The Fox- D H Lawrence (Sons and Lovers - D.H. Lawrence)

Member Name: coolkatie01

Product:	Sons and Lovers - D.H. Lawrence
Date:	19/08/03 (2194 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great writing style, good length

Disadvantages: lacks range of characters

The Fox, written by D.H. Lawrence chronicles the life of two women at the beginning of the 1920’s: Banford and March. Banford is a small, delicate and physically weak woman with spectacles and ‘it did not look as if she would marry’. In contrast there was March, who was ‘more robust’ and ‘would be the man about the place’. The two spinsters owned a farm and worked it alone. It could be argued that they were like an old couple, used to each other’s company and undoubtedly set in their ways. The novella progresses a stage further when a young man, called Henry encroaches into their habitual state of affairs and ‘unfortunately things did not turn out well.’

March and Banford have a unique friendship. Though the pair are so diverse in physical appearance and presence they have an inimitable sense of understanding and companionship. They live a life of seclusion and are content with their state of affairs, managing the farm. Their relationship is somewhat unusual, in the sense that they are two women, nearing thirty, both of whom have ‘unsatisfied tendencies’; yet up to the point of Henrys intervention appear to have no relationship prospects with the opposite sex. The reader is given the impression that without the interference of Henry in the novella, March and Banford would have persisted in their mundane lives.

The arrival of Henry undoubtedly alters the balance of the womens’ relationship. Initially Banford is terrified, afraid of who this visitor is and she ‘recoiled in fear’ at the sound of his footsteps. In comparison March ‘stood listening’ and with the reassurance of a gun in her hand answered the door with authority (hoping to hide her fear) in her voice. Yet as the pair listen to Henry, they are overcome by his ‘softly-vibrating’ voice and Banford takes charge, ‘seeing something boyish in the round head with i
ts rather long sweaty hair’. March on the other hand saw something in Henry that made her fell uneasy. ‘To March he was the fox’.

She was very happy now, waiting on him…. she was no more afraid of him than if he were her own younger brother.
Banford

She did not want to be noticed. Above all, she did not want him to look at her.
March

Lawrence demonstrates the impact Henry has on the relationship between Banford and March by firstly contrasting the way in which each of them copes with the situation. As the plot develops we see how Henry’s behaviour alters between the two women. He is quite aware of the opportunities available to him and seeing something vulnerable and weak in March focuses his attention to her. With his soft, modulating voice she was easy prey. Banford has become conscious of this weakness in March and knows that their relationship will inevitably falter and disperse if Henry continues to plague them. March and Banford have become a lot more hostile and antagonistic towards each other as Henry’s presence at the farm has lengthened.

“Go along, ‘considered rude’,” ejaculated March. “Who considers it rude?”
“Why you do, Nellie, in anybody else,” said Banford, bridling a little behind her spectacles, and feeling her food stick in her throat.

Henry is aware that regardless of the trivial arguments erupting between March and Banford, their relationship is unique and if March is going to leave and become his wife Banford must no longer play a part, whatsoever. Death is the only solution.

“No one saw her flung outwards and laid, a little twitching heap, at the foot of the fence. No one except the boy. And he watched with intense bright eyes, as he would watch a wild goose he had shot. Was it winged, or dead? Dead!
Henry


D H Lawrence has a unique ability to combine the simpl
e lexis of everyday speech with vivid imagery and immense description to make The Fox a complex tale, full of twists and turns. Ultimately, it is both intriguing and entertaining, not allowing the reader a moments rest.

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