How important are romantic love and desire as motives for characters behaviour in Tickets Please and The Horse Dealers Daughter?
Hannah Butlin
How Important Are Romantic Love and Desire As Motives For Characters Behaviour in “Tickets Please” and “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter”?
Both romantic love and desire have a significant effect on the characters’ behaviour in “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter” and “Tickets Please”. In both the stories the needs for love differ between the characters. Annie, for example, desires a romantic relationship with John Thomas, whereas John Thomas merely wants a brief encounter with Annie. This relationship is therefore condemned from the beginning since there is a major conflict between their personalities and needs.
Romantic love and desire are very important as motives for character’s behaviour in “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter” since the story is based on Mabel’s love for Jack Fergusson. This story focuses more on romantic love rather then desire. The two characters undergo an experience which is especially different to the love that that is usually associated with romance and desire. Mabel plays the part of a lonely and frustrated woman who’s life has taken a dramatic turn for the worse. She is the only women in the family and is constantly being pressurised into making decisions which leads her to feel frustrated and lonely. This loneliness causes her to feel the need to have a relationship. This sudden need and desperation means that she rushes into one believing that Fergusson is the correct man for her. She is locked into the family situation and cannot seem to find her way out of her financial problems. This is due to her passiveness and inability to make decisions of her own, which leads her to try to commit suicide. Her brothers describe her as having the face of a “bull dog” which conveys her unhappiness and the lack of respect her brothers have for her. This depression makes her feel insecure and lonely. The pond scene in this story, where Mabel attempts to commit suicide, plays a very important part in her life and it symbolises a baptism or rebirth experience of her character. She then finds love at a time when she least expects it.