Chapter 1: The Early Married Life of the Morels

The novel thus far is told from a third person perspective, but the narrator is closest to Mrs. Morel. The narrator is partially omniscient; he can narrate the thoughts of Mrs. Morel, but not of the other characters. Throughout the novel the perspective of the narrator changes, so the best description of the narrative mode of the novel is probably third person omniscient. This chapter sets up the importance of the relationship bet een !illiam and his mother. Through the present of the egg"cups and the ay that !illiam acts hen his mother is ith him, e can see that he is proud of and loves his mother very much. !e also see that she contributes to his en#oyment of the fair, as he is miserable after she leaves. The hair"cutting incident also illustrates the ay that !illiam is the most important person to Mrs. Morel, since she is illing to thro over her husband in favor of her son. !hen the narrator describes hy $ertrude li%es Morel, e see the importance of Morel&s difference from her father. This theme ill come up again later hen e see that !illiam&s fiancee is very different from his mother. 'n the flashbac% section of this chapter e see the first hint of the declining happiness of the Morels& marriage: (for three months she as perfectly happy: for si) months she as very happy.* This suggests that Mrs. Morel&s level of happiness declines steadily over the course of their marriage. This chapter contains many elements of foreshado ing. +or e)ample, e are told that Mrs. Morel thinks she lives in a house o ned by her husband. The ambiguity provides a clue that her suspicion is incorrect and that the house they live in does not actually belong to Mr. Morel. This chapter&s temporal organi,ation is -uite note orthy. The flashbac% in the middle of the present"time narration confuses the time reference; past and present blend since it becomes difficult to tell hen the flashbac% ends, or hen the present resumes.

Chapter .: The /irth of 0aul, and 1nother /attle

This chapter mainly serves the purpose of providing more e)amples of the battles bet een Mr. and Mrs. Morel. 't also contains a fe e)amples of the themes that have already been noted. 'n this chapter, the ay the narrative perspective shifts bet een characters is illustrated by a brief shift to Morel&s perspective: he insists to himself that the -uarrel is Mrs. Morel&s fault. Morel also reflects that having his family around him at meals ma%es the meals less pleasant. This suggests that Morel prefers to be separated from his family, in contrast to his ife, ho lives for her children.

Chapter 2: The Casting off of Morel " The Ta%ing on of !illiam

This chapter continues the theme of the constant lessening of Mrs. Morel&s love for her husband; La rence rites that her love for him ebbed in stages, but ebbed constantly. !e can see that Mrs. Morel does actually desire to have her hole family together as one. 3he thin%s that her happiest moments come hen her children seem to love their father. More evidence of !illiam&s devotion to his mother is introduced here in the form of his presentation of the anvil. 4is breathless eagerness and her solemn pride underscore the intimacy and intensity of their relationship. They -uarrel, ho ever, over !illiam&s dancing. This may be the beginning of a change in the relationship bet een !illiam and Mrs. Morel, as his acceptance of the dancing corresponds to his re#ection of his mother. This is especially evident hen !illiam goes to a fancy"dress ball; after an initial hesitation, he seems to forget about his mother completely. !illiam&s acceptance of the #ob in London seems the final step in his distancing from his mother. 1ccording to La rence, !illiam never considers that his mother might be sorry to see him go, only that she must be happy for his success. Mrs. Morel does not ant her eldest son to become li%e his father5she refuses to let him enter the mines, and she disapproves of his dancing because his father danced. This chapter also provides the first te)tual clue that 0aul is vie ed differently by Mrs. Morel. 0aul&s fits of depression come only rarely, but hen they manifest themselves, Mrs. Morel begins to treat 0aul differently from the other children.

Chapter 6: The 7oung Life of 0aul

This chapter focuses on 0aul so that each event is narrated in its relation to him. !e are told, for instance, that all the children feel (peculiarly* ill at ease ith their father, but particularly 0aul. The use of 8peculiarly& in this sentence suggests that it is someho unusual for the children to be against their father. 1nother e)ample of the focus on 0aul is the family&s divergent opinions about the ash"tree: 0aul finds it an almost unbearable presence. The disagreement about the ash"tree is representative of the conflict bet een father and children. There is a sense that 0aul represents all of the children; that narrating hat happens to 0aul suffices for describing the e)periences of all of them. This is created partly by the ay that all of the events in this chapter are told in relation to 0aul, and partly by passages li%e the follo ing in hich the sub#ects 80aul& and 8the children& are used seemingly interchangeably. 0aul a%es, hearing thuds do nstairs, and onders nervously hat his father is doing. 't seems that events li%e this begin from 0aul&s perspective and continue to include the perspective of all the children. 4o ever, e also see further evidence of the ay that 0aul is treated differently from the other children; he is more delicate, and Mrs. Morel reali,es it. 0hysically, 0aul resembles his mother, and li%e each of the children, he pic%s up on and shares her an)ieties about her husband. Even though 0aul is treated differently, !illiam is still Mrs. Morel&s favorite. 3he thin%s of him as a successful young man in London, and imagines him as her %night in shining armor. 1fter he brea%s 1nnie&s doll, 0aul feels resentful to ard the doll. This is reminiscent of the statement about Mr. Morel in Chapter .: (4e dreaded his ife. 4aving hurt her, he hated her.*

Chapter 9: 0aul Launches into Life

!e can see the ay the narrative perspective has shifted from that of Mrs. Morel to that of 0aul through the ay Mrs. Morel&s trip to the hospital is narrated. The narrator describes Mrs. Morel leaving for the hospital, and then he describes her returning; the events that happen outside of the house seem to be outside the narrative field of vision. 4o ever, this is not the case later in this chapter, hen 0aul goes to :ottingham to or%. This suggests that 0aul has become the primary focus of the narration. This chapter contains further e)amples of the identification bet een 0aul and Mrs. Morel: 0aul comforts her, and tal%s to her every day. 't seems as if their identification is e)tended to the point that they are sharing the same life, and this is a motif that ill continue through the rest of the novel. !e also see further evidence of Mrs. Morel&s disappointment in !illiam, her favorite, in this chapter. 3he has been previously disappointed in !illiam hen he ta%es up dancing, and here she is disappointed that he does not send them money. 3he also disapproves of the girl he is seeing and the pictures that she sends.

Chapter ;: <eath in the +amily

The title of the chapter foreshado s hat ill happen in the end of the chapter; ho ever, the reader onders throughout the chapter hich member of the family ill die. 3ince the first sentence of the chapter begins ith 1rthur, the reader might begin by suspecting that 1rthur ill die. 't isn&t until !illiam alludes to his death by saying that his fiancee ould forget about him three months after he died that e begin to suspect that !illiam ill die. 4e ma%es many allusions to his death so that, by the time his mother gets the telegram from London that he is ill, the reader is hardly surprised. 1fter !illiam dies, Mrs. Morel remains closed off from the orld until 0aul also falls ill. La rence uses an image of tulips to illustrate the bond forged bet een 0aul and his mother as a result of his illness. Mr. Morel buys 0aul a pot of tulips, and they flame in the indo here 0aul and his mother sit closely and contentedly. 'n this chapter !illiam follo s in his mother&s footsteps of choosing a spouse ho is very different from his corresponding parent. 4e tells his mother that his fiancee is neither serious nor thoughtful5the e)act opposite of Mrs. Morel.

Chapter =: Lad"and"$irl Love

This chapter presents the conflict bet een logic, represented by Mrs. Morel, and religion, represented by the Leivers. 0aul feels simultaneously attracted and repelled by the fascinating and different tone of life at the Leivers& farm,

Miriam&s unpleasant relationship ith her brothers causes her to speculate on the fundamental differences bet een omen and men. This may be an indication of the cruelty of her brothers or of Miriam&s sensitivity, rather than of some actual difference bet een all men and omen. This chapter begins to suggest that 0aul needs some connection beyond hat he shares ith his mother. 'n his free time, 0aul is a painter, and he still needs his mother to do his best or%, as he tells her. /ut Miriam allo s him to ta%e his or% to another level; she ma%es him feel an intensity he has never before e)perienced. Miriam also seems to have some sense of this connection. 3he feels that, until she sho s him the rose bush, she ill not fully have e)perienced it herself. The connection bet een 0aul and Miriam may be one reason that Mrs. Morel disli%es Miriam. (3he could feel 0aul being dra n a ay by the girl.* 3he seems to vie Miriam as direct competition for her son&s love and attention.

Chapter >: 3trife in Love

0aul continues to be Mrs. Morel&s favorite son, and he is the one she believes ill be successful. !e see finally in this chapter the ay that this close relationship finally leads 0aul to abandon Miriam because he loves his mother best: (3he as the chief thing to him, the only supreme being.* 0aul suggests that perhaps Miriam li%es Clara because of her apparent grudge against men. The narrator rites that Clara&s grudge might be one of the reasons 0aul himself li%es her; this seems to suggest that 0aul ould appreciate a grudge against men, hich is a some hat pu,,ling idea. 0aul begins to echo the actions of his father, after he argues ith his mother. 4e flings off his boots before going to bed, #ust as Mr. Morel had done several chapters earlier. 'n addition, 0aul is happiest ith Miriam hile they are discussing his or%, #ust as Morel is happiest ith his children hile he is engaged ith some or%. 'n this chapter e see Miriam&s ob#ectification of 0aul. 3he thin%s of him as an ob#ect ea%er than herself, and never considers him as an individual or as a man.

Chapter ?: <efeat of Miriam

The main significant event in this chapter is that 0aul returns to his mother&s love, re"asserting her place as his closest loved one. 4e decides to abandon his affair ith Miriam because his mother is more important, and he also strongly insists that he ill not marry and leave his mother. 't is also significant because it contains the first real meeting bet een 0aul and Clara. 1lthough their friendship does not really begin until later, this is their first important point of contact. Clara, ho is portrayed as a feminist and a man"hater, ma%es a surprising remar% that Miss Limb ants a man. This suggests that she might not be as feminist as she thin%s she is, something that 0aul also observes.

Chapter 1@: Clara

0aul maintains his close relationship ith his mother, allo ing her to live vicariously through his e)periences. 4e tells her everything that happens in his life, and she feels as though she is a participant. !illiam is mentioned and reflected on several times in this chapter. +irst of all, hen they are discussing 0aul&s success, Morel says that !illiam might have been as successful as 0aul, had he only lived. This statement affects Mrs. Morel deeply, and ma%es her feel strangely tired. !hen 0aul tries on !illiam&s suit, she thin%s again of !illiam but is comforted by the thought of 0aul. The notion that Mrs. Morel possesses 0aul is particularly strong here, and this concept, hich is constant throughout the novel, may account for 0aul&s failure to develop a strong relationship ith another oman. 'n the very end of this chapter, Clara provides the motivation for 0aul to go bac% to Miriam. 't is interesting that this motivation comes from Clara, since Miriam is her chief rival Abesides Mrs. MorelB for 0aul&s affection.

Chapter 11: The Test on Miriam

0artly because of 0aul&s more fre-uent visits to Miriam, Mrs. Morel begins to give up on him. 3he feels that his mind is made up, and that nothing ould persuade him to change his mind and restore his loyalties to her. La rence&s language seems to be deliberately vague on the sub#ect of se); it seems that 0aul and Miriam sleep together in the oods hen the narrator says (she relin-uished herself to him.* 4o ever, hen they are

in her grandmother&s cottage, it seems that he ma%es love to her for the first time. 0aul feels as he rides home that night that he had finally moved past his youth. This vagueness of language is largely due to the strict public morality that characteri,ed society hen the novel as ritten. La rence&s boo%s, despite his efforts at vagueness, often produced horror5many of them ere even banned because of their se)ual content.

Chapter 1.: 0assion

0aul continues to e)hibit physical similarities to his mother. 1t one point in this chapter he clic%s his tongue, and the narrator comments that Mrs. Morel shares the same habit. 0aul&s relationship ith his mother also continues to be central. Miriam %no s 0aul ell enough to understand that hether he has told his mother about Clara is an indication of the seriousness of his feelings for her. This illustrates the ay that his mother is still the most important oman to him, and the degree to hich other events in his life can be understood by the ay that they relate to her. 't is also very important that Clara gets along ell ith his mother, as Clara understands, dreading the meeting because she reali,ed 0aul&s intense love for Mrs. Morel. 1gain, there is no direct mention of se) in this chapter, but it is alluded to in Clara and 0aul&s discussion of hether they are criminals, and in 0aul&s mention of Eve after they have been al%ing by the riverban%.

Chapter 12: /a)ter <a es

'n this chapter 0aul admits that his mother does not share in all aspects of his life: his se) life is separate from her. 4e evidently feels that the incident ith <a es in the bar belongs to this life, because he feels mortified at the thought of telling her about it. 4o ever, he does not li%e having to conceal anything from his mother. !e can see, ho ever, that his mother is still the most important to him through his thoughts as he tries to ma%e his ay home after his fight ith <a es: he thin%s over and over again that he must ma%e it home to his mother. 0aul&s reflections on love recall his older brother !illiam&s complaints hen he as engaged. 0aul thin%s that he loves Clara hen he is ith her, is indifferent to ard her hen not ith her, and often tunes her out hen she tal%s to him.

Chapter 16: The Celease

This chapter is an e)cellent e)ample of the ay that the novel is not al ays narrated in chronological order, since the first episode in hich 0aul visits /a)ter <a es in the hospital actually occurs before Mrs. Morel is ta%en home, an episode hich is included in the previous chapter. Mrs. Morel&s desire to be ith 0aul is so strong that he tells Clara he believes she refuses to die so that she can stay ith him. (1nd she loo%s at me, and she ants to stay ith me . . . 3he&s got such a ill, it seems as if she ould never go " neverD* Even though he says he ishes she ould die, 0aul&s strong bond to his mother remains. 4e feels as though a part of him ere dying also. 1fter she dies, 0aul still feels this connection: (Loo%ing at her, he felt he could never, never let her go.* Morel sho s his vulnerability after his ife dies, hen he aits up for 0aul to return home, so that he is not alone in the house ith the dead body. 0aul, ho had considered Morel to be fearless, is ta%en by surprise.

Chapter 19: <erelict

This chapter is Miriam&s last attempt finally to possess 0aul, no that the obstacle of his mother is out of the ay. 4o ever, by the end she sees the futility of her efforts and reali,es that, even in death, Mrs. Morel still o ns 0aul and he can never be hers. 0aul says of his mother that, (3he as the only thing that held him up, himself, amid all this. 1nd she as gone, intermingled herself. 4e anted her to touch him, have him alongside ith her.* This completes the boo%&s treatment of the relationship bet een 0aul and Mrs. Morel and illustrates the ay that his love for her has remained constant throughout.