THE FOX

 

PART 1 - THE GIRLS AND THE DEMON FOX

 

EX 1

 

Who? Two girls usually known by their surnames.

When? During the First World War 1914-18. the Daylight Saving Bill was introduced in May 1916.

Where? Bailey Farm a little homestead, quite a distance from The White Horse (which is cut into the chalk of Uffington Hill, near Wantage, Berkshire, west of London).

What? The two girls had taken the farm together, intending to make a living from chickens, as well as keeping other animals. But things haven't gone well.

 

EX 2

 

Banford

 

Physically: small, thin, delicate

Money: main investor (her father's money)

Father: a tradesman in Islington, north London

Health: sake

Marital status: unmarried

Skills: her grandfather was a farmer

Age: 30

Farm clothes: /

Movements: /

Appearance: /

Face: /

Eyes: /

Hair: /

Manner: /

Attitude to the chickens: refusal to them

 

March

 

Physically: robust (the man about the place)

Money: little or no money

Father: /

Health: robust

Marital status: unmarried

Skills: carpentry and joinery

Age: 30

Farm clothes: puttees and breeches, a belted coat, loose cap

Movements: easy and confident

Appearance: like some graceful, loose-balanced young man

Face: very feminine

Eyes: big and wide and dark

Hair: crisp dark

Manner: strange, shy and sardonic at the same time; as if in pain and irony; something odd and unexplained - i.e. mixed with her pleasure at the chickens there is a touch of dangerous satire in her eyes and voice, odd whims and tendencies.

Attitude to the chickens: although she has a favourite (Patty) the narrator mentions "an almost satiricalflicker" in her eyes when with the chickens, also towards Patty. Fowls are "friends".

 

Things they have in common:

Personality traits: gallant, enterprising.

Attitude to mistakes on the farm: life was not made merely to be slaved away; they disbelieved in living for work alone.

Hobbies: reading and cycle-ride. March also loves: painting curvilinear swans on porcelain and cabinet work.

 

b) Banford is about thirty and she is small, thin and delicate. She is the main investor of the farm because of her father's money. As the matter of fact her father is a tradesman in Islington, north of London. Banford is unmarried. We don't know more about her physical appearance. She doesn't like chickens.

March is also about thirty but she is more robust than Banford. She is the man of the place. She has got little or no money. She is unmarried. March studied carpentry and joinery. Her clothes: puttees and breeches, a belted coat and a loose cap. Her movements are easy and confident. In appearance she is like a graceful, loose-balanced young man. But her face is very feminine. Her eyes are big, wide and dark. She has got crisp dark hair. March is strange, shy and sardonic at the same time. She likes chickens. March loves painting curvilinear swans on porcelain and cabinet work.

 

c)My first impression of them: March and Banford are the best of friends. They have decided to live that kind of life (in a farm with animals) but they have got very different personalities. From the text I can understand that they have different characters, attitutes and behaviours.

 

d)I think that there aren't important differences between the fictional March and the real Violet. On the contrary I find them very similar. First of all they are similar for their physical appearance. Then because both of them make mannish jobs and work a lot. To conclude they have the same undefinable personality and behaviour. 

 

EX 3

 

1)Banford and March had got problems with the animals of the farm. As the matter of fact there was a heifer that refused absolutely to stay in the Bailey Farm closes: the heifer went out, wild in the woods, or in the neighbouring pasture. Then the other beast was expecting her first calf and they were afraid of the coming event because they were alone (the old man was dead). So they limited their attentions to fowls and ducks. After that for them it was a relief to have no more cattle in the farm. Banford and March thought that they couldn't work only.

 

2)March's farmwork: she made up the fences; she had set up her carpenter's bench at the end of the open shed; she made coops, doors and other appurtenances; she fed the animals; she has got problems with the food for the fowls and because the fowls refusesto go to bed early.

 

 

EX 4

 

In the opening paragraphs the narrator is clearly intending to tell us an apparently true story that fascinates him and to try and explain the background cicumstances in a friendly, conversational, almost gossipy way. He uses expressions like "that is" and the clarifies what he means; and he uses simple adverbs like "unfortunately" before explaining some of the problems Banford and March had. He also slips in the adverbial phrase "quite gallantly" to share with us - always in a rather chatty manner - his admiration for the two girls, who are neither young, but "certainly not old", as they "set out with their enterprise" in difficult war conditions. He is also exaggerated about farm-animals, and the different kinds of chickens and the problems of keeping them - especially for those who are completely new to this kind of work. Without being satirical, he becomes, nevertheless, amused by the animals wild behaviour as well as sympathetic about the girls' problems with them, particularly in lines 22-27. notice the conversationally short phrases, the enthusiastic repetition of words, and the use of sympathetic verbs, adverbs and adjectives.

The narrator is equally amused by and informed to one of the girls' main beliefs - "Life was not made merely to be slaved away". But he then uses sentimental, dramatic expressions to mimic and slightly laugh at their frustrations with their chickens.

 

 

EX 5

 

The word "evil"

1. uncountable noun d) a force that makes bad or wicked things happen.

2. countable noun a) a very unpleasant or harmful situation or activity

3. adjective c) the lessere of two evils; and evildoer; the evil eye.

4. common phrases b) very wicked by nature, taking pleasure in harming other people; or morally bad (i.e. believed by most people to be wrong).

 

How is the word "evil" used here? Countable noun.

 

EX 6

 

The word "demon": b) a source of worry

 

EX 7

 

Name: Bailey Farm

Kind of place: a little homestead

Buildings: ancient wooden barn; low-gabled farm-house

Land around: fields

What is near: the edge of a wood

How near: just one away

Kind of country: wide country stretching hollow and dim into the far distance

Famous place nearby: the round hills of the White Horse

Time of year: the end of August

Colour of the trees: darkish, brownish green (in the full light), copper-like

Grass nearby: deep, long brownish stalks that gleam (in the full light)

Where's the pond?: under the pine trees

 

b)From the description in the text I can try to imagine the place where the Bailey Farm is sat. My first impression is that it is an isolated place: there are lots of trees and fields. I would like to live there because I can stay totally in a natural place.

 

c)Banford feels herself alone/in solitude and the place doesn't help here because it is a very isolated place.

 

EX 8

 

On the one hand,

They are usually: the best of friends

Banford is: nervous and delicate, but also a warm, generous, soul

March is: odd and absent in herself, but has a strange magnamity

On the other hand: the long solitude, they tend to become a irritable with one another; tired of one another; seeming; to have to live too much off themselves without outside stimulus. And when Banford despondent, March speaks sharply to her.

 

EX 9

 

a)The girls were known by their surnames: Banford and March.

b)After the death of Banford's grandfather the two women started to find some difficulties in the farm work. Especially tey had got problems with the animals of the farm.

c)March was the "man of the place" because she could do mannish jobs. 

d)Banford's father gives to her daughter money for her health's sake.

e)March's dresses are: puttees, breeches, a belted coat and a loose cap.

f)Both Banford and March disbelieve in living for work alone. They have got other hobbies.

g)March loves painting, cabinet work and crochet-work.

h)She likes painting curvilinear swans on porcelain.

i)They let their farm-house and retired to live in a railway-carriage that was deposited in a corner of the field.

j)Banford is the main investor because March has got little or no money. Banford's father is a tradesman so he has got a lot of money. But they have to live in a railway-carriage for a time to save money. It is wartime so it is a very difficult situation.

k)Banford is afraid of tramps but March is not much afraid.

l)They often speak to poultry and fowls.

 

EX 10

 

Introduced as: one evil greater than any other

Compared to: a demon (since the end of the war)

Sex: male

Main problem: carried off their hens

Banford's reaction: she just starts and stares

What she hears: another squawk and flutter every time a chicken is taken

Her feeling: disheartening

Attempted remedy: they both stand sentinel with their guns at favoured times

Legal changhe: a new law permits people to shoot foxes

Speed: too quick for Banford and March

How long the problem continues: two years

Financial consequences: they are making retired

Effect on March's workload: there seemed no relief (she is already doing four-fifths of the work)

Effect on their feelings: the fox really exasperated

Personality: sly; it seems to circumvent the girls deliberately

Movements: he slides along; making off, with slow leaps slow, impudent jumps; ran smoothly away; gone, softly, soft as the wind

Compared to what animal: difficult as a serpent to see

Physically: the tip of his brush is white; he casts a ruddy shadow; he holds his brush smooth like a feather his white buttocks twinkle

Attitude to March: although she tries to shoot him, he makes no thoughts of this; he knew her; he was not daunted; half inviting, half contemptuous and cunning; cool as anything

 

EX 11

 

She was half watching, half musing. It was her coinstant state.

It was a question, whether she was there, actually consciously present, or not.

What was she thinking about? Heaven knows. Her consciousness was, as it were, held back.

 

EX 12

 

 

a)And

b)"knew" means "have (sexual) intercourse with"

c)Adam is mentioned by name once and he is usually referred to men. In contrast with women.

d)In these lines from The Fox the words used are: he, she, his, her.

e)The style is repetitive because there is the repetition of some sentences and words.

f)it is deeply concerned for her spirit.

 

 

EX 13

 

(1)

a)She doesn't know what to do; on a second moment she comes to herself again but the fox is going away. Completely mesmerized.

b)She looks at the fox. Completely mesmerized.

c)She looks at the fox. Completely mesmerized.

d)She looks at the fox continuously and she does nothing. Completely mesmerized.

e)She comes to herself and starts to do something (she starts to follow the fox). Half awake.

f)She looks for the fox. Half awake.

(2)

g)She is confuse but she feels that now she is possessed by the fox. Half awake.

h)She is possessed by him. Half awake.

i)She thinks only about the fox, her feelings are captured by the fox. Half awake.

j)She continues to think about the fox. Fully awake.

k)She is dominated by the fox. Fully awake.

l)She continues to think about the fox. Fully awake.

m)It seems that she can smell the fox. Fully awake.

n)The thought of the fox continues to stay in her mind. Fully awake.

 

 

EX 14

 

Now the emotional mind, if we may be allowed to say so, is not logical. It is a pain fact, that when we are thinking emotionallt or passionately, thinking and feeling at the same time, we do not think rationally: and therefore, and therefore, and therefore. Instead, the mind makes curious swoops (sudden moves down like an eagle) and circles. It touches the point of pain or interest, then sweeps away again in a cycle, coils round and approaches again the point of psychological.

 

b)Yes, Lawrence's style here has made me feel that I have shared March's feelings of disorientation. I am completely involved.

 

EX 15

 

 

a)These sentences are relevant references to time: I can understand the pass of time and these sentences make me feel very melancholy, sad and pondering.

 

b)Yes, it is important because we haven't a clear idea about how long the girls have been living on the farm. We know only that time pass but we don't know exactly how many years the girls spend in the farm. The narrator tells us only that the months pass and we can understand that the situation of the two girls is the same for long time. He makes this narrative choice because he wants to prepare us for the arrival of the third character that will upset the situation and that will break the balance in the two women's life.

 

c)March's encounter with the fox lasts few minutes, but the narrator uses 10 lines to underline this significant moment.

 

d)The dark November evenings seem to last more than the days. She seem to be very long.

 

EX 16

 

 

A)restlessness = Banford could not keep still.

B)fear of outsiders = She was afraid of tramps, afraid lest someone should come prowling around.

C)terror of the desolation outside = Merely listening to the wind in the pines outside, or the drip of water, was too much for her.

D)irritation at impudent animals = "the cheek! - They're not afraid of us, Nellie."

E)a desire to kill the cause of irritation = "Pity you didn't get a shot at him."

F)a desire for warmth = She was almost fascinated by the red glow of the fire.

 

 

EX 17

 

 

a)November evenings are very dark and heavy. The night begins to fall at 4 o'clock and the day never properly dawns. The narrator uses here only negative words to talk about November evenings.

b)The two women can hear only the wind outside and this creates a very melancholic atmosphere.

c)The nights begin to fall at 4 o'clock and so there is the lack of light. It seems that the day never properly dawns.

d)The long evenings are very dark and the effect of the dark is negative for the two women because they dread the almost continuous darkness that envelop them. Therefore they are very afraid, sad and depressed: the dark oppress them.

e)The weather is not very good because it is November so it is cold and very windy.

 

 

EX 18

 

 

1. At this point we dont't know what the story is going to be about.

2. At this point we don't know what kind of story it is going to be.

The fox steals the chickens and the poultry, so the animals of the farm are in danger in front of him.

The fox becomes for March an obsession: she thinks always about the fox and she feels possessed by him. But the fox is a product of March's imagination. She is fascinated by his figure (beauty, intelligence and cleverness).

Banford hates the fox because he steals the hens and chickens: for her the fox is a demon.

 

 

PART 1 - THE YOUTH AND THE FOX

 

 

EX 1

 

Age: not more 20

Face: ruddy, roundish

Hair: fairish, rather long, flattened to his forehead with sweat

Eyes: blue, bright, sharp, clear

Cheeks: fine

Equipment: heavy kit on his back, heavy sack

Stance: he stands in the inner doorway and stares very keenly from girl to girl

Travel: he joined up in Canada for 3-4 years and now he comes from Salonika (France)

Health: good

Appetite: he eats largely and quickly and voraciously

Place of birth and upbringing: Cornish

Previous life at Bailey Farm: when he was twelve years old he had come to Bailey Farm with his grandfather

Name: always called Henry

 

b)For me Henry is now only a young soldier who comes back to his grandfather's house after some years.

For Banford he is a young brother because of his age and because of his soft-modulated voice.

For March he is the fox because of his eyes and attitudes.

In my opinion he may be dangerous because he can break the balance between the two women. He is also an intruder because they don't know him, but they permit him to stay in their house.

 

c)I think that Henry might have negative effects on the life of Banford and March beacuse he is an outsider and he can break the balance between the two women. As the matter of fact Banford and March have been living alone for some years and now a man is entered in their lifes. So he creates a new situation and he can change their lifes in Bailey Farm. 

 

EX 2

 

Banford is very friendly and hospitable with the young soldier: he treats him like a young brother.

March is not so friendly and hospitable with Henry because he is for her the fox. It means that she considers him a clever, intelligent, sly, cunning person that may be a danger: she is afraid.

 

EX 3

 

 

The youth	Banford	March
footsteps	Starts and lifts head, recoils in fear	Starts and lifts head, stood listening, then goes to the door
Opens door softly	Gives a loud cry
Says hello softly		Recoils and takes up a gun
Says hello again		Says in a sharp voice
Asks what's wrong in a soft, wondering, rather scared voice		Threatens to shoot
Says that he and his grandfather lived in the house 5 years ago, in a soft, modulated voice		Stared at him spell-bound
Stares brightly, very keenly from girl to girl, especially March	Clinging to the sofa-arm, shrinking with half-averted head	Stood pale, her eyes dilate
Adds he thought his grandfather still lived there	Thinks a little, seeing something boyish in him
Hears about the death of his grandfather without changing colour or expression	Recover her natural sharpness. Offers him tea	Thinks he's the fox recovers her presence of mind and prepares the tea
Looks at March's legs, thighs, hair		Kept her eyes sideways, dropping and lifting her dark lashes
Sits on the sofa	Happily gives him tea and bread and jam as if he were her younger brother; "such a boy"	Feels sensitive about her knees. And wants to disappear with embarassment
Talks softly and smoothly to Banford, while looking at March with unconscious fixed attention	Full of perky interest, like a bird	Seems like a shadow within the shadow
Eats largely, quickly and voraciously laughs, shows his teeth and wrinkles his nose	Apologizes for the bread	Is realistic: without butter they can't be "dainty"

 

 

EX 4

 

 

For there was no butter.

 

PART 1 - A PLEASANT CHAT ABOUT THE FARM

 

 

EX 1

 

a)He was very curious and wants to find out exactly what the girls are doing.

b)His questions are those of a farm youth.

c)They're acute, practical, a little mocking.

 

EX 2

 

 

Questions and comments:	The girls' replies (and reactions):	His reaction:
Their losses (said with amusement)	We don't believe in living for nothing but work	Quick young laughs
When all the capital is used up	Hire ourselves out for landworkers (said March)
No demand for women after the war	We shall hold on a bit longer yet (said with a plangent indifference)
A man is needed (said softly)	B: take care what you say. We consider ourselves quite efficient. M: If you're going to do farming you must be at it from morning till night and you might as well be a beast yourself.
They aren't willing	M: We aren't and we know it. B: We want some of our time for ourselves (said with calm scorn)	Laughs silently; tremendouslytickled.
Why begin?	M: we had a better opinion of the nature of fowls then, than we have now. B: Of Nature altogether I'm afraid. Don't talk to me about Nature.	Face tight with delighted laugh
Their opinion of farmig	M: quite a low opinion of animals; B: and the weather. They laugh too. March turns her mouth in amusement. Both: we don't mind.	Laughs delighted Sharp yap         Very pleased

 

 

b)

1.The youth is more working-class. The girls are more lower middle-class.

2.The two women are more bohemians.

3.I share March's opinion.

4.I think that Lawrence sympathized more with the girls and this don't surprise me.

5.There weren't a lot of opportunities for women in my country at that time. But if the men had to fight the women had to learn and to do also male works.

6.In my opinion Henry wasn't right to say that because there were less men than women. The war was over but a lot of men were dead.

 

EX 3

 

Henry	Banford	March
Silent laughter	Calm scorn	Calm scorn
Open laughter	Open laughter	Open laughter; Deep amusement
Pleasure
Corteous simplicity; gravity,charm	Friendliness, curiosity	Fascination with "the fox", almost peace at last - warm, relaxed like sleep

 

b)March is fully at peace when he forgets her, talking to Banford.

c)The effect on her of such peace is that she needs not any more be divided in herself.

d)Smell

e)Henry is not a fox, but he seems to have the same attitudes and features of a fox (it is a way of being).

 

 

EX 4

 

Place	Problem
The Swan (inn)	Influenza
Bailey Farm	Propriety - from the point of view of village

 

EX 5

 

1. Banford says these things peacefully and friendly.

2. I think that she is very hospitable.

 

EX 6

 

a)Banford was as pleased and thoughtful as if she had her own young brother home from France.

b)It gave her to get out the bath.

c)Her natural warmth and kindliness had now an outlet. And how does the youth respond?

d)He luxuriated in her sisterly attention; and was slightly puzzled that March was silently working for him too.

 

PART 1 - MARCH'S FIRST DREAM

 

EX 1

 

a)

·                               It comes from outside

·                               March can't understand

·                               It roams round the house, in the fields, and in the darkness

·                               Its effect is so powerful that she feels she must weep

 

b)

·                               she goes out and suddenly knows it was the fox singing

·                               she goes nearer but he runs away and ceases singing

·                               she wants to touch him, so she streches out her hand

·                               he bits her wrist

·                               she draws back, but the fox turns round to bound away, whisks his brush across her face causing her pain on her mouth.

 

EX 2

 

The senses in the dream:

1.       Hearing

2.       Sight

3.       Touch

4.       Smell

5.       Taste

 

EX 3

 

The dream makes us understand that March thinks always (also unconsciously) about the fox. She is very confused.

 

PART 1 - THE DAY AFTER MARCH'S FIRST DREAM

 

EX 1

 

 

a)Banford is a hospitable soul because she flies into the village on her bicycle to try and buy food. But in that time there was not much food to buy.

b)He attends to the guns, shoots a rabbit and a wild duck: that is a great addition to the empty larder.

c)When March sees the glint of Henry's khaki she reminds the brilliance of her dream-fox.

d)His khaki, his curiosity that is quick and insatiable.

e)Because he is very mysterious.

 

EX 2

 

a)March makes the connection between Henry and the fox.

b)When March looks into Henry's eyes she makes this connection. She is very startled.

c)Banford doesn't notice anything strange because she only sees the usual semi-abstraction on March's face.

 

EX 3

 

a)Because she is afraid of being imposed upon.

b)Banford invites Henry to stay.

c)Henry is very happy but he hides his face.

d)He wanted them to invite him to stay and has achieve this by cunning = unvoluntarily foxy

He didn't intend to reveal his pleasure at his success by smiling and seeming exultant about March = voluntarily foxy

f)March doesn't appears very conscious of Henry's exultation. "Her mouth suffering as if wounded".

 

EX 4

 

a)Banford is quite charmed by him because his speech is so soft and courteous in manner not wanting to impose his ideas but hearing and laughing in his quick half-mocking way. He helps, but not too much.

b)Yes, Henry is certainly extremely well-mannered and pleasant company for Banford at this point.

c)At this point Henry is the happiest and March is the least.

 

EX 5

 

Henry is happiest when he is out alone with the gun in his hands, to watch, to see everything because his curiosity is insatiable and he is most free when he is alone.

 

PART 1 - HENRY'S THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS

 

EX 1

 

a)Henry looks particularly at March: her body, like a graceful young man, stimulates his interest. He feels a curious excitement when he looks into her dark eyes. And he laughs openly when he hears her odd speech.

b)He starts to think about a marriage with March: as the matter of fact he asks himself "Why not marry March?" and this because he is attracted by her. The narrator makes us understand that Henry doesn't know exactly what to do. Henry decides to wait and not to say anything to March because he must be careful.

c)As it gets dark the view of the fire-light leaping in the window of the setting-room of the dark buildings stimulate his feelings and thoughts about March.

 

EX 2

 

Indirect speech: he thought to himself it would be a good thing to have this place fot its own.

Free direct speech: why not marry March? Why not? Why not, indeed? What if she was older than he?

Free indirect speech: when he thought of her dark, startled, vulnerable eyes he smiled subtly to himself. He scarcely admitted his intention even to himself. He kept it as a secret even from himself.

 

EX 3

 

a)"the thought entered him shrewdly"

"He stood still arrested by this thought"

"His mind waited in amezement - it seemed to calculate - and then he smiled curiously to himself in aquiescence"

"When he thought of her dark, startled, vulnerable eyes, he smiled subtly to himself"

"He scarcely admitted even to himself"

"He kept it as a secret even from himself. It was all too uncertain yet"

"He knew, sly and subtle as he was, that [...]"

b)Words that link him most closely with foxiness: shrewdly, to calculate, acquiescence, smiled curiously, secret, uncertain.

c)Henry's mind seems divided because he would like to marry March (his intention) but he doesn't know yet how to tell March about this because he doesn't want to make a mistake (it is an advantage for him).

d)When I think about something my mind works like this: I make myself a lot of questions, I try to answer but it is not always very easy, so I am confused.

 

EX 4

 

"It's all too uncertain as yet. I have too see how things go. If I am not careful, she just simply mock at the idea. I know, sly and subtle as I am, that if I go to her plainly and say:"Miss March, I love you and want you to marry me", her inevitable answer is:"Get out. I don't want any of that tomooflery. If I am not careful, she turns round on me with her savage, sardonic ridicule, and dismiss me from the farm and from her own mind, for ever. I have to go gently. I have to catch her as I catch a deer or a woodcock when I go out shooting."

 

EX 5

 

a)Yes, I am agree.

b)Because March try to be savage (for example for her manners and behaviours) but she isn't so in truth. Henry understands that it is a strange behaviour and this makes him laugh.  

 

EX 6

 

In line 705 present tense starts being used. It seems that the author is speaking directly to the readers.

 

EX 7

 

Henry's practical contribution to thier food: the dead rabbit in his hand.

 

EX 8

 

a)It's less what you do than what you feel.

You have to be subtle and cunning.

Your own fate overtakes and determines the fate of your quarry.

You have to fasten on the quarry's soul even before you see it.

It's a strange battle, a subtle, mesmerism.

The soul of the prey fights to escape.

You project the fate of the prey.

It's like a supreme wish, a supreme act of volition, not as a dodge of cleverness.

b)I don't have any experience of hunting.

 

EX 9

 

a)The narrator says that Henry is a huntsman in spirit.

b)March is his quarry in the way that he wants to bring down her (like a prey) to make her his wife.

c)The narrator says that March is suspicious as a hare.
d)He remains in appearance just the nice, odd stranger-youth staying for fortnight on the place.

e)Two weeks.

 

EX 10

 

You would miss out all the metaphor of shooting and all Henry's thoughts.

 

PART 1 - HENRY PROPOSES

 

EX 1

 

What Henry's doing:	Henry's feelings:	March's feelings:
Sawing logs		Comes "unwillingly" as if shy
Sees March and stops sawing	A fire like lightning flies down his legs
Says he wants to ask March something		Fright; but in control of herself
Asks her to guess what it is	Burning with a sudden power	Looks at him transfixed, without answering
Speaking softly as though touching her with the merest touch of a cat's paw, he asks her to marry him		Feels rather than hears Henry's proposal; tries in vain to turn aside her face; great relaxation
Seems to be bending towards her	Smiling	Sparks seem to come out of him
She accuses him of tomfoolery	A quiver goes over his nerves; disappointed
Speaks as if strocks her	Sounding hurt, but powerful	Loose and relaxed; then lost - lost - lost as if she were dying
She says she's old enough to be his mother		Stroke scornful
Disagrees with soft, heavy insistence as though speaking in her blood	Exultant, on limbs; he has won	Swooning; swaing, unable to answer
Asks why he shouldn't marry her	Feels March is almost phosphorescent in his power
Asks her to say yes		Like one in pain; helpless, half-articulate, as if semiconscious
Lays his hand on her shoulder		Dazed
Touches her neck with his mouth and chin		As if she was killed
Repeats his request softly and cruelly		Lost
When Banford calls disconsolately, March carries in logs on her breast		The logs feel like some heavy child

 

EX 2

 

I think that Henry is really foxy in this scene because he repeats continually his proposal of marriage and he tries to convince March. He uses not only his soft and insistent speech but also his body (lays his hand on her shoulder, touches her neck with his mouth and his chin,...).