D.H Lawrence, the author of “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter”, was married to a German wife during World War 1. He described his years living in England as “Miserable… because his wife was of German origin, and oppressed by disgust at what was happening to his country,” (Bausch 453). Lawrence’s wife making him feel oppressed caused him to write about women in a negative connotation. In “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter” Lawrence writes about three brothers and a sister that were left in debt after the passing of their father. The daughter, Mabel, was expected to go live with her married sister. Mabel felt like her brothers were trying to control her life and attempted to drown herself in a pond. Her attempt was unsuccessful because the town 's doctor, …show more content…
For example, Mabel‘s brothers did not want her to be on her own when they moved out. Since they are all in debt, they try to convince her to go live with their married sister (Lawrence 455). This conflict between siblings shows that because she is a woman, she is seen as lesser than her brothers. It is suitable for the men in the family to live on their own and make a living but she needs to be taken care of. Another example occurs when Mabel has an internal conflict with herself when she attempts to drown herself in a lake (Lawrence 460). This internal conflict Mabel faces shows that society has drilled into her that a poor single woman can not make it on her own. Mabel would rather be dead than be pitied and whispered about everywhere she goes. Later in the story, after Dr. Ferguson rescues Mabel from drowning she asks if he loves her. Dr. Ferguson has an internal conflict with himself wondering how he could be falling in love with her. The narrator says “When he rescued her and restored her, he was a doctor, and she was his patient. He had had no single personal thought of her. (Lawrence 462). This quote makes it obvious that Dr. Ferguson saw Mabel as far below him on a social level. She was a poor women and he an esteemed doctor. In his mind she was simply a servant for her three brothers and nothing …show more content…
The setting in “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter” continues to convey the theme that women have been oppressed by society. Mabel faces oppression in the small english town where the story takes place. She explains that being a women does not matter as much when a family has money, but when they are poor she has to walk down the streets with her eyes low and avoid eye contact as she buys the cheapest item in every store (Lawrence 458). This shows that when a woman is seen as being represented by someone with power, in this case it is her father, then they are given a little respect. However, when a women is looked at just as herself and not as a rich man’s daughter she is not seen a colleague to men but as an object that is to be pitied. Another example where setting comes into play is the mood created when Mabel tries to kiss Dr. Ferguson after he rescues her. He doesn’t want to kiss her. It takes everything he has just to look at her, but at the same time he can not turn away and escape the look in her eye (Lawrence 463). This creates a sympathetic mood because Dr. Ferguson feels bad for Maybel who has just become poor and attempted to kill herself. The fact that he feels sympathy for her shows that he does not view her as a strong woman that can handle living alone but instead a breakable doll that will fall apart if he stops holding her. Lastly the setting of the pond where Mabel tries to kill herself is described as foul, earthy, and suffocating (Lawrence 460) . This is
“Before the Civil War, laws and traditions restricted women’s choices.” In the passage “Breaking Tradition” by Kathleen Ernst women’s restrictions during the Civil War time are addressed through many ways of telling what they wore and relation back to their jobs, and how they began to protest these ways. Though their rights were restricted, the author was very effective with backing up how the Civil War changed the way women and their rights. In the very beginning of the passage Kathleen Ernst tells how the women in the time of the war had restricted lives and were treated unfairly.
She strives for attention because she is a women, and isn’t allowed to interact with others on her husband’s watch. Steinbeck intelligently uses imagery to portray the theme to the
The lives of Sonny and Mabel are completely different, they were raised in completely different ways and in completely different places. “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin is about the life of a young man who is struggling with drug addiction; he has faced many challenges in his life. One of the many challenges he faces is what connects him to the main character of “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter”; both Mabel and Sonny experienced losing both their mother and their father while they were still fairly young. “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter” by D.H. Lawrence is based on a young woman struggling to deal with the loss of her mother and father, she desires the love and affection of a man. Mabel’s mental state differs from Sonny’s who is very angry with the life he was given.
However, the feeling remains that their relationship wasn’t going to survive. Mabel, due to her financial situation and having no prospects of a home or family shows desperation to find someone to give her a stable way of life. Dr. Jack was that individual; he was an easy target and manipulated into thinking that he was in love with Mabel. Both of these characters captured my interest, the comparison between the male and female character laying out the vast differences in how the sexes portray selfishness. The American and Mabel consequently mastered the art of selfishness.
Polly sometimes envys the Shaw’s for having money, being able to buy what they want when they want it, while she on the other hand has to earn her own money to buy practical things rather than new dresses. The conflict intensifies when Tom was talking to Fanny one night at the opera, and said to his sister “It’s just Polly.” This deeply upsets Polly to hear one of her dearest friends say such a thing, and to refer to her as just Polly rather than a friend. Even Fanny continues to call Polly “Old fashioned” she might not mean it to be rude, but it still hurts Polly to be called names by her friends.
They show the harsh and cruel reality of the surrounding environment that women live in without framing that reality in beautiful frame. This is obvious in William Dean Howells’s “Editha” and Henry James’s “Daisy Miller”. Both Editha and Daisy share the same characteristic of the New Woman. These two women redefine the feminine ideology of women who suffer from following the social norms of their culture. They believe that women should have freedom as well as men, and they are responsible for making decisions in their lives without under
The most common, widespread epidemic in adolescent is the lack of self-esteem. If a teen loses confidence, they may engage in self-destructive views. To try to combat the lack of personal confidence, Canada and other individualistic countries emphasize being unique. In the short story, The Metaphor by Budge Wilson, Charlotte lives under the rule of her stern mother. Through her mother’s criticisms, her lack of confidence, and her desire to fit in with the community, Charlotte is shown to be insecure.
It is heavily demonstrated that women are reliant on men when O'Connor describes how the Grandmother lives, “Bailey was the son she lived with, her only boy” (O’Connor). This suggests that because the Grandmother seems to
Her refusal to submit to her social destiny shocked many Victorian readers when the novel was first released and this refusal to accept the forms, customs, and standards of society made it one of the first rebellious feminism novels of its time (Gilbert and Gubar). This essay will discuss the relationships Jane formed with the men she encountered throughout the novel and will attempt to identify moments of patriarchal oppression within the story. The first act of patriarchal oppression Jane experiences is quiet early on it the novel, during her childhood years spent at Gateshead. It is here where she must endure to live
As a matter of fact most frequently critics have looked at how prejudicial her mother’s philosophies have been for our character, and attributed to Editha Mowbray the “fallness” of her daughter. In her essay “The return of the prodigal daughter” Joanne Tong contemplates how “Mrs. Mowbray pays too little rather than too much attention to her daughter” (2004: 475) the outcome of which is a misunderstanding of her position in society with regards to the strict laws of etiquette and feminine ideology in eighteenth century England. Cecily E. Hill also blames Editha for Adeline and Glenmurray’s extramarital affair and their inevitable moral condemnation, and instead of accusing the lovers she sees Editha as the soul villain of the novel. Contrary to the typical concept of a mother who provides a safe education to Adeline, she experiments with dubious theories that ultimately foreground her daughter’s tragic
Daisy realizes how women during her time were always led by men without a voice since their decisions, opinions, and thoughts were second to those of males and their everyday lives were determined men. Daisy is expressing how due to their marginalization women are better off being fooled and dumb because the voice of women did
It may skew her thinking and at times be subjective. The intended audience is someone who is studying literature and interested in how women are portrayed in novels in the 19th century. The organization of the article allows anyone to be capable of reading it.
In the plays Trifles and A Doll House the reader can see the portrayal of a male society and the way women are where dominated and abused by their husband in the nineteenth century. In A Doll House Nora’s Husband Treats her as if she is and absent minds doll wife that is incapable of thinking for herself. In Trifles Mrs. wright is a woman that have been oppressed and abuse by her husband for so many year that she need to escape one way or another. The woman in the play both took steps to gain there independence in society by any means
Believe it or not, many people are involved in racial and class division conflicts. Lately, both have become a problem in everyday life. Whether it's who has the most money, best job, better skin color, or even who clothes look the best, it's all labeled as “division.” A Raisin in the Sun is a prime proposition of class division between the races of American society in the nineteen-fifties. In A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, the family in seen as lower class and broke based on their location.
“The Horse Dealer’s Daughter,” is the embodiment of Fried’s psychosexual theory of “Repression” that Mabel seems so depressed psychologically and looks boredom with meaningless life and finally she decides to attempt suicide. All characters of this tale are suffering psychosexually in a condition of repression; Dr. Fergusson, another outsider family friend of this house is also draw as a suppressed and sexually repressed character who is afraid of opposite sex but inwardly he loves and affinity with Mabel. He could not express his love before Mabel but does a silent love. He saves drowning Mabel from the pond as he was looking Mabel when she jumps into pond and she was saved by