Sons and Lovers was D.H. Lawrence's first major novel. His only major novel, some would say; but even readers who are out of sympathy with him, or who feel that his gifts were not really those of a novelist, have usually been happy to make a wholehearted exception in this one case.
It is a book that goes straight to the point, at the outset and at almost every subsequent stage. Between them his two methods leave us in no doubt where the heart of his story is to be located.
Gertrude Morel is a woman of high principle, of character and refinement. Her husband is a miner who can barely read and write. Marrying him for passion, she is bitterly disappointed by his rough manners, his drinking, what she can only see as his weakness and irresponsibility. When the book opens, the marriage has already turned into a battlefield, and the love she has withdrawn from Morel is being redirected toward the first of her children. In the previous chapters, Gertrude Morel is most devoted to her eldest son William. But after he dies of a skin disease, she plunges into grief. Seeing William is gone, she rededicates her life to Paul, and this revives her. She teaches her son art, education, and social advancement. She lives for her sons and will do anything to see them make their way in the world.
Mrs. Morel is terribly tired of her involvement in Paul and Miriam's relationship and decides to stop intervening. She knows that Paul is an adult now and that there is nothing she can do to stop Paul from seeing Miriam. She feels that she can never forgive her son for sacrificing himself to love Miriam. As it mentions above, Paul has begun to realize how much his mother affects his life. Her deep love for him has made her a part of himself that when he wants to break free from his mother, he is unable to get away from her. His mother is ingrained into his very soul.
That』s to say, his mother influences Paul very much, and which proves to be for worse to him. When Paul finds girlfriend, he always find the girl who takes after his mother, not only the out look but also in mental. But in fact he could not find such girl. So it lead to that he never willing to be bound to Miriam in marriage or to Clara in physical love. At last Paul has begun to realize how much his mother affects his life. Her deep love for him has made her a part of himself that when he wants to break free from his mother, he is unable to get away from her. His mother is ingrained into his very soul.
To sum up, Paul』s mother has some bad influence on him and to a large extent changes his life.