Society has changed greatly since the time of Thomas Hardy, we no longer have the closeness and reliability that everyone had then. Hardy lived in a community and describes a community in his short stories where every member of the community knows everyone else, knows past and present members and they are able to tell stories about each of them. In this community everyone can rely on someone else, be it a friend or neighbour.
A community like this is not found in cities as Hardy discovers when he moves to London in his early years, London was one of the first megalopolises. He was introduced to the city which he seen as a monstrosity. It held no morals, it was noisy, polluted and crime ridden. He hated city life, which is reflected in his writings, because he writes about rural life.
He wrote about this, as he did not want to let go of his way of life. He wrote to try and preserve his community and their way of life, to prevent the changes of modern day life, technology being the most destructive in his view, it could tear apart a village, with its cars and big buildings and telephones. Although, not all change is bad, some is beneficial to the development of people. Education is one of the benefits of change, using Mrs. Privett, and Mr. Lackland, “the home comer” who as mentioned earlier, may have been Hardy himself, as he did leave his rural community, before later returning to his birth town. We can tell from his stories, and the language the characters speak the difference in education.
“What's the meaning of them words chalked on the door?”
And,
“A rather melancholy story”
The women of this community play an import role in their society. They basically run the community.
“There sat Andrew, who had been let in at the backdoor by the orders of the squires wife, after being turned out at the front by orders of the squire”
Mrs. Hardcome overrides her husbands decision and let old Andrew back in. She has great power over her husband. More than his mother over him. This is due to the sexual relationship between Mrs. Hardcome and Mr. Hardcome that allows her more power than that of his mother.
In Hardy’s short stories we see the strengths of women in this society and how jobs differ because of gender. In this community the women are proud women.
“Nancy, you needn’t mind letting it out. Though ‘tis kept back in kindness. And he didn’t come out of church again: I know it as well as you do.”
Betty Privett accepts her fate. Mrs. Privett knows her husband will die, though because she is an upstanding woman she does not show worry or sorrow over this. She shows a stoic acceptance of fate. Hardy’s short stories present a lot of ownership; the men are seen to have ownership of their wives. “Asked William’s wife” she is referred to as “Williams wife” and not referred to by her real name. Betty Privett in “The Superstitious Mans Story” is a proud and stoic woman, who works without complaint. She works for the Hardcome’s and is paid for her work. She is a woman full of pride and Mrs. Hardcome sees this, so she allows Betty Privett to continue working for her while she pays her for her work and not out of pity or charity. Mrs. Hardcome shows herself as an educated woman. She knows the hardship of life, she has grown up around it most of her life, she has probably travelled around the world, seen poverty and struggle. She is a forward thinking person and wants to move on from the strict ways of life. However, the older Mrs. Hardcome is contrary to this. She doesn’t want to progress into the future and allow new ways of doing things take over the old ways she grew up obeying and conforming to because it was how she was brought up herself.
In this society there is a great divide of work based on gender. Before the industrial revolution, there was no equality. Society could be viewed as sexist, when women were turned down for jobs simply because they weren’t male. The Men worked in factories, while the women stayed home and tended to the children and did the domestic jobs for themselves and occasionally others for the extra income.
“Williams wife was staying up late one night to finish her ironing, she doing the washing for Mrs. And Mr. Hardcome.”
Betty Privett did the laundry for the Hardcomes simply for the extra income and she probably even asked for the job rather than being asked to do it or being handed the job simply because of her status. There is a sub-division between genders in this community; this is because of the difference in occupation between the sexes. Women are generally associated with household jobs and the men with the factories or farming.
“While she ironed”
And
“William Privett was mowing with John Chiles in Mr.Hardcome's meadow”
There is a prophecy of death in this story, and there are many clues to this one being the ominous beginning of the story.
“William was in very good health to all appearance, the bell that was ringing for church went very heavy all of a sudden; the sexton, who told me o't, said he'd not known the bell to go so heavy in his hand for years – and he feared it meant a death in the parish.”
This shows the presence of an omen, that someone will die, and the other clue is the introduction of William privet “in good health to all appearances” showing that truly appearances are deceiving as William dies not long after this omen appears.
In Hardy’s short stories we see the rural life of a community dying and the new industrialised community beginning. His short stories are metaphors for the changes happening to his community whilst he is gone and on his return, he does not want this change to happen, because he and his community are happy as they are. Unfortunately change is inevitable no matter how hard we try to avoid or control it.
Hardy Is writing about change, they were written at and around the time of the great industrial revolution. They are and were written for the people of the lower class and are and were written about the people of the lower class. Hardy wrote these short stories to attempt to protect his community; His way of life. Though he cannot prevent change, he can at least immortalise the memory of his community in paper. Inevitable change will occur but Thomas Hardy’s Idyll will live on in his stories.