As a prolific and controversial literary master in the 20^th century English literature, D·H·Lawrence has been studied a lot. Lawrence has described several kinds of relationships between the mothers and the kids, particularly sons. He is well-known for his novels Sons and Lovers, The Rainbow, Women in Love and Lady Chatterley's Lover. Sons and Lovers was written in 1913 and it is regarded as a masterpiece and Lawrence's finest achievement by many critics. It is believed that this novel best shows his language features and writing styles. Therefore, studying Sons and Lovers may better enable us to deepen our knowledge and understanding about D·H·Lawrence.

Current researches mostly discuss The Oedipus complex in Lawrence’s works that focuses on the love for mothers while few researches notices the hatred for mothers. This paper aims to pay attention to the ambivalence to the mother in Son and Lovers, which discusses not only the traditional studies towards Oedipus complex but also the negative attitudes towards the mother in this novel so that it could help readers understand better what the author intended to express in the novel.

Sons and Lovers tells the story of Paul Morel, a young man and budding artist. Many researches have been made discussing about the life within an industrial setting. However, besides the social and economic environments, the female characters have attracted much attentions as well in literary study. Zhang Kun from College from Foreign Language, Qufu Normal University writes a paper concentrating on three main female characters in Sons and Lovers. The writer analyses the double tragedies the female characters face from the view of their double identities. This paper attributes the tragedies to two factors, the suppression of a patriarchal society and women’s own limitations. It is difficult to awaken women’s self-consciousness under the patriarchal society for women at that time were used to lower status both in family and society. Even though part of females may show some characteristics of new women, they still turn out to make compromises and put hope in males. The mother is a typical victim of the patriarchal society, who suffers from both her father and husband. Mrs. Morel’s own tragic life experience influences the way she treats her sons, which leads to Paul’s unhappy ending in some ways. In this aspect, this paper can expatiate the ambivalence to the mother in Sons and Lovers better.

Zheng Wenwen divided various maternal figures created by Lawrence into three types: the selfless maternal figures, the desire-centred maternal figures and the controlling maternal figures in Study on the Types of Maternal Figures in D·H·Lawrence’s Novellas and Short Stories. The mother in Sons and Lovers, Mrs. Morel, is more like a mixture of the first and the third kind. She contributes all of her life to raising her sons while she meddled too much in sons’ growth. The ambivalence towards the mother is just the product of Mrs. Morel’s selfless contribution and inordinate interference, which will be discussed deeper in my paper.

2. 研究的基本内容与方案

This paper will analyze the ambivalence to the mother in Sons and Lovers. The manifestation of the ambivalence and the reasons behind the phenomenon will be the focus of this paper. Features of the mother character, her personal experiences and social conditions at that time will be further illustrated by examples from the novel. The personal relationship with mother of Lawrence will also be discussed in order to expound the ambivalence expressed in the work.

The goal of this paper is to appreciate the great literary work Sons and Lovers by analyzing the characters from an innovative perspective. Readers will be able to understand this novel deeper and delve deep into the connotation behind this novel by studying the ambivalence towards the mother figure.

To ensure the objectivity and accuracy of the paper, the literature research method will be used. Statements of other researchers connected with Sons and Lovers will be quoted if needed in order to get a more comprehensive view of the character analysis. Historical analysis method is also the key for the research. The characteristics of the figure will be related to the social conditions and cultural environments at that time by explaining how they influence and complete the character.

[1] Bo, T. (2018). An ecofeminist interpretation of sons and lovers. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 8(11), 1499-1503.

[2] C. N. Allen amp; K. CurtisA,Sociogrammatic Study of Oedipus Complex Formation: D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers,Sociometry, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Apr., 1939), pp. 37-51

[3] Edwards B. The inhibited temperament in sons and lovers. Style. 2010;44(1):62-80,282,286.