Hester

Outer characterization

Hester is one of the main characters of the short story “The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D. H. Lawrence. She is portrayed as “a woman who was beautiful”, with blonde hair. Towards the end of the story, when she returns form the party, she is shown wearing a “dress of pale green and crystal” and a “white fur cloak”. Hester has a son and two daughters. 

Hester also secretly works in a friend’s studio, where she “drew the figures of ladies in furs and ladies in silk and sequins for the newspaper advertisements”. The fact that she works in secret might suggest that women in her time needed financial independence from their husbands, as well as freedom away from home.

Inner characterization

Hester is dissatisfied with her life and everything that surrounds her, from the house she lives in to her family. She is cold-hearted, as she does not feel love...