The Horse-Dealer's Daughter Literary Elements

Short story

The action takes place during winter in England in the 1920s

The story is narrated via a third-person narrator using free-indirect narration, focalized first through Mabel and then through Jack Ferguson

The story has a gloomy and uncertain mood. The tone is cutting and judgemental about the brothers and pitying of Mabel.

Mabel is the protagonist, and arguably Dr. Jack Ferguson is another contender for protagonist; both undergo major transformations. The antagonists are Mabel's dismissive brothers.

The Pervins' have lost their fortune after their father died, and now they are losing their family home. The men all have jobs and the ability to pay for housing elsewhere, but Mabel has nowhere to go.

The climax happens when Mabel tries to drown herself in the pond and Dr. Ferguson pulls her out.

In the beginning of the book, the reader sees the psychological state of Mabel. She becomes unsociable and does not want to communicate with people because of her parents’ death. The amount of time she spends in the cemetery portends that she will attempt to reunite with her mother in the afterlife.

The short story alludes to the conditions of life in England and Scotland, especially for women, in the early twentieth century.

*See imagery subsection

Though Mabel is portrayed as the most responsible and hardworking of all her siblings, she is the only one in danger of being homeless after they lose their family home. This paradox points to the gender inequality of the times, and shows how easy it was for men with means, no matter how irresponsible of dim-witted, to find work and land on their feet.

Throughout the story, the lives of the Pervins (particularly the Pervin brothers) are shown to parallel the lives of the horses which they used to sell. For Joe, married life represents the end of his wild days as a bachelor. He will be doomed to a "bridle" and worked like a beast of burden. During the family meeting at the beginning of the story, the horses outside are tied tail to tail, which mirrors the way that the Pervin siblings are obligated to each other.

In the beginning of the story, the mahogany furniture is personified; Lawrence writes that it "looked as if it were waiting to be done away with" (198).