THEMES IN SONS AND LOVERS

英语小说迪娜

Freud’s Oedipus complex is the most celebrated theme in the novel. The characters have some striking similarities with the ancient Greek play, Oedipus Rex. The Protagonist himself kills his father unknowingly and gets married to his mother. When he comes to know about this, his mother kills herself, and he removes his eyes with her broaches. Sigmund Freud arguments that there is a hidden desire in every boy to get sexualize with his mother and in girls for their fathers and it is called as Oedipus Complex and Electra Complex respectively.
William and Paul have a strong relationship with their mother. This relationship doesn’t let both of them achieve their love in other girls. Their physical bond with their mother urges them to make a relationship with girls, but they are unable to satisfy their thirst. Paul never liked his father, and he thinks of him to die. His loathe towards Walter shows his Oedipus complex.
Gertrude often tells her boys that she has been into an unhappy marriage and she makes her sons the center of her attention. She disapproves William’s girlfriend Lily and hates Miriam having a reason that Miriam will drift Paul away from her. Paul’s overly stronger bond with his mother is the reason why he was always confused about his love affairs. His relationship with Clara is also evidence of the Oedipus complex. He finds his company with a married, childless woman, whose husband he hates.
Paul’s mother brings him back to life when he faces a pneumonia attack. When she happens to be diagnosed with a tumor, her kids try to console her. Paul overdoses his mother with morphine and pushes him into the face of death. It seems that he does this to get rid of his own complex because he found out that his mother was the only problem with his romantic relations. Like Oedipus, he tries to commit suicide, but then he chooses to live the memories of his mother.