Comparative essay between "Tony Kytes the arch-deceiver","The son's veto" and "The withered arm"
In this essay I am going to explore female characters from three short
stories written by Thomas Hardy. I want to investigate the characters,
Rhoda, from 'The Withered Arm', Milly from 'Tony Kytes, the Arch
Deceiver' and Sophy, from 'The Son's Veto'. I hope to find out and
identify any similarities or differences between the characters.
Thomas Hardy lived from the years 1840 to 1928 and began writing
stories to be published in 1865. Hardy grew up in an England slightly
different to the one we know today. Women were denied the right to
vote and were perceived as having diminutive purpose with little
independence. They were expected by society to marry, as it was the
presumed course of events. Depending on what class you came from,
determined if you were to work, women who chose to work were usually
frowned upon.
During that time many women aspired to be someone with an independent
character, who rebelled against the stereotypical view of how they
should live. One major role model during that time was Olive
Schreniner. She fought with a passion for women's rights and wrote the
book, 'The Women's Rose'. After it was published more and more women
rebelled toward society's perception of themselves by writing novels.
Another great role model for women during that time was Florence
Nightingale, who cared for the injured in the Crimean War.
Depending on particular circumstances women's values usually
determined if it was hard living the life they had to lead, during
those times. Women who wanted to be able to do what they chose may
have experienced difficulties, which, as a result made their lives
hard. However women who preferred not to work, were happy to marry and
devote their lives to their husbands were hardly affected, as it was
what was expected by society.
Thomas Hardy was born and grew up near Dorchester in the county town
of Dorset. Dorset was the inspiration of most of his work although he
did include areas such as Devon, Somerset, Cornwall, Hampshire,
Wiltshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire. Various stories written by
Thomas Hardy have been based, borrowed and enhanced from experiences
told to many generations of the Hardy family. The areas the stories
are set around are a fictional country called Wessex, based on the
area he lived up in. By setting the stories in an area well known to
Hardy he is able to go into detail, but also make them sound as
realistic as possible. Hardy even uses the regional dialect to bring
his stories to life and make the reader think they are there. By
locating the stories in the countryside, Hardy gives the stories a
slower, more relaxed way of life, with different values to those
illustrating inner city life. The countryside generally consists of a
closer network of people compared to the city life, because of the
smaller more involved community, people may care more of what other
individuals think of them which generates the different values,
principles and morals.
From the story, 'The Withered Arm', I have chosen to investigate the
character, Rhoda Brook. In the story, Rhoda plays an interesting
character, motivated by her initial jealously towards other people.
Rhoda's character is one that develops throughout the story. Hardy
lets his readers imagine what Rhoda looks like as he gives little
description of her physical appearance. He does state that she is tall
from the quote, '…and if she's tall - as tall as I' taken from page 2.
He also reveals she has dark eyes, a quote from page 5 follows 'Her
eyes, then, are not dark like mine?' This can be perceived in two
slightly different ways. The obvious first is that of a physical
feature. The second less apparent characteristic is of a devious,
manipulative and possibly scheming aspect, perhaps based on her own
personality.
It is clear that Rhoda does not have the choice to work or not, and,
later it becomes apparent that she lives on her own with her son, who
is around the age of twelve. Rhoda is determined to ensure that her
son admires her. His personal view of his mother is important to her;
she may feel threatened by Farmer Lodges new wife and this maybe the
reason why she sent her son out to see what she looks like. This
inflicts a shallow, insecure view of herself, in that she believes
physical characteristics are more significant than personality. As a
mother it is important to Rhoda to protect her son from any idol
gossip he may hear about her from the village where they live. This is
possibly why they moved away. However, at the beginning of the story
when the milking maids were talking about Rhoda and Framer Lodge she
did not seem too worried about what other people thought of her. She
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inflicts a shallow, insecure view of herself, in that she believes
physical characteristics are more significant than personality. As a
mother it is important to Rhoda to protect her son from any idol
gossip he may hear about her from the village where they live. This is
possibly why they moved away. However, at the beginning of the story
when the milking maids were talking about Rhoda and Framer Lodge she
did not seem too worried about what other people thought of her. She
wishes to keep her son away from anything that may encourage him to
resent her.
Rhoda's relationship towards the male characters in the story is
barely existent. Rhoda avoids conversation with most males. This may
have something to do with past experiences; perhaps she had been hurt
from previous relationships and now avoids any contact with the
opposite sex. She possesses a great amount of hatred towards Farmer
Lodge this may be, for not accepting or acknowledging her sibling on
the account of their failed relationship. The only positive
relationship Rhoda has with a male character in the story is her son,
Jamie.
The first impressions of Rhoda are noticeably different to the ones
found whilst looking into her character more intensely. My personal
first impressions of her were of a woman driven by jealously and the
need to be in control of every situation. However, looking further
into her disposition she simply has an insecure view of situations. To
outside people she may come across as a strong character, though deep
down, she is more emotional than the male characters in the story.
Rhoda rarely involves herself with any conversation, however she is
respectful towards other people, though on occasions she does
misinterpret situations, which may be looked upon as disrespectful.
This can be interpreted from the pages 9 to 10, where upon Gertrude
appears at Rhoda's house from some boots from her son. By the way
Rhoda acts towards Gertrude implies to the reader that she is jealous
and embarrassed, as she cannot provide for her own offspring. Another
reason why Rhoda may have come across as disrespectful to Gertrude is
because of her own fear of her son rejecting her.
Within the small community in which Rhoda lives, other women view
Rhoda as an outcast. From the beginning of the story in the cow dairy
Thomas Hardy makes it clear to the reader that Rhoda is not very
involved with local gossip and that perhaps she lacks communication
with other people. An example of this is at the start in the dairy,
when there is much conversation going on about Farmer Lodge, Rhoda
does not get involved. This is reiterated when members of the cow
dairy begin to talk about Rhoda behind her back. Rhoda makes no effort
to confront these comments and presumably carries on with her work.
Rhoda barely goes into her local parish and market, and usually sends
her son to do any odd jobs for her. She says to him on page 2, 'I
shall send you for a few things to market' Rhoda and her son, also
live considerably far away from the market, this was taken from,
'your house is the nearest outside our own parish.' This may imply
that Rhoda and her son live in the middle of two different parishes,
or perhaps she does not live within a parish, both these suggestions
cause difficulties for Rhoda if ever she wanted to be more involved
with community events. Rhoda's quirky character varies a lot, from
other females that live within the network where she lives and works.
However I feel there is a strong connection between Rhoda and
Gertrude, in that they are both strong outcasts in the community.
Event though much they may dispute it, their characters are very
alike.
In the story, 'The Son's Veto' I have chosen to study the character
Sophy. Sophy plays a working class woman, cleaning for a man called Mr
Twycottt. Her character shows great charisma that enjoys the company
of other people. Hardy describes her as a 'young invalid lady',
'sitting in a wheeled chair'. He informs the reader about her hair,
'the long locks, braided and twisted' taken from page 34. Also he
says, 'She met the eyes of several of her observes by lifting her own,
showing these to be soft brown' Sophy is described as an,
'interesting women'.
Sophy is mother to a boy aged twelve or thirteen called Randolph. He
attends a public school and is training to be a priest. She finds it
important to devote her time to keep her son happy and respect his
wishes. He is introduced to the story very near the beginning, which
shows his significance and importance to the tale. Sophy also regrets
to harm people by disappointing them and therefore sacrifices her own
needs for other people. From reading the first page of the story it is
clear that Sophy is keen to raise money for those less fortunate than
herself. This is shown when she attends a charity event. As the event
ends she waits till everyone has left before she, herself leaves. This
is interpreted from 'should be clear enough for her to be wheeled
out without obstruction.' This shows that she is a patient woman, and
again is another example where she puts others before herself.
During the time Hardy wrote this story, the 19th Century there was a
rigid class structure defined by particular possessions, wealth,
upbringing, breeding and education. At the beginning of the story,
Sophy's character plays a cleaner of lower class. Whilst cleaning for
Mr Twycott Sophy had an accident by which, under intense circumstances
left her unable to walk again. Consequently she was tied by a
wheelchair. After her accident Mr Twycott, still wanted to be friends
with Sophy, and he asked her to marry him. He appeared to be greatly
moved by what she had suffered on his behalf. Sophy said yes, though
she does not love him she respects him and realised she needed
somewhere to live.
Sophy accepts his offer even though she doesn't love him. On page 39
Hardy writes, 'Sophy did not exactly love him, but she had respect for
him which almost amounted to veneration,' he goes on to say, ' she
hardly dared to refuse'. This is perhaps the character we first
associated Sophy with; the person that would prefer to put herself at
risk than to hurt others. She was of lower class about to marry a man
of much prosperity and wealth she would have been subjected to public
ridicule gossip and mockery. The marriage is of some connivance to
both sides. To Mr Twycott it provides the companionship he was missing
and to Sophy it provides a home and a good lifestyle with someone she
truly cares for.
Sophy's relationship with Mr Twycott is one of trust and admiration,
understanding and friendship. However Mr Twycott's marriage proposal
did not come about by the act true love. After his wife died, he
experienced a loss as if something was missing in his life. He had no
children and lived on his own. When he got ill, Sophy began to bring
his food up to him. This was how she had her accident, which left her
unable to walk. They had talked previously about Sam, a lover of
Sophy's. She explained he had asked her to marry him, she confided in
him and told him that she didn't really want to marry, but it would be
a home for herself. She later announced to Mr Twycott that they had
quarrelled and she wanted to carry on working for him. He accepted and
let another member of staff go. This could be a sign that he felt
something her then, but at the time did not want to make his feelings
apparent. However after Sophy's accident he made it clear that he did
not want her to leave. He may of felt that a marriage proposal was the
only way of her staying, his apprehension of being on his own with no
companionship saddened him. On the other hand perhaps he felt guilty
because of the accident and knowing she needed somewhere to live he
thought it only appropreiate to propose. Maybe he knew that she would
not refuse him.
Sophy's relationship with Sam Hobson is hardly exposed in the story.
There is a brief scene of them together at the beginning of the story.
His character plays a young gardener, working and living in the same
village as Sophy. He possesses an arrogant disposition, in that he
assumes that Sophy will marry him before she had even admitted she
liked him. Mid page 37 reads, ' … I've never even said I liked 'ee…'
However much Mr Hobson may be into Sophy, she never makes it apparent
she is interested in him this can be observed from the quote before.
She is not rude towards him it is clear she feels comfortable talking
to him. He is of the same working-class as her and this gives them a
strong link.
Randolph Sophy's son tends to overpower her and she sacrifices her
own happiness to respect his wishes. This generates a weaker version
of Sophy's personality.
Within the story Sophy plays two different roles. When she is in the
company of Mr Twycott and people of his class she possesses a week,
feeble personality. Once she was married to Mr Twycott she was
re-educated. Presumably this was enforced by her husband, to avoid her
disgracing herself and him whilst, in discussion with acquaintances.
However when in company of strangers and people within the same class
as she was originally from Sophy plays an incredibly strong character,
perhaps stronger than the males that appear within the story. It is
obvious that she feels at ease to converse with Sam Hobson as on page
37 she talks in a playful manner as if she is flirting with him. This
type of behaviour is hardly existent between the relationship of Sophy
and Mr Twycott. Depending on who Sophy is with usually shows if she is
in control of the particular situation.
After Sophy and Mr Twycott had married they moved away from the small
village by which they lived to the city. This was to avoid people
knowing how the couple's marriage came about. But also to be rid of
the closer network of people with the different views, opinions and
values that may have given them some grief. Other women in the
community view Sophy as a desperate, money seeking, manipulative lady
who associates with people for what they have to offer her. They view
her as an outcast as she has not lived up to what is expected by
society; she had tried to change the class she was originally born
into by marring the local Vicar and becoming a lady of leisure.
I have chosen to explore the character Milly Richards from Thomas
Hardy's story, 'Tony Kytes, the Arch-Deceiver'. Milly plays a
character with little independence and self-confidence. I chose Milly
because she possesses a different way of approaching situations
compared to the other two characters I have previously picked in the
stories before. There is little description of Milly and the only
quote that describes her psychical appearance is, 'Milly Richards, a
nice, light, small tender little thing.'
Throughout the story it is clear Milly has little independence. She
likes to be told what to do, and obeys Tony. This illustrates her
relationship with him it is clear that Milly lacks confidence in self
and needs someone to be there for her. Milly has a very naive
perception of other people and believes everyone to be as pleasant as
her. It is important to her to have someone to tell her what to do and
this may be the reason why she accepted Tony's proposal despite he had
asked Unity and Hannah previously.
Milly is a very much weak character within this story. Not only does
she lack self-respect, she lacks in confidence and strength in
emotional situations. It is clear from the viewpoint of the reader
that Tony does not love her, from the end of page 51 till the end of
page 52 Tony is clearly flirting with Unity, 'In fact, I never knowed
you so pretty before!' If Tony truly loved Milly and was as devoted as
she hopes him to be, he wouldn't even look at another female and even
if he did he wouldn't admit to it. To make it even worse Tony begins
to flirt with Hannah in front of Milly. The beginning of page 55
reads, ' so they sat a little closer and closer, their feet upon the
foot-board and their shoulders touching,' Unable to talk as Milly is
in the back of the carriage they show their feelings by body language.
Milly is viewed by other women in the story as normal. She lives up to
what is expected by society for women during that time. She has no
independence of her own and lacks in self-respect. However people may
think she is a little stupid for accepting Tony's marriage proposal.
Milly is perhaps different to other female characters in the story
because she does not stand up for herself.
The narrative viewpoint differs from each story. 'The Son's Veto' and
'The Withered Arm' are written by using an omniscient narrator, which
is a use of narrator that is not a character within the story.
Whereas, 'Tony Kytes the Arch Deceiver' uses first person narrative. 1st
person narrative is when the story is told by one of the characters
point of view. This may seem more friendly and authentic because of
the use of the local regional dialect. However by using one character
to explain the story we can only experience and explore their feelings
and point of view, which gives a biased and perhaps fiction analysis
over situations. The omniscient style of narrative sees everything,
which gives an unbiased view of what is happening in the story they
are more truthful and factual then the use of a 1st person narrative.
Depending on the different personalities of the readers' influences
the way they read and interpret different styles of writing. To some
people omniscient narrative encourages them to sympathise towards
particular characters, as they are aware of everything that is
happening and all the different feelings from the characters are
expressed, generated and articulated. However other readers may feel
that because all the feelings of all the characters are expressed they
are basic and therefore find it difficult sympathise and relate to any
of the characters.
st person narrative only gives the viewpoint from one character, this
may encourage the reader to sympathise with the character telling the
story as it persuades them that they are involved in the story, as the
character is talking directly to them. However certain people may find
it hard to sympathise with this style of writing as it may promote the
curiosity of how other characters are feeling and as a consequence may
cause the reader to reject the character telling the story. This can
be related to the story, 'Tony Kytes the Arch Deceiver' as the story
ends we begin to feel a great amount of anxiety towards Tony because
of the way he treats Milly. We do not sympathise with Tony.
Whilst comparing and contrasting these stories I have noticed
similarities and differences between them. Each character has strong
and weak points about their personality. Rhoda is weak because she
doesn't want to get hurt, Sophy is weak because she moved away from
her village to avoid public mockery and Milly is weak for accepting
Tony's marriage proposal knowing that she wasn't his first choice.
However Rhoda is strong because she does not care what people think
about her, she tends to rise above gossip also she is a single mother
and has raised her child on her own. Sophy is strong because she has
carried on living her life despite what happened to her after her
accident. Milly is also strong because she has shown that despite how
Tony has treated her she has stood up and shown she loves him by
saying she will marry him.
Rhoda and Sophy have learnt to put other people before themselves
because each of them have children this may encourage them to be less
selfish and learn to accept they cannot have everything in life. These
two characters are different to the image and role of women during
Hardy's time.
All the women have experienced failed relationships by the lack of
commitment. Each of the women has become second best and has not
experienced true love because of this. Sophy made sacrifices for her
son, Rhoda has become second best to Gertrude and Milly was third best
to Unity and Hannah. All the characters are perhaps viewed negatively
by the local community.
The character I respect the most is Rhoda because of her out going
personality and the fact does not care what people think of her.
In this essay I have investigated three main characters from the
stories, ' The Withered Arm', 'Tony Kytes the Arch Deceiver' and 'The
Son's Veto'. From this I have been able to identify any differences
and similarities between the characters. The different female roles
Hardy has explored through these short stories are realistic and
believable, for the particular time he has chosen to set them in. He
has written about different situations and chosen carefully the types
of personalities his characters will have.
Today the roles of women has changed dramatically, after the world
wars it became expected for women to work and lead their own lives.
They gained more independence and became more confident. However life
can still prove challenging for women, as different factors effect
their lives in different ways. Overall life for women has changed a
great deal since these three stories were written, though it is for
the better.
By Nathan Gibbons
