When her son arrives home after the second meeting with Gertrude, Rhoda immediately begins to question her son about Gertrude, “Before he had even entered the room.” Rhoda speaks quickly, which shows us that she is impatient and eager to compare herself with Gertrude. When Rhoda’s son tells her that Gertrude is not very tall, Rhoda replies “Ah!’ with satisfaction,” This is an example of the rivalry that Rhoda has against Gertrude when she first arrives, and shows us that Rhoda is relieved to find a flaw in Gertrude’s appearance.
Mrs. Marroner reacts in a different way to Rhoda. Gerta is already present in Mrs. M.’s life, which makes it even more shocking for her because Mrs. M. has known Gerta for so long. When Mrs. M. finds out that Gerta has had an affair with her husband, she is devastated, shocked and upset, “ Mrs. Marroner lay sobbing on the wide soft bed.” Mrs. M. begins to think that Gerta is to blame, her wealth is now meaningless now that she doesn’t have love anymore. She is furious with Gerta, because Gerta is the one that has been a good maid/friend to Mrs. M. and then she finds out about the affair, which turns Mrs. M.’s life upside down, but not for very long.
The two women cope very differently with ‘the other woman’. They cope differently for a numerous amount of reasons. Rhoda copes differently because, first of all she is jealous of Gertrude because she has married Rhoda’s old lover, and is upper class, ladylike etc. The community plays a very big part in not helping Rhoda to cope; they are all spreading rumours about e.g. that she is a witch. By Rhoda hearing these, she begins to believe them and it damages her self-confidence and self esteem. This all begins with the first mention of Gertrude being brought home to live with Farmer Lodge, “he do bring home his bride to-morrow, I hear. They’ve come as far as Anglebury to-day.” Rhoda is financially dependent on Farmer Lodge, which leaves Rhoda emotionally insecure. This means that if Farmer Lodge makes Rhoda redundant, she will have no other job, because she has had little or no education. Also she is lower class that makes finding another job much more difficult, she will have nowhere to live. This contrasts with Mrs. Marroner, who unlike Rhoda has her own house, she is financially independent, and is able to buy her own house when she leaves her husband.
Rhoda has no education so this means that she cannot think rationally about things, and is unable to cope with the situation at hand by thinking about it (she forgets who she is). In the early 1800’s, there was no opportunity what so ever for working class women to be educated. One might suspect although she has not been educated, she cannot read or write properly. This is another contrast with Mrs. M. and her superb education. With Rhoda also being lower class, she has limited employment opportunities, and is ashamed of being lower class. This contrasts with Mrs. M. because her life is much more superior, “In her reserved, superior, Boston-bread life.” In the early 1800’s, there was a lack of scientific knowledge so when they could not find an explanation for a problem, they looked into the super natural world for answers. This is similar to Rhoda’s problem with Gertrude, Rhoda fears that she has put a curse on Gertrude, due to there being no explanation for Gertrude’s injury.
With everybody thinking that Rhoda is a witch (because she is associated with Conjurer Trendle), she is marginalized, isolated and people don’t trust her and they fear her. She also has no support. This contrasts with Mrs. M. who a very good reputation. Rhoda is beleaguered with jealousy, she is jealous of Gertrude’s appearance and Gertrude’s status as a wife which Rhoda has never been able to be. Rhoda is being compared to Gertrude and she knows this, this makes Rhoda insecure. The fact that Rhoda wants to be Gertrude’s friend is ironic because she struggles to be Gertrude’s friend, Rhoda feels like a hypocrite and when convinced that she has injured Gertrude she feels like she has betrayed Gertrude. In the community, Farmer Lodge has caused Rhoda to be an outsider; “He hadn’t spoken to Rhoda Brook for years.” This contrasts with Mrs. M. because Mrs. M. is not rejected by her husband, she rejects him and when she leaves her husband searches for her and she rejects him whether as Rhoda is a victim of rejection.
At the end of the story, Rhoda is still an outsider and is in an even poorer condition. Where as Mrs Marroner ends up living with ‘the other woman.’ The authors did not write these stories for entertainment, but to help deal with real life situations. Both of the authors are controversial writers and wanted to help change peoples attitudes and the way the people dealt with these situations. Hardy showed us many things such as, how damaging a belief in witchcraft could be. He also showed a very important point about how unfair it is to condemn (label them fallen women etc.) women for having a child outside of marriage and that it was wrong to label people. It also showed people the rigid class system; “He hadn’t spoken to Rhoda Brook for years.” Gilman wanted to promote gender equality and show women that they can take control of their lives and don’t need to sit around feeling sorry and rejected. I think that Gilman was trying to tell the men who read the story, that if you cheat on your wife, she will find out, leave you, decide to take control of their lives and leave the men without anything. Also that if it was your husband’s fault, then you shouldn’t be at war with the other woman.
To conclude, Mrs. Marroner is an overall stronger woman than Rhoda, and is able to manage much more easily with the situation because she has an education, a job, money, and her own house. All these factors help Mrs. Marroner to cope, whilst Rhoda cannot deal with the situation so she leaves the town, where she used to live. Mrs. Marroner makes a totally new life for her self and lives with the other woman. Rhoda’s experiences are the complete opposite, and no matter where she goes, her problems will follow her and it will all begin again. As Rhoda having so many problems with no education, jealousy, being an outsider, she is unable to cope with ‘the other woman’ Gertrude, whether as Mrs. Marroner is able to cope with ‘the other woman’ Gerta. Mrs. Marroner at the end puts her husband in the spotlight and challenges him what he wants, “What have you to say to us?”
Rhoda returns to her old town and everybody remembers who she is and what has happened, “Here, sometimes those who knew her experiences would stand and observe her, and wonder what sombre thoughts were beating inside that impassive, wrinkled brow, to the rhythm of the alternating milk-streams.”