Sons & Lovers

[Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence. First published 1913. Penguin Edition 1994]

"Whoever reads me will be in the thick of the scrimmage, and if he doesn't like it--if he wants a safe seat in the audience--let him read somebody else." D.H. Lawrence

WORKBOOK & JOURNAL QUESTIONS

1. Read carefully the opening of Chapter 11 (322-327) Try to come to an understanding of this chapter as it is crucial to what is one of the two central relationships in the novel.

2. Draw up two columns describing Miriam and Clara, emphasising their differences.

3 What do you think of the relationship between Mrs Morel and Mr Morel; how does it fall apart do you think?

4. Why is Paul so unable to separate himself from his mother do you think?

5. What do you make of the ending of the novel? How satisfactory do you find the ending?

6. What are Lawrence's 'symbols' and 'images' (clue - look for colours)

7. Who is the most sympathetic character in the book in your opinion (who do you 'like'?) Why?

8. Lawrence was writing in a period of great social change - from an agricultural based world to a world of industry and cities. Can you tell?

9. Comment on Lawrence's 'style' of writing.

10. Remember the old 'Views and Values' question? What does Lawrence think of his society? What does he value do you think? Try to give evidence to back up your opinion.

TRADITIONAL STYLE ESSAY QUESTIONS (ie. the exam doesn't have questions like these, but you might find them useful in preparation)

1 A battle between the flesh and spirit. Discuss.

2. Lawrence sympathises so much with Paul that Paul's views are interchangeable with his; therefore we get a biased view of Miriam, Clara, Mrs Morel and Morel. Do you agree?

3. Mrs Morel is described with great care and affection, but does the reader, in the end, actually 'like' her?

EXAM PRACTICE FOR 'SONS AND LOVERS'

The practice exams contained here follow the basic format of the VCE Literature exam. They contain three passages and a general question (Use one or more of the following passages as the basis for a discussion about this text) Print or download these practice exams and try them at home. You should allow yourself about an hour. You will not be able to use your text in the exam. Of course you can create your own exam using the text file contained here. NOTE - The Project Gutenberg text file 'Sons and Lovers' does NOT have the recently added passages that are in your text.

Practice Exam 1

Practice Exam 2

Practice Exam 3

AN BRIEF INDEX TO  SOME IMPORTANT PASSAGES

TOORAK RESOURCES ABOUT D.H. LAWRENCE

'The Married Man: A Life of D.H. Lawrence by Brenda Maddox (823.912 LAW) More than with most authors, Lawrence's life reveals much about his work.

York Notes on 'Sons and Lovers' (823.912 LAW) Only if your're desperate. Chapter summaries, Commentary, Hints for further study, but pretty superficial for Lit students.

D.H. Lawrence - 'Sons and Lovers' by Gamini Salgado - More detailed chapter summaries, a much more personal interpretation and quite interesting (823.912 LAW)

'Twentieth Century Interpretations of 'Sons and Lovers''- A collection of critical essays, some of more historical interest than anything else, but some very good (823.912 LAW)

D.H. Lawrence - Seleced Essays - Not directly relevant to the book but good background  material. I have a copy of this one if you'd like to borrow it.

INTERNET SOURCES ON D.H. LAWRENCE AND 'SONS AND LOVERS'

The University of Nottingham D.H. Lawrence Manuscript Collection; this page also includes a links page of Lawrence sites.

A university seminar on D.H. Lawrence; again with some good links. From Mansfield University, PA, USA

A more personal appreciation site about D.H. Lawrence and his work

Did you know D.H.Lawrence visited Australia? Here's the Australian D.H. Lawrence Society

A community dedicated to preserving the memory of D.H. Lawrence

The full text of 'Sons and Lovers' is available to download from Project Gutenberg. This could be useful for doing searches for words and favourite scenes in what can be a big book to come to terms with. A quick search for flowers or colours is very revealing. The download is a 903 kb text file so it wil fit on a floppy disk. But if you're inventive like Lauren and you've got a MAC, you can get the computer to read it to you!

WHAT LAWRENCE WROTE

SHORT FICTION The Prussian Officer and Other Stories, Duckworth, 1914, B. W. Huebsch, 1916, recent edition edited by John Worthen, introduction by Melvyn Bragg, Viking, 1984. England, My England and Other Stories, T. Seltzer, 1922, reprinted, Books for Libraries Press, 1972. Glad Ghosts, E. Benn, 1926 (also see below) The Woman Who Rode Away and Other Stories (includes Sun, The Woman Who Rode Away, and The Man Who Loved Islands), Knopf, 1928, new edition, Berkley Publishing, 1962. Rawdon's Roof, Elkin Mathews & Marrot, 1928 (also see below). Love Among the Haystacks and Other Pieces, with a reminiscence by David Garnett, Nonesuch Press, 1930, Viking, 1933, reprint of Nonesuch edition, Books for Libraries Press, 1976. The Lovely Lady (includes The Rocking-Horse Winner), M. Secker, 1932, Viking, 1933, reprinted, Books for Libraries Press, 1972. A Modern Lover, Viking, 1934, reprinted, Books for Libraries Press, 1972. A Prelude (first published under pseudonym Jessie Chambers in the Nottingham Guardian), Merle Press, 1949. Complete Short Stories, three volumes, Heinemann, 1955 (published as The Collected Short Stories of D. H. Lawrence, Heinemann, 1974), Viking, 1961. The Horse Dealer's Daughter, School of Art Press (Oxford), 1963. The Rocking-Horse Winner, edited by Dominick P. Consolo, C. E. Merrill, 1969. The Princess and Other Stories, Penguin, 1971. The Mortal Coil and Other Stories, edited by Keith Sagar, Penguin, 1971. You Touched Me, illustrations by Sandra Higashi, Creative Education, Inc., 1982.

POETRY Love Poems and Others, Duckworth, 1913, M. Kennerley, 1915. Amores, B. W. Huebsch, 1916. Look! We Have Come Through!, Chatto & Windus, 1917, B. W. Huebsch, 1918, published as Look! We Have Come Through! A Cycle of Love Poems, introduction by Frieda Lawrence, illustrations by M. Adam, Ark Press, 1958, recent edition, with woodcuts by Felix Hoffman, Humanities Research Center, University of Texas, 1971. New Poems, M. Secker, 1918, B. W. Huebsch, 1920, reprint of Secker edition, Haskell House, 1974. Bay, Beaumont, 1919. Tortoises, T. Seltzer, 1921, published as Tortoises: Six Poems, introduction by Jefferson Hunter, illustrated with wood engravings by Alan James Robinson, Cheloniidae Press (Williamsburg, Mass.), 1983. Birds, Beasts, and Flowers, T. Seltzer, 1923, M. Secker, c. 1923, reprinted, Haskell House, 1974. The Collected Poems of D. H. Lawrence, Volume I: Rhyming Poems, Volume II: Unrhyming Poems, M. Secker, 1928, J. Cape and H. Smith, 1929, single volume edition, M. Secker, 1932. Pansies, Knopf, 1929, M. Secker, 1929, with fourteen poems not printed in the Secker edition, privately printed for subscribers only, 1929. Nettles, Faber, 1930. Last Poems, edited by Richard Aldington and Giuseppe Orioli, G. Orioli, 1932, Viking, 1933, reprinted, Scholarly Press, 1971. Fire and Other Poems, foreword by Robinson Jeffers, note by Frieda Lawrence, Grabhorn Press, 1940. The Complete Poems of D. H. Lawrence, collected and edited with an introduction and notes by Vivian de Sola Pinto and Warren Roberts, Heinemann, 1964, Viking, 1971.

PLAYS The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd: A Drama in Three Acts (produced in London at the Kingsway Theatre, December 12, 1926), M. Kennerley, 1914. Touch and Go: A Play in Three Acts (first produced in Oxford, England, at the Oxford Playhouse, November 5, 1979), T. Seltzer, 1920. David: A Play (first produced in London at the Regent Theatre, May 22, 1927), Knopf, 1926, M. Secker, 1926, reprinted, Haskell House, 1974. A Collier's Friday Night (first produced in London at the Royal Court Theatre, November 7, 1973), privately printed, 1940, reprinted, Norwood Editions, 1976. Complete Plays, Heinemann, 1965, Viking, 1966. The Daughter-in-Law (first produced in London at the Royal Court Theatre, March 16, 1967), published in the program for performances given March 16 to April 8, 1967, Royal Court Theatre, 1967. The Fight for Barbara, first produced in London at the Mermaid Theatre, August 9, 1967. Plays (contains The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd, David, The Married Man, The Daughter-in-Law, The Fight for Barbara, Touch and Go, The Merry-Go-Round, A Collier's Friday Night, Altitude, and Noah's Flood), introduction by Malcolm Elwin, Heron Books, 1969.

TRAVEL SKETCHES Twilight in Italy, B. W. Huebsch, 1916, Viking, 1958. Sea and Sardinia, T. Seltzer, 1921, recent edition, introduction by Richard Aldington, Viking, 1963. Mornings in Mexico, Knopf, 1927, recent edition, introduction by Ross Parmenter, G. M. Smith, 1982. Etruscan Places, Viking, 1932, reprinted, 1963.

NONFICTION (Under pseudonym Lawrence H. Davison) Movements in European History, Oxford University Press, 1921, published under name D. H. Lawrence, 1925, reprinted, 1971. Psychoanalysis and the Unconscious, T. Seltzer, 1921. Fantasia of the Unconscious, T. Seltzer, 1922. Studies in Classic American Literature (essays), T. Seltzer, 1923, recent edition, Penguin, 1977. Reflections on the Death of a Porcupine and Other Essays, Centaur Press, 1925, Indiana University Press, 1963. Pornography and Obscenity, Faber, 1929, Knopf, 1930, published as Pornography and Obscenity: An Essay, Alicat Book Shop, 1948. Assorted Articles, Knopf, 1930, reprinted, Books for Libraries Press, 1968. Apocalypse, G. Orioli, 1931, with an introduction by Richard Aldington, Viking, 1932, reprinted, 1966. We Need One Another (two essays; originally published in Scribner's magazine), illustrations by John P. Heins, Equinox, 1933, reprinted, Haskell House, 1974. Phoenix: The Posthumous Papers of D. H. Lawrence, edited with an introduction by Edward D. McDonald, Viking, 1936, reprinted, 1972. Sex, Literature, and Censorship: Essays, edited by Harry T. Moore, Twayne, 1953. The Symbolic Meaning: The Uncollected Versions of Studies in Classic American Literature, edited by Armin Arnold, preface by Harry T. Moore, Centaur Press, 1962. Phoenix II: Uncollected, Unpublished, and Other Prose Works, edited with an introduction and notes by Warren Roberts and Harry T. Moore, Viking, 1968. Lawrence on Hardy and Painting: Study of Thomas Hardy [and] Introduction to These Paintings (two essays; originally published in Phoenix, 1936), Heinemann Educational, 1973. Study of Thomas Hardy and Other Essays, Cambridge University Press, 1985.

LETTERS The Letters of D. H. Lawrence, edited with an introduction by Aldous Huxley, Viking, 1932. D. H. Lawrence: Reminiscences and Correspondence, edited by Earl Brewster and Achsah Brewster, M. Secker, 1934. D. H. Lawrence's Letter to "The Laughing Horse," privately printed, 1936. Letters to Bertrand Russell, edited by Harry T. Moore, Gotham Book Mart, 1948. Eight Letters to Rachel Annand Taylor, foreword by Majl Ewing, Castle Press, 1956. Collected Letters, edited with an introduction by Harry T. Moore, two volumes, Viking, 1962. Lawrence in Love: Letters to Louie Burrows, edited with an introduction and notes by James T. Boulton, University of Nottingham, 1968. The Quest for Rananim: D. H. Lawrence's Letters to S. S. Koteliansky, 1914 to 1930, edited with an introduction by George J. Zytaruk, McGill-Queen's University Press, 1970. Letters From D. H. Lawrence to Martin Secker, 1911-1930, privately printed, 1970. The Centaur Letters, introduction by Edward D. McDonald, Humanities Research Center, University of Texas, 1970. Consciousness, privately printed by the Press of the Pegacycle Lady, 1974. Letters to Thomas and Adele Seltzer, edited by Gerald M. Lacy, Black Sparrow Press, 1976. The Letters of D. H. Lawrence, Volume I: September, 1901-May, 1913, edited by James T. Boulton, Volume II: June, 1913-October, 1916, edited by George J. Zytaruk and Boulton, Volume III: October, 1916-June, 1921, edited by Boulton and Andrew Robertson, Cambridge University Press, 1979-84. The Letters of D. H. Lawrence and Amy Lowell, 1914-1925, edited by E. Claire Healey and Keith Cushman, Black Sparrow Press, 1985.

This page last modified - 31/12/01