Consider the relationship between men and women in the short stories we looked at. How are these relationships influenced by the social and historical situations of the time?

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Wide Reading Coursework

Consider the relationship between men and women in the short stories we looked at.

        How are these relationships influenced by the social and historical situations of the time?

I believe that both of these stories strongly reflect the times they were written.  Lawrence was born in Nottinghamshire. His story “Tickets Please” is set in his home region of Nottinghamshire, during the war, but he speaks of it mainly in a negatively way. Thomas Hardy was born in 1840 and like Lawrence in a rural area. However, when Hardy is writing “Tony Kytes, the Arch Deceiver, “ he writes before the Industrial Revolution, and about the unspoilt countryside. Both men were unique writers for the time, because of their individual and original styles. Within these two stories there are similar settings and themes, relationships between men and women being a main one. Despite the similarities in the storylines, these stories have totally different outcomes.

One of the main comparisons that can be made in these two stories is the setting.  “Looked at the trees, and beasts, and birds, and insects, “ this is how Thomas Hardy sees the countryside. Hardy wrote this before the Industrial Revolution hit the countryside. Lawrence on the other hand opposes Hardy's perfect view of paradise, “stark, grimly, cold little market- places “ is just one of the examples of Lawrence’s subdued view of the “black, industrial countryside. “ The influence for their opposing insight, could possibly be their personal experiences. Hardy wrote at the end of the 19th century, and he presented an peaceful scene.  “One Saturday he had been to the market to do business for his father, and was driving home the wagon, “ this shows how pleasant and customary Hardy believes the countryside to be compared to Lawrence’s war-time countryside with “ugly “, “black colliery gardens, “ which corresponds an intimidating tone.

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Another likeness behind the two stories is the characterisations. Both writers -but especially Hardy- create realistic characters through language, using dialect words such as “ Twas,” “ee,” and “tist’t.” In Lawrence, story he uses informal or conversation language, “she was very glad to have a ‘boy’. “This is an example of informal language and gives the effect that the story is being told from the character’s point of view. The informal language also reflects the characters class.  Another language method used in both stories to create a realistic character is to use Archaic speech, word like “hussies “ in “Tickets ...

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