Before I write about Sons & Lovers I have to put in some biographical notes about Lawrence himself.
His father was a coal miner and his mother was from a professional class of people; she “married down” because she was entranced by Arthur Lawrence’s vitality and warmth. See how this theme, from DHL’s own life, gets transmitted to his writing?
DHL wrote Lady Chatterley’s Lover in the setting where he himself grew up.
Lawrence had a “mother fixation,” also an intense Oedipus complex. His mother was at fault; she was alienated from her husband who turned out to be a cruel bully who paid no attention to his family. So she drew her young son to her and they became companions; Lawrence has written, in one of the many biographies I’ve read, that yes–he and his mother loved each other like lovers. No actual sex took place unless Lawrence hid the fact skillfully. However, the two slept in the same bed and this topic of shared sleep comes up, over and over, in Lawrence’s writing. In many DHL books, if a couple can really share sleep then they’re doing well. The couples who can’t sleep well together in the same bed are not doing so well. A hangup of his.
As a byproduct of being a “Mama’s boy” to the max, DHL became a quite competent housekeeper. He could cook well, do laundry, bake his own bread, even put up fruit and vegetables that he grew–because he was always near his mother. He learned all these things by watching her. When he was married to Frieda Weekly he did all the housekeeping, even served his wife breakfast in bed.
Sons & Lovers is almost 100% autobiographical. It seems that once DHL “got this book out of his system” he was liberated and reached a new level in his writing. He had written one or two minor novels but they were mildly successful and did not attract attention. After Sons & Lovers all that changed. One or two real-life people who were characters in the novel were outraged and hurt, though. Writers have a way of doing this.
lgmwriting 