Gender Perspectives in Mother-Son Trope: A Comparative Study of To the Lighthouse and Sons and Lovers

Sons and Lovers and To the Lighthouse are two prominent examples of modernist literature. While Pre-modernist literature also explored psychology and family dynamics, these two text deal with social and familial relationship in a new way by foregrounding the complex psyche of the characters with a particular sense of intensity. As part of this exploration, both novels include the trope of a mother-son relationship. Additionally, despite being written in a similar time and having shared literary context as products of the modernist movement, the gendered perspectives of their authors, D.H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf, introduce distinct nuances to their portrayals. This study intends to find out if their depiction of the mother-son trope differed and considers the extent to which authorial gender may be one factor in shaping this divergence. The study looks into the patterns in the relationships, the differences in the characterization of the mother figure, and the impact of the authors’ own experiences on their literary endeavours. In doing so, this study draws on Freudian psychoanalysis alongside feminist theory, including Luce Irigaray’s notion of symbolic matricide and Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar’s concepts of the “angel in the house” and “anxiety of authorship.” Spectrum, Volume 19, June 2024: 111-121