Introduction

There are several renditions of the myth of Narcissus. Narcissus is guilty of false pride or hubris, a grave sin according to the Greeks. It is false pride to conceive of oneself as godlike. Narcissus is guilty of false pride in considering himself superior to everyone in beauty, even the gods. The last key term to be defined is autonomy. Developmentally, it is the first experience of emancipation from the mother. The child of a narcissistic mother is by definition not allowed to be autonomous. The toddler’s opportunity to separate becomes thwarted due to the mother’s need to keep her child attached to her. Sons and Lovers is a story told by a narrator who never identifies himself. The narrator is an observing ego of a young man in his twenties reviewing his agonizing experience of coming of age.