Looming Realities

Imagine a life free of burden and responsibility, one in which you jovially cruise along from one distraction to the next. Although at first, this existence may seem ideal, upon further examination one surmises that it is also considerably vapid and for the most part, impossible. Reality isn't always breezy and carefree, often kicking one in the face, seemingly out of nowhere. In D. H. Lawrence's England, My England Winifred and Egbert's children are a metaphor for war. Their sudden appearance enlists very different responses from each of their parents, Winifred becoming the dutiful caretaker and Egbert refusing any sort of responsibility whatsoever in order to retain his unbothered persona. However, as with war, the conditions of Egbert's parenthood inevitably affect him.

Egbert and Winifred represent two extreme sides of the spectrum. Lawrence makes this clear with a variety of methods including denotation. The name Winifred means "friend of peace" while the name Egbert means "sword, shiny or famous." This sharp juxtaposition in meaning shows the reader just how differently these individuals handle life. When Joyce is born, Winifred adapts to her new role as a mother utterly and completely, never giving any sort of thought to refusing her responsibilities and creating discord. Though it isn't out of love, it is out of "a profound sense of duty towards her child" (237). She abandons her former concerns, tossing them aside and judging them as trivial. Her ultimate purpose has been revealed to her and she will carry out her proper role unquestioningly.

Egbert, on the other hand, ignores his role as a father. Though he enjoys playing with his children and possesses a fondness for them, he does not provide for them financially or even physically in the traditional way that a father is expected to. His total rejection of this role creates tension and animosity between him and his wife. The passion within their relationship wanes and then crumbles, but for what purpose? For the purpose of fulfilling Egbert's intrinsic need to have no purpose. His beautiful physicality and his lack of purpose make him comparable to a "shiny sword," aesthetically pleasing but when alone, empty in its function.

The couple's country house, Crockham, is comparable to Egbert's lifestyle and Winifred's before the children. "The spear of modern invention had not passed through it, and it lay there secret [. . .] caught out of the world" (234). This setting enabled them to be "left to themselves and their own intensity" (234). It was at Crockham that the couple spent their early years, enveloped in passion and frivolity. Here they truly escaped the strenuous demands of city life and created their own world. When the children came, though Egbert and Winifred's relationship began to change, they were still able to remain at Crockham for some time. This was much to Egbert's satisfaction, allowing him to remain occupied with his random projects and ultimately ineffectual. However, his carelessness eventually bred serious consequences. Joyce eventually injured herself on a sickle-like tool which Egbert had randomly strewn in the garden. Even after this happened, Egbert adopted a guilt-free attitude. "It would probably be nothing [. . .] why take it to heart? Why worry? He put it aside" (244). Her condition slowly worsened, but nothing in Egbert changed. "And between this young mother and this young father lay the child, like a bit of pale silk floss on the pillow, and a little white pain-quenched face [. . .] He turned aside. There was nothing to do but to turn aside" (249).

It was only after the wound became badly infected and the family was forced to move into the London flat in order to be closer to Doctor Wayne and Winifred's father that the incident had any effect on Egbert. "When Egbert saw his little girl limping horribly - not only limping but lurching horribly in a crippled, childish way, his heart again hardened with chagrin, like steel that is tempered again" (250). At this point Joyce's situation