The Horse-Dealers Daughter

                    While reading The Horse Dealers Daughter I decided to focus on the part in the story where Mabel tries to kill herself in the water. After discussing the story with a few different groups we came up with a few things that this part symbolizes. First a lot of people agreed that this part symbolizes a way of rebirth. Almost like she was cleansing herself of her past, and when the Doctor saves her it's like she is leaving her past in the water behind. The other thing we realized is that the story relates to Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella. The way it does to Romeo and Juliet is that the Doctor puts his life in danger to save her. He's giving his life to save hers. In the way of Cinderella, the mother dies and she is left with the responsibility to clean the house and take care of the family. These are just a few things that I and the class came up with after reading this story.