Compare & contrast the differences between the middle and peasant classes, village life and town life, men and women and the way in which religion was observed during the Victorian era - setting for Thomas Hardy's

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Compare & contrast the differences between the middle and peasant classes, village life and town life, men and women and the way in which religion was observed during the Victorian era - the setting for Thomas Hardy's "The Withered Arm and other Wessex Tales"

In the following essay I seek to show evidence of how Thomas Hardy was acutely aware of the social status of people, how village and town life was conducted, how men and women reacted to their own sex and to each other and the part religion played in people's daily lives.

Social class is raised a lot in Hardy's pieces. Even though these stories were all written at a different time and then put together, you can see it is a strong theme in the book.

In the Withered Arm, there is instantly a strong sense of upper and lower class. You learn of a milkmaid named, Rhoda Brook, and hear of her story among gossipers at the farm. She was once attached to the boss, a Mr. Lodge but because of their differences in class Mr. Lodge ends their relationship, leaving Rhoda with a child. This shows that the upper class can not