Schofrova Short Stories of D.H.lawrence From the Perspective of Narratology

8/11/2019 Schofrova Short Stories of D.H.lawrence From the Perspective of Narratology

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Masaryk UniversityFaculty of Arts

Department of Englishand American Studies

English Language and Literature

Ivona Schfrov

Short Stories of D. H. Lawrence fromthe Perspective of Narratology

Bachelors Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: Stephen Paul Hardy, Ph.D.

2013


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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my supervisor, Stephen Hardy, Ph.D., for his valuableadvice and encouragement. I would also like to thank my family for their loving

support throughout my studies.


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1 Introduction

This thesis will provide a comparative analysis of two short stories1by D.

H. Lawrence from the perspective of narratology. The stories of interest are The

Horse Dealers Daughter andThe 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 Bal2, 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 andThe 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

1Various studies by various authors use different terminology for Lawrences short fiction, suchas novellas or short novels. To avoid ambiguity, Lawrences The Horse Dealers Daughter andThe Virgin and the Gipsywill be referred to as short stories for the purpose of this thesis.2

Bal, Mieke. Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative. Toronto: University ofToronto, 1985. Print.


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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 Leavis3 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.

3Leavis, F. R. D. H. Lawrence, Novelist.New York: Knopf, 1956. Print.4

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


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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.


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2 D. H. LawrenceIntroduction

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 / Novelist5, 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 Fiction6.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 andMacmillan, 1982. Print.


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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 andThe Virgin

and the Gipsybecause 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.

7Holderness summarizing and referring to Caudwells view from: Caudwell, Christopher. D. H.

Lawrence: A Study of the Bourgeois Artist. London: Bodley Head, 1938.


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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 Ho lderness

8

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


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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 Pagans9 and they were often

paying visits to Wiliam Hopkins10house 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. Lawrence11 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,

9Pagans is term used by Holderness in his book D.H. Lawrence, History, Ideology, and Fictionfor group of Eastwood intellectuals, who were Lawrences associates in his early years. Theterm Pagans is predictable and self-explanatory into some extent. It might have been intendedso in order to depict the nature of the group. Holderness comments on this term in his articleincluded in Holderness, Graham. "Lavrence, Leavis and Culture." CCCS Selected WorkingPapers.Vol. 2.London: Routledge, 2007. 92-110. Print.10William Hopkin was one of the prominent Eastwood intellectuals, but he was also engaged forexample in politics. He held his house open for intellectual debates and sessions in order todiscuss art and various artistic traditions.11

Fiona Beckets book The Complete Critical Guide to D. H. Lawrence is a description andgeneral summary of Lawrences life, work and criticism and its main purpose is to provide basicand general facts connected to D. H. Lawrence.


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where he addresses Chambers12: 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 Culture13, 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

12Chambers, Jessie, and J. D. Chambers. D. H. Lawrence:A Personal Record by E. T. (JessieChambers). 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.


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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 Holderness14 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 andMacmillan, 1982. Print.


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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 Bal15as 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 andThe Virgin and the Gipsywill 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 lectures16 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.16The cycle of lectures focused on the theory of narratology given by Bohumil Fot and JanTlust (Faculty of Arts,Masaryk University Brno).


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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 thcentury adopting

not only the perspectives of Russian Formalists17 and Vladimir Propp18,

structural linguistics and also Chomskys19 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

17Branch of literary criticism including research and work byVladimir Propp,Roman Jakobsonor Viktor Shklovsky. These influential scholars will be further introduced.18Vladimir Propp is a Russian scholar who analysed Russian folk tales in order to describe theirbasic narrative elements. Therefore, his views and observations will be taken into account in

this thesis, because they are relevant for the understanding of narratology.19Noam Chomsky was an influential linguist who contributed to many fields of study such asphilosophy or cognitive science.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Propphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Jakobsonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Jakobsonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Propp


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Narratology in the Age of Cross-disciplinary Narrative Research20and 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 Narrative21. 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 ofToronto, 1985. Print.


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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 Prince22 and Manfred Jahn23. Therefore, their

works will be used as a further complement to Mieke Bals perspec tive 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

articleAn Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narrative24will 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.


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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 characterMabel

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


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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 DaughterTextual 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


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constitutes an utterance and from the perspective of linguistic and the

grammatical point of view, the 3rdperson narrative is irrelevant. The reason is

that even though that the 3rdperson 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 Daughteris 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.


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The descriptive elements25 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 focalization26) 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

Daughteras 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.

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


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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 Daughterat 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 communication27and 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

27The term used by Roland Barthes (Barthes; 264) in hisAn Introduction to the StructuralAnalysis of Narrative


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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 sujet28. 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 usedgenerally in literary theory and especially in narratology explaining fabula as a basic story or achronological sequence of events, and sujet as the way a story is narrated.


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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 Daughterfocalised? 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 external29. Lawrence uses

also the internal type of focalistation30but 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 focalizors31. 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.

29External focalisation is a term standing in opposition to Genettes termzero 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, ZkladnPojmy, Historie a Souasnost Disciplny." Introduction to Narratology. Masaryk University, Facultyof Atrts, Brno. 26 Sept. 2012. Lecture.

To avoid ambiguation, Bals terminology will be used further on.30According to Mieke Bal - a point of view or perspective provided by one of the characters inthe story. In Lawrences short story it is indicated by a direct speech (Mabel replies to herbrothers and to the doctor).

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


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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 32points 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 Daughterin 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.


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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 proud33 (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.

33According to J. D. Chambers


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These attitudes and tendencies might serve one as an explanation for Lawrence

letting the readers know about the community, nevertheless focusing directly

on the individualMabel - 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 described34 in a specific way. The

specific way, understood as sujet is sometimes compared or even identified

with discourse35. Focusing on Lawrences discourse in The Horse Dealers

Daughterand 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 organic36or 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.

34Reference to the textual level, not to fabula descriptive elements35

According to Todorov and his terminology36According to Holderness, Lawrence distinguishes between organic culture in the past,changing and transforming into mechanical future. (Holderness 30).


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5 The Virgin and the Gipsy

This chapter is focused on Lawrences short story The Virgin and the

Gipsy37. D. H. Lawrence finished it in 1926 but the short story was published

later - in 1930 after Lawrences death. The Virgin and the Gipsywas 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 Gipsydepicts 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 triesto 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-Cynthia38 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.38In V&Gthis name is used to talk about Yvettes mother to indicate that she is not accepted asa member of the family any more.


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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 GipsyTextual 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


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free indirect discourse42or narrators text43. 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 comments44. 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 Gipsy4). 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

42Term used by Mieke Bal representing the type of discourse that contains narrators commentsor representation.43Because a narrators text is very similar to free indirect discourse an according to Mieke Bal itis 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).44These are important and relevant for the latter explanation of the conception of focalisation.For further information, see the following chapter.


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is a message. Barthess notion of narrative communication45 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 elements46 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 Gipsyis 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

45The term used by Roland Barthes (Barthes; 264) in hisAn Introduction to the StructuralAnalysis of Narrative46Functional elements are devices constituting a fabula. Functional elements are those whichare 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.


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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 how47? 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 chapter48. The focalisation strategy in the remaining

chapters is different. Next to the external focalisation, one can encounter also

47Apart from psychosomatic processes, that proved to affect ones perception. These, althoughthey are analysed by the cognitive branch of narratology, will not be included in the analysis. 48Taking 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 providedby the external narrator only, as one does not get any other point of view that that of theexternal narrator.


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internal focalisation49. 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 focalised50and 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

49Internal focalisation isaccording to Mieke Bal - a point of view or perspective provided byone 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 thefact that every narrative is focalised. Not only in terms of the perspective of an externalnarrators point of view, but also in terms of points of view of individual characters.


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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 Gipsy8). 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 Gipsy54). Lawrence, as Holderness points


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out when describing his working-class51background, 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 friendthe little Jewessthat 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

Gipsy55). The Jewess immediately reacts: Every common low man in Halifax

feels nothing else! (The Virgin and the Gipsy55). 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 Gipsyafter WWI (1926) but from the

atmosphere of the short story one can guess that the setting of The Virgin and

the Gipsytakes 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 herchildren to penetrate the middle-class, as Holderness points out in his D.H. Lawrence, History,Ideology, and Fiction.


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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 mechanised52. Holderness argues that processes of

mechanisation or industrialisation are usual in Lawrences works and The Virgin

and the Gipsyis 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 Gipsy62)

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 England53.

52Terms used by Graham Holderness in his D.H. Lawrence, History, Ideology, and Fictionin

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


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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).


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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 Gipsyproduce 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 Daughterthe 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


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Interpretation54 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 mechanised55.

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: WalterDe Gruyter, 2003. 205-20. Print.

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


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(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.


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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.


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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.


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List of Abbreviations

HDDThe Horse Dealers Daughter

V&GThe Virgin and the Gipsy


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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.


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Resum (Czech)

D. H. Lawrence byl jednm znejvznamnjch autor dvactho stolet.

Tato prce se zamuje na dv zjeho krtkch povdek The Horse Dealers

Daughter (Handlova dcera) a The Virgin and the Gipsy (Panna a cikn) za

elem jejich komparativn analzy zperspektivy naratologie. Naratologick

aspekt (oprajc se o pstup Mieke Bal)je navc zkoumn ve vztahu kpovdkm

D. H. Lawrence teorie naratologie je tak zrove vysvtlenapomoc tchto

dvou povdek. elem tto prce je sledovat vvoj struktury ve zmnnch

narativa poukzat na rzn variace vrmci 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 vrmci jejich nsledn interpretace.

Schofrova Short Stories of D.H.lawrence From the Perspective of Narratology

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