“My dear Milly- my coming wife, as I may cal’ee”
The three women are feeble and with no independence. They have little self-respect or respect for one another. This attitude is similar to Gerta’s obedient behaviour towards her job and the three women’s attitudes towards Tony. They all carry out instructions impeccably to please their employer or lover i.e. Tony. All three women desperately want Tony with Tony not being able to cope with the despair of loving just one. He cherishes the woman that he is with at present:
“My dear Milly- my coming wife, as I may cal’ee”
Keeping her satisfied with charm but then does the same to the next girl. He is continually calling them, “darling” and “dearest” and also carrying out an ardent extortion, manipulating them into following his command. This story unlike “Turned” I believe Tony does love all three women but does not know who he wants the most.
Tony is engaged to a woman called Milly Richards, unofficially Tony has been with Milly for some amount of time. The plot of the story begins with Tony travelling in his cart when he meets a woman who he had been seeing before Milly, her name is Unity. Unity asks Tony for a ride home and Tony politely agrees. They start to talk and Unity enquires as to why Tony is with Milly and not her. Tony gives his response in a flirty manner commenting how pretty Unity is and how fond he is of her:
“… I never knowed you was so pretty before!”
Tony’s personality is ideally reflected through this quote. Tony is going to see his fiancé but he becomes distracted by another woman and in order to satisfy her he flatters her using compliments forgetting about his fiancé Milly.
Hardy, through the comic nature of this story is expressing how unstable human activity is. Humans conquer so much difficulty in finding “true love” but then we refuse when it is virtually offered to us on a plate. Hannah says no to Tony’s proposal because her dad is with her and also due to a feeble scratch on her face, even though she wants to be with Tony for the rest of eternity. This bizarre behaviour can also relate to Mr. Marroner’s actions in “Turned.” He has a loving, stable relationship with Mrs. Marroner, even whilst being apart from each other they communicate passionately through letters. Mr Marroner decides to throw all this away due to one lack of self-control.
Both stories encourage, us the readers to hate the male disposition of the stories. “Tony Kytes, the Arch deceiver,” just the title of the story almost urges us, making us sense that Tony is not the greatest of people. Just by reading the title we acknowledge that the story is about Tony and his conniving ways. “Turned” however uses a very different technique. Mr. Marroner is not at all one of the main protagonists, not until the very end. The hatred for Mr. Marroner’s actions is gradually aroused in the reader compared to “Tony Kytes, the Arch-deceiver” where we acknowledge from the beginning the type of man he is, with the main enthethis is on the words “arch deceiver.”
The story “Turned” begins with the exact incentive as that of “Tony Kytes, the Arch Deceiver.” The stories both commence with a character that the author has created i.e. a narrator. They both begin using a descriptive tense which within “Turned is a lot more dramatic:
“In her soft carpeted, thick curtained, richly furnished chamber, Mrs. Marroner lay sobbing on the wide, soft bed”- Beginning of “Turned”
“Twas a little, round, firm, tight face, with a seam here and there left by small pox…”- Beginning of “Tony Kytes, the Arch Deceiver”
Through the first line of “Turned” we are perplexed and mesmerized and read more due to suspense created. This technique is also asserted in “Tony Kytes, the Arch Deceiver” suspense is created in thinking who will Tony’s choice of woman be.
Due to the description at the beginning of “Turned” we can assume the owner is well-off but also very unhappy and distraught. This again makes a reader more interested because of the uncertainty created by the emotional outbreak.
d.
Gerta is approximately 18. A “meek, young goddess.” Perfectly ordered, and has entered a polite, orderly household. She is eager to please but also ignorant and childish. Docile and confiding as described.
“Mr. Marroner had frankly admired her”
This is a very important aspect of the story of the story early on. It draws us to a clue as to what will happen between the two, i.e. servant and owner. “Tony Kytes, the Arch Deceiver” does not experience a slow pace to the story like “Turned.” One by one a situation occurs whereas in “Turned” the leisurely pace of the story is easily recognised.
Mrs. Marroner is a PHD which is a very rare qualification for a woman at the turn of the century. She is also a lecturer, again showing that she is very successful and accomplished. Through the way Mrs. Marroner tries to assert Gerta and teach her we get the feeling that she is jealous, which is which is quite ironic considering her accomplishments:
“She had tried to teach Gerta, and has grown to love the patient.”
When Mr. Marroner had to go abroad for his firm we find out that he sent romantic letters t his wife:
“… You will be looking so lovely, with that eager light in your eyes”
This use of flattering speech is very similar to that of Tony’s in the other short story. They are the only male characters experienced in the two stories and both have the same loving, charming, manipulating attitude towards women. Through the quote above we get a sense of the warmth that Mr and Mrs. Marroner share.
When we discover Mr. Marroner’s unfaithfulness it bewilders us. We then begin to read on hoping to find out more. Bewilderment is also experienced within “Tony Kytes, the Arch Deceiver” as to when Tony is turned down twice (when he proposed) by what us the readers truly relied on to say yes.
Gerta who does not want a child has one and Mrs. Marroner who wants a child is not endorsed to have one. We get this impression from the quote:
“How they do come where they are not wanted…”
“This is the sin of man against woman.”
This quote is a key factor of the story. The story naturally is a lot more pragmatic. It deals with everyday situations that occur increasingly in this society and era. This is what I feel gives “Turned” he edge over the other short story “Tony Kytes, the Arch Deceiver.”
