Lawrence began working on the novel in the period of his mother's illness, and often expresses this sense of his mother's wasted life through his female protagonist Gertrude Morel. Letters written around the time of its development clearly demonstrate the admiration he felt for his mother – viewing her as a 'clever, ironical, delicately moulded woman' – and her apparently unfortunate marriage to his coal-miner father, a man of 'sanguine temperament' and instability. He believed that his mother had married below her class status. Unlike her husband, Lydia grew up in a middle class religious family, and the differences in their backgrounds often caused family conflicts. On one hand, Mr. Lawrence would spend his wages on drink after working for hours in the coal mine; on the other hand, Mrs. Lawrence focused on their children's upbringing, welfare, and education while also harboring a desire to open her own haberdashery shop. This personal family conflict experienced by Lawrence provided him with the impetus for the first half of his novel – in which both William, the older brother, and Paul Morel become increasingly contemptuous of their father – and the subsequent exploration of Paul Morel's antagonising relationships with both his lovers, which are both incessantly affected by his allegiance to his mother.
Lawrence began working on the novel in the period of his mother's illness, and often expresses this sense of his mother's wasted life through his female protagonist Gertrude Morel. Letters written around the time of its development clearly demonstrate the admiration he felt for his mother – viewing her as a 'clever, ironical, delicately moulded woman' – and her apparently unfortunate marriage to his coal-miner father, a man of 'sanguine temperament' and instability. He believed that his mother had married below her class status. Unlike her husband, Lydia grew up in a middle class religious family, and the differences in their backgrounds often caused family conflicts. On one hand, Mr. Lawrence would spend his wages on drink after working for hours in the coal mine; on the other hand, Mrs. Lawrence focused on their children's upbringing, welfare, and education while also harboring a desire to open her own haberdashery shop This personal family conflict experienced by Lawrence provided him with the impetus for the first half of his novel – in which both William, the older brother, and Paul Morel become increasingly contemptuous of their father – and the subsequent exploration of Paul Morel's antagonising relationships with both his lovers, which are both incessantly affected by his allegiance to his mother.