Although men’s power and authority is displayed, women are also presented as manipulative too. In ‘Tony Kytes the Arch Deceiver’ both Unity Sallet and Hannah Jolliver act in this fashion towards Tony. They, knowing about his engagement to another woman, try to manipulate the situation by teasing him into regretting he had chosen the other women over themselves. Unity says
‘And- can you say I’m not pretty Tony? Now look at me!’
and shortly after Hannah too says
‘You’ve settled it with Milly,I suppose?- because although I’ve held off so independent, I’ll own at last that I do like ‘ee and I wouldn’t say no if you asked me-‘
Thomas Hardy shows us how obsessed and preoccupied women are with their own appearance. This is shown when a mystery narrator talks about a maid called Sophy in ‘The Son’s Veto’. The narrator comments on how her hair ‘twists and coils like rushes of a basket’ and how it is ‘surmounted by a tuft of black feathers’. However, this narrator then goes on to question the women’s vanity when ‘it should be all demolished regularly at bedtime’.
In the ‘Arch deceiver’ Hardy shows how obsessed women are. Unity Sallet, a handsome girl who is fond of Tony, questions him about her beauty. She says
‘And you’ve never seen anything in me to complain of, have ye? She then goes further and highlights this obsession when she compares herself to Tony’s fiancée. She says
‘Am I prettier than she?’
However, in ‘The Withered Arm’ it is men who seemed to be obsessed with a women’s appearance. Thomas Hardy portrays Farmer Lodge as a man who is keen to be thought of as a high society figure and so chooses a wife due to her beauty and he proudly parades his newly wedded beauty in public places such as the local church. However, when his beautiful wife shows some signs of disfigurement he is quick to disown her.
In his short stories Hardy displays typical feelings of sorrow and unhappiness which is brought about due to his characters being forced to comply and adhere to social conventions of the time. For example. in the mid- 1880s it was thought very badly if a person of a high class married a person of a lower class than them. In ‘The Son’s Veto’ Rev Twycott asks and marries Sophy, his maid. Sophy, being a maid is naturally a lower class than him, being a reverend. Due to the social disapproving of this marriage the couple are forced to move away from their disapproving community.
‘Mr Twycott knew perfectly well that he had committed social suicide and so an exchange of livings had been arranged in the South of London’ Chapter one.
Similarly in ‘The Withered Arm’ Rhoda brooks, after having a short-term relationship with Farmer Lodge (a middle class man), is made to feel shameful and is isolated from the decent society. She, who is a class of a milking maid, is sent to live in a small cottage on the outskirts of society and is faced with the result of this regretful relationship day in and day out; her son.
By illustrating these points and others Women are seen to be made to feel restricted, shamed and unhappy by the strict social conventions.
In all three stories of ‘The Arch Deceiver’, ‘The Withered Arm’ and ‘The Son’s Veto’ Thomas Hardy shows that women often sacrifice their own self-esteem and dignity through an act of desperation. In ‘The Arch deceiver’ Tony Kytes, a man who is quite the women’s favourite, flirts with women and proposes to them almost willy-nilly. He proposes to two girls, who both turn him down, in front of his fiancée, Milly. After witnessing both the girls turn Tony down, Milly still agrees to marry Tony.
Thomas Hardy presents Milly as a woman who is willing and prepared to sacrifice her dignity because she is desperate to get married.
A similar set of events happen when Gertrude, from ‘The Withered Arm’ is forced to make a sacrifice. Gertrude, the owner of the disfigured arm, has tried every medicine which is available to her to cure her arm. Local people have suggested that she go to a man called Conjure Trendle. He however is of lower class than her. Gertrude and her dignity of class will not allow her to mix and consult with people like Conjure Trendle. However, in sheer desperation she sacrifices this dignity and goes to see him. Through both these events Thomas Hardy shows women to be weak and desperate.
Some women are shown, In Hardy’s stories, as isolated and ostracised misfits from society. In ‘The Son’s Veto’ Randolph ostracises his mother because she failed to fit in with his social expectations.
‘Her boy with his aristocratic school knowledge…had a mother whose mistakes and origin it was his painful lot as a gentleman to blush for’. Chapter 2
Rhoda Brook, In ‘The Withered Arm’, has been socially and physically isolated. This is due to her past relationship with Farmer Lodge therefore; she is not included in the gossip of the milkmaids and is physically apart from the other women.
‘…the other side of the Barton where a thin fading women of thirty milked somewhat apart from the rest.’ Chapter 1.
Rhoda Brook also lives with her son away from the rest of the workers so she is effectively shunned by society.
‘There course lay apart from that of the others, to a lonely spot high above the water meads.’ Chapter 1.
In some of Hardy’s short stories, women are shown to marry for convenience rather than love. This is shown in ‘The Son’s Veto’ where Sophy agrees to marry Sam Hobson for convenience. When asked if she wants to marry him she replies:
‘Not much. But it would be a home for me. And we have heard that one of us would have to leave.’ Chapter two pages 4.
At a later stage Sophy is asked and agrees to marry Revered Twycott because of her respect rather than love for him.
However, Thomas Hardy doesn’t always portray women as subservient because in Tony Kytes both Hannah Jolliver and Unity Sallet refuse Tony’s proposal for their own reasons. Hannah goes further on to say
‘Never- I would sooner marry no- nobody at all!’
Unity then says, when Tony proposes to her:
‘Take her leavings? Not I! ‘
Through Thomas Hardy’s treatment of Sophy and Old Mrs Chundle we realise he disapproves and is suspicious of certain attitudes held by clergy and people in religious office. This is made apparent in both stories of Old Mrs Chundle and The Son’s Veto.
In Old Mrs Chundle Hardy shows the Rector selfish. He is seen as chiding the Curate because he has spent valuable time talking to an old woman who has not attended church for 35 years. This is not a typical Christian act as the Rector should be seen to look after the people of his parish. The Curate too shows selfishness before Christianity when he breaks his promise of reading to the old woman. The Curate says ‘And I’ve half-promised to go and read to her. But- I shan’t go.’ p77 Para 2
In The Son’s Veto it is Snobbery which comes from a Priest. At the end of this story Sophy, who we have great sympathy towards, dies of loneliness. This is due to her priest son forbidding her to marry her childhood sweetheart. Sophy’s son feels that because the man in question is lower in the wealth scale, compared to his father, his reputation will be spoilt. This opinion of his comes across as snobby from a man who is meant to be a devoted caring Christian.
When Thomas Hardy’s stories were written almost everyone in Wessex belonged to the ‘labouring classes’ and worked on the land. Sheep and dairy farming were widespread and middle class farmers employed local women, like Rhoda Brook in ‘The Withered Arm’, to milk and care for the diary herds. Alongside the village labours in Wessex lived the lord and lady of the manor. Many of the worker’s cottages were rented out and could be reclaimed by the Lord and the workers evicted. As a result of this the class system remained rigid. This affected women highly and citizens were encouraged not to marry anybody of a lower class than themselves.
Through Hardy’s presentation of Women I think that Hardy disapproves of some of societies conventions. I think that he disagrees with society’s class system. In both ‘The Withered Arm’ and ‘The Son’s Veto’ he portrays people who belong to the upper class as arrogant, uncaring people. For example both Farmer Lodge and the trained vicar Randolph treat women badly. He often portrays women of a working class to be unhappy and eventually isolated from society. Thomas Hardy, who originated from a rural working class environment, appears to hate the division between the upper and lower classes. He also comments on rural society and encourages the reader, like himself, to sympathise with the under-dog of society which mostly tended to be women. However, in ‘Tony Kytes the Arch Deceiver’ Hardy could be seen to be poking fun at the expense of some of his characters. He portrays Hannah Jolliver and Unity Sallet as having a fickle nature – but then they are all from the same class.
To conclude, Hardy often used women in his novels to represent the oppressed and encouraged his readers to sympathise with their plight. By making his characters behave in a stereotypical way, Thomas Hardy is able to convey his sympathy with the working classes, generally through the presentation of women.
