Compare the presentation of the female characters in both Hardy’s ‘ The Withered Arm’ and Lively’s ‘The Darkness out there. To what extent does our knowledge of character heighten the impact of the horror and tragedy in the twists

'The Darkness out there' Sandra was scared of Packers end because she had thought it was home to 'Witches and wolves and tigers'

The older women have both suffered great tragedy during their lives and have been hardened to the reality of life by their experiences.

Mrs. Rutter lost her husband during the war and was alone ever since.

" Killed in the war dear, right at the start.... In Belgium, and he never came back."

Rhoda Brooke also lost the man she loved. He left her whilst she was pregnant with their child and later married a younger woman ( Gertrude Lodge ).In Hardy's time, to be pregnant out of wedlock would have been considered a terrible sin and this may have been partly why Rhoda Brooke became isolated from society both physically and metaphorically.

" A thin fading woman of thirty milked somewhat apart from the rest."

Likewise, Mrs. Rutter is a social outcast and has spent a lot of years alone

"I was a widow at 39. Been on my own ever since ."

when Mrs. Rutter says to Sandra " see you close my gate won't you?" it is almost as though she is being shut off from the world.

All of the women have or have had dreams of a perfect life but find that this is not always possible because of "The darkness out there."

In both stories the younger women are corrupted by entering the world of the older women. Sandra and Gertrude both learn of the evil that everyone is capable, no matter how they may seem.

When Sandra first meets Mrs. Rutter she just thinks she is a friendly but lonely old woman.

" She seemed composed of circles, a cottage loaf of a woman .... creamy smiling pool of a face."

This is a very stereotypical view of an old woman.

Sandra is an idealist and does not believe that Mrs. Rutter could be capable of an evil act. The truth is that she is very wrong.

" He was hurt pretty bad..... He called out something but I thought, oh no, you had this coming to you mate,"

In 'The Withered arm' Gertrude does not suspect that Rhoda Brooke or any person could be responsible for her ailment as she does not think she has enemies. Instead she blames the withered limb on the only evil that she can think of.

" It is as though the Devil himself had taken hold of me there and blasted the flesh,"

Neither of the older women wish to cause harm to the younger women but it is beyond their control.

" Oh can it be that I exercise a malignant power against others against my own will?" (Rhoda Brooke)

Mrs. Rutter feels that she was justified in leaving the German to die because of the tragedy she had suffered and did not realize how much her story would affect Sandra.

" Nobody did anything to help my Bill did they?.....Tit for Tat."

Rhoda Brooke did not intentionally harm Gertrude Lodge but she could not stop her jealousy.

" This innocent young thing should have my blessing and not my curse."

When the younger women visit the older women in the stories they bring colour to the lives of the older women

" When she left them a light seemed gone from the dwelling."(Gertrude Lodge).

" I like having someone young about the place once in a while." (Sandra)

In the stories the older women try to relive their youth through the younger women

" You'll be courting before long yourself....like bees round a honeypot they'll be."

Mrs. Rutter is fascinated by Sandra and like all of the women in the stories she appreciates beauty and pretty things.

Rhoda Brooke is not fascinated by Gertrude Lodge, she is completely obsessed.

"If she's dark or fair, and if she's tall- as tall as I...... Notice if her hands be white...... or are milker's hands like mine."

In both stories there is a male protagonist. In ' The withered arm' this is farmer Lodge and in ' The darkness out there' it is Mrs. Rutters dead husband. Even though the men are not present they affect the women's worlds entirely.

At the end of the stories a both of the younger women go through a great change. They lose their innocence and purity because they realize the evil of which everyone is capable and that everything is not as it first seems.

" She walked through a world grow n unreliable in which flowers sparkle and birds sing but everything is not as it appears, oh no." ( Sandra)

" The once blithe hearted and enlightened Gertrude was changing into an irritable superstitious woman."

We pity all of the women in the stories. We pity the older women because of the tragedy that they have suffered in their lives and because of their isolation from society. In my opinion we feel more pity towards the younger women because their lives are changed forever and they have no control over this change. In the case of Gertrude Lodge the effect that Rhoda Brooke has on her leads to her premature death.

Our knowledge of the characters greatly heightens the impact of the horror and the tragedy in the twists at the end. Because we know that the younger women both had good intentions ,were truly innocent and that the older women never had any intention of causing harm to the younger women

but had no control over the situation.

The younger women would never be able to forget that "The darkness was out there and it was a part of you and you would never be without it, ever."