Discuss the presentation of women in ‘Tony Kytes, the Arch Deceiver’ and ‘The Unexpected’
The short stories ‘The Unexpected’ by Kate Chopin and ‘Tony Kytes, the Arch Deceiver’ by Thomas Hardy were both written in the late 19th Century to early 20th Century. Both of these stories are similar in the way that they share the same genre of love and relationships, which are focused on how love can change under different circumstances but these two short stories are different in tone. At this period of time, women were not allowed to vote and they basically didn’t have many rights at all. The women didn’t have important jobs in society so they were mostly dependent on men. Women married men to gain power in society but most of all to have money.
In the narrative ‘The Unexpected’ we experience a deep, melodramatic mood. The two characters Dorothea and Randall appear at first to be genuinely in love but the reader knows that this will not remain as it is throughout, as the author has given the story a title that arouses suspense. I think the author has only included two characters in the story because it gives the reader the sense that Dorothea’s and Randall’s love is more genuine than it would be if the character amount was greater as all the attention wouldn't have been centered directly upon them and so their importance as a couple would denature. Further on into the story we learnt that Dorothea and Randall’s relationship was purely based on appearance. We can tell what she thinks of Randall when he comes back by her immediate response. He has an altered appearance.
