Love in a Modern World: Evelyn Waugh's Depiction of Love Post-World War I

Evelyn Waugh's novel A Handful of Dust depicts a post World War I world wherein gossip, money, and glamour serve as the cornerstones of society. Waugh's satirical and often scathing depiction of this life specifically targets the expression and manifestation of love. Rather than its more typical depiction as something everlasting, pure, and genuine, Waugh offers a version of love that is trite, ephemeral, and superficial. Waugh develops this critique by describing various relationships in terms of transitory entities such as physical beauty, wealth, the military, and passing fads.

The first major relationship the novel explores is between Tony and Brenda, and this couple illustrates a love within the bounds of institutionalized marriage. Waugh, however, describes that relationship as marked by superficiality. Brenda repeatedly attributes Tony's love to "habit" or simply being "used to [her] for seven years" (Waugh 111, 121). Tony himself admits "[h]e had got into a habit of loving and trusting Brenda" (Waugh 172). The sense of "habit" employed by Tony and Brenda is an "automatic, 'mechanical' reaction to a specific situation which usually has been acquired by learning and/or repetition" ("Habit"). This reduces Tony's love to little more than an unthinking, biologically conditioned response. While love is typically represented in terms of deep emotion, both Tony and Brenda speak of their relationship as merely a learned reaction to repeated contact. Adding to this detached representation of love, the first definition of habit is "fashion or mode of apparel, dress" followed shortly by "outward form or appearance" ("Habit"). According to orthodox religious credo, married love is eternal. Yet Waugh immediately describes married love in terms of two mutable entities: fashion and physical appearance. Additionally, Mrs. Beaver states that after "five or six years" of marriage "it was time [Brenda] began to be bored" (Waugh 7). Both these instances imply the relationships in the novel work on the same temporal level as the characters. Put another way, rather than representing love in the eternal or permanent sense, relationships are born and relationships die just as easily as the characters themselves. Waugh's depiction of love is not elevated or transcendent. It is fundamentally transitory.

Waugh continues this condemnation of love within the novel by emphasizing the separation of emotion and sexual encounters. For example, Beaver "doesn't care for [Brenda] in the least. If he did, [the affair] would soon be over" (Waugh 129). In fact, Beaver does not even appear emotionally invested enough to finish the letter he sends Brenda thanking her for the Christmas present (Waugh 81). Contrary to the accepted ideal, Waugh proffers the introduction of emotion into a sexual relationship as the necessary demise of that relationship. Furthermore, marriage itself is overtly labeled as "the problem of getting along well together" (Waugh 28). The lack of emotion is evident in this description in two ways. First, the word "problem" suggests the necessity for a solution, and this in turn connotes a logical or even mathematical approach to marriage. Second, the goal of marriage here is not happiness or any sort of personal fulfillment through union. Rather, it is nothing more than to peacefully coexist. This level of detachment between Tony and Brenda is evident by her desire to set him up with another woman. Polly's suggestion of getting Tony interested in another woman elicits Brenda's response of "[i]f only we could...who is there?" (Waugh 110). Brenda does not hesitate or equivocate. She presents herself as perfectly content to make her husband sexually (and perhaps even emotionally) available to other women. With transience and this lack of emotion serving as the hallmarks of sexual relationships, Waugh begins to depict the intimate interactions of the novel as fundamentally shallow.

Another relationship explored throughout the novel is between Tony and Milly. Tony first meets Milly at the club Sixty-four. After their interaction she essentially demands "a little present" for her services as a "professional dancing" partner (Waugh 98). This relationship is demarcated in strictly monetary and businesslike terms. Most overtly, as is the principle of business, there is an exchange of money for time and/or services. There is the additional fact that Milly specifically proclaims herself a "professional." Tony's second encounter with Milly is described in equally sterile, businesslike language. The arrangement of Tony's infidelity is "fixed" for "[t]he fourth week-end after Brenda's departure from Hetton" (Waugh 177). The exactitude of the "fourth week-end" makes this exchange analogous to setting a clinical appointment. The subsequent details of reserving the hotel room and notifying the private detectives all add to the organized and pragmatic approach of this sexual encounter. Tony is even informed by the solicitor with "no hint of naughtiness" that "[i]t only remains to select a partner" (Waugh 177). While "partner" can be construed in the more general sense of "a person with a joint share in or use of something," the businesslike language conjures the specifically business related definition: "any of a number of individuals with interests and investments in a business or enterprise, among whom expenses, profit, and losses are shared" ("Partner"). This definition illustrates that just as with their first encounter, physical interaction is brought in relation to business, which in turn directly brings it in relation to money. This connection is further established when Jock describes finding a woman for Tony as "study[ing] the market at the Sixty-four" (Waugh 178). Whether in terms of a business market or a market of goods, this phrase necessarily implies an exchange of money. Waugh even labels the time Milly and Babs spend at the Sixty-four as "business hours" (Waugh 179). Work-related language remains equally as prevalent when Tony, Milly, and Winnie are at the seaside. The private detective states "[y]ou haven't no business to recognize us at all. I don't know what they'd say at the office," and "James is new to this kind of work" to which Tony replies "[s]o am I" (Waugh 186). "Business," "office," and "work" all reiterate the professional nature and purpose of the detectives, and once again Tony directly equates this sexual escapade to a form of clinical and professional labor. As with the aforementioned relationships, the lack of emotion is once again emphasized. However, this distance is now present between Tony and Milly. Tony specifically says he is not "going [to the Sixty-four] for enjoyment" (Waugh 179). He considers this arranged infidelity a strictly business exchange necessary to facilitate his divorce, and Waugh's language supports that assertion.

The superficiality of Tony's romantic exchanges is heightened by the parallels between his initial exchange with Brenda and his exchange with Milly at the seaside resort. The first major similarity is that Tony sleeps in a separate bed in both instances. This emphasizes an equal lack of intimacy between both his wife of seven years and a woman he barely knows who is merely pretending to be his mistress. There is also a young child present in both situations. While Tony is home at his estate this refers to his own son John, and in the latter situation it refers to Milly's child Winnie. However, in both cases, the child is absent when the two adults are together on the bed. Additionally, Brenda is described as "a nereid emerging from fathomless depths of clear water" (Waugh 17). This mention of water and sea nymphs draws parallels with the sea resort where Milly and Tony are staying. Lastly, as previously mentioned, the word "habit" plays a significant role in the dynamic between Brenda and Tony. It is therefore significant that Milly, "[f]rom habit and exhaustion...put her head on [Tony's] shoulder and her hand in his" (Waugh 194). The similarity in details brings these two scenes in conversation with one another. The scene with Milly is understandably empty. They are not in love nor are they even in an adulterous relationship. However, this juxtaposition does serve to make the emptiness of Tony's domestic life all the more poignant. By describing his marital relations as comparable to his "affair," Tony's marriage becomes just as superficial and fraudulent as his cold, monetary, and businesslike relationship with Milly.

The concept of commerce is not specific, however, to Tony and Milly. It pervades nearly every relationship in the novel, and it almost always acts in a prohibitory role. For example, Beaver was engaged at one point but "couldn't get married because of money" (Waugh 66). This illustrates the pervasive mentality throughout the novel that love is not the necessary precursor to marriage but rather monetary funds. After the broken engagement, Brenda explains that Beaver never had "a proper affaire with anyone decent" (Waugh 66). "Proper" embodies two basic but differing definitions. The first is simply "conformity with rule," while the second is "genuine, true, real; regular, normal" ("Proper"). Similarly, "decent" has related but varying definitions. One sense of decent is "seemly, fitting" or "respectable," while another is "appropriate with regard to rank or dignity" ("Decent"). However, considering Brenda has just explained Beaver's inability to marry due to money, she is employing a definition that equates properness and decency with monetary stability. Employing these different definitions effectively aligns the prevailing norms with both validity and legitimacy. Brenda takes it one step further to equate these concepts with possessing wealth, and in doing so reveals an essential prevailing sentiment within the novel: being financially well-off affords your actions and beliefs a sense of authority. Further highlighting this point, Brenda goes on to explain that Beaver had "to be taught a whole lot of things" and that this very fact was "part of his attraction" (Waugh 66). Brenda (the partner with sufficient funds) assumes the role of the teacher, while Beaver (the financially instable partner) must necessarily assume the role of pupil. The authority afforded to Brenda and her views through her relationship is made possible in large part by her pecuniary advantage over Beaver. Through this pair, Waugh delivers a portrait of money defining the parameters, power structure, and terms of a sexual relationship.

However, monetary funds are not only described as inhibiting a union through marriage. They are also described as inhibiting the furthering of a family. This is the case with Brenda's sister Marjorie who did not have children, because her and her husband "could not afford a baby" (Waugh 48). Just as with Beaver's broken engagement, Waugh depicts a case of money and businesslike pragmatism determining the dynamic of the family unit rather than love.

Beaver is similarly constrained by his monetary position during Christmas when Brenda orders him not to give her a present. Brenda does so out of "self-protection, for she knew that whatever he said would hurt her by its poverty" (Waugh 80). Brenda's refusal of a gift is overtly labeled as self-protection as her concern is not for the financial strain it will put on him, but for the hurt she will incur. Her selfishness is further underscored by her hope "he might have disobeyed her" (Waugh 80). Brenda does not allow for the possibility that a gift's worth and meaning is predicated on anything other than its monetary value. This is another instance of Waugh's increasingly superficial depiction of Brenda and the increasingly material terms by which the relationship between her and Beaver is described.

Another telling connection between romantic relationships and money is how the dissolution of Brenda and Tony's marriage is handled. When Reggie confronts Tony, he directly states "[i]t's about money" (Waugh 205). However, Reggie eventually corrects himself by saying "[t]here's more to it than just money" (Waugh 207). What follows, however, is the information that Beaver "can't marry Brenda unless she's properly provided for" (Waugh 207). This phrase "properly provided for" is in direct reference to Brenda's financial situation. Whatever Reggie said about the situation not concerning money, his statement is still exclusively concerned with the connection between wealth and marriage. He simply reiterates the sentiment that a marriage must be based on a solid financial foundation rather than a stable or meaningful emotional connection. Even when Reggie overtly states that he will not discuss money, it endures as the focus of his conversation with Tony.

As the previous examples illustrate, Waugh insists on associating the concept of wealth with romantic relationships. If wealth is understood as wholly material and transitory, these instances serve to illustrate the implied transience of romantic love within the novel. Again, Waugh does not offer comfort in the solidity of romantic relationships or an equation of love with anything everlasting. Instead he is adamant about deflating this very romantic notion of love, and in doing so, revealing the essentially superficial nature of the resultant relationships.

In addition to the language of business and capital, militaristic phrases inform the nature of Tony and Milly's relationship as well as Waugh's more overarching statements on love, sex, and relationships. Milly's eveningwear is labeled a "uniform," while she is described as "reporting for duty, a legionary ordered for active service after the enervating restraints of a winter in barracks" (Waugh 189). The other military reference is Brenda's assertion that Tony is "settling down wonderfully to the new régime," by which she means their new living situation (Waugh 127). These are two of the only overt references to the military throughout the novel, and this is of particular note considering the novel depicts a recently post World War I society. World War I marked such a tremendous and monumental shift it is unexpected that a novel concentrating on that era would not more directly address the situation. However, by only pairing the war with instances of relationships, Waugh is able to draw significant parallels between the two. Most obviously, relationships are put in direct relation with death, suffering, and cataclysmic disaster on a scale the world had never seen before. However, World War I also saw the fall of previously stable forms of government and an established sense of world order. Something as engrained as a political system can seem immutable and permanent, but World War I proved that belief false. By describing relationships of this era in militaristic terms, love is not only put on the plane of catastrophe, but it is also put on the plane of the seemingly stable but ultimately fragile and temporary.

Another means by which Waugh depicts this idea is through his use of slang or colloquial language. When the narrator ruminates on Brenda's affair with Beaver, it is said that if she "had at last broken away with Jock Grant-Menzies or Robin Beaseley or any other young buck with whom nearly everyone had had a crack one time or another, it would have been thrilling no doubt, but straightforward, drawing-room comedy" (Waugh 75). The first prominent slang term is "young buck" followed by "had a crack." The latter is defined as "to make an attempt" and is specifically designated as a colloquialism originating from the United States ("Crack"). Both these terms were in high usage within the inter-war society, but slang language and colloquialisms are by their very nature transitory. Language is constantly changing, and popular phrases come and go much like fashion or any other fashionable trend. "Had a crack" in this instance refers specifically to engaging in sexual activity. By expressing this in a colloquial manner it essentially has the same effect as describing a romantic relationship in monetary terms. The supposedly eternal (sex and/or romantic relationships) is diminished by its relation to the temporary.

It is important to note, however, this depiction of love is not specific to the adults of the novel. Part of Waugh's argument about the detrimental effects of this mindset is the perpetuation of these values to future generations. In this way, it is significant that John Andrew possesses and manifests a sense of love similar to his parents. When Tony scolds him for calling his nanny names and reminds him of "all the things she does for [him] every day" John simply replies that "[s]he's paid to" (Waugh 25). Even at his young age, John does not see acts of kindness in terms of love. Rather, he immediately recognizes and comments on the monetary aspect. In another instance, John expresses his belief to Nanny that Jenny is "the most beautiful lady" he has ever seen (Waugh 118). This is directly followed by his question "[d]'you think [Jenny]'d like to watch me have my bath" as well as the enunciation that he "shouldn't mind" if she spanked him "hard" (Waugh 118-119). John displays a youthful innocence and ignorance in his conduct. However, if not for his age, his hopes would be understood as distinctly sexual. Most importantly, this attraction John feels is based purely on Jenny's physical appearance. This correlation between internal personality and external appearance can be linked back to his interactions with Tony. When John asks his father why he doesn't like Lady Cockpurse, Tony replies "[b]ecause she looks like a monkey" (Waugh 55). In this way, Waugh creates an analogy between John's reaction to Jenny and his father's previously expressed attitudes toward Lady Cockpurse, which are predicated on superficial, capricious attributes such as physical beauty. Just as wealth, slang language, and political norms are inevitably momentary, so too is physical beauty (and for that matter, the entire materiality of the body). By associating John's sexual attraction with the body, Waugh accomplishes two major thematic goals. He continues to critique post World War I society for its insistence on the superficial and the effect this has on romantic relationships, but he also solidifies these beliefs as transmittable. The actions and viewpoints expressed today are shown as having ramifications in the future. This makes every individual personally accountable, and it is precisely this accountability distinctly lacking in the characters of Handful of Dust.

Waugh's novel is undoubtedly satirical, and it takes aim specifically at the post World War I society that manifested its disillusionment into a fascination with glamour, glitz, and the immediate present. Because the disillusionment was so pervasive, the resultant party culture (the world of "bright young things") ended up abandoning a great portion of the past. According to Waugh, this included both the good and the bad. Therefore, throughout Handful of Dust Waugh offers a view of love greatly reduced by this preoccupation with the here and now. In the world of Waugh's novel, love is no longer an ideal, but rather a mechanized, commercialized, and trivialized version of its manifestations in the past. He does not lionize the past unduly, but there is a pervasive sense of vapidity about romantic relationships bred from the modern English society depicted in the novel.

Works Cited

"Crack." Oxford English Dictionary, online edition

"Decent." Oxford English Dictionary, online edition

"Habit." Oxford English Dictionary. Online edition.

"Partner." Oxford English Dictionary, online edition

"Proper." Oxford English Dictionary, online edition

Waugh, Evelyn. A Handful of Dust. United States of America: Back Bay Books, 1999.