Mother-Son Relationships In Sons And Lovers And The Patrick Melrose Novels

The mother-son relationship in Western literature can be traced back to Homer?s Iliad. D. H. Lawrence?s Sons and Lovers, however, is probably the first modern English novel that centers upon this motif. As a modernist writer, he was able to dig into the human psyche of his characters and achieve an unprecedented depth and truthfulness in his portrayal of the characters? psychology. Lawrence seems to have become aware of Freudian psychoanalytic theories, at least in outline, primarily through his exchanges with his German wife Frieda Weekley, as is strongly suggested by his change of the title of the novel from “Paul Morel”, the name of his protagonist, to “Sons and Lovers”, one with clearly Oedipal implications for intellectuals of his generation.However, psychoanalysis was still a budding field then. After four score years of evolution in the field and in society, by the later 20 th century more emphasis was placed on the pre-Oedipal period of one?s childhood. Under the influence of the current theories, Edward St Aubyn, a critically acclaimed English writer, displayed even more sophistication in portraying mother-son relations in his Patrick Melrose quintet of novels. This thesis attempts to analyze the mother-son relationship in these two novels, focusing on the conflict between Gertrude and Paul in Sons and Lovers, and on Eleanor?s betrayal of Patrick in St Aubyn?s novels. The analysis allows the reader to see how the treatment of this motif has changed in the history of British literature.