - the real, real flame of feeling through another person - once, only once, if it lasts three months. See, my mother looks as if she'd had everything that was necessary for her living and developing. There's not a tiny bit of feeling of sterility about her.'" Part 2, Chapter 12, pg. 317
Miriam thinks about Paul's words and begins to realize what he is looking for in a relationship. To her, Paul needs a passionate, fiery soul to match his own and he would never be satisfied unless he has it.
She tells herself, "'If he must go, let him go and have his fill - something big and intense, he called it. At any rate, when he had got it, he would not want it - that he said himself; he would want the other thing that she could give him. He would want to be owned, so that he could work. It seemed to her a bitter thing that he must go, but she could let him go into an inn for a glass of whisky, so she could let him go to Clara, so long as it was something that would satisfy a need in him, and leave him free for herself to possess.'" Part 2, Chapter 12, pg. 318
Miriam is jealous and bitter when she hears that Clara is invited to the Morels' for tea. She privately wonders if Clara will be accepted by people who had been so cruel to herself. Paul invites her to join them. When Clara arrives at the Morels', Mr. and Mrs. Morel welcome her. She is scared at first, but she soon feels that she is part of the family. Miriam can also feel that the Morels accept Clara when she sees that Clara is happy there. She has a bitter tone in her voice as she leaves, which makes Paul feel guilty. His emotions turn upside-down when he hears his mother and Clara agreeing vehemently about Miriam's strong intensity for Paul and becomes angry. He believes that they have no right to talk about a girl who is more faithful and pious than they are. However, when he and Clara see Miriam in church, he can see that Miriam is glaring at them, and he becomes angry and cruel yet again. Then, Clara is still jealous of Paul and Miriam's relationship; Paul kisses her fervently and relentlessly to show that he wants her and not Miriam. Clara feels that she needs to escape from Paul's grasp and runs to catch the train. An abrupt and furious Paul sees that she makes the train and returns home in a dark mood. His mother admits that she likes Clara, but also tells him that he will tire of her.
Paul and Clara go to see a play in Nottingham. All throughout the evening, all Paul can think about or concentrate on is the beautiful Clara sitting beside him. Clara invites him to spend the night at her house, as he had missed the last train home. Mrs. Radford badgers Clara incessantly and ruthlessly, criticizing her dress, her manner and her temperament. Paul, hating to see Clara suffer so much, tries defending her.
They stay up late, talking and playing cribbage. Paul does not want to leave Clara's side, yet he cannot stand the sight of her mother, who still stays up with them. He wishes that Mrs. Radford would leave the two of them alone and go to bed; instead Mrs. Radford makes them stop playing and insists that they all go to bed. Paul goes to his room first and waits to see Clara downstairs while her mother is in bed. When he finds her half-undressed, he goes to her and asks her to sleep with him, but Clara refuses. Paul falls asleep wondering why Clara had refused. The next morning, Clara assumes an air of authority over him, which makes him happy. Paul feels so happy that he proposes that he, Clara and her mother go on a trip to the seaside together. Mrs. Radford tells him that he can do whatever he wants.
Paul has an odd relationship with Baxter Dawes, who is growing weaker and more infirm. He has a bad reputation now, having been in prison for a night and having been rumored that he was involved in a betting match. Yet Paul feels a connection to the former husband of Clara's and decides to form a relationship. As he is the employee with the higher status, he buys Dawes a drink.
Dawes taunts Paul about Clara. He had seen Paul and Clara coming out of the theatre that night. The other men at the bar are surprised that Paul is courting a lady that Baxter knows. When Dawes remarks something cruel about Clara and Paul, a furious Paul throws his glass of beer in his face. Dawes rushes forward to fight with Paul, but other men stop him. Paul hates and pities Dawes at the same time.
Paul hopes that the rift between Dawes and himself does not reach his mother. His life now includes feelings and thoughts he cannot express to his mother, feelings about his sexual life.
He feels that "sometimes he hated her, and pulled at her bondage. His life wanted to free itself of her. It was like a circle where life turned back on itself, and got no farther. She bore him, loved him, kept him, and his love turned back into her, so that he could not be free to go forward with his own life, really love another woman." Part 2, Chapter 13, pg. 345
Topic Tracking: Mother-Son Relationship 18
Clara begs Paul to carry a weapon like a knife or a revolver to protect him from Dawes. Paul shrugs off her worries. When he bumps into Dawes at work one day, Dawes tries to threaten him to no avail. Already angered, Dawes becomes furious all the more when Clara calls Paul on the telephone. Thomas Jordan himself comes out of his office to tell Dawes to calm down and work when Dawes pushes Jordan away - and through the door leading downstairs to the factory room. Luckily only bruised from his fall, Jordan fires Dawes and sends him to trial for assault. At the trial, Paul is supposed to give his side of evidence, but he speaks of the rift between Dawes and himself at the bar because Dawes wanted revenge on Clara and himself. Clara is angry with Paul for mentioning her name in court.
Paul talks about his relationship with Clara to his mother. He knows that he loves her, but he cannot imagine marrying her. When Mrs. Morel repeats that he will want to marry when he finds the right woman, Paul declares that he will never meet the right woman as long as he has his mother.
Topic Tracking: Mother-Son Relationship 19
Even Clara can see that Paul is restless. She asks him about his plans for the future. He is unsure about his future plans, but he knows that his future includes his mother. A miserable Paul asks Clara if they can just concentrate on the present. Clara takes him into her arms and makes love to him.
"She knew how stark and alone he was, and she felt it was great that he came to her; and she took him simply because his need was bigger either than her or him, and her soul was still within her. She did this for him in his need, even if he left her, for she loved him." Part 2, Chapter 13, pg. 353
However, Clara feels unfulfilled, unsatisfied and unsure about her relationship with Paul. She feels that she has not won him yet. Clara desires him even more now. She feels that she needs to be next to him, touch him, and kiss him all the time. Clara's excessive passion irritates Paul, who begins to realize that even Clara cannot fuel his spirit and his soul. For all of their problems, they stay together.
They travel to the Lincolnshire coast many times. The dark and desolate areas of the beach please him, while his gazing at the scenery irritates Clara. As Paul watches Clara swim in the sea, he thinks to himself, "'She's lost like a grain of sand in the beach - just a concentrated speck blown along, a tiny white foam-bubble, almost nothing among the morning. Why does she absorb me?'" Part 2, Chapter 13, pg. 358
Paul realizes that it is not Clara he cares for. He asks her to go off with her mother one day - he wants to be alone. Not only does he feel "imprisoned" when he is with her, Clara also feels that he yearns to break free from her. Part 2, Chapter 13, pg. 359
When Clara tells Paul that she belongs to him, she also declares that Baxter belongs to her. Paul replies that she cannot belong to him because she does not want to divorce Dawes. Clara knows that she can never have him because she cannot control the unchecked fire in him, and Paul knows that she will always consider herself Mrs. Dawes. What she shares with Dawes Clara knows that she and Paul do not share, and that is the self-assurance she assumes when she is with Dawes. Paul's response to Clara's declaration in that she belongs to him is true; Clara herself admits that neither one of them belong to the other. Their passion seems to be the only thing that keeps them together, but even their passion is mechanical and less exciting. They realize that their love has failed somewhat.
Dawes meets up with Paul one evening and punches him. Paul, the weaker of the two, is hurt as Dawes relentlessly punches his jaw and mouth until pure fury and instinct drive him to fight harder and harsher. When Dawes psyches Paul out by yielding to his blows, Paul falls for Dawes's trick. Paul is helpless as Dawes beats him harder until he is unconscious. Later that night, Paul wakes up and hurries home, anxious to return to his mother's love and comfort. When he awakens the next morning, Mrs. Morel is scared and devastated by his wounds. Neither she nor Paul mentions Clara until she calls on them; even then Paul remarks that Clara tires him out.
He still goes with Clara, but he feels a constant sickness in his heart, a sickness that something is not right with their relationship. Confused by Paul's behavior, Clara questions herself why he feels so separated from her and distances herself from him. He begins to hate Clara.
When Paul advises his mother to visit Annie for a week in her home in Sheffield while he takes a trip to Blackpool with his friend Newton, Mrs. Morel readily agrees with him. Paul believes that the change of scenery will heal his mother's bad heart and indigestion.
Aftere a few relaxing days at Blackpool, Paul visits Annie and is surprised when she tells him that their mother is very ill. Paul is devastated when he sees his mother sitting in bed and looking so ill and starts crying. Mrs. Morel tries to comfort him, but Paul is miserable and inconsolable. She has a tumor on a side of her body.
An equally miserable Annie tells Paul that their mother has had a lump on her side for many months but she has never told anyone. They feel ashamed for not caring for their mother better. When Paul tries to feed her, she cannot eat nor drink. Mrs. Morel looks frail and thin, and Paul thinks to himself that she looks almost dead.
At work, Clara occupies Paul's thoughts. Paul goes home to tell his father of his mother's illness. Without anyone else home but their little maid, the house is quiet and empty. Paul realizes that his father is lonely and sad without his mother. Morel comes to visit his wife soon afterwards, looking forlorn and helpless. He tries not to cry in front of his wife.
Dawes is in the hospital for his fever. The doctor who sees Mrs. Morel tells Paul that Dawes has been in the hospital, and Paul calls on him. He cannot help but feel that he is connected to Dawes and must see how Dawes is doing. Dawes talks to Paul graciously and offers him suggestions on how to rent a car to drive his mother home. He also considers Paul's advice when the latter recommends checking into a convalescent home.
Mrs. Morel's condition weakens considerably. She wants to return home, so her children rent a motor-car to drive her home in. Their neighbors see that Mrs. Morel is nearly dying, from the look on her face.
Paul tells Clara that he had gone to see Dawes. Visibly upset by the news that Dawes is ill, Clara chastises herself that she had been so cruel to him. Paul is thunderstruck when Clara declares that her husband loved her more than Paul ever loved her. Clara goes to see her husband as soon as possible, wanting to kneel before him and humble herself to him.
As Mrs. Morel weakens, Paul thinks about nothing but his mother. They both know that she is dying. Paul can never forget the stubborn look in his mother's face. Both Paul and his mother avoid the topic of her impending death. They know that she will die soon, and they submit themselves to that fact painfully.
Mrs. Morel's illness has its toll on Paul. It hurts him to see his mother in so much pain for him; he and she know that she wants to live for him. Clara sees the change in Paul and is scared of him - he has become so forbidding and isolated.
"It was almost as if he were a criminal. He wanted her - he had her - and it made her feel as if death itself had her in its grip. She lay in horror. There was no man there loving her." Part 2, Chapter 14, pg. 387
Paul and Clara go to the seaside for her birthday, but his thoughts are so focused on his mother that he seems to forget that Clara is next to him. Clara feels his distance and her heart saddens because Paul evidently will not give up his mother. Paul quietly tells Clara that his mother will never give herself to death. Paul tells Clara, "'She's got such a will, it seems as if she would never go - never!'" Part 2, Chapter 14, pg. 388 Paul wishes desperately that his mother would die, but his mother is of a clan who is intensely stubborn in dying.
Topic Tracking: Mother-Son Relationship 20
Paul and Dawes talk. Paul confesses that Clara has been tired of him. Dawes regrets that he had punched Paul so long ago. Paul tells him of his desire to go abroad when his mother dies.
Mrs. Morel suffers with great pain, yet her stubborn willingness to live for her son perseveres. Weeks pass by as Paul is restless for help. He goes to see Miriam, whose tender kisses cannot take the pain and agony away. Paul and Annie wish that the doctor would give their mother something to put an end to her pain, but Mrs. Morel remains as constant in her breaths as she did before.
"Sometimes they looked in each other's eyes. Then they almost seemed to make an agreement. It was almost as if he were agreeing to die also. But she did not consent to die; she would not. Her body was wasted to a fragment of ash. Her eyes were dark and full of torture." Part 2, Chapter 14, pg. 392
Topic Tracking: Mother-Son Relationship 21
A couple of weeks before Christmas, Annie and Paul fear that their mother will live after the holidays, so they decide to give her an extra dosage of morphia. Paul crushes all of the pills and puts them into his mother's nightly milk. Mrs. Morel drinks it despite its bitter taste.
Late into the night, Annie calls Paul to their mother's room. Mrs. Morel is on her deathbed, gasping and drawing in long, hoarse breaths. Their father sleeps on, undisturbed by the hoarse sounds of his wife. Paul asks Annie to leave him alone with their mother. His mother's long, painful breaths are painful for him to hear and watch. Morel awakens and comes into the room, horrified and scared, but Paul tells his father to go to work.
Annie, Paul and Arthur cannot bear to see their mother like this. Likewise, the nurse and the neighbors are shocked that Mrs. Morel has lasted so long. The next morning, Paul is waiting downstairs when Annie rushes in, crying. Their mother has died.
Morel has been home from work for some time when Paul finally tells him that Mrs. Morel has died. Annie asks him if he had seen her yet; Morel replies no and leaves the house. When his father returns, Paul realizes that he had been scared to be alone with his dead wife, let alone go to bed. Paul can finally read his father's fears for once.
Paul is alone in the house except for his mother. Paul looks at his dead mother. She looks like a young maiden waiting for her lover, he realizes. He pretends that she will wake up and kiss him, but when he kisses her, he feels coldness and harshness. Paul feels that he can never let his mother go.
Topic Tracking: Mother-Son Relationship 22
Morel finally gathers up his courage to look at his dead wife alone. He is too frightened and scared to look at his wife closely. Morel looks at her and sees that she is his young wife again. His solitary visit is the last time he looks at her.
After Mrs. Morel's funeral, Paul is restless. He knows that Clara does not satisfy him any longer and that she wants to reunite with Dawes. He and Dawes have become friends. Paul tells him that Clara is coming to visit them as Dawes's wife and that Annie's husband, Leonard, can get him a job in Sheffield. Dawes admits that he is not sure if he wants Clara anymore. Paul confesses that Clara had always belonged to Dawes and not himself because she still wants her husband.
Clara arrives. Watching Paul and Dawes together, Clara sees things about Paul she had never seen before.
"And now he looked paltry and insignificant. There was nothing stable about him. Her husband had more manly dignity. At any rate he did not waft about with any wind. There was something evanescent about Morel, she thought, something shifting and false. He would never make sure ground for any woman to stand on. She despised him rather for his shrinking together, getting smaller. Her husband at least was manly, and when he was beaten gave in. But this other would never own to being beaten. He would shift round and round, prowl, get smaller." Part 2, Chapter 14, pg. 407
When Clara asks her husband if he wants her again, he responds if she wants to return to her. She begs him to take her back, and they reconcile in each other's arms.
Paul feels incredibly lonely without his mother. He needs someone by her own will to love him and help him. Paul feels that Clara did not want the Paul Morel whose troubles and worries she cannot cope with.
Paul lives in Nottingham, while his father lives with friends in Bestwood - they cannot bear to be in the house alone. Paul feels that his life is dull and unsatisfying; he has no desire to paint, Clara is with Dawes, and of course, his mother is gone. Days and weeks are undistinguishable and unmeaningful. He has no desire to live at all until he hears his will speak to him. His will urges Paul to live as if his mother is living, to live for her sake. His will also urges him to either paint or have children. Paul questions if he should marry Miriam.
Paul sees Miriam at church one evening and invites her for dinner. Miriam tells him that she is going to farming school and that she will be a teacher. She suggests that they should marry so that she might prevent him from hurting himself more. Paul replies slowly that marriage would not be good for either of them, adding that he would like to go abroad soon. Miriam desperately yearns to take him in her arms and comfort him, but she fears that he will not let her. Paul, seeing her appeal to him with her eyes, tells her with great pain that he does not want to marry her. They know that this conversation is the end of their relationship. Miriam feels that all that she could offer him is her sacrificing herself for him every day, and he does not want that from her. She knows that he wants her to be strong and authoritative, but she cannot be that. Paul, also, knows that, as much as he wants to be with Miriam, he will rob his inner self if he stays with her.
As Paul drives Miriam home, she thinks about what will become of him. She worries about his future, but she decides that she will wait for him to come to her. Paul drops her off at home and returns home, thinking. He knows that his mother has always been in his soul.
"She was the only thing that held him up, himself, amid all this. And she was gone, intermingled herself. He wanted her to touch him, have him alongside with her. But no, he would not give in...He would not take that direction, to the darkness, to follow her." Part 2, Chapter 15, pg. 420