The community of Holmstoke were superstitious they did not believe in witchcraft they believed that a withered arm could be cured by touching a dead man or woman. They also treated all unmarried mothers as outcasts and they believed that people should get married before having a child. In those days too those who committed crimes like arson were hanged. People believed it was pointless to educate women and some people never educated their sons because they did not have enough money.
Hardy portrays Rhoda Brook and Gertrude as contrasting characters .Rhoda is often portrayed in a negative light and Gertrude in a positive light. Gertrude is portrayed as a poor unmarried single mother, ageing, tall and dark but proud. Rhoda is a jealous, bitter and obsessive woman of the lower working class. On the other hand Hardy portrays Gertrude as an upper class lady, married but childless, she is easy going, very kind, generous and caring. Hardy describes her as a young woman, fresh face, short, plump and rich because of her large house that has a lot of land behind and in front. Rhoda’s house is described as a hut with mud walls. It was built of mud-walls the surface of which had been washed by many rains into channels and depression that left none of the original flat face visible”
By contrast Gertrude lived in a mansion “till a white house of ample dimensions revealed itself with farm buildings and rocks at the back”. This shows the reader that Gertrude’s house is big and colourful. At the end of the story I have found out that the tragedy has happened because of the social expectations. The main characters like Lodge, Gertrude and Rhoda also contributed. Rhoda was a witch and cast a\ spell on Gertrude. She was an outcast because she had relationships with an upper class man and had a child with him. It was also the societies fault because they gossiped so much so Rhoda had to move out of Holmstoke.The society gossiped about Rhoda that she was a witch and an outcast. Rhoda’s child suffered too because he was an outcast too as he was considered illegitimate. He also fell in with the wrong people and was accused of arson and then got hanged for it. In Rhoda’s view Gertrude was evil and this was seen as a vision and not a real thing. We know this because in the story Rhoda said “this is the meaning of what Satan showed me in the vision! You are like her at last!”
Gertrude was an innocent victim. She was vain and obsessed with being perfect but it was the societies fault because of the gossip and the image of Gertrude as being a lady and not an outcast. Lodge is also made to look irresponsible because he abuses his status and the power it gave him in society. Also he was insensitive and did not support Rhoda. He was selfish and uncaring. Overall I think Farmer Lodge is more to blame because he did not care for Gertrude or Rhoda.