It is curious that those literary critics who after an initial reluctance have come round to accepting Freudian theory occasionally feel a me a culpa need to recant earlier opinions, reminding one of the party-line communists who once used to shift their views according to the most recent “correct” understanding of theory and rationalize each modification of opinion on the grounds of greater maturity—simply because it was a later modification. In this way D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers, which was once hailed as a sensual, frank, and psychologically perceptive novel, has lately come to be thought of by these critics as a dissatisfying novel for a reason that seems unbelievable, namely that it is oedipal. That is, a few critics, having now accepted Freudian tenets, think they must