Part of The Student Room Group

  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

Discuss how at least three authors during the mid to late Nineteenth Century explore conflict within the family. What are the family conflicts caused by? What are the results of the conflict?

Extracts from this document...

Introduction

Discuss how at least three authors during the mid to late Nineteenth Century explore conflict within the family. What are the family conflicts caused by? What are the results of the conflict? Conflict is made up of opposing forces, it may be natural or man-made, intentional or unintentional. Complications usually arise when the writer introduces the main point in a story, these complications are usually the results of conflicts. After conflict arises, this is when the moment of crisis occurs or perhaps better known as the climax of the story. The three short stories; "To Please his Wife," "The Parvenue," and "The Half-brothers all deal with a similar theme of conflict and jealousy between the characters. The main differences are the storyline, settings and characters which distinguish the stories. In these three stories, it seems as though money was the main root of these conflicts, as money brings power, status and wealth. In "To Please his Wife," Hardy tells the story of two good friends who both meet a sailor, Shadrach who had returned from a long journey. Joanna is more confident and starts meeting Shadrach. However, it is soon clear that Shadrach and Emily are truly in love. Joanna is just about to tell Shadrach that he can be with Emily but she overhears their conversation about how he is going to break up with her. ...read more.

Middle

During the Victorian period, women were viewed as weak without men because they had no status and without a man to support the household or give them that status. The Victorian Period wasn't a perfect time to live in. Life wasn't easy compared to how it is nowadays, especially for a single parent being a woman. William Preston became very jealous after he realised his wife loves her son more than him, "he took a positive dislike to Gregory." His wife died soon after giving birth to her second son(the narrator). Just before she died, she tells Gregory and her new son to look out for each other. As the two step-brothers grew up, we can see that they were two very different people. We see that the narrator was the "darling", "the tenderly beloved," and "the young master." In contrast, Gregory was described as "lumpish and loutish", "awkward and ungainly". The narrator is given everything he wants including good education whereas Gregory is forced to work as a Sheppard. The narrator admits that he also treated Gregory badly, following his father's example, he feels guilty, "I am ashamed my heart is sore my poor orphan stepbrother." One day, the narrator goes on an errand and gets lost in a snow storm. ...read more.

Conclusion

He is scared of his wife so he backs out of the conflicts which makes the matter worse as the wife takes advantage of this to gain more power and the conflict impact worsens. Like Shadrach, Gregory from " The Half-Brothers" has a flaw or weakness of being too decent and kind but the only difference was that the conflict was not caused because of his personality but because of the jealousy of his stepfather towards him. The husband of the narrator in "The Parvenue" did not make much effort in understanding his wife and what she does. Instead he becomes angry at her and asks her to choose between himself or her family. One flaw in his character forces those around him Conclusion In the three short stories, the conflicts had been caused by marriage, fuelled by wealth to end up as disaster. The main reasons behind the conflicts are often over money problems and jealousy. The ending of "The Half-Brothers" seemed more tragic compared to the other two stories as it was an extremely emotional and symbolic story. This results in the sympathetic attitude of the reader towards this character. Similarly, all three of these stories ended in a sad dramatic way and they were all set around the same time. This may suggest that during that time period, it involved a lot of conflicts. ...read more.

The above preview is unformatted text

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Geoffrey Chaucer section.

Found what you're looking for?

  • Start learning 29% faster today
  • 150,000+ documents available
  • Just £6.99 a month

or


Not the one? Search for your essay title...
  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

See related essaysSee related essays

Related GCSE Geoffrey Chaucer essays

  1. The Heart of the Matter - Graham Greene

    His faith in his religion starts to seem as though he is simply fulfilling the requirements of another duty. He acknowledges the fact that he does not love Louise, and she similarly recognizes this fact. This allows her to manipulate Scobie's guilt to get the things she wants.

  2. The Repression of Women in Victorian Society as Shown in 19th Century Literature

    The story does not interpret her as a deeply grieving mother, but a woman turning mentally unstable. This too can be compared to 'The Yellow Wallpaper' where the woman's involvement in her imagination, and later expressing it to others, shows her as mad.

  1. Did Attitudes Towards the Status of Women and Marriage Change in the Late- Middle ...

    One of the most eminent conduct books is Le Menagier de Paris. The Householder or Goodman of Paris wrote his young wife this book to instruct her in her many new duties. She was much younger than her new husband, only a child of fifteen and he was well into his sixties.

  2. In the two stories I am studying; 'Her Turn' by D. H. Lawrence and ...

    He feels bound by his word when she decides she must marry him, after he had denounced their engagement - "It is all the same as before, he answered, if you say it must be". Later on in the story, when she is so overcome by jealousy, that she sends her own sons (and husbands)

  1. Compare and Contrast the Short Stories "Turned", "To Please his Wife" and "An Alpine ...

    She is "slight and gentle" and obedient. Emily is a complete contrast of Joanna, and is rewarded by the author when she marries Mr Lester, a "thriving merchant". Gerta is also a weaker woman, although in contrast with Emily she is "tall" and "rosy-cheeked".

  2. 'Compare the author's use of images in The Other Wife and The Story of ...

    She describes the cloud as gray and murky to establish a negative atmosphere when Louise is still in a state of shock from the terrible news. However, as her true feelings start to arouse, Chopin intelligently creates a lively atmosphere as the gray murky clouds start clearing and 'patches of blue sky' are visible.

  1. The Tall Woman and Her Short Husband - During the course of this short ...

    During the whole struggle meeting everyone is acting wildly except for Mrs. Tall. She is the only one who remains rational throughout the whole meeting. The meeting starts to get dry so the tailor's wife asks her the question, which has been bugging her since day one.

  2. With reference to at least two pre-twentieth century stories, describe the portrayal of women.

    We also know that food is short when the story says, 'but my mother knew that they were pinched, and that aunt Fanny herself had not as much to eat, even of the commonest kind of food, as she could have done with; and as for Gregory, he was not a strong lad.'

  • Over 160,000 pieces
    of student written work
  • Annotated by
    experienced teachers
  • Ideas and feedback to
    improve your own work