Rhoda continued refusing to see the new arrival but inside the mental upper class image remained increasing in hatefulness until she dreams about her staring cruelly at Rhoda while sitting on top of her. This completely proves the upper class view of the time as Gertrude, "was sitting upon her [Rhoda's] chest as she lay" showing the upper class in control of the weaker lower class, Rhoda then, "seized the...obtrusive left arm" therefore awakening from her dream.
Gertrude, at the start of the story, shows a certain amount of confidence and independence. Although she is young and inexperienced, Rhoda's son says she is 'growed up and her ways be quite a woman'. She uses her own initiative leading to her making her own friends in the form of Rhoda, and doing charitable work of her own accord -"She gives away things to other folks...besides us" the irony being Gertrude is unwittingly giving boots away to her husbands real son. She takes her responsibilities seriously and her role as Farmer Lodge's wife is an important one in the village. At that time, it was common for the landlord's wife to take care of the parishioners and Gertrude seems to fulfill this function competently.
Rhoda is also shocked, "could hardly believe the evidence of her senses" because the evil creature is kind, friendly and, "should have her blessing and not her curse".
Gertrude becomes Rhoda's, "most useful friend she had ever had" proving the advantages to a lower class person having an upper class friend even though there isn't a real difference between them, "as regarded their powers and weaknesses". During the conversation they discuss, "one little ailment" that Gertrude recently is suffering from. Rhoda realises it as, "the original of the limb she had beheld and seized in her dream" while Gertrude innocently comments, "it is as if some witch, or the devil himself, had taken hold of me there". A common belief about secluded and divided people at the time was they had magical powers and it becomes apparent that some milk women,
"suspected her [Rhoda]".
Another form of prejudice reveals itself, Farmer Lodge begins to admire Gertrude's virtues less because of her disfigurement, "it makes my husband - dislike me - no, love me less". This slowly pulls her away from her husband and, indeed, the rest of society.
Basically this signifying the preconception that a main role of a woman is to look beautiful, Gertrude is so troubled she becomes superstitious as to the cause of the deformity. She is seriously undermined by feeling unattractive. Gertrude starts to lose emotional independence. Feeling that she has become unattractive to Farmer Lodge, - 'he loves me less' - she becomes obsessed with getting rid of the withered arm and therefore winning back his love. Her thoughts and actions now revolve around him. It seems that she is still acting independently because she has not suddenly started consulting him over everything she does but everything she does is more focused on him. Even her trips to Rhoda's are no longer just visits but means of finding information. Progressively she changes, due to this stress, from a person whose 'voice was so indescribably sweet, her glance so winning, her smile so tender' to 'an irritable superstitious woman'.
Eventually she changes so much wanting to visit Conjuror Trendle, who is set apart like Rhoda, lower class, and rumoured to have magical powers. Immediately Rhoda gets, "a haunting reason to be superstitious" as she believes that the conjuror will show her as the "witch" that had "struck" Gertrude, she agrees to take Gertrude, "though with much misgiving". Upon arrival, Trendle promptly proclaims, "Tis the work of an enemy" and offers to show Gertrude an image of the enemy. After seeing the image Gertrude promptly returns home when questioned she responding she saw, "Nothing I - care to speak of". The relationship has been irreparably damaged and they are both back behind the same divide of classes before they befriended, Rhoda then moves away from Holmstoke thus signifying this.
Trendle is again consulted for help and he recommends a superstitious cure which, "will turn the blood and change the constitution". She carries out the plan, which involves touching a, just hanged, man's neck as it puts a, "mastering desire" back into Gertrude. It causes her to become impassive waiting for a man, "guilty or innocent" to be hanged soon, almost expecting for a lower class person to have to sacrifice his life for her, the upper class, restoring her beauty and pleasing her husband, "If I could only...be as I was".
Upon hearing of a hanging she embarks on her clandestine trip and makes arrangements, "I want to touch him for a...cure" again taking advantage of lower classes to aide her needs. As she touches the corpse it is an ultimate irony that she becomes like Rhoda first depicted her for she has touched Rhoda's dead son; she dies perhaps more evil or simply a victim.
The two women in The Withered Arm are victims of the upper class farmer who treats women as lower, not suitable of caring and affection if they displease him. Gertrude and Rhoda are immediately divided due to Farmer Lodge's actions and are both the victims of fate he created. Rhoda is immediately jealous of her lover's betrayal, "tell me what she's like". Gertrude comes into this situation innocently yet Rhoda's jealousy causes her to have a disfigurement that in turn makes her become evil enough to wish someone to die, "guilty or innocent". So Farmer Lodge is the catalyst that makes Gertrude and Rhoda react in a way that eventually causes their demise.
The Son's Veto tells as tragic a story similar to The Withered Arm, yet again it involves a lower class woman that predominately suffers, "a young invalid lady" which immediately sets a divide between herself and able people.
Her son’s clothing "implied that he belonged to a well-known public school". In their first conversation a class difference becomes clear as his mother uses bad grammar and the child corrects it, "with an impatient fastidiousness that was almost harsh". This indicates he has contempt for his mother and perhaps that the male superiority is already coming through and he has superior education to her.
We then learn that Sophy's husband, "had taken much trouble with her education" yet had not succeeded in making her upper class. This is interesting as it contrasts the previous story as this indicates it is impossible for a lower class to become upper class in their mind, yet in the last story Gertrude became markedly more lower class as she got superstitious about finding a cure. Perhaps, Hardy was trying to say that everyone is equal.
Due to her child having, "aristocratic school knowledge" he was fast loosing his, "wide infantine sympathies" for her. Their relationship was also breaking down completely as he was always in school in an upper class society separated from the lower class existence Sophy had returned to, "He drifted further and further away from her". In return for her love the son became embarrassed with her as she was, "a mother whose mistakes and origin...was painful". His personality is similar to Farmer Lodge that, for the most part, was quite inconsiderate about women and disregards the damage he was doing to them.
Marriage plays an important part in this story and is portrayed in many ways by Thomas Hardy. The many ways it is portrayed can be viewed by the reader as something to seek by the characters in the story. Marriage is also shown to revolve around the story entering as a subject or a cause throughout the story.
Randolph stands in the way or is seen to be an obstacle during the end of the story as Sophy approaches him to inform him of a marriage in which she would marry a former lover, Sam. “Not what you call a gentleman,’ she answered timidly. ‘He’ll be much I was before I knew your farther;’ and by degrees she acquainted him with the whole. The youth’s face remained fixed for a moment; then he flushed, leant on the table, and burst into passionate tears”. Hardy shows and acknowledges to the reader of marrying a lower class through the views put out by Randolph as not the best of ideas.
As the story is set in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, I feel that Hardy may have based his story on real life incidents or have even based his characters on real people. Writing the story may also have been an easier aspect to relate to as Thomas Hardy was lived his life between the dates of 1840 – 1928, which would have been around the same time in which the story is set. This should have given Hardy an easier understanding of marriage. He may have related to the situation by observing the surrounding which revolved around him, and how people were though of in early England if involved or married to a person outside class.
Overall, Hardy has given a well-organised portrayal of marriage, and how it was seen as a difficult situation to marry the person you desire.