, Plot summary
Part I
The refined daughter of a ‘good old burgher family,’ Gertrude
Coppard meets a rough-hewn miner, Walter Morel, at a Christmas dance and
falls into a whirlwind romance characterised by physical passion. But soon after
her marriage to Walter, she realises the difficulties of living off his meagre salary
in a rented house. The couple fight and drift apart and Walter retreats to the pub
after work each day. Gradually, Mrs. Morel's affections shift to her sons
beginning with the oldest, William.
As a boy, William is so attached to his mother that he doesn't enjoy
the fair without her. As he grows older, he defends her against his father's
occasional violence. Eventually, he leaves their Nottinghamshire home for a job
in London, where he begins to rise up into the middle class. He is engaged, but he
detests the girl's superficiality. He dies and Mrs. Morel is heartbroken, but when
Paul catches pneumonia she rediscovers her love for her second son.
Part II
Both repulsed by and drawn to his mother, Paul is afraid to
leave her but wants to go out on his own, and needs to experience
love. Gradually, he falls into a relationship with Miriam, a farmer's
daughter who attends his church. The two take long walks and have
intellectual conversations about books but Paul resists, in part because
his mother disapproves. At Miriam's family's farm, Paul meets Clara
Dawes, a young woman with, apparently, feminist sympathies who has
separated from her husband, Baxter.
After pressuring Miriam into a physical relationship,
which he finds unsatisfying, Paul breaks with her as he grows more
intimate with Clara, who is more passionate physically. But even she
cannot hold him and he returns to his mother. When his mother dies
soon after, he is alone.
Part I
The refined daughter of a ‘good old burgher family,’ Gertrude
Coppard meets a rough-hewn miner, Walter Morel, at a Christmas dance and
falls into a whirlwind romance characterised by physical passion. But soon after
her marriage to Walter, she realises the difficulties of living off his meagre salary
in a rented house. The couple fight and drift apart and Walter retreats to the pub
after work each day. Gradually, Mrs. Morel's affections shift to her sons
beginning with the oldest, William.
As a boy, William is so attached to his mother that he doesn't enjoy
the fair without her. As he grows older, he defends her against his father's
occasional violence. Eventually, he leaves their Nottinghamshire home for a job
in London, where he begins to rise up into the middle class. He is engaged, but he
detests the girl's superficiality. He dies and Mrs. Morel is heartbroken, but when
Paul catches pneumonia she rediscovers her love for her second son.
Part II
Both repulsed by and drawn to his mother, Paul is afraid to
leave her but wants to go out on his own, and needs to experience
love. Gradually, he falls into a relationship with Miriam, a farmer's
daughter who attends his church. The two take long walks and have
intellectual conversations about books but Paul resists, in part because
his mother disapproves. At Miriam's family's farm, Paul meets Clara
Dawes, a young woman with, apparently, feminist sympathies who has
separated from her husband, Baxter.
After pressuring Miriam into a physical relationship,
which he finds unsatisfying, Paul breaks with her as he grows more
intimate with Clara, who is more passionate physically. But even she
cannot hold him and he returns to his mother. When his mother dies
soon after, he is alone.
