“This was not the man the man who had gone away from her; the man she loved and had promised”.
This quote indicates that she manages to make this thought just by looking at him. This quote reflects Dorothea’s true feelings for Randall, which turn out to be just lust. The next quote will support my theory, when Dorothea just describes what his appearance is like and not what his personality is.
“His skin waxy and hectic, red upon the cheekbones. His eyes were sunken; his features pinched and prominent; and his clothing hung loosely upon his wasted frame”.
“The lips with which he had kissed her so hungrily, and with which he was kissing her now, were dry and parched, and his breath was feverish and tainted.”
Here we see the kiss representing Randall. Randall seems to linger and drag. Randall is like this because he knows himself that he is changed and he doesn’t want to lose Dorothea.
Yet again there is more evidence of Dorothea’s lust for the old Randall.
“She had sat daily gazing for hours upon his portrait, which showed him to be an almost perfect specimen of youthful health, strength and manly beauty”. It is definitely apparent that “Dorothea” was just in love with the old Randall’s appearance.
Here we see the independence of Dorothea in this quote.
“Never!” she whispered, “not for all his thousands! Never, never! Not for millions!” This is an independent act because a woman in those circumstances would of married Randall for his money.
The narrative “Tony Kites, the Arch Deceiver” has a more humorous and blithe character. It is also different to “The Unexpected” in the way women are portrayed. This could be because of the male writer. This story is about a man called Tony Kites, which seems irresistible to women. He treats them nicely to their faces but today we would think of his acts as irrespective of women. Thomas Hardy defines women as silly and vulnerable, I think this because they all fall for him like they have no self-respect, and this is how a male writer considers women to be like this. Tony Kites plays a traditional sexist role; he treats women adequately but does not respect them. The last part of the heading “The Arch Deceiver” is a tongue in cheek sentence, seeing as Tony only gets one girl.
Tony is a typical “woman’s man”. He is a flirt and makes women feel good about themselves. We know that he is a bit of a laugh because he sings a dirty song.” O the petticoats went off, and the breaches went on”.
Based on my interpretation of the two short stories, I would have to say I prefer the wit and humor of “Tony Kites, the Arch Deceiver”. I didn’t enjoy the seriousness of “The Unexpected” but one of the things I enjoyed about it was how Randall had no control of his relationship unlike the typical relationship of that time.