This shows that Rhoda is happy that Gertrude has some features that aren’t perfect. This also shows that she is jealous of Gertrude.
Rhoda isn’t stubborn because when she finds out that Gertrude is quite nice to her, Rhoda is nice back. This shows when Rhoda regrets her bad feelings about Gertrude on discovering how nice she is.
“At these proofs of a kindly feeling towards her and hers Rhoda’s heart reproached her bitterly.”
We see here that Rhoda regrets her resentment towards Gertrude because she suddenly feels guilty because she finds that Gertrude is nice.
Rhoda can be very caring because when Gertrude is talking about her injured arm Rhoda says,
“I hope your arm is well again, ma’am?”
“Well ma’am, I earnestly hope it will go away soon.”
Both of these quotations show that she cares for people because she hopes her bad arm will get better so it won’t cause her any pain for her or her husband.
“Keep Your arm covered from his sight.”
Even though Rhoda hates farmer Lodge, she still wants Gertrude to be happy. So she tells her to keep the arm away from farmer Lodge’s sight so she doesn’t disgust him. So Gertrude would be happy.
Gertrude is also caring because she takes some new boots around to Rhoda’s house to give to Rhoda’s son. Because she saw the state of his old boots she bought him some new ones;
“I’ll come and bring……..Better boots.”
This quote shows her considerate nature.
Gertrude is very dependant on her husband whilst Rhoda is totally independent because she lives by herself with her son. Gertrude is totally dependent on her husband because she relies on him for everything;
“If I hadn’t had the notion that it makes my husband dislike me – no, love me less.”
This shows that she wouldn’t be bothered about her arm if he still loved her the same. This also shows that she isn’t her own person, because if her husband doesn’t love her it would be the end of her world. In contrast, Rhoda is independent because she lives by herself in a cottage and fends for herself with no help from any-body. She brings up a boy on her own. This shows that she doesn’t need a man or any-body else to get by.
I will now compare Rhoda Brook and Gertrude Lodge’s appearance. Rhoda’s appearance is that she looks old and tired, even though she isn’t that old;
“Thin fading woman of thirty milked somewhere apart from the rest”
This quote also reflects how she is an outcast, because she is stood apart from the rest when the workers are milking the cows. This shows that she hasn’t many friends and that she doesn’t want to have any friends.
While Rhoda looks old and tired, Gertrude looks young and beautiful.
“Her face too was fresh in colour, but it was of a totally different quality – soft and evanescent, like the light under a heap of rose petals”.
The above gives the impression that she is very beautiful. Other quotes such as
“A lady complete”.
“Grace and beauty”.
“…Her personal beauty”.
Also back up that Gertrude is beautiful. Rhoda used to be beautiful also before, because when she is sat by the fire it says that you can see the beauty from her younger days;
“Pale cheek, dark eyes. Seem handsome anew”.
I will now compare Rhoda’s and Gertrude’s status. Rhoda is a single mother because she has a son, “…yes mother…”
Rhoda has a job on a dairy whilst Gertrude doesn’t have a job. This is another example of Gertrude’s total dependence on her husband, Farmer Lodge, because she doesn’t make a living for herself so she depends on farmer Lodge giving her money. In contrast, Rhoda has to make herself a living by milking cows; this shows that she is totally independent.
Gertrude is a lot richer than Rhoda Brook. She lives in a big house with her husband, Farmer Lodge. She rides about in a horse and cart, which were used in the 19th century by people who were affluent; they were one of the most modern forms of transport at that time.
Author introduction to “Turned”
Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a women’s activist who protested for women’s rights because she believed that women were getting treated worse than men. Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses this point of view in this short story, because the two women, Gerta and Mrs Marroner are used by a man, Mr Marroner. She also gets her point of view across that women don’t need a man to get by, because at the end of the story Mrs Marroner and Gerta move into their own house and get by alone, without a man.
I will now compare the two women in ‘Turned’. These are Mrs Marroner and Gerta. I will first compare their personalities.
Mrs Marroner is a strong and independent woman because when Mr Marroner is away on business, he writes Mrs Marroner a letter saying if he died he didn’t think that she would be broken. He says in the letter,
“I do not feel you’d be an utter wreck”
This shows she has a very strong character.
In contrast, Gerta isn’t very strong and she is described as childish and docile and that looking after her was like baby tending. This shows that she hasn’t a very strong character and isn’t very independent, unlike Mrs Marroner;
“I never saw anybody so docile.”
“…An ignorant child with a child’s weakness.”
Gerta is affectionate and loving. This is shown on line 172 when Mrs Marroner is trying to work out who was to blame for Gerta’s pregnancy. Mrs Marroner is thinking about what Gerta’s personality is like;
“One was a servant: loving, trusting, affectionate … Gratefu…”
Similarly, Mrs Marroner was affectionate and trusting and loving.
“Loving, trusting and affectionate.”
Mrs Marroner is a very thoughtful person because when she finds out about her husband’s and Gerta’s affair, she sent Gerta away but then gives it some thought. She decided that her husband is to blame because she considered Gerta to be a bit docile and too trusting towards people for it to be totally her fault. She realises her husband is to blame. He knew what he was doing and he knew what the consequences would be, but he still did it. So he is to blame because he did it all for his own pleasures;
“He appreciated to the full innocence, the ignorance. The grateful affection, the habitual docillity, of which he generally took advantage.”
This shows that Mrs Marroner thinks that her husband is to blame because he took advantage of Gerta’s innocence.
Mrs Marroner is very emotional, when she is alone on the bed at the beginning of the story, she is crying because her husband has betrayed her.
“She sobbed bitterly, choking, despairingly: her shoulders heaved.”
This quote highlights how Mrs Marroner is an emotional woman. This is shown because of her reaction to the the affair between her husband and Gerta.
Gerta is also very emotional because at the beginning of the story she is sobbing in her bed. But she is crying about something different. She is crying because Mr Marroner has taken her chance of ever escaping a hopeless future, she is pregenant and single;
“But all her proud young womanhood was prostate now, convulsed with agony, dissolved in tears. She did not try to control herself, she wept for two.”
This quote shows that Gerta doesn’t have a bright future to look forward to.
Mrs Marroner and Gerta have a difference apperance because Gerta is big and strong with long, braided and blonde hair;
“Her braided wealth of dead, gold hair, her grave blue eyes, her mighty shoulders and long, firmly moulded limbs seemed those of a primal earth spirit.”
Mrs Marroner isn’t as beautiful as Gerta because in the story it says that Mr Marroner and Mrs Marroner are discussing Gerta’s visual perfections. This proves that Gerta is very beautiful and that Mrs Marroner doesn’t look as good; they wouldn’t discuss Gerta being beautiful if Mrs Marroner was because it would not be something different. It seems that they discuss it because Gerta, physically is exceptional;
“They discussed her visual perfections…”
Gerta is gradually built and strong, while Mrs Marroner is much smaller than Gerta;
“She was of larger frame than her mistress, grandly built and strong.”
I will now discuss Mrs Marroner’s and Gerta’s status. Mrs Marroner is upper classed whilst Gerta is working class. A good example of this is when the characters are introduced and they are both lying on their beds. It says that Mrs Marroner’s bed is soft and wide;
“Mrs Marroner lay sobbing on the wide, soft bed.”
This is a luxurious bed because it is big and soft whilst Gerta is lying sobbing on her narrow hard bed;
“Gerta Peterson is lying on her narrow, hard bed.”
This bed wouldn’t be very comfortable to sleep on. This shows that she doesn’t have much money, if she did she would have been able to afford a comfortable bed. Other quotes reflecting their status are when it describes their bedrooms. For Mrs Marroner’s bedroom it says;
“In her soft-carpeted, thick curtained, richly furnished chamber.”
It is obvious that she is the one with money because she can afford thick curtains and soft carpets whilst Gerta, who is a servant, can’t afford carpets and she only has thin curtains;
“In her uncarpeted, thin-curtained, poorly furnished chamber on the top floor.”
Another thing that reflects their status is how they are addressed in the story. All the way through the story it doesn’t tell you Mrs Marroner’s first name. This shows you her authority because nobody calls her by her Christian name, but Gerta is always addressed as Gerta.
Mrs Marroner is a married woman whilst Gerta is single. Mrs Marroner is married to Mr Marroner while Greta, only being 18 years old and is single;
“And the woman who had been his wife…”
This quote comes at the end of the story when Mrs Marroner leaves her husband but she is still married.
I will now cross-compare both women from “Turned” and “The Withered-Arm”. Mrs Marroner and Gertrude Lodge are middle classed whilst Gerta and Rhoda are both working class.
Neither Mrs Marroner nor Gertrude Lodge has had to work because they are both well off, so they don’t have to earn money. They both rely on their husbands to earn money so they can live in big houses and wear expensive clothes. This also shows that neither need be independent, but Mrs Marroner is quite independent because she leaves her husband and goes to live with Gerta in a new house.
Gerta and Rhoda Brook are both labourers because they don’t have a lot of money and they aren’t very bright so they have to do lowly paid and lowly skilled jobs like working on a dairy and being a servant.
All of the women in the stories are emotional and caring; Gertrude delivers Rhoda Brook’s son some new shoes, when she sees that his are worn and tattered. This proves that she cares because she wants to help the boy because she sees his shoes are uncomfortable. Rhoda is concerned about Gertrude’s arm when it goes bad. She asks her about it all the time to see if it is getting better, but this may just be guilt about the dream she had. Gerta and Mrs Marroner are lying sobbing on their beds because their lives have been torn apart by Mr Marroner, Mrs, Marroner is sobbing because her husband has betrayed her, and Gerta because he has left her with child. This shows they are all emotional and caring.
In both stories the two women had made friends with each other and the man, to some extent was made the enemy.
Gerta and Rhoda were both left with a child after a man had promised that he would look after them; we assume this with Farmer Lodge, and then left them for another woman. In Mrs Marroner’s case he would have gone back to his wife.
In conclusion in my comparison both authors have used adjectives well so that they might portray a mental picture of what the characters look like. The authors have also used regional dialect to try and give some sense of time and place an example of this is be;
“You give her a look…”
Examples of the author’s use of adjectives are:
“A lady complete”.
“Grace and beauty”.
“…Her personal beauty”.
By Benjamin Baker
