Explore Hardy's approach to the issue of the class in 'The Withered Arm', Absent mindedness in a Parish Choir' and 'The Son's of Veto' noting the effects of social, cultural or historical influences on the text.

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Explore Hardy’s approach to the

issue of the class in 'The

Withered Arm', Absent

mindedness in a Parish Choir’

and ‘The Son’s of Veto’ noting

the effects of social, cultural or

historical influences on the text.

        In the Withered Arm there is indication of an issue

with class status straight away, as you start the short

story there is immediately a issue with class, this

starts with a conversion about Farmer Lodges new

wife to be, all the milking maids are trying to work out

who she is, “He do bring home his bride to-morrow, I

hear…” and they what to no what class she is in.  

        Farmer Lodge had a relationship with Rhoda Brook,

a milking maid, but that did not last because he was

higher class and she was working class.  In the time

this story was set it was unacceptable for a man of

Farmer Lodge’s class to have a relationship with a

woman like Rhoda who was lower class.  This

relationship was kept quiet, not many people knew

about it.

        In Thomas Hardy’s work woman where always

unimportant and men where very dominant, which is

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stated later on in the story where woman are not

allowed to live by themselves or by a house themselves,

it was always the man who would buy the house.  

        As you read on Rhoda is intrigued into finding out a

lot more about this new wife to be, so she asks her son

of 12 years to go and try and find her to see what she

looked like. Rhode kept telling the boy the same type of

things so you could tell that the boy had stopped

listening and just ...

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