turn, has become indifferent to them.

They had talked at her and round her for so many years, that she hardly heard them  at all.

Mabel’s family life, then, appears quite cold and unloving. There is further evidence of this in the way that her brothers habitually address her, calling her ‘the sulkiest bitch that ever trod,’ and so on.

When the family fortunes finally crash beyond all point of recovery the three brothers do not seem as adversely affected as Mabel does. Unlike them, she is left with literally no place to go. She cannot easily get a job, she has no education, there is no place for her in society as a single and penniless woman. While her brothers are also affected by poverty, she is doubly handicapped in being both impoverished and female. The only way out that she can see is suicide – although she is foiled in this.

Another theme is that of the divisions between social classes. Jack Ferguson, the doctor, a man of education, relatively well-off, can barely comprehend the lives of the working class, families like the Pervins who appear to him 'inarticulate', without intellect, almost animal-like. Yet contact with them stimulates him, and he finally breaks through class barriers completely when he falls in love with Mabel. However, in doing do he has to let go of his more refined, socially-cultivated self, and instead give way to his passion and instincts, which normally in his social circles he cannot do.

A third theme of the story is that of rebirth. Both Ferguson and Mabel find new life in loving one another. They have both been leading a repressed existence; Ferguson until now has had to suppress his natural instincts and emotions, while Mabel, as already discussed, has had no place of her own in the world.

Certainly any work of literature could be argued to have a number of different themes, and this excellent short story by D. H. Lawrence is no exception. However, one of the themes that I found interesting was the way that society is regarded. Throughout this short story, the two central characters are variously shown to be repressed by society, albeit in different ways.

Mabel is clearly impacted greatly by society because of her poverty. Consider how the text describes this impact:

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 chepaest food.

We can see therefore that it is partly the stigma of poverty applied to her by society that drives her to attempting to commit suicide.

Yet at the same time, Fergusson is just as impacted by society. Note how his success as a doctor makes him feel that he is too good for the town that he describes as a "hellish hole." His feeling of superiority causes him to fear for what others would think when he has declared his love for Mabel:

That he should love her? That this was love! That he should be ripped open in this way! Him, a doctor! How they would all jeer if they knew! It was agony to him to think they might know.

Throughout the story therefore, society is presented as a destructive and dominant force, that compels characters to act and think and feel unnatural actions, thoughts and emotions, even as they surrender themselves to their true natures.

One motif is the interaction between two classes of people. Jack Ferguson is a young doctor and he represents someone of a different social class than the Pervins. He has a job that we might call "white collar," one that requires more mental faculties than a job working with horses. In his rational mind, he did not like going from house to house, caring for those of this "ugly little town." But at the same time, he craved the connection with these people: "the contact with the rough, strongly-feeling people was a stimulant applied direct to his nerves." 

Mabel's family once had money, but their lives were more "blue collar" as we might say today. She and her brothers are described with qualities of the "animal" and this indicates a contrast to the more logical culture and family life Ferguson comes from. 

After saving Mabel from a suicide attempt, Jack is upset with himself for even thinking of loving or lusting after Mabel because it is illogical. It goes against his professional conduct and he also might feel it is wrong because of their different lifestyles. But, just as he is drawn to the "strong-feeling people" of the town, he is drawn to Mabel. This first motif is illustrated here: the separation of two "classes" is bridged through love. 

Parallel to this motif is the bridging of the logical and the emotional. Jack is a doctor, logical and professional in his practice. He tries to reason his way out of loving Mabel, but his emotions draw him to her. This shows he is as much "animal" as she is. This shows that his "blood consciousness" (emotions, desires) overpowers his "mental consciousness" (reason, cultural mores). There is a certain idealism here because these two motifs suggest that love and/or "animal" lust is oblivious to any notions of class or social strictures.