D. H. Lawrence: Selected Short Stories

Book excerpt: Part 1 provides an overview of Lawrence's work in the genre, discussing his early realist stories, the modernist tales, and the late fables and satires. Part 2 contains a thorough analysis of ten of Lawrence's best known and most widely studied stories ('Odour of Chrysanthemums',' Daughters of the Vicar',' Love Among the Haystacks',' The Prussian Officer',' England, My England',' The Horse-Dealer's Daughter',' The Blind Man',' The Rocking-Horse Winner',' The Man Who Loved Islands', and' Things'). The analysis includes details of composition, a detailed synopsis, plus a short focus on a critical issue which opens up the structure of the story in question. Part 3 uses sections from four of the stories to demonstrate Lawrence's use of dialogue, symbolism, free indirect discourse, and mimicry and satire. Part 4 presents a Select Bibliography of editions of the stories plus secondary criticism.