Sons and Lovers

Sons and Lovers

The Parallels Between Two Families

“It is morning again, and she is still here...” These are the words D.H. Lawrence wrote to a friend describing his terminally ill mother in 1913. “I look at my mother and think ‘O Heaven-is this what life brings us to?’ You see mother has had a devilish married life, for nearly forty years- and this is the conclusion- no relief.” (Baron’s Educational Series, 1993). At the time this letter was written Lawrence was fictionalizing his relationship with his mother, as well as the rest of his family, in the novel Sons and Lovers .

In the novel the Lawrences would be named the Morels, but though the names are different there are many parallels between Sons and Lovers and Lawrence’s own life. These parallels are what make the novel truly autobiographical. However, the strongest evidence of the autobiographical nature of this novel exists in the comparisons between Lawrence and his parents with their fictional counterparts in the book.

David Herbert Lawrence was born in 1885, in Eastwood, England. Eastwood is an industrial town, the main industry being coal mining. In the novel, Eastwood becomes the town of Bestwood. As in the novel, Lawrence’s family was poor and working class. Lawrence was a sickly child (Croom, 1996). He had bronchitis a mere two weeks after he was born, and lung problems would plague him all his life, eventually developing into repeated bouts of pneumonia which permanently weakened his lungs (Meyers, p. 248). Eventually, it was tuberculosis, which attacked his weakened lungs, that killed him (Moynahan, p. xiii).

At that time, one of the few ways for a poor person to better himself was through education. Lawrence’s mother Lydia recognized this, and encouraged it in young Lawrence. Lawrence started school at the early age of four, but it proved too much for the child. He was withdrawn from school and did not return until he was seven years old. The fact that he was older than the other children when he reentered school set him apart socially. He had few friends, and instead sought out the company of his younger sister, Ada. Despite Lawrence’s late start, he did well in school, and became the first pupil in his school to win a scholarship to Nottingham High School (Croom, p.