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“Wintry Peacock” by D.H. Lawrence – Summary:

“Wintry Peacock” is a short story by D.H. Lawrence that explores themes of memory, longing, and the disconnect between past and present. Set in the English countryside during winter, the story reflects Lawrence’s deep sensitivity to nature and human emotion.

Summary:

The narrator, staying in a country house during winter, notices a peacock roaming the snowy grounds — an unusual and vivid sight against the bleak, white landscape. The peacock seems out of place in the wintry setting, symbolizing lost beauty, exoticism, or a forgotten past.

Intrigued, the narrator inquires about the bird and learns it once belonged to an Indian officer’s wife who had lived there. She had brought the peacock from India, but after her departure, the bird was left behind, much like a remnant of a bygone, colonial life.

The story ends on a reflective note, with the peacock becoming a haunting emblem of memory, change, and the quiet melancholy of things that no longer belong but remain lingering in the present.

In the story “ Elsie and Alfred are local villagers who provide important background information to the narrator. They are a married couple living near the estate where the narrator is staying.

Elsie:

Elsie is a servant or local woman who has a close connection to the estate. She is talkative, curious, and somewhat gossipy — typical of Lawrence’s portrayals of rural working-class women. She tells the narrator the story behind the peacock, including how it was brought from India by an officer’s wife who used to live at the house. Elsie seems emotionally connected to the house’s past and carries a sense of lingering nostalgia.

Alfred:

Alfred is Elsie’s husband. He plays a smaller role in the story but is mentioned as a practical, no-nonsense man who helps take care of things around the house. He is less sentimental than Elsie and represents a more grounded, rural perspective.

    Mrs. Goyte is a key but absent character in D.H. Lawrence’s short story “Wintry Peacock.” Though she never appears directly in the narrative, her presence is felt through the memories and conversations of other characters — particularly Elsie, who tells the narrator about her.

Who is Mrs. Goyte?

• Wife of an English officer who had served in India.
• She once lived in the house where the story takes place.
• She brought the peacock from India — a symbolic act reflecting her emotional or cultural attachment to her past life there.
• Mrs. Goyte left the house (and the peacock behind) after a personal or emotional crisis — likely a breakdown related to grief, isolation, or marital issues.

What does she represent?

• Colonial displacement: Mrs. Goyte, like the peacock, is a symbol of the British colonial experience — exotic, fragile, and out of place in wintry England.
• Emotional alienation: Her story suggests psychological suffering, possibly due to trauma, loss (some interpretations suggest a lost child), or the coldness of post-colonial English life.
• Memory and loss: She lives on only in the memories of others. Her abandonment of the peacock mirrors her own emotional abandonment.

Symbolic connection to the peacock:

• The peacock, beautiful but out of place in the snowy English countryside, mirrors Mrs. Goyte’s own inner displacement.
• It acts as a ghost of her presence, making her a haunting figure in the story.

Posted by Columnist and author Kamlesh Tripathi