Comparing The Rocking Horse Winner, By D. H. Lawrence
“The Rocking Horse Winner” by D. H. Lawrence is a story with a fairy tale aspect, but it is not the only story he wrote that can be viewed this way. A closer look at “The Horse-Dealer’s Daughter” shows the fairy tale theme too. Compare the story to classic fairy tales like Cinderella, Snow White or Sleeping Beauty and you will see a correlation. All of these stories share elements in common with “The Horse-Dealer’s Daughter.” In the story Cinderella, the main character is a daughter that experiences the death of her father and has her whole world upended. This is the same thing that happens to the main character, Mable, in “The Horse-Dealer’s Daughter.” Both Mable and Cinderella are faced with the prospect of a very long, hard and lonely
future until a man comes into the picture. For Cinderella it is a Prince at a ball and for Mable it is a doctor at a pond but the result is the same, love. This not just any love; it is a love at first sight kind of deal. Even though Mable and Jack have known know each other for years there shared experience at the pond causes them to really see each other for the first time. It is from this sight that hope springs. Snow White is another example of a daughter losing her father and being forced from her home. Snow White is left out in the world with no one to care for her after she is forced to flee from the Evil Queen. Mable in a way is subjected to the same thing. In her case it is her brothers that are forcing her out into the world without a safety net. They have little regard for what she wants or needs and are focused on their own selfish desires. In the story Sleeping Beauty, Aurora is forced out of her home but is rescued from a death like sleep by her true love. Mable again shares the displacement with this character and also is saved from a “sleep” by her true love. He has to give her mouth to mouth which is a form of a “kiss.” By preforming these actions he revives her and activates the true love switch that had been lying dormant. In all of these stories the situation and actions of the main characters are in all actuality, unbelievable and yet because of the mastery of the story teller the audience is able to buy into the plot line. This is a feature that fairy tales offer. They allow readers to suspend disbelief so that they can believe in the story. The same magic that Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty have can be seen in “The Horse-Dealer’s Daughter” if the same fairy tale lens is applied. When viewed this way there is a sweetness to watching Mable and Jack fall in love.
future until a man comes into the picture. For Cinderella it is a Prince at a ball and for Mable it is a doctor at a pond but the result is the same, love. This not just any love; it is a love at first sight kind of deal. Even though Mable and Jack have known know each other for years there shared experience at the pond causes them to really see each other for the first time. It is from this sight that hope springs. Snow White is another example of a daughter losing her father and being forced from her home. Snow White is left out in the world with no one to care for her after she is forced to flee from the Evil Queen. Mable in a way is subjected to the same thing. In her case it is her brothers that are forcing her out into the world without a safety net. They have little regard for what she wants or needs and are focused on their own selfish desires. In the story Sleeping Beauty, Aurora is forced out of her home but is rescued from a death like sleep by her true love. Mable again shares the displacement with this character and also is saved from a “sleep” by her true love. He has to give her mouth to mouth which is a form of a “kiss.” By preforming these actions he revives her and activates the true love switch that had been lying dormant. In all of these stories the situation and actions of the main characters are in all actuality, unbelievable and yet because of the mastery of the story teller the audience is able to buy into the plot line. This is a feature that fairy tales offer. They allow readers to suspend disbelief so that they can believe in the story. The same magic that Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty have can be seen in “The Horse-Dealer’s Daughter” if the same fairy tale lens is applied. When viewed this way there is a sweetness to watching Mable and Jack fall in love.