font-weight: 400;">His simple habits show working-class culture. His rough manners create quarrels with Gertrude. Lawrence paints poverty, hard work, and lack of education as marks of working-class life.

Middle-Class Taste of Gertrude Morel: Gertrude comes from a middle-class home. She loves books, religion, and refinement. She feels cheated when she sees her husband’s rough habits. The narrator says:

“Each forgot everything save the hatred of the other.”

She turns her love to her sons. She wants them to rise above the pit life. She wants culture and dignity. This clash of taste creates class conflict inside the marriage.

Paul’s Class Struggle: Paul inherits his father’s working-class roots. He also inherits his mother’s middle-class desire. He works in a factory but also paints pictures. He loves Miriam for her spiritual side, but she is poor. He loves Clara for passion, but she is separated from her husband. His loves fail. He cannot fully cross class lines. He is torn between two worlds.

“Sons and Lovers” is deeply about class. Walter Morel stays in the working class. Gertrude dreams of middle-class life. Their children grow between the two. Paul’s struggle shows the pain of class division. Lawrence shows how class shapes love, marriage, and identity.