Story of The Horse Dealer's Daughter

1. By: Ruby G. Pacamara@2016

2. • David Herbert Richards
Lawrence was an English
novelist, poet,
playwright, essayist,
literary critic and painter
who published as D. H.
Lawrence.
He was born
on September 11, 1885
in Eastwood, United
Kingdom.
And died on March 2,
1930 in Vence, France at
the aged of 44.

3.  The work of controversial English author D. H.
Lawrence explores human nature through
explicit sexual descriptions and intense
psychological dialogue.
 Lawrence's short fiction often reflects his dark
experiences of growing up in a radical and
industrial England.
 WorldWar I also had a strong impact on
Lawrence - through much of his work, he uses a
continuing symbolic cycle of life and death to
display how new life can be given to individuals
or societies of the verge of despair.

4.  Specifically, in his work of short fiction titled
"The Horse-Dealer's Daughter," Lawrence
displays the redemption of a traditionally
English society through a love affair between
the town doctor and a girl whom he rescues
from committing suicide.
 In this story, Lawrence abandons the romantic
style that such a story would typically embrace
by illuminating the deeply conflicting emotions
of the two characters.
 He suggests that the need felt by both of these
characters to be loved drives their actions
throughout the story.

5.  Lawrence argues that the universal need to
be loved is often confused when emotions
and expectations collide; however these two
disparate feelings are reconciled in
Lawrence's world when the female assumes a
dominant role and expresses her desire for
love and the male submissively fulfills her
expectations.

6. CHARACTERS:
 Mabel Pervin- a sullen-looking young woman of
twenty seven, the daughter of the horse dealer.
 Joe Pervin- the eldest of the three brothers of Mabel,
a man of thirty-three, broad and handsome in a hot,
flushed way.
 Fred Henry Pervin- the second brother of Mabel, he
was erect, clean-limbed, alert.
 Malcolm Pervin- the youngest of them all, he was
the baby of the family, a young man of twenty-two.
 Jack Ferguson- He was muffled up in overcoat and a
purple woollen scarf, and his tweed cap, which he did
not remove, was pulled down on his head. He was of
medium height, his face was rather long and pale, his
eyes looked tired.

8. • Mabel is the
daughter of
a horse
dealer who
has recently
died and left
the family in
debt.

9. Mabel’s Father

10.  Mabel's
mother had
died some
time before
this, and her
brothers plan
to move away

11.  Mabel's brothers
do not concern
themselves with
her - her only
option is to move
in with her sister
and become a
servant.

12.  In such a
depressed and
apathetic
state, Mabel
often visits
her mother's
grave to
decorate it
with flowers.

13.  On one such
occasion, a
young doctor
named Jack
Ferguson
watches her
from a
distance.

15. •She leaves
the grave,
walks through
a field, and
proceeds to
walk directly
into a lake.

16.  Jack watches
her from afar,
stupefied, and
when she does
not surface,
he quickly runs
in after her
and saves her.

17.  Jack brings her
to the house,
where he takes
off her wet
clothes and
wraps her in
blankets by a
warm fire.

18.  Upon awakening, Mabel is confused and
asks Jack if he was the one who saved
her from the lake and undressed her.
 When Jack responds that it was him,
she asks if he loves her. She then
begins to insist - she grabs on to him
and says repeatedly "you love me, you
love me, I know you love me, I know.“
 Jack is shocked and does not know how
to respond.

19.  Mabel begins to kiss him,
passionately, still repeating
"you love me" over and over,
until finally, Jack responds
that he does.

20.  An in-depth analysis of Mabel's
character illustrates how her actions
and demands for Jack's love are solely
based on her emotional state.
 When Mabel, who feels her life is void
and worthless, walks into the lake to
end her life, she does not wish for
anyone to rescue her.

21.  However, when Jack automatically
jumps into the frigid waters to save
her, not even knowing how to swim, he
is acting in terms of his obligation to
her as a doctor.
 Jack is also a human being who
assumes that Mabel wants to be saved.

22. This collision of intentions
causes confusion between the
two characters:
 "'Did you dive into the pond for me?' she
asked.
 'No' he answered. 'I walked in. But I went
overhead as well.'
 'Why did you?' she asked.
 'Because I didn't want you to do such a
foolish thing,' he said.

23.  'It wasn't foolish,' she said, still gazing at him
as she lay on the floor, with a sofa cushion
under her head. 'It was the right thing to do. I
knew best, then.‘
 'I'll go and shift these wet things,' he said. But
still he had not the power to move out of her
presence, until she sent him. It was as if she
had the life of his body in her hands, and he
could not extricate himself. Or perhaps he did
not want to."

24. • Mabel feels the only reason Jack
felt compelled to save her is
because he loves her, while Jack
feels he was simply doing his job.

25.  This division is only unified when
Mabel assumes the dominant role.
She forces the idea of love onto
Jack.
 She repeats the phrase "you love
me, I know you love me."

26.  Mabel believes that because Jack
saved her from the lake, carried her to
the house and undressed her by the
fire that he is essentially assuming
responsibility for her and therefore he
must plan to continue caring for her.
 This resonates deeply with Mabel,
especially during this depressed and
insecure time in her life where her
future is uncertain and her family
members are indifferent of her fate.

27.  "He looked down at the tangled wet
hair, the wild, bare animal shoulders.
 He was amazed, bewildered and afraid.
He has never thought of loving her.
 He had never wanted to love her.When
he rescued her and restored her, he was
a doctor, and she was a patient.

28.  He had no single personal thought of her.
Nay this introduction of the personal
element was very distasteful to him, a
violation of his professional honour. It
was horrible.
 He revolted from it, violently. And yet -
and yet - he had not the power to break
away."

29.  Even though the idea of loving
Mabel horrified Jack, he somehow
felt drawn to her. She was a victim,
largely of herself, and Jack is the one
person who offered her assistance.

30.  As a result of her dominance, Jack
submits to Mabel's demand for love after
resolving his inner conflict.
 The idea of responsibility for Mabel
initially fills Jack with annoyance and
disgust. and at the same time, love.
 He loves her for being helpless, but he
hates her for putting him in this
situation.
 Mabel realizes his conflicting feelings
and responds by saying, "I'm so awful,
I'm so awful... you can't want to love me,
I'm horrible."

31.  Jack does not use Mabel's
doubt as an escape from this
unwanted position.
 Instead, he tells her that he
does want her, and that he
wishes to marry her as soon as
possible.

32.  In Lawrence's world, love is a form
of submission. The dominant
female, Mabel, uses force to make
her male counterpart submit to her
desire.
 These two people, strangers at
first, are now quickly and
impulsively committed to each
other.

33.  Jack and Mabel's relationship is
almost entirely involuntary.
 Mabel commands Jack's love - Jack
saves her from drowning and
therefore he should be committed
to her for life.

34.  What seemed to Jack as a simple yet heroic
rescue turns into a life-long commitment.
Lawrence argues that in saving Mabel, Jack is
united to her through love, even if Jack's love
for her is out of guilt rather than true emotion.
 Lawrence insists that love is a combination of
impulsive, illogical emotions, and that through
this kind of love Jack and Mabel become
fatedly united.

35. SETTING:
 Lake
 House

36. THEME:
•Doubt
•Reliance
•Connection
•Desperation
•Escape
•Security

37. Yenoh123@2016 
!!