Review of D.H. Lawrence's Literature
Review of D.H. Lawrence's Literature
In both “Odour of Chrysanthemums” and “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter” by D.H. Lawrence, many similarities are present with regards to the plot of the stories, the characters, and the themes. The plots are similar, because each story is about a family who has to deal with troubles because the man in each family who is supposed to be supporting everyone is not doing his job, instead he is spending his money on alcohol. The main character in both short stories is a woman. The themes are related because each story is about death or coming close to dying.
When comparing the plots of these two stories, one must first notice that they are very similar. In “Odour of Chrysanthemums” Elizabeth plays the wife of an alcoholic coal miner. Although her husband supports them financially, his lack of presence as a father to his two children and his nonexistent affection towards his wife causes turmoil within the household. Elizabeth’s father at the start of the story says of her husband, “I hear Walter’s got another bout on… I heerd tell of him in the ‘Lord Nelson’ braggin’ as he was going to spend the b- afore he went: half a sovereign that was” (pg. 2574).
In “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter”, Mabel is the only female present in her family. She is forced to take care of her three brothers, even though they are old enough to care for themselves. She is called a “bull-dog” (pg. 2586), and she has nothing to look forward to in her life except another boring day of taking care of her brothers. Once again there is an alcoholic male who is supposed to be the backbone of the family but is not. “Joe, the eldest, was a man of thirty-three, broad and handsome in a hot, flushed way. His face was red… his eyes were shallow and restless… his bearing was stupid. Now he watched the horses with a glazed look of helplessness in his eyes, a certain stupor of downfall” (pg. 2586).
Both stories deal with death, but in different ways. In “Odour of Chrysanthemum” the one who is faced with death is Walter, Elizabeth’s husband. He does ultimately die, and it is a terrible death of suffocation. In “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter”, Mabel is the character who is faced with dying. She also has to deal with a...