The Horse-Dealer's Daughter Essay Questions

Discuss some ways in which Lawrence uses the imagery of horses and other animals to characterize the Pervins.

Some examples include the running of the remaining horses outside the window while the Pervin siblings have their meeting at the beginning of the story. The horses are tied tail-to-tail, and are thus bound to each other in the same way that the Pervin siblings are unwillingly bound to each other. Twice near the beginning of the story, Lawrence describes Joe as moving in a "horsey fashion": "He pushed back in his chair, straddled his knees with a downward jerk, to get them free, in horsey fashion" (200) and "Joe stood with his knees stuck out, in real horsey fashion" (200). Lawrence portrays the horses as stupid and helpless, and this image reflects more upon Joe every time he is compared to a horse. Finally, when Lawrence describes Joe's anxiety about getting married, he writes that "Joe watched with glazed hopeless eyes. The horses were almost like his own body to him. He felt he was done for now. Luckily he was engaged to a woman as old as himself, and therefore her father, who was steward of a neighboring estate, would provide him with a job. He would marry and go into harness" (199). The horses are a recurring symbol of subjugation and powerlessness.

What does the title of the story suggest about Mabel's status?

The title, "The Horse-Dealer's Daughter," addresses Mabel only in terms of who her father was, suggesting that without her father, she has no identity, or rather, her identity is inextricably tied to her father's position. Throughout the story, Mabel's status shifts depending on which men she associates with. When her father was alive, she was able to live respectably and maintain their family home. When she is with her brothers she is taken for granted, dismissed, and entirely alone. Then, when it seems that she and Dr. Ferguson have fallen in love with each other, her entire perspective changes and she finds a will to live.

Who is the protagonist of the story?

Mabel is the obvious choice for the protagonist of the story; it is, after all, named after her. She undergoes a major transformation from the beginning to the end of the story, from totally unloved and seemingly unloving, to hopelessly and vulnerably in love. However, an argument could made that Jack Ferguson is a protagonist alongside Mabel. He also undergoes a major transformation from start to finish. He falls suddenly in love with Mabel. And, the close third perspective zooms in on Jack around the halfway point of the story and stays with him until the end.

Discuss Jack's relationship with the townspeople and his opinion of the working class.

Jack is bored of the village where he works as a surgical assistant. As a young doctor, he has little control over where he can practice medicine. He is more educated than the majority of the people that he treats, and thus feels a sense of superiority over them. The only friends he has in town are the Pervins, and they are different from the rest of the town in that they never had to work in their lives. Their fortune was provided for them by their father, who himself was a man of very little education.

Do you think Mabel and Jack will stay together? Will their love endure, or will their relationship end as quickly as it began?

One could make an argument that Jack and Mabel's love could endure, but it seems that Lawrence has intentionally doomed their relationship from the start. The moment they finally notice each other, they make eye contact across a cemetery. Their love begins in a place of endings and death. Ultimately, the story ends in uncertainty and fear. Instead of feeling joyous about their newfound love, Jack speaks with a "terrible intonation" and Mabel is frightened that he could stop loving her at any moment.