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’.

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