Sons and Lovers · Chapter
XIII: Baxter Dawes explained
Paul and Clara's relationship is strained as they confront their emotional distance and the lingering presence of Baxter Dawes.
What happens
Paul and Clara's relationship is strained as they confront their emotional distance and the lingering presence of Baxter Dawes. After a public confrontation in a pub where Dawes insults Paul about his evening with Clara, Paul suffers a bicycle accident and becomes increasingly detached from Clara, Miriam, and his mother. He takes a holiday with a friend, but upon returning to Sheffield, he finds his mother gravely ill, leading to a devastating emotional breakdown.
Themes in this chapter
Love as Possession vs. Freedom
Clara feels Paul never truly comes near her, while Paul resents her preference for Baxter's ability to be more open; their relationship is marked by a struggle for emotional possession and independence.
Marital Discord and Alienation
Clara and Baxter Dawes are estranged; Baxter's bitterness and Clara's guilt highlight the breakdown of their marriage, with Paul caught in the middle.
Death, Grief, and Loss
Paul's premonition of loss and his intense grief upon finding his mother ill foreshadow her impending death, echoing earlier themes of mortality.
Characters to notice
- Paul Morel
Struggles with emotional detachment from Clara, Miriam, and his mother; experiences a violent confrontation with Baxter Dawes; suffers a bicycle accident; breaks down upon finding his mother ill.
- Clara Dawes
Feels a sense of self-assurance but acknowledges her relationship with Paul is temporary; encounters Baxter Dawes with Paul; expresses dissatisfaction with Paul's emotional distance.
- Baxter Dawes
Appears worn and desperate; publicly insults Paul about his evening with Clara; engages in a physical altercation with Paul at the pub.
- Gertrude Morel
Ill and distant; agrees to stay with Annie in Sheffield; Paul finds her in bed, looking ashen, leading to his emotional breakdown.
- Miriam Leivers
Visits Paul but feels like a stranger to him; Paul admits he no longer cares about her.
- Annie Morel
Lives in Sheffield; lets Paul into the house and informs him of their mother's illness.
Key passages
“She felt a certain surety about him that she never felt with Paul Morel. Her passion for the young man had filled her soul, given her a certain satisfaction, eased her of her self-mistrust, her doubt.”
Clara felt more confident with Baxter than with Paul, as her passion for Baxter had resolved her inner doubts.
Clara reflects on the emotional security she once felt with Baxter, contrasting it with her uncertain relationship with Paul.
“Together they had received the baptism of life, each through the other; but now their missions were separate.”
Paul and Clara had been transformed by their relationship, but they now had to go their own ways.
The narrator describes the couple's mutual growth and inevitable separation.
“He felt puzzled, and helpless, and angry. There she walked unknown to him, though they had been through such experience together.”
Paul was confused and frustrated that Clara remained a mystery to him despite their intimacy.
Paul's realization of emotional distance despite physical closeness.
“He was terrified of something; he dared not look at her. Her eyes seemed to grow darker, her face more waxen; still she dragged about at her work.”
Paul was afraid to face his mother, whose appearance was becoming increasingly pale and sickly as she continued her chores.
Paul's growing dread and his mother's declining health are subtly portrayed.
“He only fell on his knees at the bedside, and buried his face in the bedclothes, crying in agony, and saying: 'Mother—mother—mother!'”
Paul collapsed at his mother's bedside, sobbing in anguish and calling out to her repeatedly.
Paul's emotional breakdown upon seeing his mother's grave condition.
