Speaking of Paul Morel: Voice, Unity, and Meaning in Sons and Lovers

Abstract

Beginning with the earliest reviews of Sons and Lovers, Lawrence has been indicted for his ‘inability to efface himself and for giving us a ‘narrative [that] reads like an autobiography’.¹ Later, Mark Schorer’s provocative remarks about the confusion between Lawrence’s ‘intention and performance’ sharply focused critical attention upon the crucial relationship between voice and form in Sons and Lovers. Schorer argued that Sons and Lovers should be considered a ‘technical failure’ whose ‘artistic coherence’ has been destroyed by its inconsistencies. Specifically, he observed ‘the contradiction between Lawrence’s explicit characterizations of the mother and father and his tonal evaluations of them’; he also remarked upon the novel’s efforts both to ‘condemn’ and ‘justify’ the mother and both to expose and rationalize Paul’s failures.²