“Paul was suffering convulsions of self-consciousness, and could not or would not shout. The backs of the men obliterated him.”
The backs of the men are seen by Paul as a barrier, they literally make him an outcast but it is not done so consciously by the men, it is Paul, a sensitive boy who sees the backs of the men as a rejection because he is not tall enough or masculine enough to make himself known.
There are many examples of visionary circumstances in ‘Sons and Lovers’, that are typical of a romantic novel. For instance during a fight between Walter and Gertrude Morel, a drawer strikes Gertrude and the blood from her wound drips onto Paul as a baby.
“Another drop fell. It would soak into the baby’s scalp.”
The blood on Paul’s head symbolises how later in the novel it is Paul who administers the morphine when his mother is dying and subsequently is the one who kills her.
Another telling sign of a romantic novel is by giving objects qualities significant beyond their physical qualities. This is frequent in ‘Sons and Lovers’ especially with objects in nature. For example the ash tree outside the Morel’s house mirrors the violence that is happening inside.
“And then the whole was drowned in a piercing medley of shrieks and cries from the great, windswept ash-tree”
The tree’s personification almost depicts the tree as a character. The children fear this tree but Walter enjoys it, describing it as ‘music’, he likes the tree to spite the children because he feels isolated in the family; the tree becomes almost a companion for Walter.
Furthermore, Romantic novels often feature ‘new beginnings’. This is especially
significant in ‘Sons and Lovers’ as the novel ends with Paul making a new beginning after his mother dies.
“But no he would not give in. Turning sharply, he walked towards the city’s gold phosphorescence. His fists were shut, his mouth set fast. He would not take that direction, to the darkness, to follow her”
It is only at this stage of the novel that Paul can make a new beginning in his life, as in the previous chapters Paul could not bear to be apart from his mother or to start relationships with women that would jeopardise that with his mother. It is only after his mother has died that he can begin to live his life without her influence.
Many of the aspects that are thought to be typical of ‘romantic’ novels could also be related to the life of D.H Lawrence. For example romanticism depicts that external nature is described accurately and sensuously and should be centred with human experiences and problems. In the novel the rose bush, described as having a ‘cool scent of ivory roses- a white virgin scent’, symbolises the sexual tension between Paul and Miriam and also Miriam’s inner battle whether or not to have a physical relationship with Paul. It is also known that D.H Lawrence was passionate about nature and believed that the modern man was in danger of losing appreciation for the countryside because of industrialisation. This was perhaps the reason behind his motive to include passionate descriptions of nature and not a conscious or unconscious attempt to make the novel romantic.
Again, the reader is invited to draw comparisons between the main protagonist, Paul, and the author with concerns to the character’s attempts not to conform to society- another typical attribute of a romantic novel. Paul eventually becomes a successful artist with many of his paintings being sold and in this way does not conform to the family tradition, excluding William, of working in the coal mines. D.H Lawrence also refused to work in the mines choosing instead to become a teacher and later to become an author and artist. Both D.H Lawrence’s and Paul’s aspirations regardless of their social class is portrayed positively in romantic novels.
It is not a coincidence that ‘Sons and Lovers’ portrays the feelings and opinions of the author, as romantic novels are often autobiographical. I think D.H Lawrence is himself a person who can easily relate his life to the ideas of romanticism and so naturally his novels cross over into the romantic genre.
