A Stylistic Analysis of D.H. Lawrence’s ‘Sons and Lovers’

Abstract

This paper aims at analyzing D.H. Lawrence’s ‘Sons and Lovers’ using a stylistic approach. Stylistics is a study of the amalgamation of form with content. The stylistic analysis of a novel goes beyond the traditional, intuitive interpretation, because it combines intuition and detailed linguistic analysis of the text. The defining elements of modern language are within the text itself, not prescribed from outside. With modernist texts, usually understanding comes from close study of the language system defined within the text itself. Form, technique and style are considered not as a mere vehicle of the content of the story, but an integral part of the work’s meaning and value. In our analysis of ‘Sons and Lovers’ the resources of language: lexis, syntax, phonology, figurative language, cohesion and coherence, are discussed in relation to the style of discourse in order to explore hidden meanings in the text. The resources of language are shown to be an essential part of the meaning of the novel.