Lawrence, the author of Love Among the Haystacks and Other Stories, describes the lives of both men and women and their relationships. Although it seems as though the author is describing both men and women equally in their roles in the stories, there are some indications that Lawrence's general vision of women in these stories are possibly developed from a male-centered point of view.
In most of the stories, men are portrayed as hardworking farmers or countrymen. Women, on the other hand are described as housewives, or as someone who serves their men. In the story "A Modern Lover," Muriel tells Mersham, "You told me to -- to take another man -- and I did as you told me -- as usual."(37) when her present boyfriend, Vickers, enters the house. One interpretation of this quotation is that she has always been loyal to Mersham, so when he left her, she took his advice of finding someone else. Another interpretation would be that when Mersham left her, she decided to try and forget about him by finding herself a new lover. Perhaps both interpretations are valid, however Muriel seems to obey Mersham. When Mersham leaves Muriel at the end of the story, he says, "Goodbye! I"m going back -- on Saturday. But -- you"ll write to me -- goodbye." Muriel does not say goodbye to him (48). This situation gives a strong sense that Mersham has control over her since she is loyal to and obeys him. It is possible to interpret that men having control over women is an idealized male-centered point of view. With consideration that these stories were written between 1909 to 1914, perhaps it was common and not considered as a male-centered view at that time. During the period prior to World War One (1914- 1918), women had very little power. Possibly what the people considered common meant only the voice of men.
In the story "Her Turn," Mrs. Radford goes to the shop and purchases linoleum for the kitchen, a new wringer, a breakfast service, a spring mattress, and other various household items for thirty shillings (131).
