Sons and Lovers

Another of Paul’s paintings wins a prize, and he sells it for 20 guineas. He is invited to the house of Miss Jordan, where he can meet other people in the local art scene. When Mr. Jordan invites Paul to dinner at his house, Paul worries because he does not own a suit. Gerturde tells him to wear the suit that once belonged to William. Paul attends a number of dinners at the Jordan house, but he reveals to his mother that he prefers the company of his fellow working-class people to the middle-class people he meets at the dinner parties. To Paul, working-class life is filled with life and warmth. Gertrude, however, points out that he does not truly like working-class people, such as his father’s friends. She suggests that he is “snobbish about class” (236); she hopes for her son to be successful enough that he can join the middle class and perhaps even “marry a lady” (236). Gertrude is aware that Paul has never even thought about being with a middle-class woman, which is a part of his broader struggles to find happiness. Paul does not agree with his mother. As long as he lives a “full” life (237), he says, he does not care whether or not he is happy.