1. What are the denotative elements used by DH Lawrence to describe the fox?
2. What are the possible reasons why the fox may be something different as regards the metaphorical level?
3. Considering the way March is introduced in the story from the denotative level, why the specific denotative elements give her the potential to stand for something else from the metaphorical level?
4. Why Nellie is called “March”?

1. Right from the start of the story DH Lawrence describes the fox as “one evil there was greater that any other” and a “demon” since “he carried off the hens under the very noses of March and Banford.” It follows that the use of such words referred to the fox attributes a negative connotation to the animal; the fox is perceived as a relevant problem for March and Banford’s economic affairs. In a second moment the narrator goes on saying “he was so sly” and “he was difficult as a serpent to see”. Therefore now the narrator focuses on the aspect of cleverness; the fox seems to be very clever since both Banford and March are unable to shot the animal. Hence, combining the two aspects together (that are the demoniac and clever aspects) the reader is able to understand that the fox is a difficult problem to solve. Despite such information, the characterization of the fox is still not completely defined. As a matter of fact, the characterization is build up during the close encounter between March and the fox. In particular, the narrator says: “He was looking up at her. Her chin was pressed down, and his eyes were looking up. They met her eyes. And he knew her. She was spellbound--she knew he knew her. So he looked into her eyes, and her soul failed her. He knew her, he was not daunted. She struggled, confusedly she came to herself, and saw him making off, with slow leaps over some fallen boughs, slow, impudent jumps. Then he glanced over his shoulder, and ran smoothly away. She saw his brush held smooth like a feather, she saw his white buttocks twinkle. And he was gone, softly, soft as the wind.
She put her gun to her shoulder, but even then pursed her mouth, knowing it was nonsense to pretend to fire. So she began to walk slowly after him, in the direction he had gone, slowly, pertinaciously. She expected to find him. In her heart she was determined to find him. What she would do when she saw him again she did not consider. But she was determined to find him. So she walked abstractedly about on the edge of the wood, with wide, vivid dark eyes, and a faint flush in her cheeks. She did not think. In strange mindlessness she walked hither and thither.” The present part of the text, and also the part concerning the killing of the animal , provide the reader with clear information about the physical appearance of the fox. The first elements the narrator focuses on are the eyes of the animal. Indeed, March looks at the eyes of the fox as if it were a man. In addition she looks at the its “ruddy”, “lovely golden red color” fur, that is made up by the mixing of different colors; red, white (buttocks, belly and tip) grey (parts near the belly and brush) and black (brush).
2. The direct encounter between the fox and March unveils to the reader that there is a kind of special bond between the two characters. Indeed the fox is not perceived only as a wild beast but it stands for something else. As a result, in their close encounter March immediately identifies the fox with a male figure as you can see from the use of the personal pronoun “he”. Such identification makes the reader understand that the fox is personified. Indeed when they meet, March is sure that “he knew her”; she makes conjectures considering the animal as if it were a man. Such denotative elements unable the reader to understand the fox is not only an animal. In this case, it may stand for the wild instincts which awaken March’s feminine side.
3. Right from the beginning of the short-story, the omniscient narrator presents March as a “robust” 30-aged woman. The narrator justifies his comment saying that “she had learned carpentry and joinery at the evening classes in Islington. She would be the man about the place”. The narrator provides the reader with a clear image of March’s character: she looks like a man. Indeed, since she lives in a farm with another woman, she is the one who takes care of the rural activities which are usually associated with man’s work. Indeed, the omniscient narrator goes on saying: “March did most of the outdoor work. When she was out and about, in her puttees and breeches, her belted coat and her loose cap, she looked almost like some graceful, loose-balanced young man, for her shoulders were straight, and her movements easy and confident, even tinged with a little indifference or irony”. Therefore, she doesn’t look like a man only because of her activities regarding farming and rearing, but also because she actually moves like a man. Despite this, the omniscient narrator recognizes also a March’s feminine side: “But her face was not a man's face, ever. The wisps of her crisp dark hair blew about her as she stooped, her eyes were big and wide and dark, when she looked up again, strange, startled, shy and sardonic at once. Her mouth, too, was almost pinched as if in pain and irony. There was something odd and unexplained about her. She would stand balanced on one hip, looking at the fowls pattering about in the obnoxious fine mud of the sloping yard, and calling to her favourite white hen, which came in answer to her name. But there was an almost satirical flicker in March's big, dark eyes as she looked at her three-toed flock pottering about under her gaze, and the same slight dangerous satire in her voice as she spoke to the favoured Patty, who pecked at March's boot by way of friendly demonstration.” In this part of the text the reader perceives the complexity of March’s personality; on one hand she seems to be the man who takes the control over the management of the farm, but on the other, her face, and in particular her facial expressions, and also her attitude towards the animals of the farm reveal that she is actually a woman. March is presented ambiguously, therefore such ambiguity may suggest to the reader that she stands for something else.
4. Nellie’s surname “March” refers to the month when nature awakes from winter. In particular, in March the animals search for their partners in order to reproduce themseleves and guarantee their progeny. Therefore, March is generally associated with the period when all the animals, including also human beings, are driven by instincts according to their natural bond. It goes without saying that Nellie’s surname unveils her instinctual connotation. As a consequence, all the story is focused on March’s tension to her sexual desires. Initially she is physically attracted by the fox and later on by Henry.