《儿子与情人》中俄狄浦斯情结对保罗的影响

王畅

摘 要：《兒子与情人》是英国著名小说家D. H. 劳伦斯的半自传体小说。小说讲述了一位母亲因对婚姻极度失望而将爱与希望全部转移到孩子们身上，从而造成儿子保罗深受俄狄浦斯情结之苦，因而无法正常恋爱的故事。本论文试图分别从保罗对待父亲、母亲和两性关系的态度几方面分析俄狄浦斯情结对于他的影响。

关键词：俄狄浦斯情结；两性关系；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