When Tony is greeted by Milly she is represented to be very innocent and sweet, she is very loving towards Tony and is eager to discuss plans for a future home. As Tony asks for a favour from Milly to hide in the wagon, Milly is willing to co-operate and replies, “certainly, dearest Tony,” “I don’t mind to oblige you,” she later on says. This shows that Milly has true feelings for Tony. Tony clearly isn’t able to settle down with one woman judging from his performance when he is around certain women. When he is in the car with Hannah he becomes infatuated by her and wonders how he could have even considered Milly or Unity while Hannah was in the question. As Tony seeks his father for advice, his father recommends that Milly should be the one to marry as she was the only one who mounted on his invitation to ride with him. After the wagon gets turned over Tony has to make his decision about who he intends to marry. Hannah is his first choice but as her father is there her dignity seems to take over and prevent her from accepting him even though it was clear she really wanted to. Tony turns to Unity but she refuses to accept being second choice and walks away still hoping he would ask again. Resulting with Milly, Tony tells her that he never meant for any of it to happen. He is still deceiving her because he would have gone with Hannah or Unity but she still accepts and they agree to stay engaged. This situation was ironic because all would marry Tony but it is only their pride that stops them, except Milly. This could suggest that Milly has true love for Tony even though it’s obvious he doesn’t in return. When the women realise that Tony has been deceptive they are all upset but it seems as if they all try to work together to try and turn him down. Milly obviously sees Tony for more than what he is but her perception of him may be a false one. This incident is a little similar to “Tickets Please” as the male has to make a decision and (most of) the woman refuse him.
In “Seeing a Beauty Queen Home,” the style, tone and language between this narrative and that of “Tony Kytes…” is very evident in the text. “Tony Kytes…” was set in 1894 and this narrative is set in 1959 so there is a big cultural change. The sixties brought greater sexual freedom, free discussion of previous prohibited issues and more choice, wealth and mobility. This narrative is all from Rudy’s observation and it is clear that he is very self-assured about himself. He uses slang in the text like “stumer” meaning a failure or loser regarding women. He also refers to one woman as a “wench” and speaks of certain women to be “Beauty Queens.” This reinforces the image of women being perceived as objects or trophies. After deciding to choose Maggie to see home, he states “Anything over two miles and you only saw them to the tram,” suggesting it was a set rule for men and/or the woman wasn’t worth the tram fare or distance. Only because Maggie was a “Beauty Queen” he thought she was worth it and decided to see her home and miss the tram back. There is a sense of sexual tension in the text as you can suggest from Rudy’s behavior. While convincing himself she was worth the four-mile walk back he says, “She’d be good when she got warmed up,” as if she was a machine. His language is quite provocative and he is very self-centered. Rudy describes himself as being “…on the scent” as if Maggie was his prey. Once they are inside Maggie’s home, the homely feel of the house gives a sense of comfort and ease from Rudy. His Relationship with Maggie is purely based on the fact that she is a Beauty Queen and he thinks he can use his guile to manipulate her but ironically it is this deviousness which gets him the long, cold, wet walk home. Maggie has greater independence and inner strength as she had the courage to reject him like Hannah and Unity in “Tony Kytes…” and the women in “Tickets Please.” Except the rejection in “Tickets Please” is a more revengeful violent attack than a moral refusal.
“Tickets Please” begins with a very vivid description of the trams. It is portrayed as adventurous, exciting, and daring and used by risk takers. D H Lawrence uses very active adjectives in his narrative like, “plunge, rush, wild, swoops and reckless” to describe the trams route. The opening sentence creates a sense of danger and the reason for this type of introduction could be to reflect the situation at the end when the young women act somewhat wild and reckless when they viciously assault him. The women are described as “…fearless young hussies,” which represents them as rather tough and bland. Annie is described as “peremptory” and “…ready to hit first,” which seems to have greater depth than most of the female characters represented in the other narratives. She is portrayed as quite authoritative and bossy but “wildly romantic” at the same time. John Thomas is introduced to be described very similar to Rudy in “Seeing a Beauty Queen Home.” He is said to flirt with a girl conductor and walk out with them in the dark night, “always providing she is sufficiently attractive.” Just like the males in the other narratives, John only opts for the appealing females with good-looks. Annie is later on described as “…a plump, quick, alive little creature,” which here isn’t given much depth in character. Annie is aware of John’s womanising but this isn’t necessarily associated with marriage. Even though Annie is conscious of John’s exploitation of women she doesn’t refuse him at The Statutes fair and she eventually develops a liking for him. There is a repetition of “After all,” in the text which shows Annie convincing herself that she is doing the right thing by accompanying him. The language used in this part of the text is very explicit as it is structured to show Annie developing this infatuation with John. Alliteration is used to describe John’s kisses, “soft and slow and searching,” giving a calm subtle effect on the reader. As Annie has fallen for John, his manipulation has worked but in a way it backfires. He has succeeded in winning her over but his intentions are different to that of hers. Even though he “…really liked Annie, more than the usual,” he was looking for nothing more than sexual intimacy, whereas Annie on the other hand, wanted an intellectual connection with him and was seeking more than a “…mere nocturnal presence.” As a result of this their intimate bond has broken. John hates intelligent interests and as “…the possessive female was aroused in Annie,” he leaves her. She is left weeping and plans to get her own back. The way she responds to being deceived at the end is very reminiscent. A lot of the women he has deceived arrange to punish him and in a very forceful way. At first they trick him into entering the waiting-room where the women were and then they begin to antagonise him. As they are tormenting him the women are described as, “Strange, wild creatures,” which reminds us of the beginning of the story. Many vigorous adjectives are used again in this part of the text, like “wild,” and “mad,” which mirrors the opening part of the narrative. They also order him to choose the person he is going to marry which brings back the whole issue of marriage. After having chose Annie she appears to be shocked and at the same time disgusted. She says she doesn’t want him and everyone else agrees that they won’t have him either. This part is similar to when Tony Kytes has to make a choice and the person he selects repudiates him. Also, the women do secretly like him but when confronted in front of the other females it seems as though their pride takes priority over their true feelings. The outcome of the women’s response is somewhat ironic as the male gets physically beaten and left humiliated. Also, it shows that manipulation can easily be recognised and the manipulator can get manipulated.
All of the male protagonists in the three narratives were fairly obvious in their intentions from the women and the women associated with them eventually realised what their true objectives were, which brings me to my conclusion. Although someone’s physical features may have its advantages it can’t get you everything whenever you please. Manipulation is a very egotistic obsession and isn’t easy to disguise, consequently when identified, it could all reverse against you.
