Sons and Lovers tells the story of the Morels, which are the counterpart of the authors' own family. Lawrence explores probably for the first time the circumstances and conditions of his youth in order to set himself free of the shadows of the past. The dominant, omnipresent influence of his mother, a tie so strong he is hardly able to bear her death. So strong he almost chooses to follow her into the immense night, which engulfed her: "And if he walked and walked for ever, there was only that place to come to- (Lawrence, p.365), the place where his dead mother was awaiting him. Yet in the end, facing the seduction of death, he turns around and walks towards the light in "the faintly humming, glowing town- (Lawrence, p.531) thus deciding to continue the path of his life, alone but free. .
The novel is the story of a mother that substitutes her own life by the lives of her sons, making their success her victory, the victory that will make her triumph over the share of life she didn't get. Mrs. Morel takes possession of her sons' lives, especially of Paul's (the counterpart of D.H. Lawrence). And by doing so, she casts a shadow on all of Paul's actions, thoughts, and experiences. Everything he will do he will do it, in the end for his mother. This pressure, this shadow makes it impossible for him to see the light, which would lead him along the path of his life and therefore his youth becomes a struggle, a fight against himself. He falls in love, but eventually he isn't able to love. The mother, sitting at home, jealous, is his conscience and she wouldnallow anybody to come close to him. And so we see Paul grow up, a person bursting of life yet unable to live. .
With passion he falls in love, the passion though turns into pain. Pain, the keyword of the book, penetrates every chapter. A sensitive soul, deeply connected with nature, caught in torture. «He felt as if his blood was melting into tears » or his vision of a sunset: "Gold flamed to scarlet, like pain in its intense brightness- (Lawrence, p.
