The Horse Dealer's Daughter

by D. H. Lawrence

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The Horse Dealer's Daughter Questions and Answers

What is the point of view in "The Horse Dealer's Daughter"?

What does the story "The Horse Dealer's Daughter" say about the nature of love? What does it insinuate about the relationship between men and women?

In "The Horse Dealer's Daughter," in what way does the opening scene help us to understand Mabel and the events that follow?

What are the major themes evident in "The Horse Dealer's Daughter"?

What kind of person is Mabel? How do her brothers treat her? How does she feel about her brothers? What dilemma does she face as the story begins?

How would you describe Dr. Jack Fergusson and his relationship to the family members in The Horse Dealer's Daughter?

In the story "The Horse Dealer's Daughter" after Mabel and Ferguson realize their love, why does Lawrence explore these feelings so extensively?

What effect does Mabel have on Ferguson as he watches her in her home, in the churchyard and at the pond; and what does this say about Lawrence's ideas on love?

What do water and mud symbolize in the story?  

What is the conflict, complication, moment of change, and resolution in the story of "The Horse Dealer's Daughter"?

Interactions between Mabel Pervin and Ferguson? Has their relationship undergone any change?

What do Mabel and Fergusson realize as he revives and warms her in paragraphs 113–142 of "The Horse Dealer's Daughter"? How do their responses signify their growth as characters?

In "The Horse Dealer's Daughter," how does the narrative voice suit the story's effect? How does the third person narrative suit the effect of the story?

In "The Horse Dealer's Daughter," what is Mabel's situation within her family? What is her relationship with her brothers? What are her feelings for her mother? For her father?

In "The Horse Dealer's Daughter," what role does animal imagery in the story and the title play in commenting on the romance in the story?

Examine the most important or striking details of this passage. Point out details on character and characterization, setting, conflict, style, and narrative point of view. Include a clear thesis statement that explains the importance of the passage in terms of the rest of the story. Show how it contributes to theme, to character, to conflict, or to setting: She had suffered badly during the period of poverty. Nothing, however, could shake the curious, sullen, animal pride that dominated each member of the family. Now, for Mabel, the end had come. Still she would not cast about her. She would follow her own way just the same. She would always hold the keys of her own situation. Mindless and persistent, she endured from day to day. Why should she think? Why should she answer anybody? It was enough that this was the end, and there was no way out. She need not pass any more darkly along the main street of the small town, avoiding every eye. She need not demean herself any more, going into the shops and buying the cheapest food. This was at an end. She thought of nobody, not even of herself. Mindless and persistent, she seemed in a sort of ecstasy to be coming nearer to her fulfillment, her own glorification, approaching her dead mother, who was glorified.

What is the central theme of "The Horse Dealer's Daughter"?

What is the significance of the scene where Fergusson catches sight of Mabel cleaning her mother's grave in D. H. Lawrence's The Horse Dealer's Daughter?

Using the Freytag Pyramid, discuss the plot of "The Horse Dealer's Daughter."

Please identify the theme of initiation in D.H. Lawrence's short story "The Horse Dealer's Daughter."

Write an analysis for the following excerpt from The Horse Dealer's Daughter: "She had suffered badly during the period of poverty. Nothing, however, could shake the curious, sullen, animal pride that dominated each member of the family. Now, for Mable, the end had come. ... her own glorification, approaching her dead mother, who was glorified."

In D.H. Lawrence's "The Horse Dealer's Daughter," what powerful feeling do both Mabel and the doctor share?

How is animal imagery used and how it is integrated into "The Horse Dealer's Daughter"?

Who or what is the motif?

What does D.H. Lawrence say about love in his short story, "The Horse Dealer's Daughter?"

How can one interpret "The Horse Dealer's Daughter" using a mythological/archetypal analysis?

Where is allegory and paradox in the story of "The Horse Dealer's Daughter"?

How do their responses signify their growth as characters?

In Lawrence's "The Horse Dealer's Daughter," why does the narrator tell us at the story's end that Fergusson "had no intention of loving" Mabel? What idea does this repeated assertion convey?

Explain how the Thematic Characteristics of Modern Literature are evident in "The Horesedealer's Daughter."

How is "The Horse Dealer's Daughter" a departure from more traditional romantic stories?

What typical thematic focus of his does Lawrence apply in "The Horse Dealers Daughter"?

Pick out images, emotions and language in "The Horse Dealer's Daughter" that are used to described love.

In D.H. Lawrence's, "The Horse Dealer's Daughter," what elements in the plot demonstrate the concept of realism?

What is the dialect in "The Horse Dealer's Daughter" by D. H. Lawrence, and how does it relate to the story's theme?

In "The Horse Dealer's Daughter," what elements in the short story does Lawrence use to express imagination to his readers?