An Essay comparing the way men and women are represented in "the withered arm" and other stories by Thomas Hardy with the way they are represented in "turned" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

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An Essay comparing the way men and women are represented in “the withered arm” and other stories by Thomas hardy with the way they are represented in “turned” by charlotte Perkins Gilman

“The Withered Arm” and “Turned” are both focused on relationships between men and women. “The Withered Arm” was about the relationship between Rhoda Brook and Farmer Lodge and also who he married later on called Gertrude. “Turned” was about the relationship between Mr.Marroner and Mrs.Marion Marroner but Mr.Marroner also had an affair with his servant Gerta Peterson and made her pregnant. Thomas Hardy when writing his stories focuses mainly on tradition where as Charlotte Perkins being a woman herself has represented other women as being strong and independent.

The men in Thomas Hardy’s stories are represented in an extremely traditional way as they are being represented as powerful and emotional. In “The Withered Arm”, Farmer Lodge is represented as strong, powerful, unemotional and degrading towards women. He somehow changes throughout the story. At the start of the story he had superficial feelings and also neglected his son as he was born through the affair with a low class woman. He then marries Gertrude as he wanted a young pretty wife. He therefore was represented there as being selfish because he never cared about other people’s feelings except for his own.

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“O yes. You must expect to be stared at just at first, my pretty Gertrude”. (pg 5)

In the middle of the story, Gertrude’s arm becomes more and more disfigured which makes Farmer Lodge become more obsessed with the women’s appearance. He then starts neglecting her just like he did to Rhoda Brook and             all just because of her wither arm. But towards the end of the story he eventually changes for the better and appeared as a thoughtful and chastened man because after his wife Gertrude died, he bequeathed the whole of his ...

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