In those years men based all aspects of a relationship on the appearance of a woman; here Farmer Lodge leaves Rhoda because of the change in her appearance and some time later moves on to Gertrude, his young wife. This creates hatred and bitterness in Rhoda for Gertrude; she starts to envy Gertrude and tries to compare herself to her attractive and youthful looks. She sends her son to bring back a description of her,
‘If she’s dark or fair, if she’s tall-as tall as I’
As Farmer Lodge left Rhoda, he married Gertrude who also suffered a lot throughout the story. She was described by the society as a beautiful, innocent, lady like young women,
‘But she’s very pretty – very. In fact, she’s lovely.’
Hardy also uses a simile to portray Gertrude’s beauty,
‘…soft and evanescent, like the light under a heap of rose-petals.’
She was a lot younger than Farmer Lodge; this was a common thing in those days as many couples had a large age gap.
‘Beside him sat a women, many years his junior.’
Thomas Hardy’s personal life is reflected here, he also married a young woman who was young enough to be his niece. This indicates that it was a normal matter in the society.
Unlike Rhoda, Gertrude came from a wealthy background outside the village; she was pretty and much loved by the Farmer. At first Rhoda was jealous of Gertrude,
‘Is she tall? said the women sharply.’
This could also suggest that besides her dislike of Farmer Lodge she was still intimidated by Gertrude’s appearance and social status, as she didn’t want to be looked down upon. When Rhoda meets Gertrude her impressions about her gradually change,
‘But her voice was so indescribably sweet, her glance so winning, her smile so tender’
She finds that Gertrude is nothing like she had dreamt and thought; in fact she’s very down to earth. Rhoda starts to feel guilty for cursing her in her dream; she believes that Gertrude deserves her blessings,
‘This innocent young thing should have her blessings and not her curse.’
It is obvious that both Rhoda and Gertrude have suffered throughout the story but the question is who suffered most? Rhoda suffers emotionally and financially due to Farmer Lodge and Gertrude. She suffers financially because she has to raise her son on her own with very little money and little amenities and emotionally because she is left alone with no companion to share her sorrows with,
‘‘Tis hard for she,’ signifying the thin worn milkmaid aforesaid.’
She also suffers when Gertrude enters her life, becoming the most important woman for Farmer Lodge. This creates jealousy in Rhoda as she finds that Gertrude is young and beautiful and is taking her place in the Farmers life. She tries to hide her feelings by giving the impression that she doesn’t care about her,
‘I go to see her! I wouldn’t look up at her if she were to pass my window this instant.’
Further on in the story, Rhoda faces her son’s death. She suffers as she finds that Gertrude curses her son,
‘Someone innocent die’
This breaks Rhoda even further as her son was her only family,
‘…her face drawn, and her eyes red with weeping.’
Suffering does not end there for Rhoda, after her son’s depressing death and Gertrude’s painful death, Rhoda lives on feeling isolated with no affectionate relationship.
Gertrude’s physical suffering leads to her emotional suffering as she feels that Farmer Lodge slowly becomes less attracted towards her. Rhoda curses Gertrude unintentionally which causes Gertrude’s arm to gradually deform, this imperfection in her, changes Farmer Lodges affection towards her,
‘If- if I hadn’t a notion that it makes my husband- dislike me- no, love me less. Men think so much of personal appearance.’
This again proves that men in those days based love on appearance. The blemish on her arm gives her physical pain; she also cannot bear to look at it,
‘It pains me dreadfully sometimes.’
Eventually Gertrude becomes restless to find a cure for her deformed arm; her suffering factor keeps multiplying as she has to touch a dead corpse and especially it being Rhoda’s son. Now she has to live with guilt as she lets an innocent person die,
‘Someone innocent die’
She suffers emotionally here, partly because the corpse is someone she knows and cared for but mostly because it is a dead corpse and in those days young women were not supposed to look at such things. Gertrude had the last of her suffering at the end of the story. While suffering in the thought of not being able to pursue Farmer Lodge’s love again, she was once again cursed by Rhoda and died a painful death.
Overall I feel that Rhoda suffered most in the story as Gertrude’s suffering ended with her death however Rhoda continued to suffer emotionally and financially. She became lonelier than before with only memories to cherish of her son.
