Because of his past, the protagonist of DH Lawrence's novel Sons and Lovers is a perfect example of a character paralyzed by the inability to maintain a strong relationship. Paul Morel had three significant relationships in the novel that all have naturally occurring parallel elements in some way. The symbolism found beneath the natural settings Lawrence uses is all provocative and sexual, providing depth to Paul's relationships with his mother, his neighbor, and a woman who eventually became his muse. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The first of these relationships was with Paul's mother, Gertrude Morel. Mrs. Morel's unhappiness and instability were based on her early marriage. Her only comfort came from living vicariously through her children, especially Paul. When she was pregnant with Paul, Mrs. Morel experienced a sensual and shocking moment in her garden that shaped not only the novel but also the character of her son. This scene in the novel used a lot of provocative imagery. Both Lawrence's choice of flowers and the colors of the flowers seemed significant. “The tall white lilies staggered in the moonlight... he touched the large, pale flowers on their petals then shivered... He put his hand in a white container: the gold just showed on his fingers in the moonlight... Then he took a long sip of the perfume. It almost made her dizzy." The first image provided was of a white lily. The color white seems to be used to describe a virginal moment. Although Gertrude was technically not physically a “virgin,” much of the pleasure in the garden seemed new to her. Her sensuality had increased, something that never seemed to happen over the course of her relationship with her husband. The lily is a very expanded flower, with long petals and an erect center with tips covered in pollen. The petals of the flower are very open and seemed to symbolize the vaginal area. It was hard to miss the center of a lily. The center of the carpel, long, erect and straight, appeared to be a phallic symbol. The combination of the white color, long petals and fertile center of a lily is extremely striking. Something I also considered while reading this passage is the fact that at the root of a lily is a bulb rather than a seed. Compared to seeds, bulbs are much larger and heavier. The analogy between the seed and the bulb can be paralleled by Walter Morel's relationship with Gertrude as opposed to Paul's. Images of hills and roses were also mentioned in the same scene. Lawrence's use of the hills seems to reaffirm his sexual arousal, that which Paul partook of in Gertrude's womb. Hills are very sinuous and feminine unlike mountains, which are often described with “peaks,” another phallic symbol. The use of hills instead of peaks reinforces the idea that Gertrude will have some sort of feminine control over her son, which is what makes him unable to evolve romantically with other women. The author used a second reference to flowers in the same chapter to reinforce the idea of ​​Mrs. Morel's sexual encounter: “She passed along the path hesitating before the white rose bush. A few whiffs of the strong phlox scent invigorated her. He touched the white ruffles of the roses. Their fresh scent and fresh, soft leaves reminded her of the morning and the sun. He loved her very much." In this case, Lawrence is referring to roses. Roses in literature often symbolize romance. It is very important to remember that Paul is experiencing this excitement indirectly through Gertrude. The leavesroses remind her of the morning and the sun. Images of morning and sunshine are often metaphorical of a new beginning. In the context of this passage, the new romance seemed to be very welcome to Gertrude. She accepted it and from here an Oedipal, almost incestuous relationship developed between her and her son. Her son, named Paul, “a beautiful shadow was cast on the deep green lawn, obscuring everything”. Lawrence once again uses nature in a symbolic way. Darkening the lawn closed a chapter in Gertrude Morel's life, her relationship with Walter Morel. Although the relationship between Gertrude and Walter was already difficult at this point, the use of a dark meadow is significant due to its placement immediately after their son's name. This suggests that the passion she once had for Mr. Morel is now non-existent, leaving room for Paul to make some sort of territorial claim on Gertrude Morel. The meadow was dark and seemed to represent the end, rather than green and fertile. This also reinforced the idea that what Mrs. Morel experienced in the garden was orgasmic and furthermore that Paul experienced his pleasures vicariously through her. When she was pregnant with Paul, she saw the light of the sun, which symbolizes a new beginning, with a new boy. D.H. Lawrence's symbolic use of nature in the novel continued with the introduction of Miriam Leivers in “Death in the Family.” Paul's first meeting with Miriam occurred during a visit with his mother to the Leiver farm. Miriam first appeared in a garden with a “rosy” complexion. Appearing in a garden foreshadows the possibility of a new relationship between Paul and Miriam, and having a “rosy” face gives her character the idea of ​​fertility. After meeting Miriam, Paul is obviously fascinated by her, as he begins a conversation with her about cabbage roses, also fostering the omen of a love story. “'I assume they are centifolia roses, when do they come out?' he said. “I don't know,” he stammered. "They're white, with a pink center." "Then they are virgins." Miriam blushed. She had a beautiful, warm complexion.' "I don't know," he said. 'You don't have much in your garden,' he said…” This passage from Paul and Miriam's first meeting is significant, for its extreme sexual connotations. Once again DH Lawrence introduces the romantic and fertile image of the rose. However, this time he described the roses as “white, with a pink centre”. In this way he brought the character of Miriam to the table. The image that emerges is very sensual. A white rose with a pink center could be seen metaphorically for the vaginal area. The color deepens towards the center. She was a girl, in her prime. In the passage we see the color “white”, which once again indicates virginity or purity. This is also supported by the fact that Paul skeptically said, “You have not much in your garden.” Although red is often associated with love and passion, she was described as pink and rosy, meaning she was on the brink of her sexuality. She was a virgin; it was almost ready. Near the beginning of "Lad-and-Girl Love," Paul decided to visit the Leivers farm "as soon as the sky cleared" and the "plum blossoms [were] in bloom." Like the chapter title, the illuminated sky foreshadowed the beginning of a relationship between Paul and Miriam. It was interesting to me how it specifically says that Paul waited until the plum blossoms bloomed. As with DH Lawrence's previous choices of lilies and roses, the choice of plum blossoms appeared to be no coincidence. Plum blossoms are often white, pink and deep red. Two of these colors had already been used to describe Miriam, and the remaining color is the color of romance and sexuality. Like lilies, plum blossoms also have a carpel center,with stigmas covered in pollen. Their petals are also spread out and are very curvy and circular, just like the female form. After Paul approached Miriam, the first thing he said to her was: “'I say... your daffodils are almost out. Isn't it early? But don't they look cold? The green on their buds…'” The author's use of nature in this passage is to draw a relationship between a woman's breast and a daffodil. Like nipples on a breast, the center of the daffodil protrudes. This passage is intended to draw the reader in and focus on Miriam's femininity and development. During the visit, Paul made several comments about the celandine bushes sprouting up and rejoiced in the “sunny” weather. The images of plants and nature have increased, which are used to set up the "earthly" relationship between Paolo and Miriam. The fact that Paul noticed that there was now “sun” rather than a “lit sky” as before suggests that they have moved past the initial flirtation into something that might have substance. Celandines are small, delicate yellow flowers chosen by Lawrence to reinforce Miriam's warm and delicate nature. “I like celandines when their petals flatten under the sunlight. They seem to be pressing against the sun. It was easy for me to deduce that Paul happily approved of the celandines as a subliminal invitation to Miriam. He liked it when the petals of the celandines were pressed against the sun. I interpreted Paul's use of “sun” as a metaphor, both because he had been closely associated with the morning since his birth. Also because “sun” seemed like a play on words for the homonymous “son”. If the “sun” was Paul and the celandines were Miriam, he was openly proclaiming his interest and growing desire for her. “So it was in this atmosphere of subtle intimacy, this meeting in their common feeling or something in nature, that their love began.” Their love for each other evolved as "Lad-and-Girl Love" went on. However, the way Miriam saw their relationship and the way Paul saw their relationship were completely different. Miriam wanted a “communion together” while Paul wanted Miriam physically. The sexual tension continued to grow and many images of trees began to be offered by DH Lawrence, especially in the scene where Miriam wanted to show Paul a wild rose bush that had fascinated her. “When they arrived at the pines Miriam had become very anxious and very tense. And he wanted it so badly. Almost passionately, she wanted to be with him when he was in front of the flowers. They would take communion together, something that moved her, something holy. This passage showed the enthusiasm Miriam had to be with Paul: body and soul. While Paul's focus, despite being somewhat intrigued in Miriam's mind, was on how physically restless he was becoming. His impatience was metaphorically described through the author's images of trees. “The tree was tall and unkempt. He had thrown his brambles over a hawthorn bush, and its long stems trailed thickly down to the grass... Dot after dot, the fixed roses shone towards them, seeming to kindle something in their souls. The messy tree turned out to be a phallic and very provocative image of Paul's sexual appetite. The images offered by Lawrence in these passages are very suggestive and very sensual. The “messy” tree seemed to refer to an erection while Miriam's “white” and “curved” roses were very suggestive of a pure, untouched vaginal area. The adjective “wild” used to describe the rose bush was used to convey something less appropriate than the way Miriam is accustomed to behaving as she might normally be described as pious,innocent and conservative. The word “savage” suggested the opposite extreme. “Around the broken top of the tower, the ivy bushed, old and beautiful… The tower seemed to sway in the wind.” The sexuality presented by Lawrence remains constant throughout the rest of the section. In this particular passage, he metaphorically used the image of a tower to describe Paul's sexual frustration with Miriam's continued hesitation. He was engorged, ready for Miriam to agree to his invitation, yet she held back, leaving him unsatisfied and sexually repressed. “It was blowing so hard, up there in the exposed place, that the only way to be safe was to remain pinned by the wind to the wall of the tower…. Miriam was a little scared of the wind... Paul was now pale with tiredness." D.H. Lawrence also used various nature images to represent Paul's descent and Miriam's relationship, which also led to the next, important relationship in Paul's life. When Paul realized that Miriam could not console his sexual agitation, he began to take steps backwards in an attempt to reclaim his sensitivity. “He wanted to give her passion and tenderness, and he couldn't. He felt that she wanted the soul out of her body and not him. During one of their regular walks, Paul noticed Miriam choking on the flowers and reacted negatively. “'Could you ever love things without grasping them as if you wanted to tear out their hearts?'... 'You always beg things to love you as if you were a beggar of love. Even the flowers, you have to flatter them'”. The way Paul interpreted Miriam's reaction to nature paralleled the way he interpreted Miriam's treatment of him. He was tired of being suffocated, which would lead to “Miriam's defeat”. Clara Dawes's impression of the flowers was the exact opposite of Miriam's. Instead of picking them up and metaphorically repressing her sexuality by "flattering" them, she chose to leave them planted in the ground by stating, "'I don't want flower corpses around me.'" Not only could she be labeled "challenging" because she constantly went against the norms social, but it also had the ability to offer something completely different to Paul, something less temporary and unknown to him. It allowed the flowers to stay planted in the ground, giving them room to grow rather than suddenly dying. This ends up being metaphorical of their relationship, as Clara Dawes ended up becoming his muse, his inspiration for many of his artwork. With Miriam, Paul felt very repressed and Clara offered something completely different. Clara inspired a passion in him, which can be seen when he chose to purchase “scarlet and brick red carnations” for her. The color scarlet is a very deep and erotic color that suggests deep desire. The various appearances of nature when Clara was present versus when Miriam was present have a stark contrast. Often the flowers and plants associated with Miriam were very virginal, very pure unlike when Clara was introduced. “The red earth cliff descended rapidly, between trees and bushes, up to the river which shimmered and was very dark among the branches. The meadows far below were very green. He and she remained leaning against each other, silent, afraid, their bodies still touching. A quick gurgle came from the river below. The colors used were described as “red”, “dark” and “very green”. These colors suggested involvement on Paul's part. Due to a previous marriage, it can already be assumed that Clara is far from pure. However, it was this deeper sense of knowing that attracted Paul. He wanted to profit from his experience and be challenged by Clara's maturity. The foliage present with Clara included trees, bushes, and a dark, glittering river.The trees appear once again as a phallic symbol of Paul's lust. The bushes also refer to the male pubic area and the river symbolized a desire. His proposal "Do you want to go to the river?" it was an invitation to Clara. He is asking her to be his lover, despite the fact that this has the complications of being both "risky" and "messy". Their encounter with nature in “Passion” is very representative of sexual intercourse, and at times DH Lawrence even used words closely associated with the activity such as “erect.” bow... dotted with scarlet and white. Dahlias are very full flowers, even in bud. The meaning of this bold, full flower parallels the character, Clara. Like dahlias, it is full length and the image given of something “full” is also something “more mature”. Clara possessed a maturity that Miriam had never claimed. The colors presented in this passage were particularly interesting. The white and red seemed to be such a stark contrast. However, because there were three dahlias, it seemed to be very symbolic of the women presented in Paul's life and foreshadowed his inability to truly have a relationship outside of his mother, Miriam Leivers, and Clara Dawes. The white flower seemed to represent Miriam while the scarlet one seemed to be associated with Clara and her more knowledgeable perspective on the world. The color of the third flower was neither scarlet nor red, and I can't help but wonder what the color would be. While it could be scarlet to represent the passion and true love Paul had for his mother, it could easily also be white because of the purity and deep, unconditional affection he had for her. “The Release” signified a major change, and once again, though not as profusely, D.H. Lawrence referenced nature to foreshadow his plot and his need for the symbolic release and death of Mrs. Morel. “And watched the tangled sunflowers die, the chrysanthemums and dahlias sprout.” The changing of the seasons, which can be presupposed by the changing of the different flowers, meant a change in Paul's life. Additionally, this quote places meaning within each range of flowers. Once again dahlias could be compared to Clara Dawes. The fact that there was no word "action" used after the flower race did not foreshadow further "actions" in Paul's relationship with Clara. The sunflowers represented Gertrude Morel in the sense that these particular flowers need the sun to continue to live. Returning to the idea that the word “sun” seemed like a play on words for Paul Morel (the “son”), this translation is easily justified. It was essential that Gertrude Morel's character died in order for the protagonist to have some sort of resurgence of a future romance, which is supported by the fact that Paul himself says: "I will never meet the right woman as long as you are alive." The word “entangled” suggested suffocation, and although it was clear that Paul loved his mother to the point of questionable incestuous desires, his character had begun to go in circles, unsure of the next path in his life. The chrysanthemums physically resemble the celandines that Miriam was so fond of and it can be further speculated that these flowers were symbolic to her, because she returned to Paul's life later in the novel, after her mother's death. DH Lawrence made his last use of nature, particularly flowers, in “Derelict.” In a final meeting between Paul and Miriam, the author chose to focus his attention on a bowl of freesias. “Miriam bent her face over the flowers, the freesias so sweet and spring-like… It was like [Paul] having those flowers… 'Happy!' he said, and took them out of the jar just as they were... 1913)