Oedipus complex in “Sons and lovers” by D.H. Lawrence Essay

ABSTRACT _This paper discusses about â€Å"Oedipus complex in the life of the main character as reflected in D.H. Lawrence sons and lovers: a psychological approach. The objectives of the study are to explain Oedipus complex in the life of the main character of Lawrence Sons and Lovers observed psychologically._ _This research is categorized into a library research because all sources are taken from libraries. The subject of the research is novel entitled Sons and Lovers by D.H Lawrence. The object of the research about revenges in the novel._ _Some of the important research findings are stated as follows: the first is the character and characterization of the main character. The second is the theory abnormal behavior that caused Oedipus complex in family. The third is the effects caused abnormal behavior or Oedipus complex. Then, there some moral values can be taken from the novel._ _KEYWORDS: OEDIPUS COMPLEX, CHARACTER, PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH._ CHAPTER I In this chapter, as the introduction, the researcher presents the background of the study, identification of the problem, limitation of the problem, formulation of the problems, objective of the study, significance of the study, and presentation of the thesis. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY In a family, there are relationship between the members of family such as relationship between parents and their son and daughter. Normally the relation among the members of family is based on love without respect anything although there are gender differences among the members of family causing some factor not rare in a family exist abnormal relationship or deviant relation among mother-son or father-daughter. For example in Indonesia legend there are story tells about deviant relationship among son and mother, where the son (Sangkuriang) wants to married his own mother cause by his interest the parents of the opposite sex. Besides that he also kills his own father as the result of his deviation relationship with his own mother. According to Freud the interested child toward parent of the opposite gender is called Oedipus complex. Oedipus complex is a concept within psychoanalytic theory referring to a stage of psychosexual development where child of either gender regards the parent of the same gender as an adversary, and competitor, for the exclusive love of the parents of the opposite gender. Sons and Lovers is an interesting novel besides this novel also best seller. This novel had written in 1913 and first published, in 1913 by Wordsworth Classics Edition Limited. The story of the novel tells about the deviation relationship between Gertrude Morel and Paul Morel (mother and son), besides that the novel tells about conflict that happened in a family, death of spouse, love affair between Paul morel with two different girls who had become his girlfriends although they cannot replace Paul’s mother position in Paul’s heart. IDENTIFICATION OF THE PROBLEM Based on the novel, there are some problems that can be identified in novel _sons and lovers_ written by D.H. Lawrence, there are: Paul morel characterization as the main character in the novel psychologically The moral value that can be taken from the novel _sons and lovers_ LIMITATION OF THE PROBLEM There are may problems in _sons and lovers by_ D.H. Lawrence, but the researcher is only focus on the feeling of love expressed by main character in the novel _sons and lovers._ FORMULATION OF THE PROBLEM The researcher formulates the problem systematically in the sentences below: What are the characterizations of the main character in the novel _sons and lovers_ written by D.H. Lawrence What are the moral value found in the novel OBJECTIVE OF THE PROBLEM Referring to the formulation of the problem, the objectives of the study are: To describe the characterizations of the main character in the novel _sons and lovers_ written by D.H. Lawrence To describe the moral values found in the novel SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY It is hoped that the result of the study will provide the following significant contributions: To researcher of this research; it will give experiences on the way of analyzing a novel To provide the student of English department of Ahmad Dahlan University To help the students who want to know more about literary works written by D.H Lawrence PRESENTATION OF THE THESIS The study is divided into five chapters. The first chapter consist of background of the study, identification of the problem, limitation of the problem, formulation of the problems, objective of the study, significance of the study, and presentation of the thesis. The second chapter is theoretical framework. The third chapter is about the method of the research. The fourth chapter is discussion. The fifth chapter is conclusion and suggestion. CHAPTER II THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK This chapter is divided into six items. They include biography of the author, Character and characterization, theory of the psychological approach, theory of abnormal behavior, theory of Oedipus Complex, and moral value. BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter who published as D. H. Lawrence. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation. In them, Lawrence confronts issues relating to emotional health and vitality, spontaneity, and instinct. Lawrence’s opinions earned him many enemies and he endured official persecution, censorship, and misrepresentation of his creative work  throughout the second half of his life, much of which he spent in a voluntary exile which he called his â€Å"savage pilgrimage.† At the time of his death, his public reputation was that of a pornographer who had wasted his considerable talents. E. M. Forster, in an obituary notice, challenged this widely held view, describing him as, â€Å"The greatest imaginative novelist of our generation.† Later, the influential Cambridge critic F. R. Leavis championed both his artistic integrity and his moral seriousness, placing much of Lawrence’s fiction within the canonical â€Å"great tradition† of the English novel. Lawrence is now valued by many as a visionary thinker and significant representative of modernism in English literature. CHARACTER AND CHARACTERIZATION THEORY OF CHARACTER Character is the most important part in a story to recognize individual and figure that involved in the story, for it gives both mental and physical feature of individuals of figure (Sujiman, 1992:16). In literary work character can divided into two groups, major and minor character. The major character can further be analyzed into three groups (1) the protagonist, the very central or hero, (2) the antagonist or the enemy (the challenger) of the protagonist, and (3) the companion(s) or the supporter of the protagonist (Subhan, 2002:8). The Protagonist Protagonist is the character which is the very central and crucial character or the leading actor (actress). He or she usually the hero or the heroine that play an important role in the story, all the settings of the relationship will be connected with him or her, his or her frequent appearance in the story, the protagonist appears from beginning of the story until the story, the title of the novel simply represent the name of the protagonist. The Antagonist Antagonist in the novel usually refers to the enemy of the protagonist or the challenger of the protagonist. The companion of the protagonist may function as the lover of the protagonist. In other words, the companion of the protagonist also plays an important role in the story (Subhan, 2002:11-12) THEORY OF CHARACTERIZATION Characterization is one of the elements which develop the work from inside the novel. This element is needed in competition a literary work. Though the characterization, the reader can understand about the individual character whose life is being told by the author. Nurgiyantoro (2002:165) defines characteristic and attitudes of the character life what is interpreted by the reader’s characterization denotes the personality quality. Moreover, based on characterization Subhan (2003) in his book a Guide to Literary Criticism divided characterization in the novel into two groups, namely flat character and round character. Flat character is the character that has unchanging characterization from the beginning to the end of the story. Round character is just the one, which undergoes changes in the characterization in the course of the story (in the beginning the character is good but in the middle or in the end he/she bad, or the beginning he/she bad but in the middle or in the end he/she become good. THEORY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH According to Rohberger and Woods both literature and psychology discusses people and human lives. Although, sometimes they have different point of view, literature discusses man and his life, which the writer expresses through language in the works of literature. Psychology is a study of man’s life, together with his mind and behavior (1971:16-17). Further, Rohberger and Woods said that this approach brings us to analyze the novel from the  psychological point of view of human being (1971:13). Guerin says that psychological approach is an excellent tool that is most commonly used as an interpretive tool by modern critics to sow by examples how the reader may apply this mode of interpretation to enhance his understanding and appreciation of literature (1979:13). THEORY OF ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR David sue, Derald Sue and Stanley Sue defines abnormal behavior in their book _Understanding Abnormal Behavior,_ as â€Å"behavior that departs from some norm and is detrimental to the affected individual or to others† (1986:15). Colemen said that the causes of abnormal behavior are divided into two: faulty development and severe stress (1972:135). He also said that the people often find the problems in their life caused by their past life or the experiences they had in the past. For instance, somebody may get difficulty in building a happy marriage because of the hurt he experienced in childhood when his parents did not have happy marriage. In addition according to Sue (1986:37), there are two models of abnormal behavior. They are biogenic and psychogenic models. Biogenic model is a physically cripple. They have a trouble in physical appearance. While there are two major distinguished features of psychogenic models. First, the adult’s disorder is caused by the traumas or anxiety that is experienced by the people during their childhood. Second, the anxieties that happen in childhood operate unconsciously which means that they are repressed through mental defense mechanism. This condition makes people show symptoms which they unable to understand. Supranatiknya in _Mengenal Prilaku Abnormal_ (1995:27-31) add the causative factors in abnormal behavior, namely the psychological and the socio cultural factors. Psychological factors There are five factors that caused of abnormal behavior, first, traumatic experience in the childhood, psychological traumatic leaves scars in a child’s until she or he grows up. When nobody cares about this, the child always remembers it and it will disturb his or her life. Second, psychological trauma is the experience that destroys the sense of security, sense of ability, pride and it will be hard to recover from trauma. Third, parental deprivation, lacks of love from the parents, the parents do not provide the children with love and enough attention in their lives. They do not give them emotional stimulus. Forth, pathogenic relationship between and their parents. It creates a lot of problems and hindrances in their lives, for example, rejections, overprotection, unrealistic demands, over permissive, actions, and pampering action, wrong disciplines, lack of communications and irrational communication and wrong patterns from the parents. The last is pathogenic structure from parents. Family structure can determine the variety of communication among the members. A certain family structure makes an unhealthy communication patterns, and it will influence the emergence of hindrances of the members. Socio cultural Abnormal behavior deviation can cause of socio cultural. For the example, first, war condition. Second, people have to take a kind of duty that enforces him to it, for instance he has to kill somebody in war condition, or to be involved a violent situation. Third, people become the victims in the discrimination based on certain groups or political affiliation. Forth, economics recession and unemployment. THEORY OF OEDIPUS COMPLEX Frudian term about Oedipus complex is drawn from the myth of Oedipus, designating attraction on the part of the child toward the parent of the opposite sex and rivalry and hostility toward the parents of its own. It occurs during the phallic stage of the psycho-sexual development of personality; approximately year’s three to five. Resolution of the Oedipus  complex is believed to occur by identification with the parent of the same sex and by the renunciation of sexual interest in the parent of the opposite sex. Freud considered this complex the cornerstone of the superego and the nucleus of all human relationship. Freud in (Nye, 1986:412) points out that â€Å"the most important event during the first five years of life occurs during the phallic stage: the Oedipus complex, because during this stage, the genital organs begins to take considerable importance†. According to Sue (1986:50) during this stage, the incestuous felling for the opposite-sex parent becomes very strong. Frued via Nye (1986:421) argues that his complex is a natural aspect of childhood. It can happen in both sexes. Boys develop a sexual attraction to the mother and want to possesses her and displace the father. It is also happen to the girls. Furthermore, Wolm (1968:72) said that the fear of castration forces the boy to abandon his or her incestuous desire for his mother. The passive attitude conceals an increased fear of and hatred for the father. This resentment toward the father often develops into defiant attitudes against all men authority. The affection for the mother often turns into a dependence relationship, into a passive need to be loved. Over attachment to the mother is feminine component, partial identification with the mother-lay lead, in turn, to a submissive toward women in the future. Oedipus complex that faced by Paul Morel is in a kind of his love toward his own mother. Mrs. Morel is a wonderful figure for Paul. She love all of her children, she spoil them all, especially Paul. Paul relationship with his mother is colored with love and attachment between them. The relationship is not only a relationship between mother and son. They have intimated relationship. Paul attachment to his mother started from his early life and continues on his later life. His live to his mother becomes bigger and stronger. They usually have together in journey like loves. Paul’s love towards his mother has developed since he always finds  peacefulness every time he closes to her. Facing the hard conditions of his family in his daily life, Paul wants to find something different that can make him comfortable. Paul can find what he wants from his mother. Paul never dares hurt his mother; his love is big for her. He considers that there is no deepest love that will give to anybody except his other. â€Å"The deepest of his love belonged to his mother. When he felt he had hurt, or wounded his love for her could not bear it† (p.255) For love to his mother, Paul will satisfy if he can do everything that his mother wants from him. It is a way of Paul to express his love and devotion to his mother. Paul love towards his mother can be included as a form of abnormal behavior which is called Oedipus complex in boys. According to Freud (1986), abnormal behavior a boy develops a sexual attraction to the mother wants to possess her and displaces the father. Furthermore, he says that originally, both boy and girl love their father since he can fulfill their needs. This felling does not persist in Paul morel, he tends to prefer his mother and avoid his father, and he has limited interaction with his father because Mr. Morel is cruel in his family. Besides that he also often builds the feel or horror for his children. Paul had bad experiences with his father. He often sees his father hurting his mother. Paul hates because of the misery that his father brings in his family. Therefore, Paul prefers his mother to share his private stories of his day and his mother shares her feeling to him. The warmth that he receives from his mother makes Paul more loving his mother. There is no other woman can enter his private live, his love to is mother is not disturbed. It is one form of Oedipus complex that faced by Paul morel. He even declares to his other that there is no right woman for him except his mother. He acclaims himself to a man of his mother and she is a girl, and they belong each other. He sees himself stuck close to his mother,  similar to a man stuck close to his lovers. The effects of abnormal devotion of Oedipus complex Paul morel faced is he feels that his mother’s love is a burden that makes him unable to love another woman. When Paul grows to be an adult, he wants to finds a woman for his life, but his mother interferes in his life relation with the women. He is conscious about his inability to express his love to woman he loves. He afraid that the woman he loves is not the â€Å"right† one for him. He cannot love any women under his mother’s shadow. The other effects of Oedipus complex that faced by Paul morel is Paul become depend on his mother. His dependence grows stronger as seen when his mother dies. Paul spontaneously feels as if he loses his world. He is desperate and frustrated because he loses someone he depends on every much. He is not sure to continue his life without his mother accompanying him. Losing his mother means everything to Paul. There is no longer a place to lie down, to share his story, and to love. He loses the tender touch. He always got during his mother’s life. He considers that his mother the only one who could handle his life. Besides all of the effects of Oedipus complex toward Paul morel stated above, he also growing up as a traumatic man. Paul does not want to get married; he does not have a desire to get married. Even though his mother supports him to get married he still does not want to get married. It causes by his love to his mother. He does not want to leave his mother alone. He wants to accompany her during her whole life. MORAL VALUES After having analyzed the novel carefully there is several points that writer take as moral values. Firstly, Mr. Morel bad attitude toward his family is was bringing bad effect toward his children it make his children hate him so much. Actually as a father Mr. Morel must be a good example for his children not the bad one because it is not good for his children development. Secondly, Mrs. Morel over love, protection and affection toward Paul also bring great effect to Paul personality development he become depend, introvert, and sensitive. The above points show that Paul parents have bad influences in his Oedipus complex. Paul’s father cannot do his role as a father for his children, especially to Paul. Paul’s mother does no her role as a mother in great capacity that then too much for Paul. Paul develops abnormally because of the imbalance of parent’s role. Paul cannot grow up as well as the other children of a normally family who have good parents. So the moral values that can be taken from the novel are parents in play their role toward their child must be in balance portion both of father or mother. It tended to make the development of the children in a normal condition did not have abnormal deviation. CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD This chapter is about type of research, subject and object of the study, data collecting method and data analyzing method. TYPE OF RESEARCH This research belongs to the library research because the sources of this research are from libraries. The sources of this research are classified into two parts, namely; main source and supporting sources. The main sources of this research is the novel _sons and lovers by_ D.H. Lawrence. While the supporting sources of this research are many references supporting the main source, such as; books on literature and psychology, journals, and articles from the internet sites. SUBJECT AND OBJECT OF THE STUDY The subject of the study is the novel _sons and lovers by_ D.H. Lawrence that published in in 1913, it consist of 423 pages. The object of this study is love of the main character as a son reflected in _sons and lovers by_ D.H. Lawrence. DATA COLLECTING METHOD Data collecting method used in this research is the library study method. The researcher goes to the library and read some books that have relation to the theme of the research. After finding the sources and read them the researcher makes any necessary notes that are used to support the research. After making a notes, the researcher categorizes the data and make it ready to be analyzed further. DATA ANALYZING METHOD Data Analyzing method of this research is qualitative research. This method is started by statement, quotation, or described by explanation. It is used to give clear description about the study qualitative by choosing, considering, defining, and arranging the fixed data. CHAPTER IV RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION This chapter discusses the research findings and discussion of the novel â€Å"_sons and lovers†._ In this chapter, the researcher presents about three points; the synopsys of novel, the characterization of the main characters, and moral values taken from the novel. The synopsis of Novel Mrs. Morel is a wonderful figure for Paul. She love all of her children, she spoil them all, especially Paul. Paul relationship with his mother is  colored with love and attachment between them. The relationship is not only a relationship between mother and son. They have intimated relationship. Paul attachment to his mother started from his early life and continues on his later life. His live to his mother becomes bigger and stronger. They usually have together in journey like loves. Paul’s love towards his mother has developed since he always finds peacefulness every time he closes to her. Facing the hard conditions of his family in his daily life, Paul wants to find something different that can make him comfortable. Paul can find what he wants from his mother. Paul never dares hurt his mother; his love is big for her. He considers that there is no deepest love that will give to anybody except his other. â€Å"The deepest of his love belonged to his mother. When he felt he had hurt, or wounded his love for her could not bear it† (p.255) For love to his mother, Paul will satisfy if he can do everything that his mother wants from him. It is a way of Paul to express his love and devotion to his mother. Paul love towards his mother can be included as a form of abnormal behavior which is called Oedipus complex in boys. According to Freud (1986), abnormal behavior a boy develops a sexual attraction to the mother wants to possess her and displaces the father. Furthermore, he says that originally, both boy and girl love their father since he can fulfill their needs. This felling does not persist in Paul morel, he tends to prefer his mother and avoid his father, and he has limited interaction with his father because Mr. Morel is cruel in his family. Besides that he also often builds the feel or horror for his children. Paul had bad experiences with his father. He often sees his father hurting his mother. Paul hates because of the misery that his father brings in his family. Therefore, Paul prefers his mother to share his private stories of his day and his mother shares her feeling to him. The warmth that he receives from his mother makes Paul more loving his mother. There is no other woman can enter his private live, his love to is mother is not disturbed. It is one form of Oedipus complex that faced by Paul morel. He even declares to his other that there is no right woman for him except his mother. He acclaims  himself to a man of his mother and she is a girl, and they belong each other. He sees himself stuck close to his mother, similar to a man stuck close to his lovers. The effects of abnormal devotion of Oedipus complex Paul morel faced is he feels that his mother’s love is a burden that makes him unable to love another woman. When Paul grows to be an adult, he wants to finds a woman for his life, but his mother interferes in his life relation with the women. He is conscious about his inability to express his love to woman he loves. He afraid that the woman he loves is not the â€Å"right† one for him. He cannot love any women under his mother’s shadow. The other effects of Oedipus complex that faced by Paul morel is Paul become depend on his mother. His dependence grows stronger as seen when his mother dies. Paul spontaneously feels as if he loses his world. He is desperate and frustrated because he loses someone he depends on every much. He is not sure to continue his life without his mother accompanying him. Losing his mother means everything to Paul. There is no longer a place to lie down, to share his story, and to love. He loses the tender touch. He always got during his mother’s life. He considers that his mother the only one who could handle his life. Besides all of the effects of Oedipus complex toward Paul morel stated above, he also growing up as a traumatic man. Paul does not want to get married; he does not have a desire to get married. Even though his mother supports him to get married he still does not want to get married. It causes by his love to his mother. He does not want to leave his mother alone. He wants to accompany her during her whole life. CHARACTERIZATION OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS Character is the most important part in a story to recognize individual and figure that involved in the story, for it gives both mental and physical feature of individuals of figure (Sujiman, 1992:16). Protagonist is the character which is the very central and crucial character  or the leading actor (actress). He or she usually the hero or the heroine that play an important role in the story, all the settings of the relationship will be connected with him or her, his or her frequent appearance in the story, the protagonist appears from beginning of the story until the story, the title of the novel simply represent the name of the protagonist. Paul is the protagonist of the novel, and we follow his life from infancy to his early twenties. He is good looking, romantic, work hard, and unceasingly devoted to his mother. They are inseparable; he confides everything in her, works and paints to please her, and nurses her as she dies. Paul has ultimately unsuccessful romances with Miriam Leiver and Clara Dawes, always alternating between great love and hatred for each of them. His relationship fails with Miriam because she is too sacrificial and virginal to claim him as hers, whereas it fails with Clara because, it seems, she has never given up on her estranged husband. However, the major reason behind Paul’s break-ups is the long shadow of his mother; no woman can ever equal her in his eyes, and he can never free himself from her possession. After analyzing this novel, the researcher finds some characterization of the main character. They are: GOOD LOOKING Paul is a young man whose physical appearance is handsome. See quotation below: â€Å"Paul made no answer, but passed listlessly in front of his picture and turned towards it. A look joy came into his eyes, as if he had recognized himself for the first time† (Ch II.P.40) ROMANTIC Paul is a romantic person. When he met Clara at the theatre at the first time, he fell in love to her and describe as a beautiful girl. It can be seen in this statement: â€Å"imagine a girl, hardly seventeen years of age, with a little flowerlike face, lips that were like the petals of a rose. She was the loveliest thing I had ever seen† (CH III, P.50) WORK HARD Paul was always work hard to achieve what he wanted. He gave everything he had, his ability, his time to do. It can be seen in this statement: â€Å"I take my half of our final list back to my desk, and I’m about to do a job† CH I, P.15) MORAL VALUES OF THE NOVEL After having analyzed the novel carefully there is several points that writer take as moral values. Firstly, Mr. Morel bad attitude toward his family is was bringing bad effect toward his children it make his children hate him so much. Actually as a father Mr. Morel must be a good example for his children not the bad one because it is not good for his children development. Secondly, Mrs. Morel over love, protection and affection toward Paul also bring great effect to Paul personality development he become depend, introvert, and sensitive. BIBLIOGRAPHY Guerin. 1979. _An introduction Guide to Literature_. New York: Longman. Hornby, A.S. 1985. _Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English_. Great Britain. Oxford University Press. Lawrence, David Herbert. 1993. _Sons and Lovers_. London: reprint in wordsworth classic published. Nye, Robert D. 1986. Three _Psycologies: Perspective from Freud, skinner and Rogers._ California: Brooks/cole Publishing Company. Nurgiyantoro, Burhan. 2002. _Teori Pengkajian Fiksi_. Yogyakarta: Gajah Mada Press. Rohberger, Mary, and Samuel h. woods, Jr. 1971_. Reading and Writing about Literary_. New York: Random House. Subhan, Bustami. 2002. _Literary Criticism Book One_. Yogyakarta: LPPDMF. _____________ 2003_. A Guide to Literary Criticism._ Yogyakarta: LPPDMF. Sue, David, Derald, Stanley. 1986. _Understanding Abnormal Behavior_. New York: Random House Inc. Sujiman, Panuti. 1992. _Memahami Cerita Rekaan_.bandung: Dunia Pustaka Jaya. Supraktiknya. 1995. Mengenal Perilaku Abnormal. Yogyakarta: Kanisius. CONCLUSION. Based on the analysis from _Sons And Lovers_ by D.H Lawrence, it can be concluded that, first, cause of the onset of Oedipus complex is preceded by a relationship of harmony in the household Mr. Morel and his wife. Disharmony is mainly due to domestic economic problems and habits of husbands who like to consume liquor. Under these conditions the wife turned their concern to his son, the William and Paul. The Oedipus complex which was one of the crucial themes prevalent throughout the novel was particularly evident through the form of dialogue. As Paul talks more to his mother and the readers witness his stream of consciousness one begins to notice the usual lustful and romantic feelings he has for his mother. This  fact is compounded by his resentment and hatred of his father. Therefore, D.H Lawrence strategizes his plot and character development in such a way as to advance the thematic elements he wishes to presume within the novel. He cleverly engages the reader through the use of these literary techniques to recognize the motifs and themes being portrayed and an element of imagery is created in the same token.