1)Considering the title "The Fox", the common reader can under stand that the poem might be about a fox which is a wild animal like a dog with reddish - brown fur, a pointed face and a thick tail. But if the title can be considered a metaphor, the intelligent reader can understand that the short story refers to someone who is good, clever and smart at deceiving people - someone who's sexually attractive too. So the title refers to Henry because he deceives Banford and March, and March is attracted to him.

2) The story is divided into four parts. Each part has got a particular function.

The first part is an introductory part: the setting and the three protagonists are introduced and characterized.

The function of the second part is to explain the crucial event that makes the story go on: a perspective marriage between Henry and March. The boy asks March to marry him but she's uncertain: on one side she's attracted by him, on the other side she's worried about him.

The third part presents the obstacle to the development of the story. The obstacle is called Banford! She doesn't want the marriage between Henry and March and so she sends the boy away to the army.

The function of the fourth part is to present the tragic conclusion of the short story: Henry kills Banford because he believes that she is an enemy for his marriage. At the end March isn't happy to marry him.

3)The characterization of the three protagonists is made up by physical description, social and economical status, personality, behaviour, psychological description, manners, health, appearance, movements and skills.

4)In "The Fox" the setting has multifaceted layers of meaning. The short story takes place during the First World War (1915 - 1918) in the country in the west of London in a farm called "Bailey Farm". The period in which the story develops well represents one of the messages of the story: that is women's desire for independence.

5)My favourite character is March because she represents a "new woman": she develops a great self - assurance without depending on a male as generally happened in the traditional female role. She is determined and self - assured.

6)The narrator is omniscient. That's why the reader is not able to have a personal opinion of the situation: the reader's point of view depends on what the narrator says.

7)The language used in the short story is difficult in my opinion because the writer uses extended metaphor to implicitly express his idea about women's condition in his period.