Discuss the portrayal of women in Victorian England in the short story 'The Withered Arm'.

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Discuss the portrayal of women in Victorian England in the short story ‘The Withered Arm’

On the one hand, Hardy portrays how negative life was for women in Victorian society.  However, on the other hand, he clearly shows sympathy for the plight of women which suggests he had a desire for change.

Hardy shows how the role of women in Victorian society was to get married.  If a woman did not get married, she was treated as though there was something wrong with her and indeed was often ignored by both men and women.  Hardy shows us this when he tells of how Rhoda sat apart from the rest in the milking barn and lived on a lonely spot away from the other milkmaids.  

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We learn that Rhoda has had a child out of wedlock with Farmer Lodge.  For this ‘terrible sin,’ Rhoda is effectively excluded from society; however, no blame is attached to Farmer Lodge.  This is an example of the double standards that women in Victorian England had to live with.  Hardy uses this concept throughout the story to emphasise the plight of women in Victorian society.  

Women were also expected to marry young and produce an ‘heir and a spare’.  When Gertrude failed to do this, she invited the scorn of her husband who was bitter over her failure ...

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