The essay discusses four of D. H. Lawrence’s short stories: The Horse-Dealer’s Daughter; A Fragment of Stained Glass; The Blind Man; and The Odor of Chrysanthemums.
This essay summarizes each of the four stories and then explores the theme common to each of the stories: the vagaries of relationships between men and women.
In the Horse-Dealer’s Daughter, love stems from a rescue from a suicide attempt; in the Fragment a couple seeks each other’s company while escaping from tyranny’s erfdom in the man’s case, and for the woman, escape from an overbearing father. The relationship between the couple in The Blind Man is marital. Each partner brings his or her character in an attempt to save the marriage in the face of tragedy and desperation. In the Blind Man, a platonic relationship and marital triangulation are introduced via a third person. In the fourth story, acknowledgment of a relationship comes from death. The relationship is rekindled from recollection of intimacy between husband and wife.”