Thomas Hardy writes about the divisions between the upper and lower classes within three of his stories: 'Absentmindedness in a Parish Choir'; 'The Withered Arm'; and 'The Son's Veto'

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Class divisions are significant with the historical content of Thomas Hardy’s stories. Discus how he explores the effects of these divisions in three stories.

Thomas Hardy writes about the divisions between the upper and lower classes within three of his stories: ‘Absentmindedness in a Parish Choir’; ‘The Withered Arm’; and ‘The Son’s Veto’. The upper class were wealthy having a good lifestyle, well educated and very concerned with behaving appropriately; the lower class were poor and spent the little money they had on necessities, uneducated and they provided labour for the upper class and other wealthy land owners. He explores different ideas that differentiate between the classes. These ideas include thoughts of superstitions and sacrificing ones job or well being to uphold moral behaviour. Thomas Hardy’s stories were a reflection of any rural community or suburb of a town or city and its people that lived there. English society’s lives were dictated by the rules and moral standards that the people lived by.

How you behaved was important to everybody in the 1800’s no matter what class they were in. There were strict unwritten rules of how to behave and people would be disapproved of if they broke these conventions. One of these laws was not have a relationship of love out of your class. In 'The Withered Arm' we are told of a relationship - that resulted in a child – between Rhoda Brooks and Farmer Lodge. After the son was born the people in the village knew of this affair. Because Farmer Lodge was in the upper class and was male he did not suffer as much for his actions as Rhoda. When Farmer Lodge marries Gertrude, Rhoda knows that he has truly made his desertion and never to be a part of her or her son’s lives  

“Yes mother” said the boy “Is father married then?”

She had to bring up the child alone but was not ashamed as she told the son that Farmer Lodge was his father so he knew that both he and his mother had been abandoned by his father.

"Tis hard for she" signifying the thin worn milkmaid aforesaid. "O, no…. He hadn't spoke to Rhoda Brook for years."

Since the affair Rhoda had separated herself from the rest of the village and she was frequently gossiped about. Rhoda was also very poor as she had to bring up a son without any financial support from his father and only having a little income from only her milking the cows. The fact is known from the fact that her house is very basic and the boy’s shoes are very old and worn.

"And she looked at my boots, and said that they would not keep my feet dry if it came on wet, because they were so cracked"

The boy explained that his boots were so worn that his feet would get wet if it rained. If Rhoda had more money it would be a necessity to buy a new pair of boots for her son but they don’t ever have enough money for essential things. Farmer Lodge also suffers for the affair but not in such a public way. When he is married his wife never produces a son as an heir to his land. It could be said that this is a judgement and fate has stopped him from having a son as he has already had a son that he ignores and does not support. A relationship that is a success between two people, one from the upper class and one from the lower class, is of Mr Twycott, a parson, and Sophy, his parlour maid till he married her.

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In these times the lower class always respected the upper class when in public. In 'The Son's Veto' Sam Hobson, a lower class gardener, calls Sophy “Mrs Twycott”, even though they were good friends and knew each other well, when they meet again after she is married.

"I can't come down easily, Sam, or I would!"…."Well, Mrs Twycott"

The opposite also applies when Sophy calls Sam only by his first name. This shows that the upper class valued the lower class as much lower than them in society which they were.

When the major rules of society ...

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