Masaryk University

Faculty of Arts

Department of English
and American Studies

English Language and Literature






Ivona Schfrov


Short Stories of D. H. Lawrence from
the Perspective of Narratology
Bachelors Diploma Thesis






Supervisor: Stephen Paul Hardy, Ph.D.

2013






































I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently,
using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.


.....................................................
Ivona Schfrov




















































Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my supervisor, Stephen Hardy, Ph.D., for his valuable
advice and encouragement. I would also like to thank my family for their loving
support throughout my studies.


1
Table of Contents
Table of Contents .............................................................................. 1
1 Introduction ................................................................................. 2
2 D. H. Lawrence Introduction ....................................................... 5
3 Introduction to the Theory of Narratology ................................... 11
4 The Horse Dealers Daughter ......................................................... 15
4.1 The Horse Dealers Daughter Textual Level Analysis ............ 16
4.2 The Horse Dealers Daughter - Message and Cultural Context . 19
5 The Virgin and the Gipsy ............................................................. 27
5.1 The Virgin and the Gipsy Textual Level Analysis .................. 28
5.2 The Virgin and the Gipsy - Message and Cultural Context ....... 30
6 Conclusion ................................................................................. 38
Bibliography .................................................................................... 42
List of Abbreviations ........................................................................ 45
Resum (English) ............................................................................ 46
Resum (Czech) .............................................................................. 47


2
1 Introduction
This thesis will provide a comparative analysis of two short stories
1
by D.
H. Lawrence from the perspective of narratology. The stories of interest are The
Horse Dealers Daughter and The Virgin and the Gipsy. These short stories were
written in different periods, included in different collections and in this respect
they were chosen intentionally in order to observe Lawrences development of
structure of his short fiction offering an insight into diverse variations within the
terms of repeated patterning of his short stories. The narratological aspect of
the thesis especially relies upon a theory of Mieke Bal
2
, which is further
introduced in Chapter 3.
Moreover, this thesis has a further level. The narrtaological aspect relying
on Mieke Bal's approach is also explored in relation to Lawrence's stories. The
theory of narratology is thus explained with the help of the two mentioned
short stories - The Horse Dealers Daughter and The Virgin and the Gipsy. Using
these stories and their analysis to provide readers with specific examples, it will
be possible to comprehend basic principles of the theory of narratology and will
understand the basic terms.
The thesis is divided into 4 main chapters. The first chapter deals with a
brief introduction to the theory of narratology focusing especially on Mieke Bals
approach. This chapter explains the conception of narratology as well as it

1
Various studies by various authors use different terminology for Lawrences short fiction, such
as novellas or short novels. To avoid ambiguity, Lawrences The Horse Dealers Daughter and
The Virgin and the Gipsy will be referred to as short stories for the purpose of this thesis.
2
Bal, Mieke. Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative. Toronto: University of
Toronto, 1985. Print.



3
briefly introduces the basic terminology that will be used for analysis of
Lawrences short fiction.
The second chapter introduces the relevant elements of the historical era
in which Lawrence wrote and it also presents D. H. Lawrence not only as a
modernist writer, but also as a man with a personal history and background,
that formed not only his personality, but also his work. This chapter also
observes important and determining moments in Lawrences life which might
have been reflected in his work. The chapter employs the studies of D. H.
Lawrence by Frank Raymond Leavis
3
as well as Lawrences biography written
by Graham Holderness.
4
in order to observe and consult D. H. Lawrences life
and work as well as the facts about the perception of his short fiction. The
second chapter therefore introduces general facts about the author, style and
period. Moreover, it explains why these facts and details are important for the
interpretation of his short fiction.
The third part of this thesis is divided into two independent chapters that
directly analyse the three aforementioned works of short fiction by Lawrence:
The Horse Dealers Daughter and The Virgin and the Gipsy. In this part, the
stories are briefly introduced and the reason for their selection is given and
explained. Chapters in this part use the elements and principles of narratology
that are described in the second chapter and apply them to the short stories
taking into account general context and information about D. H. Lawrence as
well as the narratological perspective.

3
Leavis, F. R. D. H. Lawrence, Novelist. New York: Knopf, 1956. Print.
4
Holderness, Graham. D.H. Lawrence, History, Ideology, and Fiction. Dublin: Gill and
Macmillan, 1982. Print.



4
The last chapter of this thesis is the conclusion. It compares and
contrasts the two short stories analysed. The comparison and contrast is based
on the observation of structure and patterns including variations used. The
relation between the structures and development will be discussed and further
particularised from the perspective of narrative theory.


5
2 D. H. Lawrence Introduction
This chapter is focused on relevant aspects of the life of one of the most
influential modernist English writers of the twentieth century - David Herbert
Lawrence. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a brief summary of relevant
key facts about D. H. Lawrence which are necessary, and, as a matter of fact
crucial for later analysis of his short fiction. As is pointed out by F. R. Leavis in
his D. H. Lawrence / Novelist
5
, it is impossible to study the work and the art
without forming a vivid sense of the man, and touching on the facts of his
history (Leavis 15). Therefore, the details from his background are carefully
chosen in order to illustrate his attitudes and influences but also to support and
provide for the analysis.
One of the main sources on D. H. Lawrence is the above mentioned book
by Dr Frank Raymond Leavis called D. H. Lawrence / Novelist, that focuses on
D. H. Lawrence not only as a novelist, but it also explores his personal
background. Last but not least, it comments on several Lawrences short stories
and also generally on his short fiction.
Information from this book will be supplemented by a second source on
Lawrence which is called D.H. Lawrence, History, Ideology, and Fiction
6
.The
author of this book, Graham Holderness, provides his readers with Lawrence's
biography, explains relevant facts and also important events taking place during

5
Leavis, F. R. D.H. Lawrence / Novelist. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1964. Print.
6
Holderness, Graham. D.H. Lawrence, History, Ideology, and Fiction. Dublin: Gill and
Macmillan, 1982. Print.


6
Lawrence's life. This helps one understand not only biographical facts about
Lawrence, but also the general thinking of the era he lived in.
Both these two mentioned biographies are therefore useful to
understand D. H. Lawrence not merely as an influential writer of the twentieth
century, but as a person with his own history, background and opinions that
might have been possibly formed or at least influenced also by his family,
friends, community he lived in or for example by his education.
D. H. Lawrence was born in 1885 in a small colliery village Eastwood,
Nottinghamshire. He was born into a working-class family. His father, Arthur
Lawrence belonged to the majority of Eastwoods population employed as
colliers. This occupation was planned also for D. H. Lawrence, as it was seen as
a very promising and secure. These facts will prove important especially in the
analysis of his two short stories The Horse Dealers Daughter and The Virgin
and the Gipsy because Lawrence seems to reflect the atmosphere of the small
colliery village dominated by the community of colliers in his previously
mentioned short stories (see Chapters 4 and 5). On the other hand, D. H.
Lawrences mother, Lydia Beardsall, former teacher, planned a more promising
occupation for her son, and as Holderness points out in his Lawrence, History,
Ideology, and Fiction, she was determined to push [her children] into the
middle class at any price(Holderness 67)
7
. This fact reminds one of a fact, that
attitudes and views of Lawrences mother had yet another effect on young
Lawrence, whose personal opinions and views were formed by these as well.

7
Holderness summarizing and referring to Caudwells view from: Caudwell, Christopher. D. H.
Lawrence: A Study of the Bourgeois Artist. London: Bodley Head, 1938.




7
The different ideas of Lawrences parents about Lawrences future
occupation made young Lawrence intensely class-conscious, realizing class
division on one hand and the problems connected to transcending the class
boundaries on the other hand. Moreover, he spent his youth in Eastwood and
this means that he was a part of the Eastwood community and as a son of a
collier he was also experiencing community life. This might be seen as a reason
for Lawrence's frequent references to social status and class-division in his short
stories.
However, this class-consciousness as well as the community awareness
stood in opposition to emerging individualism in Lawrence. At this point, one
might ask where the individualism came from. According to Holderness, it
emerged as a result of development of critical thinking while attending a
university.
During his studies and early years Lawrence found himself interested in
writing poems, even though he was not sure whether his parents (as well as
community) would be supportive. Holderness mentions Lawrences statement:
But what will the others say? That Im a fool. A colliers son a poet!
(Holderness 69)
8
. Lawrences father did not seem to be appreciating his sons
work, because he did not consider writing a physical, therefore sufficient
occupation: And what dun they gie thee for that, lad? Fifty ponds, father. (...)
Fifty pounds! And thas niver done a days hard work in thy life. (Holderness
70). Nevertheless, Lawrences mother proved quite supportive and Holderness

8
Here, Holderness in his book D.H. Lawrence, History, Ideology, and Fiction quotes from
Chambers, Jessie, and J. D. . Chambers. D. H. Lawrence: A Personal Record by E. T. (Jessie
Chambers). London: Cass, 1965. Print.


8
further also suggests that she was more or less involved in his early writing,
reading his sons work and criticising it for him, especially in The White Peacock
(1911).
Lawrences mother and father were not the only influence on young
Lawrence. As mentioned earlier in this chapter, he was surrounded by a group
of intellectuals referred to by Holderness as Pagans
9
and they were often
paying visits to Wiliam Hopkins
10
house in order to discuss various pieces of art.
Their ideal seemed to be, as Holderness puts it a kind of artistic bohemianism,
transcending class divisions the ideal of a life free from moral and social
restrictions, where the individual could develop and cultivate himself
intellectually, emotionally and aesthetically. (Holderness 76).
Lawrence established a special relationship with Jessie Chambers who
was his devoted friend, associate and confidant. However, their relationship
proved to be intellectual only, even though the expectations of others, including
Chambers family, were different. Fiona Becket in her The Complete Critical
Guide to D. H. Lawrence
11
labels the relationship of D. H. Lawrence and Jessie
Chambers as an awkward betrothal (Beckett 10). This might be supported by a
quotation from correspondence between Jessie Chambers and D. H. Lawrence,

9
Pagans is term used by Holderness in his book D.H. Lawrence, History, Ideology, and Fiction
for group of Eastwood intellectuals, who were Lawrences associates in his early years. The
term Pagans is predictable and self-explanatory into some extent. It might have been intended
so in order to depict the nature of the group. Holderness comments on this term in his article
included in Holderness, Graham. "Lavrence, Leavis and Culture." CCCS Selected Working
Papers. Vol. 2.London: Routledge, 2007. 92-110. Print.
10
William Hopkin was one of the prominent Eastwood intellectuals, but he was also engaged for
example in politics. He held his house open for intellectual debates and sessions in order to
discuss art and various artistic traditions.
11
Fiona Beckets book The Complete Critical Guide to D. H. Lawrence is a description and
general summary of Lawrences life, work and criticism and its main purpose is to provide basic
and general facts connected to D. H. Lawrence.


9
where he addresses Chambers
12
: For some things, I cannot do without you.
But the other side of me wants someone else, someone different (Chambers
136-137). This fact might have inspired Lawrence to think about relationships
between men and women and it can be traced throughout his short fiction, as
pointed out in chapter 4 and 5 of this thesis. Jessie Chambers together with the
Pagans meant a certain influence on young Lawrence, and as Holderness points
out in his article Lavrence, Leavis and Culture
13
, they were transcending
traditional Eastwood values, inclining to bohemianism and aestheticism.
However, the intellectual and spiritual relationship with Jessie Chambers
was interrupted by marriage to Frieda Weekley who was his life-long partner
and stayed with him also during his traumatic experience of the era of the WWI
(his awareness of WWI can be traced in both the short stories of interest, which
will be further developed in chapters 4 and 5 and finally during his illness and
subsequent death in 1930.
Lawrences ambivalence about class and relationships was accompanied
by the clash of his religion and mentioned intellectualism and individualism.
Lawrences family tradition was Congregationalism. At first, Lawrence only could
not stand the dogmatic repetitions from the Bible, but later he also found
himself contemplating about modern technologies and discoveries (e.g.
Darwins On the Origin of Species) and their contradictions with Christian
dogmas. Holderness in his previously mentioned book labels this ambivalence
as Lawrences divided self and points out Lawrences own awareness of this

12
Chambers, Jessie, and J. D. Chambers. D. H. Lawrence: A Personal Record by E. T. (Jessie
Chambers). London: Cass, 1965. Print.
13
Holdernesss article commenting on Leaviss views of Lawrence, included in Holderness,
Graham. "Lavrence, Leavis and Culture." CCCS Selected Working Papers.Vol. 2.London:
Routledge, 2007. 92-110. Print.


10
fact, thinking of himself partly as of a demon (artistic self) and ordinary meal-
time me. This corresponds with the previously mentioned problem of
Lawrences individualism that was in conflict with the community life here, not
only colliers community life but also the life and the conventions required by
the Congregationalist community.
These facts about Lawrence will help one to understand the historical
context and possible influences that are necessary for comparative analysis of
chosen aspects of his short fiction, that cannot be analysed retrospectively,
because, as Holderness
14
puts it, it is a vital source of information but it is
important to avoid the dangers of accepting Lawrences own interpretation of
his society (...) (Holderness 20). This aspect will be taken into consideration
and will help one to understand Lawrence not only as a significant novelist,
poet, essayist and literary critic, but also to highlight certain aspects of his short
fiction in order to gain an objective comparative analysis.

14
Holderness, Graham. D.H. Lawrence, History, Ideology, and Fiction. Dublin: Gill and
Macmillan, 1982. Print.


11
3 Introduction to the Theory of
Narratology
The main aim of this chapter is to introduce the relevant aspects of the
theory of narratology and also to discuss the reasons and motivations for
analysing short fiction written by D. H. Lawrence by means of narratology.
Moreover, it introduces narratology from the perspective of Mieke Bal
15
as the
principal source for the analysis. Last but not least it introduces basic terms in
order to help one to understand them and apply them on the short stories
mentioned in the first chapter. But at the same time, as it is suggested in the
first chapter of this thesis, the basic narratological terms will be put into
practice and will be explained on the short stories of D. H. Lawrence. The
attempt to interpret the two Lawrences short stories The Horse Dealers
Daughter and The Virgin and the Gipsy will thus have two perspectives. This
attempt is based on the effort to connect and to point out the link between
narratology and a particular narrative.
Other sources, in addition to Mike Bal, serving as substantial studies of
narratology will be primarily the lectures
16
on narratology attended in the
Faculty of Arts Masaryk University in Brno. These lectures were focused on
general introduction and defining the theory of narratology. They also offered
various outlooks and different approaches to the theory of narratology. Each

15
Bal, Mieke. Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative. Toronto: University of
Toronto, 1985. Print.
16
The cycle of lectures focused on the theory of narratology given by Bohumil Fot and Jan
Tlust (Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University Brno).


12
lecture was focused on different topics and for this thesis, only those lectures
that were focused on to written narrative will be taken into account. The
important thing is that the lectures provided their students with a wide range of
references and secondary sources which will be really useful for in-depth
understanding of the theory of narratology.
Narratology is a branch of literary theory that focuses on the study of
narrative. The theory emerged in the second half of the 20
th
century adopting
not only the perspectives of Russian Formalists
17
and Vladimir Propp
18
,
structural linguistics and also Chomskys
19
cognitive linguistics but it also
accepted the theory of structuralism and its general aspects of the mentioned
theories and perspectives. Therefore, similarly to structuralism and structural
linguistics, narratology looks closely at the structure of a narrative, but not only
on a linguistic level. What distinguishes narratology from structuralism is then a
matter of two crucial issues: the inclusion of narratives impact on the reader
and also the inclusion of cognitive sciences which are necessary for
explanations of the impact or the effect of the narrative on the reader.
Cognitive sciences may explain why the impacts and effects on the readers
occur and the possible differences in a perception of these. These facts make
narratology a cross-disciplinary field that. Therefore, this thesis employs also a
source commenting on cross-disciplinarity of narratology. It is called

17
Branch of literary criticism including research and work by Vladimir Propp, Roman Jakobson
or Viktor Shklovsky. These influential scholars will be further introduced.
18
Vladimir Propp is a Russian scholar who analysed Russian folk tales in order to describe their
basic narrative elements. Therefore, his views and observations will be taken into account in
this thesis, because they are relevant for the understanding of narratology.
19
Noam Chomsky was an influential linguist who contributed to many fields of study such as
philosophy or cognitive science.


13
Narratology in the Age of Cross-disciplinary Narrative Research
20
and it includes
16 essays commenting on different aspects of narratological cross-disciplinarity.
Essays that are relevant for the aspect of this thesis will be further introduced
in the subsequent chapters including analyses of the short stories. They
basically unite knowledge from not only textual linguistics and various literary
devices, but also psychology, history and socio-cultural studies. And as Sandra
Heinen points out in her Introduction to Narratology in the Age of Cross-
disciplinary Narrative Research, the observation that many scholars in different
disciplines are interested in the processes, results and functions of storytelling is
frequently interpreted and welcomed by narrative theorists as a move towards
interdisciplinarity (Heinen 1).
To follow with, one might question the idea of analysing short fiction
using narratology as an analytic tool. The reason for this is the try to approach
short fiction from the perspective of cross-disciplinary research. This will
provide a complex insight into the short stories mentioned in the previous
chapter, making use of all the mentioned fields of study including facts about
the author, that help one understand and explain not only the textual level of
the narrative, but also metaphorical language which altogether provides a
detailed and in-depth analysis.
One of the main sources of this thesis discussing the theory of
narratology is the aforementioned Mieke Bals perspective summarised in her
book called Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative
21
. This book

20
Heinen, Sandra, and Roy Sommer. Narratology in the Age of Cross-disciplinary Narrative
Research. Berlin: Walter De Gruyter, 2009. Print.
21
Bal, Mieke. Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative. Toronto: University of
Toronto, 1985. Print.


14
provides its readers with the general conception and theory, explaining the
terminology as well as the theory. At the same time, it uses concrete examples
of analyses of particular texts. This can be later easily applied to any kind of
narrative. Bal mentions and gives references to many other scholars and their
perspectives, such as Gerald Prince
22
and Manfred Jahn
23
. Therefore, their
works will be used as a further complement to Mieke Bals perspective in order
to support or contrast the theoretic basis and to provide evidence that is
objective enough and originates from independent sources. References to one
more additional source will be made in order to avoid possible ambiguities and
differences concerning the terminology. Thus Roland Barthes and his journal
article An Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narrative
24
will be referred
to in order to clarify the importance of textual level and its function and
message (see chapter four and five).


22
Prince, Gerald. Narratology: The Form and Functioning of Narrative. Berlin: Mouton, 1982.
Print.
23
Jahn, Manfred. "Manfred Jahn - Narratology: A Guide to the Theory of Narrative." Jahn:
PPP/Narratology. University of Cologne, 28 May 2005. Web. 07 Apr. 2013.
24
Barthes, Roland. "An Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narrative." JSTOR. JSTOR,
Winter 1975. Web. 12 Jan. 2013.


15
4 The Horse Dealers Daughter
This chapter deals with the analysis of Lawrences short story called The
Horse Dealers Daughter. It is included in Lawrences collection England, My
England originally published in 1922. This volume contained a range of short
stories written in the period of WWI between 1913 and 1921.
The Horse Dealers Daughter was selected for the analysis as a
representative short story from the mentioned collection. It deals with the
theme of rather unexpected love occurring between the main character Mabel
and a young village doctor Jack Ferguson. Their love is an unexpected
turning-point that follows Mabels attempted suicide. Her unfulfilled decision to
commit suicide is indicated in the story by the loss of hope, money in the family
connected to the deteriorating status of the family and also by the death of
Mabels mother, who was deeply admired and recognized by the main
character. Living among very rude brothers and taking care about her mothers
household, Mabel learns or at least appears to be indifferent to her brothers
remarks and insensitive comments. But her inner self is deeply hurt, not only
because of her brothers, but also due to the loss of beloved mother. Moreover,
she is upset that after her mothers death her father married again. The family
lost money and also their social status which the family had when the father
was a prospering horse-dealer. The only satisfaction for Mabel is now taking
care of her mothers grave. This makes Mabel feel as if she was close to her
mother. Eventually, Mabel learns that their old house is to be sold, the rest of
their property confiscated and her brothers are about to leave. Mabel realizes


16
that she has probably no future, therefore she decides to get as close to her
mother as possible. Her desperate attempt to drawn in a lake is not successful,
because the young village doctor, Jack Fergusson descries Mabels intentions
and rescues Mabel from drowning, realizing in a painful way - that he is in
love with her.
4.1 The Horse Dealers Daughter Textual Level
Analysis
The main aim of this chapter is the attempt to analyse following the
perspective of narratology - Lawrences early short story in terms of textual
level, focusing mainly on the conception of narrator, examples of non-narrative
comments and last but not least on the way of description and its function in
The Horse Dealers Daughter. The reason to start with the analysis of the
textual level is in fact very simple. In narratology, when analysing a written
narrative, the first step is to look closely at the text. This provides for earning
the message and it makes the further interpretation possible.
First and foremost, for the mentioned reason, one should look at the
textual level of The Horse Dealers Daughter. The main focus on the textual
level is according to Mieke Bal the focus on the narrator, as she considers the
narrator one of the fundamental elements of narrative texts. She further
develops the idea of the first person narrator and omniscient third person
narrator and presents the idea that I and He Are Both I. To explain this
statement, one should realise that language is uttered by a speaker, who thus


17
constitutes an utterance and from the perspective of linguistic and the
grammatical point of view, the 3
rd
person narrative is irrelevant. The reason is
that even though that the 3
rd
person narrator is supposed to be he or she and
thus uses the third person to talk about characters and their deeds, the
narrator himself is a single person narrating. Therefore, according to Bal, he
must logically be the first person narrator anyway.
Therefore, Bal introduces the conception of external narrator who is
referred to as a narrator [who] never refers explicitly to itself as a character,
we may speak of an external narrator. After all, the narrating agent does not
figure in the fabula. (Bal 22) in comparison to the character-bound narrator
whose I is to be identified with a character in the fabula it itself narrates (Bal
22). After close reading of The Horse Dealers Daughter, it might be pointed out
that Lawrence employs an external narrator who is not personified and does
not appear to be included in the narrative as one of the characters.
The important thing here is that this external narrator uses non-narrative
comments. According to Bal, they are argumentative, even though their use in
The Horse Dealers Daughter is minimal. Lawrence employs the argumentative
evaluating expressions which are outside the general knowledge. To illustrate
this by an example, one should look at the description of Mabels brothers
situation: Luckily he was engaged to a woman as old as himself (...) (HDD
158). The word luckily corresponds with narrators perspective and is an
example of Lawrences use of non-narrative comment in Bals terms.


18
The descriptive elements
25
within the narrative structure might be
observed in fiction generally. Therefore it would be a vital idea to look closely at
The Horse Dealers Daughter in order to observe the rhetorical strategy. Bal
suggests that description in a narrative should not lack motivation which
makes descriptions within narrative believable and meaningful. Motivation on
the textual level (not as a part of focalization
26
) is divided into three types: by
speaking, acting or looking. This is applicable to all characters including a
character-bound narrator. Example could be observed with the focus on the
expression 'bull-dog' from the extract from The Horse Dealers Daughter: She
would have been good-looking, save for the impassive fixity of her face, 'bull-
dog', as her brothers called it (HDD 157). But on the other hand, Lawrence
employs, as mentioned above, an external narrator in The Horse Dealers
Daughter as in the description of Joe, Mabels brother: His face was red, he
twisted his black moustache over a thick finger (...) and his bearing was
stupid(HDD 157-158). This description is influenced by the external narrator
and might as well be subjective into some extent (here, the word stupid might
be also relevant in terms of non-narrative comments mentioned above) and
therefore descriptions given by the external narrator are analysed as a textual
fragment only with the aspect of descriptive function. Therefore it might be
stated that Lawrence uses two types of description, by motivation and also by
non-narrative comments in The Horse Dealers Daughter.



25
Description is the reproduction of what the character sees. (Bal; 37)
26
See the next chapter for the conception of focalisation


19
4.2 The Horse Dealers Daughter - Message and
Cultural Context
The previous chapter about the basics of textual analysis provides a basis
for a fundamental understanding of The Horse Dealers Daughter at a textual
level. This is directly connected and also very important for the understanding
and subsequent analysis of the next level above the textual one, that will be
provided in this chapter. This level could be called a message. Taking into
account here that structural linguistics can analyse separated sentences or
fragments of the narrative, it is necessary to realise that on the other hand,
narratology analyses yet the other level of the text, it looks closely at the texts
organisation in order to get the message of the narrative so that the narrative
would be understood and further interpreted. Or as Roland Barthes puts it in his
article An Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narrative: through [its]
organisation [the text] is perceived as the message of another language,
functioning at a higher level than the language of linguistics. (Barthes 240).
This message is based on the textual level in written narratives because without
the text it would not obviously be possible to get to the message. Therefore, in
terms of narratology, one should always bear in mind the importance of the two
basic levels of the narrative. The output of these two levels could be seen as a
kind of narrative communication
27
and Barthes further concludes that it can
then be said that the narrational level is occupied by the signs of narration,
which reintegrate functions and actions into the narrative communication, the

27
The term used by Roland Barthes (Barthes; 264) in his An Introduction to the Structural
Analysis of Narrative


20
latter being articulated by its giver and its recipient. (Barthes 264). These
notions explain how is it possible to understand the text not only as fragments,
but to understand it as a complex unit. To put this into the practice in relation
to this story and to use the same example as in the previous chapter, Mabels
bull-dog face, as it is perceived by her brothers, does not only have descriptive
function. It also presents attitudes of Mabels brothers towards her personality,
not only appearance, which is negative and oppressive. The term bull-dog face
is highly predictable and it reveals also the character of the relationships.
Further, narrative communication makes it possible for one to read a
short story (or any other narrative) and retell it or at least to provide a
summary of the narrative. The process of retelling a narrative is determined by
two basic narratological devices - fabula and sujet
28
. Fabula might be seen as a
reductive and simplified version of the narrative. To clarify this statement, what
makes any fabula unique is the way it is narrated - sujet. When applying this
directly to Lawrences The Horse Dealers Daughter, one might sum up the
storys fabula as an observation of several days in the life of the main character,
Mabel, who feels seriously oppressed and decides to commit suicide, but is
eventually rescued and in her despair she falls in love with the local doctor. Or
as Mike Bal puts it when defining fabula: These (...) successive events are
logically related in a casual chain (Bal 144). But when taking into account sujet
of the story, the way story is narrated, who or what influences our

28
Term established by Russian Formalists (see Vladimir Propp and Viktor Shklovsii) and used
generally in literary theory and especially in narratology explaining fabula as a basic story or a
chronological sequence of events, and sujet as the way a story is narrated.


21
interpretation or gives us the perspective we get? This question can be
answered with the help of the conception of focalization.
According to Mieke Bal, focalization is the relations between the
elements presented and the vision through which they are presented. (Bal
142) How is D. H. Lawrences The Horse Dealers Daughter focalised? What or
who makes reader sympathise with Mabel and makes us think that at least one
of her brother stupid? The explanation is in Lawrences use of an omniscient
narrator. Therefore we are mostly given the perspective from the narrators
point of view. Bal labels this type of focalisation as external
29
. Lawrence uses
also the internal type of focalistation
30
but it is predominant towards the end of
the narrative, after Mabels attempted suicide. She talks to the doctor and they
have a conversation about whether the doctor loves Mabel or not. Direct
speech is employed and both Mabel and the doctor become focalizors
31
. To
provide an example, Mabel gives the readers her own perspective: 'And my
hair smells so horrible,' she murmured in distraction. 'And I'm so awful, I'm so
awful! Oh, no, I'm too awful.' (HDD 174). One can therefore assume, that both
external and internal focalisation is involved, the latter one being predominant
towards the end of the story.

29
External focalisation is a term standing in opposition to Genettes term zero focalisation
which suggests that a narrative is not focalised in case of external omniscient narrator.
Information on Genette was received in Fot, Bohumil. "Naratologogie - Vymezen, Zkladn
Pojmy, Historie a Souasnost Disciplny." Introduction to Narratology. Masaryk University, Faculty
of Atrts, Brno. 26 Sept. 2012. Lecture.
To avoid ambiguation, Bals terminology will be used further on.
30
According to Mieke Bal - a point of view or perspective provided by one of the characters in
the story. In Lawrences short story it is indicated by a direct speech (Mabel replies to her
brothers and to the doctor).

31
According Mieke Bal, it is the subject of focalisatization, (...), the point of view from which
the elements are viewed (Bal 146).


22
To elaborate on the notion of focalization, Mieke Bal asks a fundamental
question: What is the vision like and where does it come from? (Bal 42). To
support this search for the original visions and ideas, one meets here the
cognitive aspect of narratology, which can be defined as the study of mind-
relevant aspects of storytelling practices as David Herman
32
points out in his
essay from Narratology in the Age of Cross-disciplinary Narrative Research
(Herman 85). At this point, it is vital then to discuss the socio-cultural context
occurring in The Horse Dealers Daughter and analyse it in connection to
Lawrences own point of view. This can be supported by Bal stating that
everything that can be said about the structure of fabulas also bears some
degree on extra-literary facts (...) and they are compared transculturally. (Bal
177). In connection to this, cognitive sciences and especially psychological
research generally indicate that every narrative has a specific impact on readers
according to their personal logic and emotional involvement. At the same time,
the author of every narrative affects the process of writing by his very own
logic and emotional involvement.
It brings us to the working-class background of D. H. Lawrence. It is
reflected in the story to a great extent. To provide specific examples, one
should not forget that Lawrences work on The Horse Dealers Daughter in the
era influenced by the war and this might be the reason for a strong feeling of
hopelessness, fear, gloom and the sense of death. These all are fully
represented in the story: one is told about the death of Mabels beloved mother

32
Herman, David. "Narrative Ways of Worldmaking." Narratology in the Age of Cross-
disciplinary Narrative Research. Berlin: Walter De Gruyter, 2009. 71-78. Print.



23
and then her father dies too. Fear of their hopeless future is caused by the loss
of not only money and property but also family base and background. Everyone
in the story appears too tired to take any actions. The example here could be
the described passivity: At the beginning of the story, Mabel is ignored by the
doctor coming to visit her brothers. When she attempts to leave the room, the
men realise her presence. But her face remains impassive and unchanged
(HDD 161). Even though she seems to be offended, she finishes her task with
perfectly impassive face (HDD 162). Another example of hopeless passivity or
being too tired to act might be observed when the reader is introduced to one
of the Mabels brothers Joe. He is described as wild and free-born, Lawrence
compares him to horses. He is engaged and feels that he [is] done for now
(HDD 158). Joes future father in law provides Joe with a job and Joe is
supposed to marry and go into harness. His life [is] over, he would be a
subject animal now (HDD 158).
Secondly, the Mabel as well as her family has a working class
background. The importance of this fact is even emphasised by the title of the
short story. Mabel is referred to as a daughter of a horse-dealer, which
classifies her and suggests her position. Even though her fictional existence is
necessary for the story, she is not respectful enough to be addressed by her
own name in the title. This is supported by the fact that she is not introduced
as a respectable person as she is rather oppressed by her brothers who are
rude to her. Even the young doctor had not greeted her after he greeted all her
brothers. Mabel tries not to be hurt and keeps on ignoring such situations.
Nevertheless, Lawrence, dealing here with human relationships, highlights


24
Mabels despair. This despair and doom continues through the whole short story
and is probably caused by the death of Mabels mother, her dissatisfaction with
her father who married after his wifes death. Family lost all the money after
fathers death and Lawrence suggests that Mabels pride is seriously hurt:

For months, Mabel had been servantless in the big house, keeping the
home together in penury for her ineffectual brothers. She had kept
house for ten years. But previously, it was with unstinted means. Then,
however brutal and coarse everything was, the sense of money had kept
her proud, confident. The men might be foul-mouthed, the women in the
kitchen might have bad reputations, her brothers might have illegitimate
children. But so long as there was money, the girl felt herself
established, and brutally proud, reserved. (HDD 163)

This might reflect Lawrences own attitudes. When it comes to Lawrences own
father who was a collier and as Holderness points out: a highly skilled man,
bringing home good money, occupying a house with a bay window and
separate entry of which the Lawrences were extremely proud
33
(Holderness
50), these facts might be reflected in the short story. Mabel, even though
coming from a working-class family was proud as long as the family had money
and she could feel respectful, at least because of the money.
The young doctors marriage proposal at the end of the story could stand
for a striking contrast and Lawrences reservations about rigid class-division.

33
According to J. D. Chambers


25
One could therefore encounter yet another dimension in the title of the story:
Jack Fergusson, the doctor eventually proposes a marriage to the impoverished,
common mans daughter the horse-dealers daughter. Even though that
Lawrence hints that Jack did not have a slightest interest in marrying Mabel, at
last he proposes anyway.
Life within the community is of great importance to Lawrence himself.
His family belonged to Congregationalists. Besides living in a small town they
belonged to the local community, especially to the families of colliers. But on
the other hand, Holderness suggests Lawrences personal development towards
individualism while meeting the pagans:

But they were pagans because they felt in many ways that they were in
conflict with traditional Eastwood values. It is probably in their socialism
that they were closest to the experience of the community though
even here their ideas were probably more theoretical and intellectual
than those of the average miner or trade unionist. At this point Lawrence
found himself faced with a choice: between, on the one hand (...)
relationship with the working class community and, on the other hand, a
kind of artistic bohemianism and aestheticism that implies a rejection of
politics, classes, society and a great deal of human experience
(Holderness 77).



26
These attitudes and tendencies might serve one as an explanation for Lawrence
letting the readers know about the community, nevertheless focusing directly
on the individual Mabel - and her personal development. This analysis
attempted to provide enough information to understand the sujet of the short
story. The basic love story is narrated and described
34
in a specific way. The
specific way, understood as sujet is sometimes compared or even identified
with discourse
35
. Focusing on Lawrences discourse in The Horse Dealers
Daughter and analysing it along with the textual level, one may find the words
and imagery corresponding with oppression, loss and dissatisfaction with the
role and position of the individual. Lawrence even mentions that for the doctor,
the town they are living in appears ugly and alien, and he cannot see anything
else that Nothing but work, drudgery, constant hastening from dwelling to
dwelling among the colliers and the iron-workers. (HDD 166).Even though the
town seems to be based on organic
36
or natural way of life, it still does not
appear satisfactory or at least appealing. The reasons here are the mechanised
improvements that make the town look unnatural and ugly.

34
Reference to the textual level, not to fabula descriptive elements
35
According to Todorov and his terminology
36
According to Holderness, Lawrence distinguishes between organic culture in the past,
changing and transforming into mechanical future. (Holderness 30).


27
5 The Virgin and the Gipsy
This chapter is focused on Lawrences short story The Virgin and the
Gipsy
37
. D. H. Lawrence finished it in 1926 but the short story was published
later - in 1930 after Lawrences death. The Virgin and the Gipsy was selected as
a representative short story from the mentioned period in order to provide for
the comparative analysis when contrasted to the short story from the previous
chapter.
The Virgin and the Gipsy depicts the relationships of the family living in a
rural rectory in England after WWI. The main protagonist of the story is, as
foreshadowed in the title of the story, a young virgin called Yvette who just
came back home with her sister Lucille from their studies. Yvettes nature and
attitudes make it difficult for her to identify with her family cleaving on middle-
class standards and values. The familys reputation had been shaken because
Yvettes mother had left the family for a poor man and never came back. Yvette
realizes, that she is as free-born as her mother was. This could be another
disaster for the family, which is governed by rectors lofty mother and rectors
sour sister Cissie who detests Yvettes mother. Yvette and her sister Lucille tries
to find excuses for their mothers leave and the rector - their father - still shows
the signs of almost sacred feelings for his former wife. But the whole issue
about She-who-was-Cynthia
38
is avoided, even though the matriarchal and
dominant core of the family produces itchy comments all the time. Yvette tends

37
Spelling Gypsy used in early editions.
38
In V&G this name is used to talk about Yvettes mother to indicate that she is not accepted as
a member of the family any more.


28
to individualism and she is also attracted by unconventional and alternative
attitudes, moreover, she finds herself physically attracted to a Gipsy camping
near the rectory. Confused and disappointed, she is actually saved by the gipsy
during a sudden flood that destroyed their house at the end of the story.
Eventually, the gipsy leaves and later sends a note for Yvette, which is signed
with his full name. Only then Yvette realizes that he is not a mere gipsy -
attractive and exotic body living an exciting life, but that he has a name.
5.1 The Virgin and the Gipsy Textual Level
Analysis
This chapter will try to analyze the narrative at the textual level and it
will try to illustrate the analysis by concrete examples from The Virgin and the
Gipsy from the perspective of narratology. It will focus especially on the
conception of the narrator, extra-linguistic comments and descriptive elements
in Lawrences The Virgin and the Gipsy. Dealing with these devices at the
textual level is - once again - the first step of the analysis, because these
provide one with the basis for understanding the text not as fragmented units,
but as a complex unit which may later be analyzed and interpreted.
First and foremost, it would be vital to look at the type of narrator
in The Virgin and the Gipsy. Mieke Bal in her Introduction to the Theory of
Narrative elaborates on the conception of a narrator and she considers a
narrator to be the linguistic subject, a function and not a person, which
expresses itself in the language that constitutes the text (Bal 16). The purpose


29
of this statement is to prevent one from confusing the importance of a real
author
39
with a narrator. In accordance with Bals terminology, Lawrence
employs external narrator
40
that is omniscient and does not appear as one of
the characters in the narrative. The function of the external narrator is to
provide the readers of The Virgin and the Gipsy with the information and to
describe or depict particular events, objects or characters. The only function of
this linguistic subject is to reproduce the story
41
and one can verify it by a
close-reading of the text there is not a single reference about the narrator
being one of the characters.
Another important point for this thesis is the descriptive function of the
textual level in The Virgin and the Gipsy. According to Mieke Bals view, a
description is the result of motivation. As it was already mentioned, there are
three types of motivation including the motivation by speaking, acting or
looking. But one should not forget about the motivation in relation to characters
and distinguish it from the motivation observed when analysing the conception
of an external narrator. Lawrence employs all the three types of motivation
(speaking, acting and looking) in terms of both the external narrator and the
characters. But more interesting is the fact that the first chapter of The Virgin
and the Gipsy does not contain a direct speech. The first chapter is the only one
that has this textual structure. But it is necessary to mention that the first
chapter is lacking direct speech on one hand, but on the other hand it contains

39
For biographical author and the importance of his background and general context of the era
he lived in see Chapter 5.2
40
The conception of an external narrator in accordance with Bals terminology is explained in
4.1 The Horse Dealers Daughter Textual Level Analysis
41
For the narrators point of view, see section commenting on focalisation.


30
free indirect discourse
42
or narrators text
43
. The other chapters include direct
speech as well as indirect and free indirect speech.
The external narrator in The Virgin and the Gipsy uses argumentative
and subjective comments
44
. To provide one with a concrete example, the
narrator introduces the father of the family as Lucky man! and at the same
time as Unhappy man! (The Virgin and the Gipsy 4). These examples were
chosen out of many argumentative comments in the short story intentionally.
The reason is that these serve as the examples of what Mieke Bal labels as a
graphic representation of an emotionally laden intonation (Bal 43). Moreover,
the mentioned examples are sentences which lack verbs. According to Bal, this
only increases the emotional effect. Here, the emotional effect is observed as a
descriptive element and is analysed from the perspective of grammar. (The
same example will be analysed in the next chapter to provide for focalisation).
5.2 The Virgin and the Gipsy - Message and
Cultural Context
The main aim of this chapter is the attempt to elaborate on the particular
examples from the textual level in order to interpret the complex meaning of
the textual fragments of the short story The Virgin and the Gipsy. Generally, a
textual level forms a basis for an analysis of the next level of a narrative, which

42
Term used by Mieke Bal representing the type of discourse that contains narrators comments
or representation.
43
Because a narrators text is very similar to free indirect discourse an according to Mieke Bal it
is very difficult to distinguish them, the difference will not be further considered in this thesis.
For nuances distinguishing these two terms, see Mieke Bals Introduction to the Theory of
Narrative (46 51).
44
These are important and relevant for the latter explanation of the conception of focalisation.
For further information, see the following chapter.


31
is a message. Barthess notion of narrative communication
45
needs to be taken
into account, because without the observation of a structure of a narrative at its
textual level, it would not be possible to get to the interpretation of the
narrative. At this level, it is vital to distinguish between the fabula and the sujet
of Lawrences The Virgin and the Gipsy. Considering the structure of the story,
one might think about the functional elements
46
that basically determine the
fabula. Functional elements are, according to Mieke Bal, functional characters
that undergo or cause functional events (those relevant for the fabula). The
next question arises: What is the fabula of The Virgin and the Gipsy? One might
perceive it as a depiction of a part of a life of Yvette the main protagonist.
Her mother left the family for a common man with no money. Yvette returns
home after finishing her studies and finds herself surrounded by a matriarchal
family governed by a lofty grandmother. The dominant grandmother together
with her spinster daughter manipulates the whole family, including Yvette, her
sister Lucille and their father. Yvette feels oppressed by her family and by the
rigid conventions of her middle-class background. Moreover, she is attracted by
a gipsy. The gipsy is the one who saves her from drowning during a sudden
flood. To simplify or reduce it as much as possible in order to observe the
successive events, the structure of The Virgin and the Gipsy is the observation
of a person who develops towards individualism, experiences sexual lust and is
endangered by a possible risk of death. What makes it different from other

45
The term used by Roland Barthes (Barthes; 264) in his An Introduction to the Structural
Analysis of Narrative
46
Functional elements are devices constituting a fabula. Functional elements are those which
are crucial for the narrative and cannot be omitted when summarising or retelling the narrative.
For more information see Bal, Mieke. Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative.
Toronto: University of Toronto, 1985. Print.



32
stories with such a structure? It is the inclusion of elements of sujet and all the
details that are not functional for the constitution of the fabula, but they are
necessary for and inevitable for making the narrative different from those with
the same fabula structure.
After distinguishing between fabula and sujet and realising the necessary
distinction between these two, one should understand or at least attempt to
understand the message of the story. And this process is accompanied by a
subsequent interpretation of the narrative. What influences ones interpretation
and how
47
? Here again, one needs to remember Bals definition of the
conception of focalisation, which is seen as: the relations between the
elements presented and the vision through which they are presented (Bal
142). This definition helps one to define the possible influences which may
affect ones interpretation of the story - and the very first factor is the
focalisation. Bal explains that whenever events are presented, they are always
presented from within a certain vision. A point of view is chosen (...) (Bal 42).
Two types of focalisation are presented in Lawrences The Virgin and the Gipsy.
Following the fact that Lawrence uses the conception of the external omniscient
narrator one deduces that the focalisation is external as well. But this fact
applies only to the first chapter
48
. The focalisation strategy in the remaining
chapters is different. Next to the external focalisation, one can encounter also

47
Apart from psychosomatic processes, that proved to affect ones perception. These, although
they are analysed by the cognitive branch of narratology, will not be included in the analysis.
48
Taking into account the textual structure, the previous chapter commented on the absence of
direct speech in the first chapter of V&G. This absence causes the external focalisation provided
by the external narrator only, as one does not get any other point of view that that of the
external narrator.


33
internal focalisation
49
. In the narrative, there are many characters who are
quoted or who constitute an utterance. Therefore, the readers are given many
points of view (not only Yvettes but also Lucilles, Rectors, Grandmothers,
Gipsys points of view). This observation should not be misunderstood in terms
of objectivity. Even though there are many characters who offer their personal
perspectives, it does not mean that the story is presented objectively. The
basic fact is that a story is always focalised
50
and has a particular effect on a
reader. This statement may be supported by Mieke Bals notion that
perception, however, is a psychosomatic process and it depends on so many
factors that striving for objectivity is pointless (Bal 142). Nevertheless, one
should focus on the perspective that is introduced to the readers and elaborate
on the conception of focalisation. To show the importance of taking into
account the textual level of the narrative and its message and to demonstrate
the connection that links these two levels, the aforementioned examples from
the textual level analysis will be used. In Lawrences The Virgin and the Gipsy,
Yvettes father is labelled as Lucky man! and Unhappy man! (The Virgin and
the Gipsy 4). These labels do not only reflect the descriptive function at the
textual level. Their function is also to manipulate the readers into perceiving
Yvettes father as lucky on one hand and unhappy on the other hand. To
provide another example, one can focus on another specific example: Yvette is
in charge of keeping money which was gained in a theatre proceeds. The profit
was supposed to be paid to a fund but Yvette spends it on fortunetelling

49
Internal focalisation is according to Mieke Bal - a point of view or perspective provided by
one of the characters in the story. It is often indicated by a direct speech.
50
Here again, Genettes term zero focalisation does not appear to be precise because of the
fact that every narrative is focalised. Not only in terms of the perspective of an external
narrators point of view, but also in terms of points of view of individual characters.


34
(mother of the gipsy foretold Yvettes fortune earlier in the story). Yvettes sour
aunt finds out and is very angry with Yvette. Here, the fact is that Yvette is the
only one to blame. She acts irresponsibly and her aunt is rightly angry with her.
What makes the readers detest the sour aging aunt and sympathise with
Yvette? This question may be answered with the help of focalisation. The
external narrator depicts Yvette as being oppressed and frustrated in the
family. Moreover, the external narrator describes Yvette as poor in Poor
Yvette! Her lordly airs and ways were already hitting back at her (...) (The
Virgin and the Gipsy 24). The family is afraid that Yvette becomes as
irresponsible as her mother She-who-was-Cynthia and that only fortifies
aunt Cissies malevolence towards Yvette. But still, aunt Cissie is the one who is
depicted as revengeful, prejudiced and having green tumour of hate (The
Virgin and the Gipsy 24). Yvette is the one who is poor (even though she is
highly irresponsible and spends money which is not hers) and her position
might be interpreted as pitiful because Yvette shivers in fear and nearly
collapses. This perception is the result of focalisation the way the events are
presented and this example was used to demonstrate the impact of the
external narrator on the reader.
To elaborate on Bals notion of the importance of bibliographic details
about an author and the general context of his or her era for the development
of a readers perception, it would be vital to try to link D. H. Lawrences
background and possible motivations altering the motives and topics suggested
in The Virgin and the Gipsy.


35
The main protagonist Yvette and her family is said to come from a
middle-class background. Their home the rectory is described as: ugly, and
almost sordid, with the dank air of that middle-class, degenerated comfort
which has ceased to be comfortable and has turned stuffy, unclean (The Virgin
and the Gipsy 8). Even though the main female character feels oppressed and
is not able to identify with the stiff and rigid atmosphere, she admits that she
was born inside the pale. And she liked comfort, and a certain prestige (The
Virgin and the Gipsy 61). Her desires to be free and natural seem to be
superficial only. Being used to the middle-class conventions strangles Yvette on
one hand, but on the other hand, when she eventually gets the note from the
gipsy, only then she realise[s] that he had a name (The Virgin and the Gipsy
74). This indicates that Yvettes interest in the gipsy was triggered by a sense
of adventure, exoticism and return to nature by the means of wandering
lifestyle. But what is more, gipsy was only a representative of a certain life-
style. She did not have a slightest intention to think about or to learn his name,
because she was raised in a middle-class background and a gipsy is only a
mere representative of a lower class or a common man.
Moreover, Yvette appears to be highly class-conscious. She befriends a
little Jewess. The Jewess attracts Yvette because she appears adventurous, as
she is divorced and lives with a partner out of wedlock. But still, she is perfectly
aware of class-division. When Yvette confides about the gipsy looking at her,
the little Jewess is shocked: What a vile fellow! What right had he to look at
you like that? (The Virgin and the Gipsy 54). Lawrence, as Holderness points


36
out when describing his working-class
51
background, is said to be aware of the
class boundaries and the situation in the short story might be seen as a
reflection of this problematic issue.
When further developing the idea connected to the quotations
mentioned, one encounters the problems related to male-female relationships.
Lawrence discusses the problems connected to sexuality and he might be
perceived as commenting on them in The Virgin and the Gipsy: Yvette explains
to her friend the little Jewess that she might be attracted to the gipsy. The
Jewess is horrified when her lover responds that desire is the most wonderful
thing in life and he explains that lust is merely appetite (The Virgin and the
Gipsy 55). The Jewess immediately reacts: Every common low man in Halifax
feels nothing else! (The Virgin and the Gipsy 55). These attitudes illustrate the
strict conventions which are in a contrast to sexual freedom, which is seen as
low and too earthly from the perspective of the middle-class conventions.
Another example illustrating this could be the attempts of Yvettes father to
make her stop visiting the little Jewess, because she is getting divorced and at
the same time she lives with another man.
Lawrence wrote The Virgin and the Gipsy after WWI (1926) but from the
atmosphere of the short story one can guess that the setting of The Virgin and
the Gipsy takes place after WWI. Lawrence directly reveals, that Yvette had to
live. It is useless to quarrel with one's bread and butter. And to expect a great
deal out of life is puerile. So, with the rapid adaptability of the post-war

51
Lawrences working-class background was influenced by Lawrences mother who wanted her
children to penetrate the middle-class, as Holderness points out in his D.H. Lawrence, History,
Ideology, and Fiction.


37
generation, she adjusted herself to the new facts (The Virgin and the Gipsy
59).
To follow with, when contemplating about Lawrence distinguishing
between organic and mechanised
52
. Holderness argues that processes of
mechanisation or industrialisation are usual in Lawrences works and The Virgin
and the Gipsy is not an exception:

The second time, she met the gipsy by accident. It was March, and
sunny weather, after unheard-of rain. Celandines were yellow in the
hedges, and primroses among the rocks. But still there came a smell of
sulphur from far-away steelworks, out of the steel-blue sky. And yet it
was spring. (The Virgin and the Gipsy 62)

The following extract serves as a concrete example of Lawrences constant
awareness of the mechanisation processes of his era which stands in opposition
to rural and natural roots of England
53
.

52
Terms used by Graham Holderness in his D.H. Lawrence, History, Ideology, and Fiction in
order to explain Lawrences view about natural roots being transformed into mechanised age
(Holderness 30).
53
Paraphrased from Holdernesss D.H. Lawrence, History, Ideology, and Fiction.


38
6 Conclusion
In conclusion, this chapter will comment on the research project and it
will synthesise acquired information about the two short stories of interest
written by D. H. Lawrence - The Horse Dealers Daughter and The Virgin and
the Gipsy. The two short stories will be contrasted and compared from the
perspective of narratology (including structure, message, general context and
possible interpretations) in order to draw the conclusion.
The purpose of this thesis was to look closely at the two mentioned short
stories by D. H. Lawrence in order to observe diverse variations within the
terms of repeated patterning of his short stories from the perspective of
narratology. The reason for employing the theory of narratology relying
especially on Mieke Bals perspective was the attempt to provide not only a
comparative analysis of the two short stories based on interpretation, but to
provide a link connecting relevant details that might have influenced the
process of writing the narrative as well as details relevant for the perception of
those two short stories.
First and foremost, basic terms from the textual level analysis were
explained in order to prepare a solid base for the analysis of the next level of
the text, which is a message that results (apart from other processes such as
psychosomatic ones) from the notion of focalisation. Mieke Bal in her
Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative suggests that focalisation
belongs in the story, the layer between the linguistic text and the fabula (164).


39
This device is one of the crucial devices for understanding a narrative not only
as a fragmented text but as a complex message.
When focusing on the textual level first, D. H. Lawrence employs an
external narrator in both the short stories. Both the external narrators from The
Horse Dealers Daughter and The Virgin and the Gipsy produce argumentative
comments of descriptive character. Secondly, when analysing the second level
of the narrative above the textual one, one needs to think about the reduction
of both the short stories to their fabulas. These have strikingly similar structure.
In The Horse Dealers Daughter the female protagonist is dissatisfied with her
position and status and tends to individualism. She is rescued from drowning
and experiences physical as well as mental attraction to her rescuer. In the The
Virgin and the Gipsy the structure of the fabula is similar, what is different is
the causal chain: A female protagonist tends to individualism because she is
dissatisfied with her position. She experiences physical as well as mental
attraction to her future rescuer who saves her from drowning. The contrast
between these two short stories is not accomplished only by the differences in
the causality of events but also by differences in sujet which involves all the
functional and non-functional events, processes or characters. Sujet of the two
stories is further developed in terms of context leading to different perceptions
and interpretations of The Horse Dealers Daughter and The Virgin and the
Gipsy.
-
Narrative Theory And/or/as Theory of


40
Interpretation
54
in which it is explained that the possibilities or even the
intrinsic tasks of narrative theory include contributing to the interpretation
of texts (Kindt, Mller 206). Therefore, interpretation of the two texts was
considered as relevant and is therefore included in this thesis.
This thesis thus elaborates on the notion of focalisation which affects a
readers perception and interpretation. After a careful observation, one might
draw the conclusion that Lawrence employs external focalisation resulting from
narrative comments of the external narrators in The Horse Dealers Daughter
and The Virgin and the Gipsy. But in his short stories there is also the
perspective of internal focalisation which is provided by the characters of the
story and caused by their direct speech. To contrast the two short stories, it is
necessary to point out that in The Horse Dealers Daughter, the internal
focalisation towards the end of the narrative is predominant. To compare it with
The Virgin and the Gipsy, it would be vital to indicate that the whole first
chapter lacks internal focalisation and only the external type of focalisation
dominates.
Last but not least, in his short stories, Lawrence reflects various details
and relevant events from his own cultural and family background. These can be
referred to during the interpretation process. The main conflict in Lawrences
selected short stories is the conflict between organic and mechanised
55
.
Lawrence seems to condemn the processes of industrialisation, mechanisation

54
- . "Narrative Theory And/or/as Theory of Interpretation."
What Is Narratology?:Questions and Answers Regarding the Status of a Theory. Berlin: Walter
De Gruyter, 2003. 205-20. Print.

55
Term used by Holderness in his D.H. Lawrence, History, Ideology, and Fiction


41
(leading to WWI) and he seems to be more in favour of things that are rural
and natural. This can be traced in both the stories which depict either the ugly
impact of collieries or the dreadfulness of steel-works. The fact that D. H.
Lawrence was grown up in a community of colliers and had a working-class
background might explain his attitude towards mechanisation. But at the same
time, community life in the working-class environment made Lawrence aware of
the class boundaries and the class division and the attempts to transcend it are
one of the main issues of The Horse Dealers Daughter and The Virgin and the
Gipsy.



42
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Lawrence, D. H. "The Horse Dealer's Daughter." England, My England.
Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Eng.: Penguin, 1960. 157-74. Print.
Lawrence, D. H., and Jeff Wallace. The Virgin and the Gipsy and Other Stories.
Ware, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions Limited, 2004. 3-73. Print.

Secondary Sources
Bal, Mieke. Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative. Toronto:
University of Toronto, 1985. Print.
Barthes, Roland. "An Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narrative."
JSTOR. JSTOR, Winter 1975. Web. 12 Jan. 2013.
Becket, Fiona. The Complete Critical Guide to D. H. Lawrence. London:
Routledge, 2002. Print.
Caudwell, Christopher. D. H. Lawrence: A Study of the Bourgeois Artist.
London: Bodley Head, 1938. Print.
Chambers, Jessie, and J. D. . Chambers. D. H. Lawrence: A Personal Record by
E. T. (Jessie Chambers). London: Cass, 1965. Print.


43
Fot, Bohumil. "Naratologogie - Vymezen, Zkladn Pojmy, Historie a
Souasnost Disciplny." Introduction to Narratology. Masaryk University,
Faculty of Atrts, Brno. 26 Sept. 2012. Lecture.
Heinen, Sandra. "The Role of Narratology in Narrative Research across the
Disciplines." Narratology in the Age of Cross-disciplinary Narrative
Research. Berlin: Walter De Gruyter, 2009. 193-211. Print.
Heinen, Sandra, and Roy Sommer. "Introduction: Narratology and
Interdisciplinarity." Narratology in the Age of Cross-disciplinary Narrative
Research. Berlin:
Walter De Gruyter, 2009. 1-10. Print.
Herman, David. "Narrative Ways of Worldmaking." Narratology in the Age of
Cross- disciplinary Narrative Research. Berlin: Walter De Gruyter, 2009.
71-78. Print.
Holderness, Graham. D.H. Lawrence, History, Ideology, and Fiction. Dublin: Gill
and Macmillan, 1982. Print.
Holderness, Graham. "Lavrence, Leavis and Culture." CCCS Selected Working
Papers. Vol. 2.London: Routledge, 2007. 92-110. Print.
Jahn, Manfred. "Manfred Jahn - Narratology: A Guide to the Theory of
Narrative." Jahn: PPP/Narratology. University of Cologne, 28 May 2005.
Web. 07 Apr. 2013.


44
- . "Narrative Theory And/or/as Theory of
Interpretation." What Is Narratology?:Questions and Answers Regarding
the Status of a Theory. Berlin: Walter De Gruyter, 2003. 205-20. Print.
Leavis, F. R. D.H. Lawrence / Novelist. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1964. Print.
Prince, Gerald. Narratology: The Form and Functioning of Narrative. Berlin:
Mouton, 1982. Print.
Sommer, Roy. "Making Narrative Worlds: A Cross-Disciplinary Approach to
Literary Storytelling." Narratology in the Age of Cross-disciplinary
Narrative Research. Berlin: Walter De Gruyter, 2009. 88-108. Print.
Weilnbck, Harald. "Toward a New Interdisciplinarity: Integrating Psychological
and Humanities Approaches to Narrative." Narratology in the Age of
Cross- disciplinary Narrative Research. Berlin: Walter De Gruyter, 2009.
262-86. Print.



45
List of Abbreviations
HDD The Horse Dealers Daughter
V&G The Virgin and the Gipsy



46
Resum (English)
D. H. Lawrence was one of the most influential writers of the twentieth
century. This thesis focuses on his two short stories The Horse Dealers
Daughter and The Virgin and the Gipsy in order to provide a comparative
analysis from the perspective of narratology. Moreover, the narratological
aspect (relying on Mieke Bal's approach) is explored in relation to Lawrence's
stories - the theory of narratology is explained with the help of the two
mentioned narratives. The aim of this thesis is thus to observe Lawrences
development of structure of his short fiction in order to offer an insight into
diverse variations within the terms of repeated patterning of his short stories.
The reason for employing the theory of narratology is to provide a link
connecting relevant details that might have influenced D. H. Lawrence and his
process of writing as well as details relevant for the perception of the short
stories in terms of interpretation.




47
Resum (Czech)
D. H. Lawrence byl jednm z nejvznamnjch autor dvactho stolet.
Tato prce se zamuje na dv z jeho krtkch povdek The Horse Dealers
Daughter (Handlova dcera) a The Virgin and the Gipsy (Panna a cikn) za
elem jejich komparativn analzy z perspektivy naratologie. Naratologick
aspekt (oprajc se o pstup Mieke Bal) je navc zkoumn ve vztahu k povdkm
D. H. Lawrence teorie naratologie je tak zrove vysvtlena pomoc tchto
dvou povdek. elem tto prce je sledovat vvoj struktury ve zmnnch
narativ a poukzat na rzn variace v rmci opakujcch se schmat. Dvodem
pro uit teorie naratologie je snaha upozornit na relevantn detaily ze ivota
D. H. Lawrence, kter mohly ovlivnit jak Lawrence samotnho, tak i proces jeho
tvorby, a propojit tyto detaily s tmi, kter jsou relevantn pro percepci jeho
povdek v rmci jejich nsledn interpretace.