Symbolic Places in D. H. Lawrence’s England, My England and The Border Line
Symbolic Places in D. H. Lawrence’s England, My England and The Border Line

Summary/Abstract: Starting from several remarks on the notions of space and place and on the way in which they appear in literature in general and in D. H. Lawrence’s works in particular, the paper analyses the places where the action of the two short stories unfolds and their symbolic significance, since it is obvious that both in England, My England and in The Border Line the setting acquires both a real and a figurative dimension. In the former short story, the characters begin in a place that is similar to a Garden of Eden, then move to the city, only to return occasionally to what seems to be their lost paradise, while in the latter we are dealing with a larger territory that displays characteristics of a Nether World. The analysis of the texts will concentrate on the passages where the respective places are described, revealing major symbolic elements that appear in the descriptions, as well as the importance assigned to death, which is both denoted and connoted, especially in the second short story. The conclusions will parallel the texts with the ideas expressed by D. H. Lawrence in The Spirit of Place.

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