Two Perspectives

In The Horse Dealer’s Daughter by D.H. Lawrence, the story is told from two perspectives: Dr. Jack Fergusson’s and Mabel Pervin’s. At the time that this story was written, D. H. Lawrence broke the rules with this double perspective and two protagonists. He narrates through the third person limited omniscient point of view. In the beginning of the story, Mabel Pervin’s view is shown. Through her mind, the reader understands the situation that she is in after her father’s death and how the decline of their horse farm affects her. Mabel Pervin’s point of view, in the story, expresses the loss of her mother and, later, her father.

Within the story D. H. Lawrence subtly switches to Dr. Jack Fergusson’s view when Mabel goes to drown herself. Without knowing exactly why he does it, Dr. Jack Fergusson searches through the water to find Mabel Pervin. D. H. Lawrence tells, through Dr. Jack Fergusson’s eyes, how Mabel Pervin is revived in more ways than one. Dr. Jack Fergusson’s different stages of love for Mabel Pervin are shown by