王暢

摘 要：《兒子與情人》是英國著名小說家D. H. 勞倫斯的半自傳體小說。小說講述了一位母親因?qū)橐鰳O度失望而將愛與希望全部轉(zhuǎn)移到孩子們身上，從而造成兒子保羅深受俄狄浦斯情結(jié)之苦，因而無法正常戀愛的故事。本論文試圖分別從保羅對(duì)待父親、母親和兩性關(guān)系的態(tài)度幾方面分析俄狄浦斯情結(jié)對(duì)于他的影響。

關(guān)鍵詞：俄狄浦斯情結(jié)；兩性關(guān)系；心理分析

Abstract：Sons and Lovers is a semi-autobiographic novel of the well-known British novelist D. H. Lawrence. It tells the story of a mother who was very disappointed with her marriage and therefore shifted all her love and hope to her children. Owing to her abnormal love， her son Paul suffered from the Oedipus complex for their whole lives and had no idea of how to love in a normal way. The author of this thesis attempts to make a detailed study on the impacts of the Oedipus complex on Paul from his attitudes towards his father， his mother， and the gender relations respectively.

Key Words： Oedipus Complex； Gender Relations； Psychological Analysis

1.Introduction

Sons and Lovers is D. H. Lawrences first well-known novel. Its highlight lies in the cultural phenomenon it reveals –– the Oedipus complex， which exists not only in Lawrence himself， but also in many other young men.

From the psychological perspective， the Austrian psychiatrist Sigmund Freud coined the term “Oedipus complex” to explain “the emotions and ideas that the mind keeps in the unconscious， via dynamic repression， that concentrate upon a boys desire to sexually possess his mother， and kill his father.” （Net.1） Lawrence learned this new term when he was still working on Sons and Lovers， as a result， on behalf of millions of British young men， Paul –– the protagonist in Sons and Lovers –– became a spokesperson of Oedipus complex.

2.Pauls Hatred and Jealousy for His Father

There is no doubt that the depressive family environment had played an important role in evoking Pauls hatred for his father， but Paul himself had made greater contributions to it. Greatly influenced by his mother， Paul also blindly attributed their unhappy family life solely to his father without giving it a second thought. Finally， when Paul could no longer stand his father， such ignorance had upgraded into hatred.

3. Pauls Abnormal Love for His Mother

Propelled by Oedipus complex， it was impossible for Paul to love his mother like an ordinary man. Concretely speaking， Paul expressed his abnormal love in the following four ways： listening attentively to his mothers secrets， sharing everything with her， striving for their common future， and being her lover.

There is no doubt that Paul loved his mother very much. However， he had obviously gone into a wrong direction. The impacts of Oedipus complex laid on Paul were so powerful that he was unable to love his mother as a son， which later became bondage in his contacts with other females. Both Mrs. Morel and Paul himself should be responsible for this abnormal love.

4. Pauls Attitude towards Love and Sex

In spite of the two failing experiences， Paul was still a green hand in love. Carrying the big sear left by his mother， Paul could never love in a normal way. For this reason， he had held a wrong opinion on love and sex from the very beginning. In Miriams case， Paul found sex disgusting since in his cognition， having sex with another woman was an unforgivable betrayal to his mother. After enduring plenty of torment， Paul was eventually conscious that he could never enjoy the normal love between lovers for his mothers sake.

5.Conclusion

Undoubtedly， Sons and Lovers is the first profound literary exploration of Oedipus complex. The tragic story of Paul enables us to see clearly the disastrous effects of Oedipus complex. Just as Lawrence himself once said， “It has been rather terrible and has made me， in soul respects， abnormal” （Boulton 1979： 190）. As for Paul， the impacts of Oedipus complex seemed to have entered every pore of his body， making him still search for his future aimlessly at the end of this novel. He was walking along the road once traveled by Lawrence， and is probably still being visited by some of us today. And this might be where the value of Sons and Lovers really lies.

Bibliography：

[1]Boulton， James T. ed. The Letters of D. H. Lawrence， Volume I. Cambridge： Cambridge University Press， 1979.

[2]Worthen John. & Harrison Andrew. eds. D. H. Lawrences Sons and Lovers： A Casebook. New York： Oxford University Press， 2005.

[3]Net.1： Oedipus Complex， April 25， 2011

http：//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedipus_complex